Just need to talk to my friends (217)

Beth. I'm on a group tour and seats were assigned. Actually all of my seats were either middle or window seats. I was able to change three of my four seats for aisle seats, but I couldn't with the leg I just flew. The seating assignments were strange, several married couples with the same last name were seated far apart from each other.

We are now settled in a resort town called Sainta Margharita Lugare. Apparently retirees from other countries love to stay here, permanently or as snow birds. I can see why, because it's beautiful and peaceful. And it has its own beach.

The beach area, one block away

You can buy freshly caught fish off the fishing boats and they will fry it up for you right then and there!

Italiana love to stroll. It's easy for them, their sidewalks are so wide and separated from traffic.

Italians love statues in public places. Here is Christopher Columbus.

Leonardo Lustig—I don't know why he has a statue

More public art

Italians love motorbikes.

My hotel room

Toilet and bidet

My balcony

In a few hours we will have our welcome dinner at our hotel. So long for now.

Iris

Beautiful, Iris! I enjoy your photos so much!

I didn't know who Leonardo Lustig is either, so I checked and he is a German-Italian sculptor. He is the artist, not the subject of the statue, which is titled "Uomo di Mare" (Man of the Sea). Beautiful sculpture, beautiful city. When J. C. Nichols built the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, he bought the statues in Italy.

My mother loved peonies, and several of mine grew from starts from her garden. One of my earliest memories is of peonies as tall as I, with blooms as large as my head.

We live in a beautiful world.

Iris, thank you for posting your pictures, it really helps us on the front porch feel like we are with you. I couldn’t figure out why in the world would the seat assignment for married couples be so far away from each other. It finally came to me; Iris you might be on a swingers tour! LOL

I’m beginning to feel a little better, but no driving for two weeks is hard. I tried to act macho a couple of days ago and decided I could tough it out without pain meds and muscle relaxers. Big mistake, I’m not as tough as I thought.

Ron

Good afternoon

Now I have seen Italy

Ron hope you are still doing well

Ron, was your surgery at your local VA hospital? I wonder why you didn't have a visiting nurse attend to your drainage site. Or were you to return to the hospital for follow up care? If you press on the area, is there still any drainage? Are you able to eat any better now?

It hasn't been a full week post-op yet, so no need to tough it out. Be aware of changes in the pain level, this will alert you to continued healing or to a possible complication.

Here's a funny: I was wondering why you have a drain on the back of your neck. I saw the white hair and assumed that was the back of your head. Then it finally dawned on me that men have hair on their faces, called a beard! And I know that you do have a white beard, Ron. Ha ha on me!

Ron, here's another funny and keep this under your hat. One couple are named Bob and Alice. That sounded so familiar. Then I recalled the movie, Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice! LOL! 😉 But these are not that Bob and Alice. We are all upstanding folk, interested in learning about Italy, not swinging.

This trip is different from my regular travel club, because they are a bit younger, some still working and there are more couples and more men. My travel club is mostly ladies and mostly retired.

Carl, thanks for the education about Leonardo Lustig. We learn so much from our porch friends! I saw more statues in the short walk I took this afternoon, Italians really love statues and art.

Welcome to Lorita's front porch, Varicella. I joined this message board as a person with memory loss, but I do not have dementia. I stayed because the people here are so nice and I also wanted to pass along what I had learned about caregiving for PWD to others. Although my career was in the medical field, my knowledge of dementia and caregiving was limited. Unfortunately, still today, patients and families may receive little to no education about dementia or caregiving from doctors and other professionals who care for older adults. It is vital for families to be educated about dementia, because dementia caregiving requires a different mindset than for other diseases and conditions.

To answer your question, I started traveling alone, but now I belong to a travel club and we travel together. But this trip is not with my travel club. I signed up for a roommate whom I met just a few hours ago. She is very nice.

Lorita, I did not know the two women that I sat between. They apparently chose the window and aisle seats, hoping that the middle seat would remain unfilled. But I filled that seat. They talked to each other over me and passed things to each other over me. The aisle woman stepped over me instead of waiting for me to exit because the window woman did not get up. I could only use the restroom when the aisle woman got up, because she fell into a hard sleep after the meal service. I think I can say that that flight was my worse airplane flight ever. Usually people are more accommodating on airplanes. But I got through it.

I didn't mention before, but after my walk where I saw the statues, I had some Italian gelato.

There are so many flavors that we don't have at home. Our guide was quick to inform us that gelato is not ice cream, because it is made with milk instead of cream. (I think this means gelato is calorie-free, what do you think?) I might have gelato every day!

On this trip, we have the owner of the tour company, who is an American, and a local Italian tour guide and a driver. There are about 50 of us, which is large, because usually the groups are about 35-38 people.

We had a nice welcome dinner close to the hotel. In Italy, meals begin with antipasto, then a primo course, which is pasta, then a second course, which is meat or fish, and then the dolce, which is dessert. We were served white and red wines and still and sparkling water. The food is served family style, meaning the wait staff brings a platter to the table and dishes out a portion to each plate.

Table setting

Bruschetta

Fried calamari and fried vegetables antipasto

Tomato and water buffalo cheese--(I think that's what they said) personally, I didn't care for this cheese, it had no flavor.

Primo course: Pasta with pesto—this area is the home of the best pesto--it was tasty.

Second course: Pasta with meat—I didn't notice much meat, but it tasted all right.

Dolce: tiramisu—DELICIOSO! This tiramisu was much different from what we have at home, it was creamier and totally delicious!

Tomorrow, after breakfast, we will hop on a boat yo take us yo Portofino.

Good night.

Iris

I think it's required to have gelato at least once a day while in Italy. And…tbh…I think Carl is mistaken. It must be calorie free! :-D

Good morning, all. Rain this afternoon and my knee is already feeling it. We could use it.

Beth— What fresh hell is Trader Joe's on a Saturday? What was I thinking? There wasn't room to swing a cat. But I did get a tube of sunscreen and it does have the exact texture of the "Unseen Sunscreen" so that's great. I also grabbed some mozzarella and pepperoni for my pizzas. I picked up some shampoo for DS— we'll see if he likes it.

I hope the sleepover went well. What a treat for all involved.

Iris— DS always said the truck stop food in Italy was pretty good; he complains bitterly about the slop served on road trips.

I love the view from your balcony. The ashtray was a trip down memory lane. It's a long time since I've seen one in a hotel.

The food looks great. The tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella look amazing. I agree that fresh cheese isn't as complex as aged but I really enjoy it with tomatoes and arugula. I was kind of surprised the second course was pasta— normally it would be meat sauteed, grilled or roasted.

Ron— You literally look as though your throat was slit. The did do a great job closing you up. I expect that scar will be unnoticeable in a few months. I'm glad you decided to stay on top of your pain. There is no good reason to suffer.

Lorita— Do folks paint the ceilings of their porches sky blue where you are?

Carl— "gelato isn't calorie-free" <fingers in ears> la, la, la I can't here you. I'm supposed to be the buzzkill around these parts. This reminds me of the Seinfeld episode about the fat-free Froyo. Does that stuff even still exist?

Gothic G— The Sephora sale is based on your status. I'm lowest tier there but next-level at Ulta. LOL, I much prefer Sephora because the Ulta near me is also near a middle and high schools and merchandized for the younger folks who clog the aisles. I hope the color match was good this time. It's funny, when I got home, they'd sent me an email that contained my color-match as well as a report card on my skin's condition. I lost points for lines and hydration. Is this how they make friends?

Varicella— welcome to Lorita's porch. Your screen name is unusual.

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Be safe out there today.
HB

morning…ggoogleing for instructions on building a king four poster!!

Good morning from New Mexico, or it was morning when I started this post, lol.

Grandson reports 2 more sets of twins this morning. He’s sending pictures so I can sort out who’s delivered. He says everyone looks healthy and close to Mama. One had her babies down by the pond. I bet that’s Boogie Two. She’s a loner and thinks she’s a Great Pyrenees/Anatolian Shepherd, 🤣

Loving your photos Iris!

Ron, that incision is looking good ❣️

Have a great day everyone.. TTYL

Yes, with my grandson!

I'm so sleepy. TTYL.

Iris

Good morning

Ron