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Never too old!

Musicus

By Musicus,
in Solo Cruisers

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yellowbird23

yellowbird23

Posted
Posted

I totally agree with both of you. What a kind gesture on her part. As for the scooter, it weighs (I think) only 35 lbs. so I am sure they got it down the steps somehow. You know how determined this man is so I am quite sure he had it all figured out. It gets him off the ship for a "good" reason this time instead of medical. Just hope he doesn't get back on the ship MARRIED...lol!!

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ladysail2

ladysail2

Posted
Posted
Well, it's official! Hubby lost job end of month.

 

I'm sorry too for that unfortunate turn of events. I hope he has good luck in finding another one soon.

 

Thank you so much for relaying all of the emails about this fantastic voyage. Even through adversity, Egon is soldiering on...he's quite an enthusiastic traveler for his age!!! Good for him!

 

Joyce :D

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INCHARGE

INCHARGE

Posted
Posted (edited)

I am so sorry, Pat. Hang in there, and make sure that he knows that you are there for him, and that it will get better. Loving support is needed most needed when times get tough. I have been there, and knew that there would be light at the end of the tunnel. Your husband will get another job soon. Claim it, and it will happen.

Edited by INCHARGE
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yellowbird23

yellowbird23

Posted
Posted

They say things happen for a reason and I'm relying on it to be a good reason. Thanks all for your kind wishes. He turns 66 May 7th and was not planning to quit working until late this year, so it just hastens our plans for retirement for him all the sooner. He took his retirement payments starting the first of the year. We are in the process of listing our house; painters and carpenters are swarming all over the house this week. We are in a good area for home sales so hopefully we can get it done sooner rather than later. One day at a time...

 

On another note, have been receiving my daily "quirky" and sometimes "dirty" little e-mails from Egon so he is having a good time wherever he is at. He is so remarkable this man and his sense of humor needs no adjustments!:D

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yellowbird23

yellowbird23

Posted
Posted (edited)

April 8

The train to Milano was packed and it was difficult finding a seat. Loretta stayed in the entrance vestibule on a jumpseat because she wanted to guard her luggage, part of which, together with mine, was piled up next to me as well in the aisle between seats. So much stuff! While the train reached probably 80KM/Hr, it stopped frequently in towns en route and took a little more than two hours to cover the 135 KM. We found the right track in the huge and modern Milano Station and were lucky to have had reserved seats, because this train, too, was bursting at the seams, with people even sitting on the floor. But it was a fast Intercity train and took just a little over 2 hours for the 200-odd KMs. Next to Loretta sat Fatima, a young woman from Saudi Arabia who had lowered the black veil and her mouth, perfect teeth and winning smile enhanced her pretty face. Next to me, and on seats accross the aisle, two brothers, with whom she is on a two week holiday, going to Rome after Venice.

Loretta's father meets us at the station in Padova and, because of very heavy traffic this Friday evening takes a long way to bring us to the house where he and his wife live, where I meet brother Daniel and sister Alice, both younger than Loretta who is 46. In this house we'll eat except for breakfast, and have WiFi, sometimes only sporadically. The parents, especially the mother, are very nice, have accepted me with open arms as one of the family and I fel quite at home.

Next 2 days, April 9 and 10, being Saturday and Sunday we mainly stay at home except for a trip to a very modern indoor shopping mall - there is need for resting after the long day, and then trying to bring a semblance of order to the masses of Loretta's things stapled up in one of the ground floor rooms of the parent's house - she realizes that

she has much too much stuff and is thinking of going to a flea market. On the way back we stop at a flower shop and I buy a large and pretty bouquet for Mama.

Loretta's is a modern and very compact apartment which requires twice 18 steps for me to climb moaningly. It's one bedroom/bath, a sort of small storage room and a kitchen/living room where I sleep on a convertible sofa.

Like in the parent's place, here too are lots of souvenirs and curios everywhere. A nice feature is the balcony which overlooks large fields on one side because this is actually a suburb of Padova

Nothing happens this Monday, April 11; Loretta had to do a huge wash with the equally compact small washing machine in her bathroom which had to work many times to hande it all; Loretta hung the wash then on racks on the balcony. And in the afternoon she went to clean the apartment - not having been home for the last 7 months

she has a lot of catching up to do in many directions, which include visiting friends. But tomorrow we'll go into the city. Lots of WiFi trouble today which had Loretta arguing with the server on the telephone with lots of expressive gestures for a long time. Since then however, it has been working!

April 12/13: The kitchen in the parent's house is the hub of activity. While there is what would be a living room, it,

like some other rooms, seems never to be used (I have a nap there on the sofa in the afternoon). But the kitchen does not look much like one, since all the doors, including the ones on fridge and dish washer, are of identical dark

wood as the cabinet doors - this is also so in Loretta's apartment except that her's are white. There is a rectangular table, a sofa and a large modern TV (there's another one in the living room, never used). Went into town with Loretta on bus and "trenino", a very fast modern streetcar and visited a wonderful church and a market where I bought a cake for the table. I will invite all out for a meal before leaving.

I have now decided to avail myself of the opportunity and for definitely the last time to go to Switzerland and have found train schedules on www.rail.ch from Genova/Bern and return and while I can buy the tickets on line, they are not available as e-tickets but would be mailed to a foreign country in this case Italy, since it would have to be sent to MSC's Agents in Genova to reach me on Poesia. However, I just now saw that I can get the tickets here at the station for about the same price and have written down the chosen schedules from www.trenitalia.com so that I can tell the agent at the ticket wicket exactly what I want when I am at the Padova Station on the 16th before my trip back to Genova. There is always a long line before one gets to the ticket counter.

I had insisted that Loretta not come back with me to Genova which she wanted to do, but yesterday she went back to the station and bought her tickets to do just that, goaded apparently by her mother. I feel very badly about this because it means almost 12 hrs on trains and its fairly expensive, but when I talked with the mother and also Loretta about it, they made it very clear that they feel absolutely responsible for my safety, regardless of how vehemently I assured them that there was absolutely no need for the chaperone. They would say, "what if something happens to you en route? We would feel responsible". Nothing I can do - so be it.

 

Edited by yellowbird23
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Okie1946

Okie1946

Posted
Posted

Just returned from our Mexican Riveria Cruise and got caught up on Egon's adventures. I really missed being able to do my daily check to see if there were any further additons.

 

So sorry about your husband and his job - went through the same last year - am the same age as your husband - so we just revamped the retirement plans. Quite honestly, when it happened it was a shock - but in the long run - it has worked out for the best. Just took some time to readjust.

 

Good luck and enjoy each day as it comes.

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yellowbird23

yellowbird23

Posted
Posted (edited)
Just returned from our Mexican Riveria Cruise and got caught up on Egon's adventures. I really missed being able to do my daily check to see if there were any further additons.

 

So sorry about your husband and his job - went through the same last year - am the same age as your husband - so we just revamped the retirement plans. Quite honestly, when it happened it was a shock - but in the long run - it has worked out for the best. Just took some time to readjust.

 

Good luck and enjoy each day as it comes.

Thanks Okie. He is driving me nuts already!!! No...really. It's been quite nice and I am so happy that he finally gets to relax, although I don't think he'll do it for long. He is a hard worker and his brain is in gear all weekend worrying. He needs now to learn to relax. We are in the process of selling the house so really it is working out well. House all freshly painted. Carpentry work done. Carpets cleaned this week and listed May 1st. Keep your fingers crossed we don't have to wait long to sell it. Houses in this area are still selling and our price is fairly low for a huge house that it is so we'll see. Certainly no cruises for the time being, but that's okay.

Edited by yellowbird23
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yellowbird23

yellowbird23

Posted
Posted

Pics to follow...

April 15: I had invited them all for a meal in a restaurant and Daniele drove us to a very nice pizzeria/restaurant quite far away. An obviously well known and up-beat place which had, besides dozens of different pizzas also a regular restaurant menu, from which I chose "Wurstel and French fried", hoping for a nice Bratwurst but it turned out to be a nicely presented but very pedestrian sausage. On the other hand, I had an "Americano" (Campari/Vermouth) cocktail which I savoured. The desert I chose was a Parfait, smothered with whipped cream and many types of berries, very good, too much and expensive (about $8). Anyway, a good time was had by all and I sure could get used to ending a meal with an espresso with a shot of Grappa in it as I also had at every meal in "the kitchen". By the way, thanks, Steve, for sacrificing more of your inheritance!

April 16: Papa drove us to the station to which also Daniele came to say good bye (before work, even on this

Saturday). It was quite an emotional farewell all around and Daniele in particular seemed to find it hard to say goodbye. I certainly like him very much.

There is no question that I was very glad to have Lauretta's assistance with the luggage up and down stairs and on

the trains which were absolutely packed, I suppose specially so because of the weekend. Nevertheless, it involved a lot of walking which I am finding increasingly challenging.

In Geneva, before taking the taxi back to the ship, we stood in line some 20 minutes for me to buy my tickets for the trip to Switzerland May 2-10 and I was very glad to have done my homework so that I could tell exactly train times and numbers I had chosen on line where I also had discovered special rates which reduced the entire return fare to about $ 108. The only drawback is the fact that with this fare, the sytem choses the seat reservation and I don't get a window anywhere.

I still felt very bad about Lauretta's decision to bring me back all the way to Genova, despite my protestations that I am an experienced traveler and not the "little boy" she likes to refer me to. I told her that she should have had kids. Now she was faced with another 4-5 hrs. until she got home. We said good bye and I guess I'll see her again on board in another 3 months.

I took a taxi to whom she dictated the place it had to take me which resulted in my being grossly overcharged (15 Euro) for the relatively short distance to the dock and then I had to walk a long way until I finally came to the gangway into the ship where it turned out that I had been disembarked which was against the arrangement of a

sort of "shore leave" for the 8 days. It, like everything else, took a long time to stettle with much animated talks and telephone calls and finally I was met by the new immigration officer, brought upstairs to the reception and was re-registered and photographed and received a new cruise card. And then it felt good to collapse in my cabin again.

Of course I received a call from room service about the champagne and told them to deliver it to my table 691. But then I got an advice under the cabin door that I had been assigned a different table, heaven knows why. So I had to go down before dinner to get them to move the stuff to my new table 682. This turned out to be for 8 people. Next to me a Scottish couple, on the other side a French couple from Nice, opposite me a Californian woman of Italian descent and next to her a woman from Albania. Suffice it to say that Champagne, Strawberries as well as my usual speech were all suitably digested. On board there seem to be many younger people and a lot of kids.

Like always the day after Genoa at sea, I'll play at 5pm and it's a Gala dinner with the cocktail party scheduled afterwards - a truly stupid setup. However, I'll probably go for the martini anyway.

A few days in Padua I was cold all day because the weather had changed and now my bronchitis is back and I cough my fool head off. Too bad.

I have been told that there are some 900 kids on board (Easter holidays!). No wonder then, that when I returned from playing the piano this afternoon, someone had ripped off and stolen my nice ceramic name tag that had graced my cabin door.

 

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