Italy by Disaster

Author: Barb C.
Date of Trip: December 2010

Our daughter Carol Lynn arranged a dream vacation for us to Italy from Milan to Oliveto (a small town that her father’s parents came from. First of all Carol Lynn was coming from Houston, Texas and almost missed the connecting flight to meet us in Amsterdam and then proceeding to Milan. The airlines lost her luggage for two days. We (Carol’s parents, Barb and Glen) came from Chicago, Illinois.

Glen and I had trouble entering the area where we were to depart from in Amsterdam for a connecting flight to Milan. Glen opened the security door in the airport and was surrounded by security and many questions.

Carol arrived barely meeting us and going on to Milan. Carol’s husband Joe went to Frankfurt, Germany and then met us in Milan.

After arriving in Milan for a day Glen had very bad stomach flu and had to have a doctor come to the hotel at midnight. Two days later I (Barb) had the stomach flu and had to have another doctor come in the night. Both doctors gave us two shots each and medicine at the hotel.

We were very sick and weak and we were to continue on to Venice, but my doctor told us that Venice had two feet more of water, so we continued on to Bologna for a visit with cousins. We stayed at her house and while there I fell asleep and the chair sliped out from under me. It was a plastic summer type of chair. I hit my head and I still have a lump there. It happened on the twelve of December and today is the sixth of January. I was checked out by an eye doctor and another doctor. So far so good.

NEXT, all of us (Glen, Barb, Carol Lynn, her husband Joe and Glen’s two widowed cousins) went to the Coluseum in Rome with a personal tour guide. On the way down via elevator, the elevator stopped and we were stuck for an hour and five minutes. It seemed forever due to the fact that I dislike heights and enclosed places.

Next the two cousins were sick for about a day each, but not as bad. Carol Lynn joined us on to Chicago for Christmas, but Joe had to go back to work in Houston. Joe continued on to Houston, BUT his flight was stuck in Germany for two days and they also lost his luggage for a week.

We are back home, but I feel bad that Carol Lynn went through a lot of time, energy and effort to ensure a GREAT VACATION. The more time that is away from the bad, the good begins to come forward.

Some day we will laugh about it all.

We went from Milan, skipped Venice, Bologna, Rome, Florence, Naples and Oliveto.