So much for a promise to do better!

Salve!

Obviously my promise to do better was sorely lacking -- and I don't know why!

Actually I do.

The summer here in Rome are hot and dry. The dry I can deal with, the hot has become difficult. Walking in the heat really took all the energy out of me. I guess this is a sign of my advancing age and finally an acknowledgment that I really have to plan well ahead of any activities I do.

I found that I couldn't do two physically (for me) demanding tasks on succeeding days.The worst day was a long planned trip to Pompeii with with visiting family. The month was July, the weather was hot. We rented a taxi to drive the two plus hours to Naples so we could plan out own exploration.


When we entered the site I couldn't believe the size of ruins. They weren't just a few blocks with some displays. The site was miles square!

We had decided what we wanted to see and the route to take to the exhibits. We started out on the old Roman streets. Cobble stoned.  Bumpy. And mostly uphill.

I lasted about 40 minutes before I couldn't go any further.

I found a building with one side in relative shade. I sat down feeling older and far less togther than the ruins around me.

Well, the trip was partially ruined for the party. I stayed next to my building while the others made short forays into the ruins around me. When I recovered a bit, we explored a but more making frequent rest breaks and staying mostly on level ground.

All in all, a trip mostly ruined but still unforgettable.

So what did I learn? Pompeii is a great place to visit, but not in July. We are planning another trip in January with an archeologist my wife knows.

I want to see the Agustin Aqueduct  and the bathhouse located near Marine Gate portion of the ruins,.

So, as usual, I was too soo old and too late smart!

Arrivederci!

Many Excuses -- and a promise to do better

II don't believe that is actually more than a month since I added to this missive.

A great deal of time and ALL my energy has been spent in thrice-weekly physical therapy experiences.

Rome has a fantastic public transportation system, but bus transport takes time. In order to make a 10:00 AM appointment at the hospital, I need to get up as 6:45, walk to Piazza Mancini (about 1 KM away) to catch the ATAC 280 bus by 8:30. Being a rush hour, it takes about 40 minutes to reach Piazza Belli where I change to a Tram (in the states we call them a streetcar or trolley) for a 7 stop ride to San Camillo Hospital.

After an extensive 45 minute pummeling, I take the return trip. I arrive back home about 12:30 PM and collapse for the rest of the day.

And the next day.

The results have given me more strength, and inches around the waist.

Progress was so dramatic that I have been sent on yet another 10 treatments.

So, pardon the interruption in dialog, and I hope to do better these next months

A bit of Ego -- Who I am

My brother in law, may he rest in peace, (Not because he passed, but because he fell and broke his pelvis) laughed when he heard that my wife and I were permanently moving to Rome. Somehow he thought I would be a Stranger in a Strange Land among the Romantics.

For those of you who don't know me -- the vast portion of the world -- I am a retired registered nurse/video game designer/software engineer/manufacturing consultant/mathematics teacher who married a remarkable woman who was born in Rome.

When the health care system in my native United State consigned my family to a crevasse where we were facing a period of no health insurance, we decided to emigrate to my wife's native Rome where no such chavasse exists.

I began working in 1959 and worked continuously until a obscure genetic disease called Charcot-Marie-Tooth crippled me. I say crippled because I am not handicapped. I just can't walk very well and can't stay awake while driving.

Now this missive is not a plea for sympathy or even understanding. I will be a chronicle of how a life long conservative US citizen copes and marvels at his new existence.

Post responses and questions if you desire. i hope this becomes a two way discussion of how life changes from what one envisaged.