Tag: gluten free travel

Surrey, England – Gluten Free & low-FODMAP

Written by themindfulpeanut on September 5, 2020. Posted in Posts, Travel.

I was so excited by the fact that we actually went on a little mini adventure, I just had to write about it while the memories are still fresh! Koala & I hired a car and went on our first excursion “out” since lockdown. We mainly stayed within the Surrey Hills are with a brief day trip down to Arundel for a hike. Here are the trials and tribulations of one lady with food restrictions and two germaphobes traveling during a global pandemic.

1. Denbies Wine Estate

Stop #1 was a stay at the hotel located on the Denbies Wine Estate. It was mostly business as usual around here – quite a few precautions in place but we were able to have a real taste of “normal” life for a moment. Our first night we attended a special food & wine pairing event. Denbies even catered to GF/Vegan! (Sometimes its easier to just adhere to that versus adding in the whole fodmappy thing – but I digress). It was a lovely 3 course meal.

Denbies Food & Wine Pairing

Appetizer of falafel with an absolutely yummy hummous with red pepper. A side of artichoke, olives & sun ripened tomatoes. Artichokes have been a recent favorite of mine (in reasonable serve size)

My main included rice, avocado & cauliflower (unfortunately I didn’t eat much of the cauli for fodmappy reasons). With absolutely lovely GF bread and the BEST vegan feta I’ve had! I made myself an avo toast with these components, along with the mango/pomegranate salsa.

For dessert I was offered three different delicious bars from Honeybuns bakery. I didn’t get a picture of the millionaire’s slice, as I immediately ate it. Also enjoyed Denbies’ Pinot Noir – my favorite of their selection.

Village Greens Farm Shop at Denbies

One of the other great things about staying on the estate was the adorable Village Greens Farm Shop they have on the property. Wines, cheese, frozen and cold foods, prepped vegan dishes and all the treats you could want (plenty of GF options, no worries!) Two things we found there that we treated ourselves to were Montezuma’s Vegan Milk Chocolate bar and a legit Gingerbread slice – never had gingerbread like that before!

Breakfast at Denbies

Breakfast was included with our stay, and due to COVID in lieu of a buffet-style, they had you preorder your selections. Which was amazing, as I was able to fully customize my GF/low-FODMAP breakfast and have it delivered to me at a comfortable social distance from others!

And when in doubt, and you don’t feel like thinking too much – there is always Pizza Express GF takeaway nearby in Dorking!

Stepping Stones Hike

One of my favorite little morning hikes we did while staying at Denbies was across the road to the Stepping Stones. If you’re ever around the area it is definitely worth the walk around.

2. Day Trip to Arundel

We did a quick trip out of Surrey and nearly to the south coast – stopping in Arundel for a day hike. The town was quaint and beautiful with the castle on one side and a huge beautiful cathedral on the other. I didn’t get many pics of the town center, as there were a lot of people. I ended up having quite a bit of anxiety and we retreated to the car so I could eat a homemade banana muffin in peace. Always have a backup food plan while traveling…especially when you have dietary restrictions and there’s a pandemic where cafes have pared down menus or you don’t want to sit inside!! Once we got outside of the city center on the hike, we relaxed and enjoyed the scenery. This hike took us past the Cathedral straight away, and then out to Hiorne Tower before hiking up quite a hill to an amazing overlook. With sheep. Lots of sheep.

Cathedral of Our Lady & Saint Philip Howard

3. Guildford

Our next stop was Guildford, a sizable town on the western outskirts of the Surrey Hills Area. We’ve only ever passed it by while riding a train to a different destination so we decided to pop in for a couple nights stay. We stayed at the Guildford Harbor Hotel, which was nice and had it’s own restaurant though we did not eat there. Deliveroo was our friend our first day here! We were just too people-pandemic-exhausted to venture out further.

Canopy Coffee: We found a lovely local coffee spot that offered a GF blueberry bakewell.
https://www.canopycoffee.co.uk/

4. Our Most Lovely Day (Guildford/Shere)

It has been way too many moons since Koala & I have had a day as lovely as our Sunday out in Guildford & the surrounding areas. Seriously, it is definitely a contender for the Best Day of the Year. It started with the lovely blueberry bakewell and a sleepy Sunday morning walk around Guildford. From here we decided to see what Loseley Park had to offer. And that was well manicured gardens and lawns – a huge estate and general merriment.

Loseley Park

Shere

We then decided to venture over to Shere, a lovely little town in the middle of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (real name).

Cute cafe with an even cuter name! The Dabbling Duck in Shere was a great place to get a coffee or GF avo toast (all from a comfortable takeaway window – no need to sit inside or in their back garden but you could if you wanted to!)

Albury Winery

From here we took a walk through the countryside, through the trees and quiet forest – to the Silent Pools. And then by complete coincidence our hike ended at the Albury Winery – an organic sparkling wine vineyard. I KNOW, what are the odds?! It was booked out for tables, but they allowed walk-ins for a self-guided winery tour. (Basically, you walk the grounds, read facts, drink wine, and see pheasants)

And if the day couldn’t get better, we found a local pub called The Queen’s Head with an extensive GF menu, including Fish & Chips (10 minute drive out of Guildford to East Clandon)

5. Stonehenge

On our last day out, we decided to take a drive to Stonehenge. Neither of us have been there in several years. You have to book your entrance time slot in advance. We arrived early and I found the experience to be much nicer this time without huge tour buses and groups of tourists. Though by the time we left there certainly seemed to be more people than I thought there would be with such regulations. But it was fun to see again!

Concluding Thoughts

I was grateful for the break from the norm – we needed it especially since we’ve been two little expat hermits post-lockdown. We did learn a lot though, and I’m glad we have this knowledge of what stresses us out most while traveling these days. Koala and I are seasoned travelers in our past life – we used to like to hit new cities/countries pretty fast & hard. I think we learned that navigating this new world we need to be a bit more slow-paced and patient with ourselves. This runs true both in our style of travel and mindset in general these days. 🙂

Be well, Sara♥

Oxford, England – Gluten Free & low-FODMAP

Written by themindfulpeanut on June 20, 2020. Posted in Posts, Travel.

I arrived in Oxford by bus from Heathrow and although I was a bit jet-lagged I was also immediately enamored with the beauty of the city. Gothic architecture, museums, a castle, green space and plentiful quaint cafes await in this lovely town. A little something for everyone. Here are some of the picture & foodie highlights of the long weekend away.

Upon arrival, I had a few hours before I could check in to my Airbnb so I had a walk to a nearby cafe called Cafe Loco. After a long day of travel and surviving basically off of protein bars, tea and sheer will & determination – I definitely need greens. These greens happened to come with halloumi on top. Happy days.

Grilled Halloumi salad with butternut squash and rocket at Cafe Loco

Things to See

The next day I was reunited with my Koala and we spent the day exploring Oxford. Naturally, I wanted to see the Bridge of Sighs. Along the way we also enjoyed the sights of Radcliffe Camera, Bodleian Library, and the Museum of Natural History.

Things to Eat!

We found so many yummy places in Oxford, many with Gluten free and Vegan options. Here is the collection of where we went and what I enjoyed on my low-FODMAP diet.

Handlebar Cafe & Kitchen
I’ll have a coconut pancake stack with my banana please! Maple syrup, shredded coconut, coconut oil & almond milk. And a TON of my favorite bananas.
They were also doing only plant based milks for veganuary.

Chez Mal
An entirely Gluten Free Afternoon Tea in a former prison! Koala honestly thought the gluten free scones were better than the regular ones.

Coconut Tree
Seriously put this place on the top of your list to visit. Pictured here is their treacle hopper with coconut ice cream. (Hopper = coconut milk pancake) This Sri Lankan tapas place was soo good. Vegan & GF!

Browns Brasserie
A huge gluten free menu welcomes you at this classic restaurant just a short walk from the center of Oxford. This salmon & potatoes was just what I needed after a long day of exploring. Great for a date night.

I would definitely recommend Oxford for a long weekend. Stay somewhere walking distance to the town center and you’ll have plentiful options at your doorstep. I can’t decide if my favorite part was the cream tea or Coconut Tree, but I’d recommend just do both. 🙂

Be well, Sara ♥

Bristol, England – Gluten Free & low-FODMAP

Written by themindfulpeanut on June 14, 2020. Posted in Posts, Travel.

I recall walking through Bristol and telling Koala, “I think this is my favorite English city we’ve visited.” There was something about the scenery, size, and charm that is perfectly well suited for a weekend away. I’d reckon I would even recommend it to weary London tourists! There was definitely no shortage of pretty walks and health food cafes. Here’s a tour of what we did in Bristol!

We stayed in an Airbnb across the street from Castle Park.

We were here due to a work meeting Koala had on a Friday. So we departed separate trains out of London and met up after work. I arrived just after lunch time, and headed to a cafe that is also a yoga studio…because I figured that sounded basically like home to me.

Favorite Bristol Cafes

Cafe Matariki inside Pacific Yoga – Amazing Gluten Free treats and salads/sandwiches. I didn’t get to a yoga class here, but maybe next time!

We also had brekkie once or twice at Spicer + Cole, a no-fuss cafe with gluten free bread and other options. I enjoyed the GF Avo Toast with Tomatoes & Tofu! What a feast.

Be Natural Kitchen – Located within St Nicolas Market. A lovely place to shop artisan stalls and grab a lovely piece of zucchini cake with avocado frosting!

A Few Bristol Adventures

Bristol is a great city for avid walkers! With a wide variety of sights and green spaces, it basically has a walk for whatever kind of day you fancy. One morning we stopped off at the Windmill Hill City Farm – an adorable, little community-run farm with quaint gardens and some animal friends. Very cute little gift shop on the premises, where I bought myself a pair of locally made earrings.

On our full day in Bristol, we walked to the Clifton Suspension Bridge. On the way, we stopped off at the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery. Both of these sites I’d certainly recommend having a peek!

Koala & I by the Clifton Suspension Bridge!

Date night in Bristol

We enjoyed the calm ambiance of Fishers restaurant. Located not too far from the Clifton Suspension Bridge, it makes for a perfect stop off after a long day of exploring Bristol. They are keen on the GF lifestyle and do make their support very clear which is always reassuring!! I absolutely loved the fish & chips and for dessert they had gluten free sticky toffee pudding! Only the 2nd time in my life I’ve had this special treat. See my IG video of the sticky toffee pud in action! After Fishers we headed back toward our Airbnb and stopped off at the wine lounge Le Vignoble. I became enamored with wine bars after experiencing Vagabond in London. This is the same concept of choose-your-own single pours and tastings.

Our last morning in Bristol we had some time before our train. So we walked the river and found a little cafe that is also a grocer with the cutest store filled with everything a health foodie could need! Better Food had gluten free bread for our eggy morning we paired with a treat. Their gluten free bread was crisp and seeded – paired nicely with the fluffy eggs. We also stopped by the M Shed to have a look around. Great place to go for the history of Bristol!

Better Food – eggy delights, GF seeded bread

I loved Bristol and it is a great spot for a gluten free / health foodie. Plentiful options for exercise, fresh air, foods and fun. Looking forward to going back to explore more of the city in the future.

Be well, Sara ♥