Italy - Justin Foell

I got to ride bikes twice in Italy. The first time I almost died. But I chose to ride again because it was still wonderful in a chaotic way.

E-Bikes – a game changer

I rented a bike in Rome and also in Florence. Both were electric pedal assist. Riding them is so incredibly easy – you could blast around without ever breaking a sweat. E-bikes are a “no excuses” type of transportation.

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The annoying thing? Every city or municipality has partners with a different bike share company. In Rome I downloaded the app for Lime, signed up for an account, added my credit card, and found a nearby bike. Then in Florence I had to do the same thing on Ridemovi. A first world problem for sure, but still annoying.

I almost died ☠️

I set out from my hotel in Rome for the gluten free grocery store: Celiachiamo Lab. I fired up google maps with bicycling directions and set off. But there was trouble at one very complex intersection:

I was on the one-way road, on the right side (opposite the green arrow above) getting ready to turn right. What I didn’t realize is that when the light turned green the signal with the red arrow also turned green to merge together.

To give you an idea, I turned where the small black car is in the next photo. Not realizing more traffic was also going to be going to be merging – where the box truck is:

Luckily the front of traffic was a swarm of motor-scooters starting from a stop. They were able to quickly stop, honk at me, and let me clear the area 😰

In retrospect, the proper right turn probably should have followed this bikeway on the right:

See that sign with the bike and the arrow? ⬆️🚲 Well that means bikes ahead only. I missed that. (Barely) Live and Learn!

Once I cleared that intersection I was on a separated bikeway that was divine 🤩

Run whatchu Brung

I also observed what the local riders did… 🕵️

Before I left the US, I had a picture in my mind of Italians riding bikes. It’s the home of the the Giro d’Italia. Surely everyone would be riding Bianchi, Pinorello, or Colnago bikes – all with Campagnolo components.

Some folks were riding Bianchis and Pinorello bikes, but they were people that looked like they were serious about riding – going on bike-packing tours, or putting out some serious watts.

The bike I spotted that most closely resembled the picture in my mind was owned by a college-aged kid at the train station. He had a 1970s Motobecane. Sure, it’s French, not Italian, but it was vintage and it was cherry 😍

Everyone else just seemed to ride whatever they had.

Nothing really stood out amongst the regular bikes, but a couple brands seemed to be popular.

B’Twin

B’Twin is a store-brand of a sporting goods retailer called Decathlon. As the largest sporting goods retailer in Europe, I imagine it’s a bit like Dick’s Sporting Goods. Decathlon also has a Rockrider brand of mountain bikes and I also saw several of those.

Imperial

Imperial was the other brand that showed up a lot. You can see another in the background of the B’Twin photo. This one I really liked the color scheme on – especially the matching basket, grips, seat, and spoke-guard.

Strangely I couldn’t find any information about this brand on the internet. <Insert Jackie Chan “What?!?” Meme Here>. Seriously, internet dead-end. It’s not this Imperial Bicycles – they make components and exactly one model.

But these bikes were everywhere, both vintage and clearly brand new as the above photo would suggest. Maybe it’s a model or a style and not a brand?

Dangerous but Delightful

Riding in Italy was a bit harrowing at times. Their roads are very narrow, the intersections complex. Then you’ll find yourself on a delightful bikeway. It’s all part of the charm. Just own it. If you’re on an e-bike, riding near traffic doesn’t matter anyway because you’re going to be zooming upwards of 30km/h in seconds 🚲💨

If you have any leads on the mystery “Imperial” bike, let me know in the comments!

← Summary Only

As someone with celiac, I had a lot of reservations about traveling to Italy. But then I read an article that explained how good (actually great) it is. I won’t re-hash everything they said, but I will reinforce much of it. Plus I’ll share some times when the experience went from good to simply fair. Above all I want to stress that dining out in Italy is much better regarding food allergies (and similar conditions like celiac) than in the US. When it’s fair instead of good, that’s when it’s on par with the United States.

Consider Prosciutto – Italy’s favorite dry-cured ham. When they dry the hog’s hind leg, the open end is stuccoed – covered with a lard and flour mix to seal it from the outside. Italy (yes the whole country) changed from wheat flour to rice flour for celiacs. Same great taste, now gluten free for everyone!

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☕ Coffee & Ice Cream 🍦

I set out to consume two things every day Italy: espresso & gelato. I think I missed one day for each in total. My first day in Rome I got an affogato at a cafe across from the Coliseum. 2-in-1 💪

Gelato shops were ubiquitous. Most of them had gluten free (senza glutine) cones. But there’s trouble in paradise: the farther we got from Rome, the less of a chance of finding a gluten free cone 😥 By the time we got to Venice, I had to have my gelato in a cup! First world problems, amirite?

Communicating with locals

85% of the people I interacted with spoke enough English for me to feel safe. “Senza Glutine?” went a long way with waiters and hosts. They’d typically reply with “Pasta” or “Pizza” and then I’d stop in. If they said “Salad” I’d pass. That’s like the time the waiter at Applebees tried to sell me on steamed broccoli – I instantly wanted to fight him 🥦👊

For others that didn’t speak English (it was rare), I had purchased, printed, and laminated an Italian GF restaurant card. I presented it to a hotel kitchen staffer that didn’t speak English and then she brought me an entire tray of GF goodies! 💥

Celiachia App

Italy takes celiac seriously, and they have an app called AIC Mobile. Get it! Sign up for an account a few days ahead of time because it’s not intuitive. They’ll ask for a member ID but you can skip it, which wasn’t clear to me. Members (Italians diagnosed with celiac) get free access to the app, but you can pay $3.99 in-app for “Welcome Access” that lasts a week or so.

Gluten Free Gems

These are a few must visit places if you’re in the area:

Celiachiamo Lab (Rome)

An entirely gluten free grocery store. A must see above everything else I listed here. I can’t begin to tell you about all the things they had, so I’ll just show off their bakery case.

Quinoa GF Restaurant (Florence)

Entirely gluten free restaurant – yep. I’m lucky that we have a handful of dedicated GF restaurants in Minnesota. Amazing to encounter one abroad. Beer and fresh baked bread 🍞🤩

Officina Gastronomica (Parma)

Sort of a hole-in-the-wall strip-mall deli case. Not dedicated gluten free, but more than half of everything they had was GF and kept separate or sealed. It’s not far from the Parma train station, if you’re in the area.

I had a GF ravioli that was stuffed with potato – almost like a pierogi. I had the cook put some buttered spinach on the top and washed it down with a GF beer 🍺

Eat up, don’t worry!

There are so many delicious GF things I ate in Italy, many of them just at regular restaurants. I’m telling you, some of these dishes are life changing. In Rome alone: GF tiramisu at Tiz Cucina e Sofa and a parmesan bowl full of pasta at Ristorante Cantina 26. I even had a fantastic GF bacon cheeseburger 🍔 (yes I had ONE burger in Italy) from Deliburger in La Spezia.

The bottom line is you don’t need to worry if you’re celiac or gluten sensitive. I was there for 9 days and didn’t have any issues. On the flip side, I got sick last year on my trip to Scotland from a hot chocolate mix of all things 🤢 Italy, especially Rome, was a truly amazing dining experience 🇮🇹🍝