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Upon checking the coeliac associations website there were a few options for eating out even in a small place like Pisa. We had looked up the best place to park the car and found a restaurant that we would walk past on our way to the tower from the parking. It was not a long walk, it took us 10 minutes at the most (walking with kids!) Luckily we stopped by at the restaurant to talk to them on the way into the centre and it turned out they make the pizza dough fresh on order so for pizza you need to pre-order and give them an hour or two to get it ready. I decided this was the time to take a pizza, homemade and fresh so I ordered a pizza base (you can decide which kind you want later) and headed to the tower. They had a separate glutenfree menu and the pizza was only 50 cent more than the normal pizzas = very good value for money! My food AND dessert also came on different design plates than the "normal" food, to make sure there wouold be no confusion.

When we came back I decided on a pizza with ham and gorgonzola and it was amazingly good!

This time around I decided on a dessert, semi freddo on forest berries.

While we walked around in Pisa I saw this place that claimed to have gluten free if anyone would prefer to eat a bit more central however I would still suggest to do the walk to Scaletta, less than 10 minutes walk and really really good!

We booked our hotel with airline staff discount through Emirates and stayed in the Novotel Mestre Castellana as it was the only hotel that could fit all 4 of us in one room. Without knowing it the hotel actually provided gluten free breakfast. I got two slightly heated Schär panini with special ham and a small basket of other stuff like muesli, crackers, biscuits and sponges.

We had our first dinner in Venice at "L'Osteria All'Ombra". They had a separate gluten free menu that included all the ready meals DS have to offer (tortellini, canelloni, pizza and lasagne) All dishes were 12 Euro and to be perfectly honest I think its quite expensive for dishes I can buy from the supermarket freezer for 4-5 Euro! However if you dont live in Europe and are not used to the slection there is in the supermarkets there I guess it would be really exciting...On the other hand they had some desserts (like profiteroles) that would have been interesting had we not been so tired by then.

My canneollni. Unfortunately I didnt take lots of photos at this place but you can read some more about it and find directions on Trip Advisor.

On our second day in Venice we walked by ths place where hubby had eaten during one of his layovers in Venice.

and they had this sign in the window

a bowl of glutenfree pasta displayed on the table to make your pick of pasta

Apparently I didnt get a photo of my food (probably I was so hungry I gulped it down!) but I had tagliatelle with quattro formaggio sauce. It was very good but I have to say every time I eat pasta in a restaurant I keep thinking about how useless it is paying for something I can easily cook as good, if not better at home. The owner was very "italian" and talkative but I was too tired and hungry to appreciate it. They served an apertif and grappa on the house, my plate of pasta did not cost any extra for glutenfree and I think it was around 9 Euro. Here is the place on Trip Advisor

I know I have stopped updating the english version of the blog but I just have to share my experiences on eating gluten free in Italy. Maybe someone will google just like me and find my experiences helpful.

As usual I had googled and looked for gluten free alternatives in the cities we were going to visit and I realized that the Italian coeliac association does a hell of a job! They have a guide (both a book and on the internet) for eating out and seem to be educating and checking up on these restaurants to make sure you get safe food. Since I have a liver disease I dont drink alcohol but for anyone intrested I think ALL places we visited could offer glutenfree beer.

Its pretty expensive eating out in Italy so we tried to eat only one meal a day in a restaurant and the other one cook it ourselves (we had a kitchen in Florens and cooked some glutenfree ravioli i found in the supermarket) or making a picnic kind of meal with salami, cheeses, ham and bread.

As I sort through my photos and thoughts I will update with posts (and links to them below) and reviews of the restaurants in the places we visited.

Here you can read about my experiences in Venice

Here is where you will be able to read about my experiences in Pisa

Here is where you will be able to read about my experiences in Florence

Here is where you will be able to read about my experiences in Verona

Here are the photos from that weekend when we had to leave the eggcup paining and take J to the doctor...

She doesnt look really well here either...

Self portrait

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Probably the last rain for this year.....

Last weekend we spent a full day by the pool at Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

Burj Al Arab

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Today was the day for the Year 1 Swim Gala at DESS. The children competed in two of the different swimstrokes and the points were added up for their houses. I have to say Im very impressed with the children´s ability and the dedication of their teachers. 5-6 year olds swimming 25 meters is really not bad!

The Panthers

The Lynx

The Leopards

The Jaguars

First start of the day, some really brave children swam a full 25 mt medley race!

C, one of A´s best friends

Starting positions vary a lot :)

J, the boy we carpool with

A ready for his crawl race

and then the backstroke

which eventually he won!

Happy Jaguars

A is one of 4 house captains for the Jaguars and after the very close loss to the Leopards in the Sports Day in January he was hoping to get to carry the cup this time around. Here he is getting ready for his leg in the relay...

....breaststroke, his "hate" stroke!

in the lead though!

The Jaguars won the boys relay but unfortunately it was not enough for the total win....

....the Jaguars came second....

....only two points behind the Panthers

A was looking really sad until he walked past us in the parade, he really wanted to carry that cup.

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I dont think Dubai has seen as much rain as we have had this winter for years, last winter it rained twice I think. Dont get me wrong, we love it, especially knowing what we have ahead of us!

oh, and before anyone complains...yes I stopped the car before I took the photo :)

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I know website is in Swedish but should you wish to leave a comment click where it says "0 kommentarer" (or any number of course) Then fill in your details
"Namn" - Name (tick the box if you want it to remember who you are)
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J didnt throw up last night but earlier this afternoon we were painting egg cups and all of a sudden she said her chest was hurting. She didnt want to finish her egg cup but went to lie down on the sofa and started screaming with pain saying she was hurting so much. Its hard to know how bad the pain was, but she doesnt normally complain about pain so we thought it was best to take her to the clinic here in DSO. The doctor concluded that she has a viral infection and that we keep giving her meds to keep her fever down, he thought the pain was from her heart racing when the fever went up. Now she is feeling fine and playing, not wanting to go to bed even though she was up at 5 am!!

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This morning we had a playdate at the biketrack near Meydan. The kids and I all looked forward, it was time for me and R to catch up! J only rode her bike and played for about 10 minutes and then she came near me complaining that it was hot, she was tired and her eyes hurt. She lay down on the blanket near us but she kept complaining and her nose was a bit runny. I was sure she was catching a cold, its common (at least for me) to get watery and slightly burning eyes when I have a cold. We stayed put for an hour, it was getting too hot and J was not looking well at all so we decided to go home. She almost slept in the car but 3 minutes away from home she called out "mum i need to throw up!". I stopped the car as quickly as I could and ran around to help her out but I didnt make it. When I opened the door she had her whole mouth full and some hadnt fit and ran out. Poor thing had tried to keep it in! I got her out of the car and she threw up some more before we managed the last bit of drive home. At home she got to relax on a mattress by the tv, that´s standard treatment at our house when you´re sick and at the risk of throwing up (no staying on the sofa!) she felt ok and was hungry so she had some pretzels and a sandwich.

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Two hours after she "ate" and 4½ hours after the first vomit she threw up again, twice in a short amount of time and since then nothing (6 hours later). I dont know what to think of it all, it doesnt feel like a normal gastric, too much time inbetween the throwing up and also the hunger? And where does the runny nose and hurting eyes fit in? Only time will tell but Im hoping I get to sleep tonight! J is sleeping on a mattress by the foot of my bed so that I can easily hear her and help her if she has to throw up again. Im therefore sitting here listening to her every move, checking up on her hoping she can make the bucket so I dont have to stay changing sheets in the middle of the night!

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I know website is in Swedish but should you wish to leave a comment click where it says "0 kommentarer" (or any number of course) Then fill in your details
"Namn" - Name (tick the box if you want it to remember who you are)
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And finally you write whatever comment you want to post in the big box saying "Kommentar" and post it by clicking "Skicka kommentar".

When I was waiting for A outside his classroom the other day the children came out to collect their bags to pack them up. A came out carrying a small yellow bag looking "very important". When they then finished school he told me how their year leader had challenged them to calculate how much 3x34 is! Together with his friend they had been the only childre to manage to solve it and he was so proud of himself, repeating all afternoon "Im so proud of myself" :)

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I know website is in Swedish but should you wish to leave a comment click where it says "0 kommentarer" (or any number of course) Then fill in your details
"Namn" - Name (tick the box if you want it to remember who you are)
E-post adress: Your email address (wont be published)
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And finally you write whatever comment you want to post in the big box saying "Kommentar" and post it by clicking "Skicka kommentar".

It has taken us almost a week to settle down after our holiday but i think we are finally there. There are lots of things to deal with when you´ve been away for 2 weeks. Kids have settled in school, I have had my 3 monthly visit to the liver doctor, after school activities, decided upon and paid for, car service, pedicure and small things here and there. Not much to tell though, its all very boring and old.

Its getting a bit too hot for my liking though!

After 2 weeks of using closed shoes my feet needed a good scrubbing, springtime it is and I decided to go for blue nails for a nice change.

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I know website is in Swedish but should you wish to leave a comment click where it says "0 kommentarer" (or any number of course) Then fill in your details
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Here are some photos from J´s new ballet class with Ms. V. She has decided that she wants to do a double dance session on tuesdays so we´ll give it a shot and see how it goes.

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I know website is in Swedish but should you wish to leave a comment click where it says "0 kommentarer" (or any number of course) Then fill in your details
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Warm up

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I know website is in Swedish but should you wish to leave a comment click where it says "0 kommentarer" (or any number of course) Then fill in your details
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I dont remember if I have written about the stuff that has been going on with the ballet when we came back after christmas. If I did, here is a reminder ;)

J has always loved her ballet and was always full of smiles when I dropped her off and picked her up but after christmas something happened. She is not big enough to put words to her feelings and explain why she hasnt wanted to go but I have a feeling why.

When we arrived for the first ballet lesson this term J was tired since we came back from Sweden that night but she was happy and excited to go to her ballet lesson. There is a 15 minute break between the "baby ballet" and her class and when the "babies" have finished their class the girls in J´s class that are slightly early always go in and dance (read run) in the studio until all girls are there and its time to start the class. I didnt see exactly what happened this time but J ran to the studio to do her usual stuff but came back quickly saying "Ms. C said its not time yet" meaning she was not allowed in the studio yet. J almost looked scared and she curled up in my lap and I think this is where it went wrong. She probably felt that she was being told off and couldnt understand why when she didnt think she had done anything wrong. I do think that the fact that she was tired played part in it, maybe she took the words worse because of it but I can understand that she couldnt see why something that was ok for a whole term suddenly wasnt. Since then it has been a struggle to get her to go to her class and it might sound terrible to make her go but we have said that if the kids have commited to or said they want to do some activity they have to stick with it for the agreed period of time (normally a term). It is not ok to say you want to do this and you want to do that and then quit after one or two times. In this case I also thought she might start enjoying it again if she felt she could trust her teacher again. This hasnt happened and we have been on countdown to see how many classes left and now its finally over. Its not just this but some small incidents during the term, Ms. C is not a very "good" teacher (at least for kids), she has very obvious favourites in the class and the kids have felt it. The hip hop teacher Ms. V, that both kids adore has a ballet class for J´s year group just before the hip hop so for next term J has 3 choices, she can stop ballet completely, she can do a double class with ballet first and hip hop then or stop the hip hop and do ballet instead.

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I know website is in Swedish but should you wish to leave a comment click where it says "0 kommentarer" (or any number of course) Then fill in your details
"Namn" - Name (tick the box if you want it to remember who you are)
E-post adress: Your email address (wont be published)
URL is pretty obvious but you dont need one to post
And finally you write whatever comment you want to post in the big box saying "Kommentar" and post it by clicking "Skicka kommentar".

This term has passed so quickly, last 4 days of school to go and we cant wait! R is doing his medical right now, a yearly checkup that the pilots have to do to make sure they are healthy enough to fly a plane. This means he has the car so I couldnt go help out in J´s class. Instead I went for a walk this morning, followed by a bath and some swedish tv on the computer. Right now Im waiting to hear from R to see what we are going to do when he is ready.

J has her last ballet class today and that means we can go in and see her which will be fun of course. Since R is not working the whole family will go see her, she will be very excited about that :) It will be the last class she does with this teacher, which Im really happy about but that is a whole other entry reallly.

On Friday we leave for London. Im sooo looking forward. The sleeping plans changed a bit though since my friend will be going away for easter and they offered us to borrow their house which of course will be much more convenient for us than sleeping on the other friend´s tvroom floor. Dont get me wrong, we are very happy to have friends in London to avoid paying for hotels but when you have the choice of staying in an empty house its pretty easy. Just in case someone had missed that detail, after London we will be heading to Malta for some 10 days. Looking forward to seeing both the "new" and "old" cousin and of course my friends back in Malta but most of all I look forward to having some time with my whole family without the musts of every day life.

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I know website is in Swedish but should you wish to leave a comment click where it says "0 kommentarer" (or any number of course) Then fill in your details
"Namn" - Name (tick the box if you want it to remember who you are)
E-post adress: Your email address (wont be published)
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And finally you write whatever comment you want to post in the big box saying "Kommentar" and post it by clicking "Skicka kommentar".

So my mum has left and we are back to normal. At least for a week since we are leaving for London and then Malta on friday. Yesterday R left for Venice and the kids had their last football practice and today we rode our bikes to the bigger playground in our area.

This fireman pole is a bit scary....

but eventually he dared to go down

it was worse for J, she just couldnt bring herself to remove the second foot from safety :)

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I know website is in Swedish but should you wish to leave a comment click where it says "0 kommentarer" (or any number of course) Then fill in your details
"Namn" - Name (tick the box if you want it to remember who you are)
E-post adress: Your email address (wont be published)
URL is pretty obvious but you dont need one to post
And finally you write whatever comment you want to post in the big box saying "Kommentar" and post it by clicking "Skicka kommentar".

Gluten free in Pisa

Gluten free in Venice

Gluten free in Italy

Egg cups

Last rain?

Jumeirah Beach Resort

Year 1 Swim Gala at DESS

Grey saturday

Trip to the doctor

Gastric flu?

Proud A

New nails

Back to the grind

New ballet class

Last ballet class

Last hip hop class

Ballet

Monday morning...

Back to normal

Sunset by Burj Khalifa

English