Amy’s mom had a stroke about six days into the trip, and it kind of took the wind out of our inclination to “hurry up and share the vacation.”
First off, after an 8-day delay, she is now fine. As far as we are concerned, if a stroke was in her cards, it could not have happened at a better time or place. Everything we have heard indicates that quick treatment is critical in stroke victims, and we knew about it within five minutes. We got her to Agostino Gemelli hospital in Northwest Rome in about 20-30 minutes, and the top-notch folks there took excellent care of her. More later, but the caregivers here are first rate.
Rome Trip – May 2008:
Dorothy picked up 2,000 Euros beforehand, as our lodging (an apartment at CasaLina) required cash payment. Here's what 2,000 Euro ($3150 USD) looks like:
Easy trip to the airport, thanks to Mom and Dad’s taxi service. We arrived about 10am, only to find our first flight delayed an hour. Luckily, we had given ourselves almost three hours to make our first connection.
Our route was: San Antonio to Dulles in Washington DC - 3.5 hours. Then Dulles to Frankfurt – 9.5 hours. Finally, Frankfurt to Rome - 1.5 hours.
We had only 1 carry on piece each, so we were ready to switch flights if an earlier opportunity presented itself. (Unfortunately, it never did.)
Happy travelers:
In the San Antonio waiting area, we had a nice chat with a young Air Force serviceman who was bound for Northern Italy. He was looking forward to lots of adventures over there.
At Dulles we had to take a shuttle to the International Terminal. They have the weirdest-looking shuttles in the world. They look like something out of a George Lucas movie:
Arrival in Frankfurt: Amy’s watch on San Antonio time, mine on Frankfurt time:
I couldn’t figure out what these signs meant? Run into a wall and fall down? Run really fast into a wall?
Oops, exit signs.
We arrived at Rome, and took a taxi to CasaLina. Here is our hostess, the wonderful Lina:
The grounds and the room were wonderful. We had originally asked for a double room and a single room, but changed to one room for all three of us. It turned out to be a very lucky thing we did, as it allowed Dorothy to call out to us when she lost use of her right side.
A few of the sights at Piazza del Popolo (Plaza of the People):
More to come soon!
2 comments:
Oh my goodness! So glad to hear that Dorothy is fine, now. Must have been quite alarming...Best wishes to all for fun and relaxation, and give our best to Dorothy.
Vicki n Richard
Nathan shared some of the hospital details with me. God was really looking out for Dorothy! Sounds like she got incredible care in a timely manner! I'm so glad to hear she's doing better.
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