Connie, My Cane and Venice
 

MY TRIP TO ITALY WITH CONNIE AND A CANE.


I was troubled about our planned trip to Italy because it would be my first since I came out of hospital. I had trouble walking and they gave me a metal tubular cane. It painfully reminded me of army basic training. Picture me, a skinny teenager covered with sweat, dashing up a minor mountain carrying a deadly Bangalore torpedo shaped like my cane and as cold to the touch. The flash-back filled me an impossible image of the stupid cane exploding somewhere in Italy.
As usual Connie assuaged my fears. She bought me a 99 Cents store wooden cane - yellowish topped by a sneering wolf’s head . I thought it would scare away any misguided pick pocket. I tested it on the streets in Manhattan, the wolf cane passed the acid test.

I thought I might have trouble at the JFK’s security but they didn’t even question me about the cane. However, I did have to take off my sneakers to show that my aged feet were not bombs. We boarded and I placed the cane snugly in the overhead and was damn happy to get rid of it. And when I had to get up, I used the seat-backs as an welcomed substitute for my wolf’s cane

.
We flew Delta which added seats and shrunk the space between seats, so the poor customer adjusts. How, you might ask? they sit with their legs akimbo IN THE AISLES! Of course, this creates a problem when one has to go to the back of the plane to report that one of the engines fell off. The plopping sound of people tripping over those akimbo legs keeps the crew alert.

Notice I did not say the flight attendants trip over their guests. No! They are skilled in stepping over the bodies of passengers and carrying a dozen orders of grilled chicken a la down home cookin'.

Hi famous,

great start to a trip,

:S-

and a trip report.

We were in Venice for a week at easter, so i love reading about it.

keep it coming,

regards, ann

Hi Unc,

Good to hear from you again.

((I))

Yay! A new report from Art! Waiting for more!

Great beginning!

Another great start from Famous Uncle Art. (Sorry, that's pathetic, I know.)

Eagerly awaiting more!

Looking forward to reading more about your trip. :)

As always good to hear from you.

Continue please.

I'm glad Connie found a different cane for you. Looking forward to more!

Looking forward to seeing one of my favorite cities through your eyes.

Let me give you a little back story about our delayed 80th birthday celebration trip. Since our 2006 trip to the Netherlands my Dad has had some tough times. His two closest nephews died and he was in and out of the hospital. In January 2008, he was in ICU and they then needed to have a biopsy. The doctors did not think the procedure was going to have a good outcome and prepared us for the worst. The night before the surgery I stayed with my Dad and he said if this goes ok I want to go to Italy, I said whatever you want. Everything went much better than could be hoped for. In the recovery room he said “Did you book the trip yet?” I am a woman of my word, so we went the first two weeks in March!

Last week he was in the hospital for his first surgery, quite traumatic when you are 81. He was encouraged to finish his writings due to the kind words he received in the Fodorites lounge. He is going a little stir crazy at home, so bare with him.

Please feel free to comment on his pictures for accuracy:
http://travel.webshots.com/album/563224036dYOgsa

Hey there Uncle:


I got my cane at the VA and it is a very sturdy black one...gets me everywhere and I never have trouble getting it through security check even though it looks like a James Bond weapon. I toted an M-1 nearly every day for two years so I understand what you say about lugging a loaded weapon of any sort.
I'm afrad I don't know anything abut a Bangalore Torpedo..sounds like bad news in any event!

Being a vet..you can just hop down to the nearest VA and after going through the usual GI paperwork, you'll have your cane. If you don't like the one they issue, just hold out for a different one. They have about a dozen varieties to choose from at my local LA VA.

Happy travels...looking forwad to your reports and pics...good thoughts for full and rapid recovery!!

stu t.(19th Reg, 24th Divvy)

Hiya Tower:
I've been thru the VA hospitals for some time. I found it to be the best for me. I went to one which was in the Bronx and since had closed down, there is one in Manhattan and I didn't think it was responsive to me. I haven't been there but I still have my VA card.
Luckily, I am in good health and haven't needed it lately.
I think the initial cane was from the VA,and as I described was metallic like a Bangalore torpedo.
We used it in Basic Training (Camp Wheeler, Georgia), It is about four or five (maybe more) feet long and was used primarily during the first WW when they had to charge out of the trenches,to destroy any wires, mines, etc.
I think it is an Indian (dot not feather) weapon. Why? I don't know
As far as I know, it was never used during WW II.

Hope this helps.

Art

Art, I'm sorry to hear about the rough times you have been through. Glad you're done with the surgery. And I'm very much looking forward to the report. Great photos!

Thanks Art...now I know what a Bangalore Torpedo is. I took basic at Fort McClellan, Alabama...before shipping out. The old BAR was heavy enough...happy I didn't get assigned that one.

Stay well, Art...lok for your full report.

stu

I'd love to hear more about your trip to Venice. I just had knee surgery and hope to be able to go on our long planned trip to Italy in a month. I may have a cane, too!

saraho:


Believe me...a cane is a wonder for anything knee-related. I've been using mine for years.

stu

Hiya Tower:

Your message reminds me of my luck with the BAR. I am short and very skinny then, so they gave me the BAR to use. The BAR is taller than I am-- It seems to be about 5 feet 5 inches if memory serves me and so gave it to me I could hear them chortling and giggling..the shortest guy in the squad with a rifle almost as tall as he was. We were in a war game in Camp Wheeler Georgia. We had to run up a huge hill and shoot at targets. It was a hot day and I ran up this ramp, sweating like hell, real explosives all around us. We hit our spot and were told to shoot at targets.

I plopped to the ground, slammed down my BAR and began to shoot at designated targets. The BAR, short for Browning Automatic Rifle, had two little legs on the barrel. I squeezed off a burst and the legs collapsed,the barrel hit the ground and I was frightened and forgot to stop shooting I don't know how many rounds I put into the ground, but everybody was screaming at me to stop shooting but, as is my wont, I panicked. The dirt in front of me was puffed up with each bullet, until as I remember somebody pulled the BAR out of my hands. I can't print what they called me but I never was given a BAR again.

Great story, Art...brings back a flood of memories. In my infantry outfit everybody had to qualify with a Browning as well as the M-1 and the little carbine. I couldn't hit a barn door with the BAR, as it kept bouncing as you describe. I weighed about 140 dripping wet.

Looking forward to the report and the pics.

stu t.

Re: Bangalore Torpedoes, They come in sections about four feet long, as you recall. They are simply metal tubes filled with high explosive, that can be twisted together to form a "snake" several sections long. They come with a long stick that is used to push them forward under barbed wire entanglements. The idea is to shove these forward from a sheltered position (best of luck with that) so that they can be detonated under the wire, forming a breech, just before an attack.

My only encounter with such was when we were back in reserve, some goof in another squad used a couple of Chinese Bangalore Torpedoes to form a rack to hold a bucket of water over a fire. He intended to boil/wash his clothes.

It was one hell of an impressive explosion. Since he was poking his clothes with a short stick at the time, he became an instant winner of the Darwin Awards.

Perhaps Airport Security should have looked harder at your cane.

:-)