I survived 10 days in Europe, without eating a single pastry. No flaky croissant, no baguette sandwich from the bakery on the corner, no delicious cookies or biscotti with my coffee. I did however, enjoy numerous cappuccinos and gelatos from various street corners. And although they don't quite equate with pastries, they were delicious and my stomach didn't suffer, so my diligence didn't go unrewarded.
I was hard though, to watch my Dad devour chocolate covered croissants, fresh from a bakery window. It was even harder to keep my hunger to myself when I hadn't packed myself a snack and everyone stopped to grab a sandwich. I refused to pay anywhere from $5-10 (CAD) for a few pieces of deli meat and a piece of cheese, as the sandwiches are definitely what we would consider stingy at home. Although from what I hear, they were delicious.
Our hotel in Barcelona had rice bread, so after the first day, I learned to make a salami sandwich at the buffet and smuggle it out so I could have some sustenance during our excursions (i.e. shopping). Once we started cruising on the Voyager of the Seas however, it took my another 3-4 days to realize that starving and getting cranky during 6+ hour port excursions really should not be considered an option. The next day I smuggled and apple off the boat. The day after that, an apple and a box of corn flakes.
In a small beach town, Viareggio, there was a fast food restaurant attached to the bakery where we were purchasing beer (for everyone else of course) and sandwiches and I was amazed with the girl working there. Somehow we managed to communicate and she made me a 100% beef burger with cheese, on lettuce. Hallelujah a hot lunch!!
Eating Gluten-Free was a struggle. And in truth, I was disappointed with the boat, I had expected a better selection of foods that I could eat and possibly even some sort of labelling - but I was likely being ambitious. There was enough food, meats, cheeses, vegetables, salad, all without gluten. With respect to desserts, I was very disappointed, it was ice cream pretty much all the way for me. I had a few treats, not eating crusts (eg. a panacotta).
And don't even get my started on the plane food...maybe next post.
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