Episode 63: Gluten-Free in Copenhagen, Denmark, Amsterdam, and Cologne Germany

In this episode, Jules recaps her gluten-free travel to Copenhagen, Denmark, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and Cologne, Germany. Was she able to find safe gluten-free (and pescatarian!) food for her, and manage to survive traveling with her kids for days? You'll have to listen to this episode to find out!

RESOURCES
Gluten-Free in Copenhagen by gfJules
Gluten-Free Travel Tips by gfJules

Contact/Follow Jules & Erica

• Find us on IG @CeliacandTheBeast & @gfJules
• Follow us on FB @gfJules & @CeliacandTheBeast
• Threads @CeliacandTheBeast & @gfJules
• Email us at support@gfJules.com
• Find more articles, recipes & info at gfJules.com & celiacandthebeast.com

Thanks for listening! Be sure to subscribe!
**some links may be affiliate links; purchasing through these links will not cost you more, but will help to fund the podcast you ❤️

Transcript

Erica [00:00:13]:
Hey. I'm Erica.

Jules [00:00:14]:
And I'm Jules. Most people have at least one thing that they can't or won't eat.

Erica [00:00:19]:
Now we're definitely like that.

Jules [00:00:21]:
We started this podcast to talk about the gluten free food industry,

Erica [00:00:25]:
Like new products and some of the stories behind your favorite brands.

Jules [00:00:29]:
And living life with a specialty diet and also some important health care topics.

Erica [00:00:33]:
Since we're basically both broken inside.

Jules [00:00:36]:
You had me at eat.

Erica [00:00:42]:
Hello. Welcome to another episode of you had me at eat. I'm Erica.

Jules [00:00:47]:
And I'm Jules.

Erica [00:00:49]:
And we are here today, in somewhat good health. Jules and I are both still recovering from upper respiratory infections, and I at least sound like I have a voice today, which is, you're welcome, everyone.

Jules [00:01:04]:
Yeah. We'll try not to cough too much in this episode. It is amazing how long those things hold on. Like, the cough just is still with you. I mean, I still have a little bit of that leftover. I don't think my voice is still the same, like, yet, and I still cough. And, yeah, it's just I don't wish that on anybody. It is gross.

Erica [00:01:24]:
I wake up in the middle of the night and I'm like like that all night long, and I'm like, oh, thank God Matt is like a heavy sleeper because I'm just like, how are you not awake? I'm coughing directly in your face. Yeah. Horrible.

Jules [00:01:39]:
Then he ever got it. Right?

Erica [00:01:42]:
Mm-mm. Wow. During, like, the most contagious part of it, I isolated from everyone. But the day that I got super, super sick, I was around 5 of my girlfriends, and I sent a text. I'm like, hey. I don't know what just happened, but I got very sick very quickly overnight. Like, I hope you don't get it. No one got sick.

Jules [00:01:59]:
So Well, I I truly think having I mean, and I mean, I'm I I eat healthy. Like, I get sleep. I we I mean, we drink these incredibly healthy smoothies every day. Like, you know, I try to do yoga, like, take care of myself. But bottom line is I I still have an autoimmune disease. And

Erica [00:02:19]:
You have several. We have several.

Jules [00:02:22]:
I still I have issues.

Jules [00:02:23]:
You had a couple of I

Jules [00:02:24]:
mean, it it comes up in situations like this. And, I am often the first one and sometimes the only one to get sicknesses like this, and it stinks.

Erica [00:02:36]:
Yeah. It's interesting because none of my friends got sick. I was obviously sick. Matt didn't get sick. And I got it from did I tell you where I got this from? No. I was at Bottle Baby in our ICU.

Jules [00:02:51]:
Oh, yeah. Yeah. You did get you did tell me that. Yeah.

Erica [00:02:53]:
And one of the girls had viral bronchitis and was, like, coughing. Everyone was so sick, and I'm like, oh. And by the way, she got fired. So she's no longer Because of that? Or It was part of it. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, don't break those people. I really like her, but I'm kinda pissed that she did gave this to me because I missed my flight to Detroit.

Erica [00:03:18]:
I didn't even I've still never been to Michigan. Now I can't say that I've been to Detroit still. It's pissed off.

Jules [00:03:24]:
So There's still time. You know, I think Margaret would play too gladly anytime you wanted to come to Michigan.

Erica [00:03:31]:
Yeah. It's just silly. It's just silly. And I just still feel like shit. So I'm just trying to sleep a little bit more than normal, which my sleep is really messed up because I am just, like, not breathing properly, and I'm still on Mucinex every freaking day.

Jules [00:03:47]:
Yeah.

Erica [00:03:48]:
And Matt's like, when is this gonna go away? And I'm like, I don't know. It's a running joke every day. I'm like, is today the day? No. Barely not because they sound like this.

Jules [00:03:56]:
Well, we will all keep you in our thoughts and prayers, Erica.

Erica [00:04:01]:
Oh, thanks, Jules. Appreciate it. The thoughts and prayers do so much. Yeah. Thoughts and prayers. Thoughts and prayers. That's a first. Yeah.

Jules [00:04:10]:
I am sending you true love. I am.

Erica [00:04:12]:
Well, thank you. I appreciate it, and I will need it because I head out on Saturday. Tomorrow, I'm making granola bars all day, and I'm taking them all to Denver because I'm on my way to newtopia now. And I'm not.

Jules [00:04:29]:
I am so happy I'm not going. Although I wish that I was going because I love Denver, but, other than that, like Yeah. I just I mean, you can go test the waters for me and tell me, like, if it's worthy Yeah. You know? Bothering to think about going next year.

Erica [00:04:47]:
It is it's the weirdest trade show because it hasn't been done before. Mhmm. And the whole concept of this is it is a trade show much like Expo West and, Fancy Foods and some of the other trade shows that Jules and I go to where buyers for brands like Sprouts and Wegmans and Whole Foods and Natural Grocers. And everyone come to check out the newest, latest, greatest products. And this show is very strict and who can come, and it's really focused on these buyers and focused on, suppliers that really would be super relevant to those starting out consumer packaged goods business or people who are kind of in the beginning stages of consumer packaged goods. There are some, long standing products like Doctor. Bronner's is going to be there, because this event is not only small, but it's broken up into neighborhoods. And, it very much focuses on this neighborhood vibe.

Erica [00:05:59]:
Like there are stoop talks, which is like small individual neighborhood conversations. There's a regenerate neighborhood. There's a thrive neighborhood. There's a represent neighborhood, which is DEI focused, black owned brand and Asian owned brands. I am with in the,

Jules [00:06:23]:
the neighborhood.

Erica [00:06:25]:
I'm in the neighborhood. I'm in the oat neighborhood. I'm on oat

Jules [00:06:32]:
street. We

Erica [00:06:33]:
are in the regenerate neighborhood, which is, like, better for the earth. Right? So we're talking about, gluten free cover crops and hulless oats and how the holes will regenerate the soil and using no till farm methods and, purity verification, meaning we test for 500 of the top toxins and gluten and everything is free from the top 14 allergens and corn. So we talk about all that better for you, better for the environment. That's a neighborhood I'm in, and it's interesting because there's a lot of other weird things that you can do. Like, there's tours of the neighborhood. There are, tours of a local university that does sustainability. There's yoga at Red Rocks, which is pretty cool, and probably the only thing that Jules is regretful about missing is yoga at Red Rocks. Yeah.

Erica [00:07:21]:
But then I I also got invited to a neighborhood tour of low low Lodi, so, lower Denver, which is just the kitchen. So they're doing a little tour for me, so I get to do that. There's there's a lot of things happening and it's very random. And I think because of 1st year, they're like throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. And I'm really excited because it seems like a lot of things are pretty cool.

Jules [00:07:48]:
Did you ever get a schedule?

Erica [00:07:50]:
No. I still am awaiting to see if I'm off the wait list for some of these events. So it's interesting. I think they're running into some things that they didn't necessarily expect as what always happens the 1st year of doing events. So So we are in a bit of a crunch time right now because September is when all the crazy things happen in, the gluten free world. After that, I head to Salt Lake City for an expo, and then I'll be doing even more stuff in October. So I am busy, and I have no time to be any more sick. So I have to knock this

Jules [00:08:28]:
No more sick. Out. No more sick. I'm not letting you get

Erica [00:08:31]:
this. Just need to focus.

Erica [00:08:35]:
And then it's a freaking

Erica [00:08:35]:
holidays, and I'm already kind of having a panic attack. Just saying that out loud. Yeah. But yeah. Yeah. I have, like, 8 more shows until Halloween. It's, like, wild how many shows I have. I think I have 4 more, but still that's too many.

Erica [00:08:48]:
It's

Jules [00:08:48]:
too many shows. That's a lot. That's a lot.

Erica [00:08:51]:
Yeah. So, and we are in the middle of harvest, oat harvest. So it's like, okay.

Jules [00:08:58]:
When does that end? When does oat harvest end?

Erica [00:09:01]:
Like, now, next couple weeks. Wow. They were already getting oats in, from some farmers, but we need, like, all farmers and all the oats. And then we have to do for heat treated oats. We have to do some heat treatment for it, and then we have to mix all the ingredients in and bag and then ship. And so, yeah, it's weird. I September has always been a busy month for me because that's usually when all of our expos were, with the 2 different companies that I've done gluten free expos with, over the years. And September was always crazy.

Erica [00:09:40]:
It was every weekend, and it's becoming that again.

Jules [00:09:45]:
Yeah. Yeah. Sounds like it.

Erica [00:09:46]:
And I have

Jules [00:09:47]:
to look forward to

Erica [00:09:48]:
I have to buy a whole new suitcase, because I bought I bought banners, and they don't fit in my suitcase. So now I have to go buy one of the hockey bags that I used to have, which is such a pain in the butt to travel around. And then I'm like, oh, wait. Who sells hockey bags? And then I'm like, oh, I have to go to a sporting goods store today. A sporting goods store. I have to go to a sporting goods store today.

Jules [00:10:16]:
You're that or by any chance? Hockey bags. It it can be, like, lacrosse or even football. Like, any any sort of large Long

Erica [00:10:27]:
sport bag. Anyways, I have to go to sport goods store today, a sporting goods store.

Jules [00:10:36]:
Insert fill in the blank sport good store today. Yes.

Erica [00:10:40]:
I don't even know where I don't like, I go to a sporting good store. Matt's like, oh, yeah. Just go over to Dick's. And I'm like, well, where is that? Not here. Not not not around here, partner. Hear that. He's like, well, maybe it'll be at Target. I'm like, here's the deal.

Erica [00:10:53]:
If I go to a Target, we have an Uptown Target near us, so I will have to go to the large Target, which is far away. But when I go to the large Target, I am at least spending 2 to 300 dollars because I'm not gonna just buy the bag like I would

Jules [00:11:08]:
just buy the bag. All your Halloween candy already.

Erica [00:11:10]:
I'm gonna buy all the Halloween candy. I'm gonna buy everything. I'm gonna buy a 16 foot jack o'-lantern. I don't know what I'm gonna find there.

Jules [00:11:17]:
You never know. You never know. I saw the coolest thing the other day and I I'm like, surprised you haven't done this already. Somebody took pool noodles and they cut them off at various heights and they painted them black.

Erica [00:11:30]:
And did the candles.

Jules [00:11:31]:
They glued them, yeah, to something and melted,

Erica [00:11:35]:
Hot glue.

Jules [00:11:36]:
Hot glue on them and then put little big candles in the top of them. And I'm like, Oh, that looks fun. And then they put, you know, whatever, you know, just different hands, skeleton hands on them.

Erica [00:11:46]:
Oh, yeah.

Jules [00:11:47]:
Erica needs this.

Erica [00:11:49]:
I spent at least $200 on Halloween decorations already.

Jules [00:11:54]:
But this one seemed like this was on the cheap. So I was like, this was

Erica [00:11:57]:
It's actually not because we've added up all the costs

Jules [00:12:00]:
of what it would be. Exactly.

Erica [00:12:01]:
It's not. It's not.

Jules [00:12:02]:
It's not. It's not. It's not.

Jules [00:12:02]:
It's not in the skeleton hands. You probably have those already, though.

Erica [00:12:06]:
I actually do.

Jules [00:12:07]:
Yeah.

Jules [00:12:07]:
I figured.

Erica [00:12:08]:
There are planters outside, though, because they're super fun when it's, like, the cactus and there's, like, skeleton hands reaching out. Yes. Matt is, like, for the first time in a while, he is like, hey. Real talk. I'm fully committed to blowing out a couple's costume that is, like, massive months of work to do. And he came to me, and I'm like, we talked about this, and you may have forgotten. I will be gone on Halloween, and I am coming back at 8 PM at night. Where do you expect me to put in the month's work worth of work to whatnot celebrate on Halloween.

Erica [00:12:50]:
Yes. Who's picking me up from the airport that night? Clearly not him if he's fully invested in Halloween, the Uber back. But I'm just like the 1 year that you were like, let's do this.

Jules [00:13:01]:
I'm in. We're gonna

Erica [00:13:03]:
pile the money into this. Nope. I won't be here.

Jules [00:13:06]:
So But is your awesome little neighborhood gonna do something super fun for Halloween?

Erica [00:13:10]:
Yeah. We always do, like, a neighborhood thing where we all get together. We all share tables. And then, yeah, we all do, like, things I love

Jules [00:13:17]:
your neighbors. I wanna move in your neighborhood so bad.

Erica [00:13:20]:
And then they all have Halloween parties the week before. And I'm like, bro, I'm not here. Like, we can't do a fun couple's costume if I'm not here. He's like, what if I just do it myself? And I'm like, that sucks, man.

Erica [00:13:36]:
You're gonna

Erica [00:13:36]:
do this surfing out.

Jules [00:13:38]:
You do this to me whenever I'm there.

Jules [00:13:42]:
Yeah. Yeah. So then you have this to contend with and on top of everything else

Erica [00:13:46]:
I know.

Jules [00:13:46]:
Your partner is not supportive of your out needs.

Erica [00:13:49]:
How dare they? And I wanted to just do, like, something super cute. Like, I had a very basic Tyler Swift costume, like, a very basic. And I'm like, okay. Wig, shorts, pantyhose, shirt, done. I can easily, like, I can just put that on at 8 PM. Heck, I can even wear in Las Vegas that day.

Jules [00:14:07]:
For sure.

Erica [00:14:07]:
What if maybe Colleen and I will dress up in Las Vegas. But anyway

Jules [00:14:11]:
That'd be fun. She would totally do it.

Erica [00:14:14]:
She would. Like, can we just be easy this Halloween? He's like, I guess. Sure. So yeah. Right now, I'm just, like, kind of in that panic mode where I'm like, okay. When can I put up Halloween decorations? Because if it's September 1, I'm committed. Like That's right. September 1, let's do this.

Erica [00:14:32]:
And our neighbors always beat us. So I'm like, do I beat them this year?

Jules [00:14:37]:
And you might because you have an excuse. Like, I'll be out of town.

Erica [00:14:40]:
Like, I'll be out

Jules [00:14:40]:
of town. Like, I'll be

Erica [00:14:41]:
out of town. I have

Erica [00:14:41]:
to soak in all the Halloween for as much as I can. Mhmm. Yeah. Well, I

Jules [00:14:45]:
don't know. Costco put their Halloween stuff up, like, a month ago, so I think you're you're safe.

Erica [00:14:51]:
Okay.

Jules [00:14:51]:
I walked in and I was like, what what what is happening? Like, in a

Erica [00:14:57]:
top corner. Still, like, a 110 degrees here, so it's not like, oh, I can't wait to go decorate outside. No. That sounds horrible.

Jules [00:15:04]:
That's true.

Erica [00:15:05]:
Yeah. Be unless I get you down at 5 AM. Yeah. And speaking of Halloween, one more tangent.

Jules [00:15:12]:
Okay.

Erica [00:15:13]:
I planted, a bunch of the fairy tale pumpkins, like little teeny tiny ones. Mhmm. And I'm like, I think it's too early to plant these, but I'm gonna plant them anyway. It's either too, like, way too late or, like, a little too early to plant them. So I plan to make it like, they're not gonna do anything. They're sprouting. And then I ate a spaghetti squash from the farmer's market the other day, and it was already kind of sprouting. And I just threw seeds in there, and it exploded overnight.

Erica [00:15:42]:
I have massive spaghetti squash growth, and I have no idea if it's actually gonna make anything, but it makes me very happy that I could by Halloween. I could maybe have some teeny tiny pumpkins that I grew myself.

Jules [00:15:58]:
See, now that's so exciting because like around here, anytime I try to plant squash, it starts coming up. Like we have some squash coming up now and it will freeze and die by the time it has, like, fruit. And you, it will never freeze and die. It will just No. You might have Halloween pumpkins later than Halloween, but they will still be alive. Like,

Erica [00:16:23]:
my Yes. But they're not edible pumpkins. But they're so cute. But they are still really cute, and maybe they'll be Thanksgiving pumpkins.

Jules [00:16:33]:
That's right. They can do that.

Erica [00:16:34]:
Yeah. If we can make spaghetti squash ourselves, the cost savings of our house, I could buy so many more Halloween decorations with the cost savings of us making our own because we buy so much spaghetti squash.

Jules [00:16:46]:
That is girl math. I love it. That's great. Very good. Well, you keep me apprised of how that's going.

Erica [00:16:57]:
I will. I will. So Jewel, let's get to the let's get to the meat of the squash meat of the episode, which is I need you to tell me about your amazing trip.

Jules [00:17:08]:
Oh, yes. Well, so far I have put up my Copenhagen post, which was took me an entire day to put up the post and then took me almost another day to put up the video. I'm like, takes me so long to do these things. And then, you know, meanwhile, my daughter's video, like, she put up, like, the very next day and,

Jules [00:17:28]:
you know,

Jules [00:17:29]:
it's 10 times better than mine, but she was she was all over it.

Erica [00:17:31]:
She's just

Jules [00:17:32]:
seen it. Yeah. She was. But I am happy with with the post that I put up because I think it's very informative, and it will be a great resource for people. I I have a post that I put up, a couple years ago, gluten free London, and then I have one gluten free Paris that I did last year. And then I put up gluten free Copenhagen, and I will get another one up for the Cologne region of Germany and for Amsterdam. I just I'm slogging along, trying to get that stuff all pulled together. So I I also have another post up about just travel in general, and so I've been sort of supplementing that as well with some more international tips.

Jules [00:18:18]:
It was easier than I thought it was going to be, but not as easy in Copenhagen as it was in Amsterdam. And Germany was the hardest, although it was not hard. And the more complicating factor here is my layered on dietary restrictions. Yeah. The gluten free part, it was refreshing how much people knew and how much awareness there was around that there. And and this goes for pretty much everywhere that we were in Europe. It was, you know, you could go into any restaurant, whether they had a gluten free menu or not, and say, you know, I need gluten free. And then and they'd be like, oh, we got that.

Jules [00:19:10]:
We have gluten free pasta. We have gluten free bread. We and even though it wasn't on the menu, it and it was without, without exception. I mean, almost every single place that we went was like that, and that was really cool. You don't find that in the US at all. You know? You really have to go out of your way in the US to find a gluten free friendly restaurant. Not one that can just say, well, we can boil the chicken and give you some rice. I mean, people can do that.

Jules [00:19:39]:
But for them to say, we have these other things and they're aware enough to know they'll be proactive and say, but you can't have the fries because they're made in a and I didn't have to ask that question. They would say that. And and it's just like, wow, this is so cool. I wanna live here. You know? That's so crazy. That was that was amazing. The the part that made it harder is that I don't eat meat and I also have to be dairy free. So that's where the complicated part comes in.

Jules [00:20:08]:
That's what was harder for me, like, in Germany. But for example, we wanted to take my son, for, like, an authentic German, meat fest, you know, basically where he just gets like all the sausage. Right? So disgusting. But he's what he wanted. And he want and and I wanted him to have that because we were in Germany. And so we we didn't even I didn't even research it.

Jules [00:20:35]:
I was like, of course, I'm not gonna be able to

Jules [00:20:35]:
get anything to eat here. I'm not eating at this meal. This is for him. Like, I'm into this. Like, this is his experience. And so we just go to this, like, touristy place. Like, it was, like, on the square. And, in this, in it was an auction auction auction, I think is how it's pronounced.

Jules [00:20:54]:
So it wasn't even in the main, like, cologne area. So it was a little smaller town. And, so we we, like, went in there and looked at the menu and he's, like, I want the one that has the 3 different kinds of meat and, like, like, all in. Right? And, like, okay. You're gonna be not feeling well after this and he wasn't. That it's fine. So he played he orders whatever is an order. And then I look on the menu and there's a freaking like gluten free veggie burger.

Jules [00:21:25]:
There's other salads, you know, whatever. But there's also gluten free bratwurst, gluten free sausage, like and they're all house made. And and I'm not into that. Like, I don't want a I'm the kind of vegetarian who doesn't search out fake meat, like, that grosses me out. But the veggie burger, I was like, oh, and it was like made with chickpeas and, lentils. And, I mean, it wasn't like a Beyond Burger. It was a Yeah. You know, really kind of a cool homemade bite.

Jules [00:21:57]:
And every one of these places, like, if you ask them, they pull out this allergy chart and start going down. They're like, nope. No gluten. And then and they'll show it to you. You know, whatever. Like, I'm so excited to be be here in this moment right now. Like, I never expected to eat at this German brat house, and I had choices. And so, like, my husband got the vegetarian whatever, some kind of sausage y thing or whatever, and my daughter got another vegetarian sausage ribbon.

Jules [00:22:26]:
And I got the veggie burger, like, totally hot. And and the vegan cheeses over there, oh my gosh. They were so good.

Erica [00:22:35]:
What? Like, is it a brand?

Jules [00:22:37]:
I asked in lots of different places that I went, and they all use kind of different ones. The only one that I ever found that I recognized, was, I think it was Viven that they were using.

Erica [00:22:55]:
Because Violife is supposed to be a big one

Jules [00:22:57]:
Yeah.

Erica [00:22:58]:
In Europe.

Jules [00:22:59]:
But

Jules [00:22:59]:
Yeah. And I didn't see that one. And it was they were all, like, local cheese companies. And I had this really long conversation with a a gentleman at a, restaurant. It was like a it was a one of those places where you go kind of like, they had stalls everywhere, and every stall was a different kind of food and it was really, really cool. It was in this really neat area of Amsterdam and he was the only man in this stall. I don't know how he was doing all he was doing, but I had, a dish there that he had prepared and it had vegan cheese. And so while he was preparing all of everybody's foods or whatever, I'm like, so tell me about your vegan cheeses.

Jules [00:23:48]:
And when he's like, well, I'm looking for a new one. The one that I'm using, that I get right down the street and they make it but it gets a little watery and so I'm looking for a different one or whatever. But then he just he pulled out the, the bag and actually I I we can post the video here because it's really interesting because it's he shows the bag the bag that he uses and talks about the, the different types of cheeses as he's experimented with. But he, you know, there were everything in his stall was gluten free except for like one thing. And he had all kinds of vegan cheeses or but that this is the right way to do it. It wasn't like a vegan gluten free stall. It was Yeah. A stall that happened to be that way.

Jules [00:24:32]:
And so people were coming there to eat, not because they were gluten free or because they were vegan, because the food was good and that was the whole point. And it was delicious. And another person came up behind me when I was ordering and she was like, I had the vegan gluten free quesadilla and it was delicious. I just can't tell you how, you know, how much I enjoyed that. It was still, you know, so, so, so good and whatever. Anyway, I was just really impressed with the vegan cheeses.

Erica [00:24:57]:
So We're, so this is in Germany?

Jules [00:25:03]:
was that was Amsterdam where I had the conversation with that that guy. But Germany was the Broad House, where they had all these other, sausages and things.

Erica [00:25:13]:
And English, everyone was just like, obviously, I'm super well versed in English.

Jules [00:25:20]:
I have no issues. I mean, there were some places where people didn't speak very well. Like, there was one time when we went, I think we were, yeah, we were in Copenhagen, and the kids all wanted ice cream. And so we went up to, like, an ice cream truck, and they had vegan gelato, which was great. And I didn't have any cash because normally when I go to Europe, I don't end up getting cash because I don't tend to need it and then I don't wanna pay the exchange rate and

Jules [00:25:52]:
all that.

Jules [00:25:54]:
But I had read that in Denmark, they prefer cash for transactions under $10. And so they tend to use use cash more frequently. So I had intended to get some cash, but I had we had just kind of gotten there. And we got up to this ice cream stand and the the kids ordered their their ice cream, whatever, and I went to go pay with my card. And he spoke zero English, but it was very clear that he was not taking my card. He was like, you know, like this. And I was like, okay. ATM.

Jules [00:26:29]:
And we were in the middle of kind of nowhere on the other side of the river. So we had to go, like, down and around. I had to go searching, searching, searching to go try to find some money and then come back. And when I came back, obviously, I had larger denominations and he didn't have the ability to break the the change, whatever. So he just, like, didn't give me change. He just I I made out in the situation and he was like, it's okay. It's okay. And then he just gave me the money, but he didn't speak any English.

Jules [00:27:02]:
But she just sort of Yeah. You know, make it work. But yeah. Otherwise, pretty much everybody spoke English. And that was nice because I speak some French as we've discussed, but I don't speak German.

Erica [00:27:17]:
I don't speak more than, like, some French. You speak French. And I feel like it's a romance language and you should just make it up because it's amazing.

Jules [00:27:26]:
Well, and that means that I can understand a little bit of other, you know, similar romance languages. So I can I can limp along and with a little bit of Spanish, and and I can understand some German? I did not understand Danish, did not understand, you know, anything when we were traveling really.

Jules [00:27:45]:
So I

Jules [00:27:45]:
was like, okay. So it was really good that people spoke English. So it was good. It was great. I mean, I have to say I did not expect to love, Copenhagen and Denmark as much as I did. I fell in love with it. I just the vibe there was just really hard to describe. I've never been in a place that was as chill as it was there.

Jules [00:28:15]:
I mean, it was palpable. You just everyone just was easygoing and just I mean, obviously, that people have to have stress in their lives. But it I think being a bike culture adds a lot to that because there are more bikes than cars in the city. Mhmm. And I don't like to bike in a city because I get stressed out by the cars. But we biked all over the place and I wasn't stressed at all because I was just biking.

Erica [00:28:48]:
You're not in fear for your life?

Jules [00:28:50]:
Right. And there were not very many cars. And so I didn't have to worry about being on a bike. And it was so pleasant. I mean, we walked a ton as well, but it was so pleasant to see so much of the town, the city, by bike that way. You could just get so much farther, so much faster. We also, of course, did the canal, and, it was just it was really fun to, to just be in that environment. And it was quiet.

Jules [00:29:24]:
I mean, there were no people honking horns or yelling. There was no even when you're at a restaurant and you're sitting outside or whatever, people didn't speak. Their voices weren't loud. So it it wasn't like an Italian kind of culture, you know, where people, you know, are like, wow.

Erica [00:29:44]:
They're yelling at all times.

Jules [00:29:45]:
Yes. Right. E even when they're happy. Right? I mean, it was just it was more docile, you know, and just it was just a a lower temperature, everything. People were just chill and you could feel it. And, you know, at night we had the windows open and all you heard were owls. And we were staying like in the city. It was crazy.

Jules [00:30:09]:
It was amazing, though. I really, really loved it. I wanna go back, like, in the winter and see what it's really like then to see if it's something I could tolerate. Because, you know, when we were there, there's, like, 13, 14 hours of sunlight, and the weather was amazing. It was in seventies. And who wouldn't wanna be there? Right?

Erica [00:30:29]:
Yeah.

Jules [00:30:29]:
But, I think you have to flip the narrative and see if you could really tolerate the opposite of that, which is really cold and not very many hours of sunlight. I think it could be fun and cozy and

Erica [00:30:43]:
Yeah.

Jules [00:30:44]:
A very different atmosphere, but could you tolerate that for months at a time? I don't know. No. That's a question I have

Jules [00:30:49]:
to ask myself.

Erica [00:30:50]:
I'm gonna have to know.

Jules [00:30:51]:
I don't know. That's interesting.

Erica [00:30:53]:
Did you have any meal that was like, wow, it really blew your mind? Or were you just like, yeah, it's great food, but nothing stood out?

Jules [00:31:02]:
No. I didn't have any meal that blew my mind. I there was a pizza we had when we first got to Copenhagen, and I typically do not ever order gluten free pizza out for two reasons. 1, the safety of it. It's either made in a contaminated environment or it's made with, gluten free, gluten free, and air quotes, wheat starch, which I stay away from. And so, it was a I guess three reasons or it's safe, but it doesn't taste good. Right? You're just eating the toppings off of it. Mhmm.

Jules [00:31:42]:
But this particular place had really good reviews, like, lots of really good reviews from people who were self identified as celiac even though it was not a dedicated environment. It they did not use the wheat starch. And the waitress had celiac as well, and she described what the procedures were in the kitchen and how they separated things. And I also had read in advance about what those were. So I felt like it was probably safe enough, Beth.

Jules [00:32:16]:
Yeah.

Jules [00:32:17]:
And you just wanna you just have to decide for yourself when you're in that situation.

Erica [00:32:21]:
I mean, that's a hell of a lot safer than some pizza places that I see other people eat here in the states.

Jules [00:32:27]:
I know. Right? Right. And then and you just have to make that decision, like, okay. I'm on vacation. Like, do I wanna try this or not? Or you know? So anyway, so I tried it and their toppings were just so unusual and just really, really cool. They had something for their vegan pizza called eggplant cream, which was basically, like it wasn't like baba ganoush, but it was, like, they really had macerated this eggplant into almost a cream. And it had this lovely flavor, and they had all these vegetables like kale and sweet potato and and it was, like, there was no cheese on it. It was, like, oil and then they and they had, like, a cashew cream or something too.

Jules [00:33:07]:
It was it was a delicious topping, and the other people also got the same. A lot of people in our party got the same toppings. It just sounded so interesting, but they got the regular crust and I had the gluten free crust. It was very clear. You can see the difference between the two crusts. There's no no concern about whether they gotten mine wrong, but the crust was not bad. It was not, it was not what I'm used to because I'm when I make your crust at home, it's like pizza crust. It's, you know, bread y and and all of that.

Jules [00:33:36]:
And it wasn't like that. But for a thin crust pizza, it wasn't like cardboard. It what had flavor. It stood up to the toppings. So it was very enjoyable. And we were also sitting out right by the canal. And so just the atmosphere was amazing. So just all of that was really great.

Jules [00:33:56]:
Yeah. So that was really nice. I really enjoyed that, that dinner. And then, the bakery that the hug baggery, their, their, pastries were actually really, really good. And, I just loved the tour. I loved, talking to Luca about what they're doing there and their plans for expansion and, having corresponded with, one of the owners in advance. She was so sweet and lovely, to me, you know, personally in our DMs. And I just I can't say enough good things about that bakery.

Jules [00:34:33]:
Like, if I had lived close to that bakery, I'd be one of those people who'd be popping in there, you know, every other day. Like yeah. I mean, just lovely. And they had so many vegan options too. So, that was really neat, especially in comparison to, like, there was another bakery, Isabella Bakery, which has is a chain. It was in, Germany. And a couple of things I tried there, like the macaron, they were very, very good. But comparing, like, the pastries, the, like, the cinnamon roll pastry to the ones that I had at the hug baggery, they just they were kinda dry at the Isabella bakery and just, you know, not nobody would would say that they were, like, I'm gonna go out of the my way for that, you know, kind of thing.

Jules [00:35:18]:
So, you know, there's there's a big difference, you know, even just in between the ones that you have access to there. So that was nice just to get to sample and taste test different bakeries in different places. That was kind of fun. We also had, we found after we went to a, an Ajax football match.

Erica [00:35:41]:
And so fun.

Jules [00:35:42]:
Yes. I was, I was like bucket list. I've always wanted to get a professional, soccer game match in Europe. And so we got together one of those and afterwards we drove all the way to Germany that night. So we're quite a really late night, but I found this restaurant on the water, like, on their way out of, the on our way to Cologne. And it was it was, like, the most unusual place tucked back in this, like, really strange neighborhood through these canals, and it was just so beautiful. I don't even know how I mean, it's like a single lane road, and it was just really, really fairy tale like just to head back there. And the restaurant was so busy.

Jules [00:36:28]:
I mean, I don't know how these people all got there. It was like everybody came to this one seafood restaurant and, we all had a really fantastic meal there, but it was also like the atmosphere of being there was also really fantastic. But I had, a salad with just like it it came it was like a surf and turf salad. And I said, can I just not have the turf? And they said, oh, sure. And then they put all this extra fish of different kinds on it. Like, they just went above and down. It was, like, the best salad I've ever had because that was just so much different stuff on it. So, you know, that was that was kinda nice.

Jules [00:37:08]:
But, yeah. I don't know. I mean, I had I had good meals, but it wasn't like I was there to test things out and to see if I could find safe food and, you know, how hard was it to do that and, you know, that kind of thing. But I didn't have something that was like, Oh my gosh, I can't, I won't I'm so disappointed. I'm never gonna be able to have this one again. You know, that kind of thing.

Erica [00:37:29]:
Yeah. But, but never underestimate the concept of going anywhere and finding a meal that you can eat.

Jules [00:37:37]:
The value of that Yeah. In and of itself. I mean, everything I had was good. Like, I mean, you know, I've I had a taco in, Amsterdam. My son and I just walked out You

Erica [00:37:49]:
know what they're famous for? They're

Jules [00:37:51]:
Exactly. They're Amsterdam Tacos. I mean, I'd read so much about them. But we we were in this dish, like, the shopping dish, like, it was called like a hipster shopping district or something like that. I don't know. It was random. But so he was wanting a taco and we walked up to this place and it said on the sign, and it was these women from Mexico. Like, they were off the boat and they they said on the sign, all the tortillas are gluten free and all of the everything in the meat and everything was gluten free.

Jules [00:38:22]:
And they had vegan, like soy, whatever, something as an option. And so he got whatever he got and I got one of those and it was so good. And, but I'd like watched her make the tortilla from scratch. Like she had the dough right there, whatever. She just made the tortilla or whatever. And it was just so cool. It was like, there's a little tiny taco stand and on the sign it says gluten free tortillas. I'm like, oh, yes.

Jules [00:38:48]:
I'm here. You just don't find this stuff in the US. Yeah. Why? It's not fair. It's just not fair. But anyway, they're obviously, they're way more attuned to it, you know, than we are. Just way more attuned to it.

Erica [00:39:05]:
And the fact that you it wasn't even gluten free because some places are gluten free friendly but not vegan or vegetarian friendly. It seems like a really good mix of, like seemed like a lot of places had vegan options for vegetarian.

Jules [00:39:20]:
Amsterdam. Vegan. Everywhere. Like, they had restaurants that would like chain restaurants. The name of them was like vegan, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, it was just vegan, vegan, vegan everywhere, vegan, so much vegan food in Amsterdam. And it was like, it was way easier to find vegan food even than gluten free food in Amsterdam. And so that, I mean, scratch that off your list.

Jules [00:39:46]:
If you're vegan, like head to Amsterdam, it is so easy to eat in Amsterdam if you're vegan. And, and Oatly has cornered the market over there in terms of, like, if you're gonna get, you know, if you wanna get, a coffee with, you know, they they say, say plant based milk and whatever the the language is, is called plant based milk. Like one word, it's one word, plant based milk. And it's, they mean Oatly. Like that's what they mean literally. And, and it's the rare find that they offer something other than oat milk. And occasionally you'll find a brand other than Oatly, but they usually mean Oatly. And in Amsterdam in particular, it was all branded Oatly, like on the signs.

Jules [00:40:31]:
It'll be like, you know, such and such coffee shop. And then on the the the glass, it'll be like, Oatly. Like, it'll be like on the glass. It was amazing. Yeah.

Erica [00:40:43]:
Who knew? Who knew?

Jules [00:40:45]:
Yeah. Well, you know how they say, like, we're huge in Europe. Like Yeah. That's a

Erica [00:40:49]:
that's a That's a leaf.

Jules [00:40:50]:
That's a leaf. They're huge in Europe.

Erica [00:40:54]:
Sounds amazing. Yeah. And you flew direct?

Jules [00:41:01]:
We flew Icelandair from BWI, which was brilliant because it's, like, 10 minutes or away from our house, which is great. And Icelandair through Reykjavik into Copenhagen. And then we flew from Copenhagen to Amsterdam. And then we flew from Amsterdam to, Reykjavik to home, to BWI. And Icelandair was great. I actually wrote about that in my post as well because normally, you know, we all say don't eat the airline food because you have no idea what they mean when they say gluten free. And I always order the gluten free meal anyway just to

Erica [00:41:39]:
see Yeah. There's, yeah, there's

Jules [00:41:40]:
no like ingredients on anything or

Jules [00:41:42]:
just like

Erica [00:41:43]:
a piece of chicken. Yeah.

Jules [00:41:44]:
Yeah. Right. And so, in advance, so they offered and they have to buy any food on Iceland. That's the thing. It's almost like, you know, well, if you want anything on Iceland, you have to pay for it, which is fine. Like, because then, you know, you're getting a decent price ticket. And then if you don't want to pay for anything on the flight, then don't pay for it. But the, they offered the chance to purchase a meal in advance on the way over, which was good because, you know, just the times and I, and I knew traveling with not I don't have young kids, but I I have kids who get hungry and I just thought it would be a really good chance for me to feed them before we land.

Jules [00:42:21]:
Mhmm.

Jules [00:42:21]:
And so I was gonna order them food. I yeah. I didn't think I was gonna get anything and I packed my own food and whatever. But I was like, oh, look, just to see, you know, what the options are. And they had this vegan meal that was also gluten free. And I I looked through the whole thing and they advertised it as being gluten free. And I looked at the ingredients, whatever, and it was definitely gluten free, but they seem like they knew what they were doing and they definitely promoted it as being gluten free and nothing else was being gluten free. And it was prepackaged and the risk looked like it was fairly low in terms of the cross contact stuff suit too.

Jules [00:43:00]:
But again, you have to make your own decisions about whether you wanna risk it. But I decided to risk it and I was fine luckily, but it was really very good. I mean, I it was a filling meal for what I got and it was a like a falafel situation on a salad and it was vegan and gluten free. And the full ingredient list was on the website when I ordered it and it was also on the package when they delivered it to me. It was

Erica [00:43:29]:
like And and you never get that. Like, I never

Jules [00:43:32]:
get that.

Erica [00:43:32]:
Person who talks about airline meals. There's, like, it just says g f. And then there's no ingredients, no nothing, anything. It's like, dude, what am I gonna do? Yeah. I got a meal and I'm, like, and I just ate the chicken. And I'm, like, I don't even know if this is safe, but it's the safest looking thing.

Jules [00:43:48]:
Right. Yeah.

Erica [00:43:49]:
That's a lot.

Jules [00:43:49]:
I know. Yeah. So thank you, Icelandair for that option.

Erica [00:43:53]:
Apparently.

Jules [00:43:54]:
Geez. I am. It was it was so refreshing. And you know, again, just the awareness everywhere but the US. Right? And I don't know I don't know how we change that, but we're working on it. Right?

Erica [00:44:08]:
I just posted, a post about, staying at hotels and the hotel breakfast that you get. Oh, I saw that. Just like the cereal and it's like, look at all the cereal I can't have and look at all the, like, pastries I can't have. And I'm like, have you ever found anything good? And everyone's like, not in the US. And I'm just like, ma'am,

Jules [00:44:28]:
that's so

Jules [00:44:29]:
weird. Yeah. But you know what really annoys me about those is when you see those bins with the cereal and the one that's labeled Cheerios and it says gluten free. That really, really, really gets me every time because Cheerios is not gluten free and they're sponsored by General Mills. They give them the bins and they give them the stickers. And so, I mean, what does the hotel know from anything? They don't. They just put the put it out there. It's not their fault but it just really bothers me.

Jules [00:44:56]:
It's a little pet peeve of mine. So Oh, just a little pet peeve of yours? Just a little one.

Jules [00:45:01]:
Just a teeny tiny little pet peeve.

Erica [00:45:03]:
Geez. No kidding.

Jules [00:45:05]:
Yeah.

Erica [00:45:06]:
Alright. Well, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go buy a duffel bag.

Jules [00:45:11]:
To that, you know, generic sports store. Generic sports store. Near you. Mhmm.

Erica [00:45:16]:
Nope. I have to go look and see where I can buy a hockey bag or whatever. Mhmm. And then I have to spend all day tomorrow making, granola bars. So

Jules [00:45:28]:
That sounds like fun. Will you make one for me?

Jules [00:45:30]:
Okay.

Erica [00:45:32]:
Alright. Jules, I'll see you soon. Family, friends, everyone listening to this podcast, thank you so much for tuning in to You Had Me Eat, and I'd really appreciate it if you also left a review on Apple Podcasts. We, we love reviews. We love to hear from you as well. Shoot us an email if you have any questions about anything on this episode, and we'll drop the links in the liner notes as always. So thanks again for tuning in to another episode of You Have Me to Eat.

Jules [00:45:57]:
Talk to you soon. Thanks for tuning in to You Had Me at Eat, the number one voted gluten free podcast in the country. Remember to like and subscribe, tell all your friends, and we'll talk to you next time.