11 September 2016
Filippo kindly invited The Earl and Lady Helen to visit him in is home, a lovely apartment on The Lungomare. What a privilege when one is a tourist to be invited into the home of citizen of the country one is visiting. And what a lovely home he had. His wife although she could not speak English was and made them feel very welcome and her Itaian coffee was to die for. They spent a couple of hours with them and then The Earl felt tired so Filippo took them back to the hotel.
Stunning View over the bay
A lovely enclosed stoep
Nicole chatting to her daughter
At 4 ish The Earl felt like a walk and so they went down to the gelateria for ice cream and then walked to the Lungomare and sat on a bench enjoying the passing parade. The Earl managed to get by without any dizzy spells.
12 September 2016
After his four day stay in the hotel The Earl realised that would not be well enough to travel to Diamante or to go on any excursions near Salerno. “I think we should go home on Tuesday,”he said. “Check the internet for flights and change our tickets.” Lady Helen did all the research but did not make any bookings. “We’ll see what Dr P says about flying.” she warned her husband. “You can’t just decide you’re going to get on a plane and fly home when you’re in your condition.” And she would have to be the one coping with an invalid on a long haul flight!
Filippo kindly took them to his appointment on that Monday afternoon. The surgeon who operated was there too. They were pleased with The Earl’s progress but would not allow him to fly.
Dr P said to book a flight for the 19 September and he would like to see him on the Thursday before departure. The Earl could not understand why he had to wait so long before he was allowed to fly but Lady Helen was relieved. “It’s a long flight, my darling, and you need to be strong enough to handle it. Just rest now and make sure you’re ready to fly next week.
She did some further research and then got their travel agent back home to organise the changes in their departure date and the organisation of wheelchair assistance.
Just the trip to the hospital and the consultation had exhausted him so after Filippo dropped them back at the hotel The Earl took a nice long nap.
Lady Helen went off to find some coffee and a snack. She was delighted to find a pavement cafe that served a good healthy salad containing lettuce, tomato, olives, tuna and cheese for only C3. It was the best salad she’d had in Italy.
The Earl was dying for a steak at supper time. 300g fillet was €18 but it came with plenty of French Fries. It was three times as much as he would have paid in South Africa but he said it was worth every cent. L.H. had a delicious pork chop for €9. It came with a few slices of Italian bread. When she said “pasto delizioso” the waitress looked at her blankly. She had to repeat it three times before she understood her accent and only then did she beam in delight. “It must be my flat vowels,” said Her Ladyship to The Earl. They both laughed.
