2Aquilas

DOUBLE YIKES!!
If I may ask- was it easy to get emergency medical assistance in Italy?

2Aquilas

YIKES! A very good piece of evidence in favor of the pole!

bilboburgler

https://www.venetoinside.com/en/vene...cal-protection

gives you a basic view of medical services, be insured but services are fine. Worth knowing things like emergency numbers which are not the same as the US. Bring prescriptions and I tend to pack any drugs in my carry on. Nothing worse than your luggage going to Vietnam when you go to Rome without drugs.

AJPeabody

A trekking pole is essentially a land-based ski pole. When I was young and flexible, I liked to ski. Non-skiers don't realize that ski poles are rarely used for pushing. They are balance aids and occasionally sudden fall preventers.

Get her a trekking pole, a collapsible one if possible so it will fit in the luggage. I doubt a full size pole will be allowed on a plane. For that, a cane will be allowed, even if it is stylish.

k_marie

I use one trekking pole in the airport. (Getting to the gate can be quite a hike after all.). As it is a mobility assistive device, no one has ever questioned me about it.

ekscrunchy

Would partner be able to take an aluminum cane (adjustable but not collapsible) on the plane? (The regular, Medicare/hospital issued version)

I asked for wheelchair assistance from Delta (JFK) and upon arrival in Rome. But in case that does not materialize, and on the connecting flight FCO-PAL, we will be on ITA (1 through ticket each, issued by Delta)
I've not yet approached ITA about this service. He's really having trouble walking (needs hip replacement). I thought bringing the cane but be no problem, but just wanted to make sure, here..thanks, all

Seamus

Cane is not a problem, ekscrunchy. I had a nice collapsible one that fit in the side of my backpack but before that used the kind you describe and it fit just fine in the overhead bin.
Also found a great for DH that flight attendants just love - it can squeeze down a bit to fit down narrow plane aisles, then fully collapse to go in an overhead bin.

2Aquilas

Well said!
Thanks for the link!

HappyTrvlr

Excellent advice from ekscrunchy! I join her in encouraging you to rent a car. Tuscany is like driving in VT, easy. Or in smaller US suburbs.
If not, then get drivers. Do what you need to remove stress from this trip. You will spend more but the trip will be a good experience.

lyn

Another vote for a cane. We spent a month in Europe last year. People were kind and helpful to me due to my cane. It helped with negotiating curbs, cobblestones, uneven surfaces, slick marble floors, on and on. Many sidewalks were crowded, so it helped with balance while dodging other walkers. You don’t realize how disorienting the crowds, heat, and unfamiliar locations are, especially if you’re trying to look around.

It is a bitter pill to swallow, but the cane actually made me more independent, and I thought the care and respect shown to a grandma type person was lovely!

Janeyre

Definitely try for a walk-in shower but if not available ask about a grab bar situated to hold on to when climbing over a low tub. Also ask if the rooms have tub mats which will offer a more secure footing while taking a shower. Another consideration: is the room flooring even with the entrance to the bathroom? I have stayed in hotels in Europe where there is a step up to the bathroom… definitely a tripping hazard in the night for young and old alike! Mini flashlight might help when getting up in the night if lighting is poor. Connecting rooms or at least near each other for easy access to each other.

Constipation may be a problem on a long travel day. Pack some prunes for the plane or grapes/cherries and something like Milk of Magnesia in your first aid kit if things persist. I would also make sure that any accommodations you book include breakfast…saves time, energy, and effort in the bigger picture of the day. In my experience hotel buffet breakfast have prunes and other fibrous options…another plus.

I don’t have a Rick Steve’s Italy book handy but sometimes he lists drivers and their contact information.
Happy planning! You have come to the right place.

KTtravel

Very good advice above about asking for more accessible rooms. Ten years ago I traveled to Europe with my aunt who was then in her 80s. I emailed the hotels where we planned to stay and asked for rooms that didn't require lots of steps, were closer to the elevators, had easy to access bathrooms, etc. All of the locations were quite helpful. '

The staff at our hotel in Paris particularly went out of their way to be kind. Their breakfast server dashed off and retrieved her coffee as soon as she appeared in the doorway of the breakfast room each morning and fussed over "madame" as if she were a VIP. She loved every minute.

HappyTrvlr

I may have misunderstood your parents’ ages, but this trip can become truly wonderful by taking a lot of the advice that has been offered here. My husband’s back is totally fused but we we still travel in Europe and Asia yearly. The hardest part is the long flights. Get your mother a lumbar travel pillow which we first found in a pharmacy in London​​​​​​. Check Amazon. We fly Business Class for his back.

bilboburgler

constipation.... I live a high fibre normal life with low levels of meat..... then on holiday I see cake, pastry, etc etc and all my normal diet goes to chaos.... so I recommend take time to try and stay as close as possible to your normal core diet with just a little modification to enjoy the local foods

So don't go from loads of veggies and wholemeal bread and move to white flour pizza all day. Chose to stick with interesting salads, veggie soups etc you will still find interesting dishes but ...

ekscrunchy

Whoah..HappyTraveller, where in Asia...give me some tips here, weather or not I bring the "anziani" (anziano???) (never mind, the OLDER of thisi couple!) with me!


So my experience so far and forgive if I already wrote this, but I cannot see the earlier thread while posting..very annoying, by the way.


All went well...we got wheelchair assistance at JFK and at FCo, easily made the connection in FCO to Palermo...picked up in Palermo for short ride to Trapani by driver arranged by hotel there (highly recommend both Trapani (wonderful, wonderful, beautiful, great food.....a complete joy!) Hotel: LA GANCIA, where we booked the room with terrace and sea view. Good thing because we arrived there 4 May, spent 3 nights, and after Trapani, we have not seen a ray of sun. So tht's what....two weeks just about with clouds, rain, clear skies for a minute or two, then more clouds.

Anyway....we had private drivers to take us place to place and once we reached the hotel in the next destination, we either stayed there or (only a few times) took local taxis to go to dinner. Partner here is in truly bad pain and has now, once in a while, taken the prescribed MOBIC (US name) (Meloxicam--highest dose). But that has lead to other issues..you can imagine.

So partner has remained in the hotel rooms A LOT, but is happy with the Yankee baseball news on tablet, and watching tv...(mostly Italian cause it is so COMPLICATED to use 2 remote boxes to try to get SKY or some English-language channels). Same in every hotel..some have English but very difficult to understand the remote boxes. Some do not have English....I could care less, but leaving partner alone while I go out and explore..I like to have option of tv. in room...


SO..all this is to say that we are both happy in our own way..I go my merry way and partner remains in and around hotel but has not complained even once about being left solo. (Used to me and my many eccentricities (he calls me "quirky" and that is a lot kinder than the word I imagine some others use: (kooky, pretty wild, eccentric, always doing things by herself sometimes taking chances that no sane person would take....(yeah..one day I should write a book about my life and disclose some cuckoo things I've done, and even more, all the great adventures.......)

One of the most difficult parts of this Sicily trip came yesterday when we were collected at our hotel in Catania (another hotel that I will never forget and hope that I can return to and remain for a longer time..2 days was not enough to explore the city and I was unable to visit the sight I was most interested in, the museum devoted to the re-conquest of Sicily by the Allied forces that began, I think, in 1943. Not only is there a wonderful museum (so I've read) in Catania, but there is also an Allied cemetery near Fontanarossa airport that I had longed to visit to pay my respects. The time spent at the Commonwealth cemetery in Nettuno (easy train ride from Rome and great restaurant for lunch in Nettuno town) is embedded in my memory. That was many years ago and I think I wrote about it in one of my first trip reports on this forum....I want to look that up and maybe post it, just to read it again.

Anyway, we were driven from Catania (still had many bags even though I had sent home two cartons from Catania, both filled with edibles--dried pastas and olive oils, mostly, with a few other things stuffed in. I know this is not a financially sound thing to do but at this point I have to carry everything and I could not wait to get rid of as much as I could. I hope they arrive in NYC safely. (The Italian post office would not accept a carton filled with bottles of olive oil, so I had to use those pricey shippers; I think this was DHl; I had just done the same thing in Madrid with DHL and it worked out perfectly. HIGHLY recommend if you are a shopper and do not mind paying as much for the shipping as you paid for the contents of the carton(s)..yes, I know, I know but there it is......

So from graves to olive oil and now back to traveling...

Driver picked us up in Catania and on the 1.5 hour or so ride to Milazzo Porto, we continued to monitor weather and receive updates from the hotel in Salina. ALL news was bad. All morning ferries and hydrofoils had been cancelled due to strong wind, and it was very doubtful if any boats would make the trip in the afternoon. BUT, we got very lucky and were able to board (thanks a million times to the very kind men who worked the hydrofoil (Liberty Lines) and even the captain. They saw us both, partner with cane and me--just looking harried and exhausted--and put us in the Priority lane, along with one young couple with an infant.

This story can be embellished a great deal but to get the gist, I'll just say that when we boarded, we were told by the captain that we would probably NOT make it to Salina. The boat takes this route: MILAZZO-VULCANO-LIPARI-SALINA.

Docking in the last stop, Salina, is the most difficult and often the ship can dock at Vulcano and often, Lipari, but then it turns back and passengers must make the immediate decision to either get down in Lipari porto and find a hotel and hope for better weather the following day, OR, return to Milazzo porto and find a hotel there. There were two problems, the first of my own making: Carrying so much luggage that I could not handle on my own. Second: Partner unable to walk even 20 steps without pain and much grumpiness.

BUT, the powers above were with us and, after leaving Lipari porto, the captain told us that we would head for Salina and hope for the best, that we could dock there. AND WE DID!!

So: Picked up at port by an older (handsome) gentleman bearing a sign with my name. He insisted that I let him carry all of the suitcases (four) and the supermarket bags filled with salamis, cheeses, and many gifts bestowed upon us by many people we had encountered along the way. Many, many gifts!

So the gentleman, I guess, took pity on us and (with the help of the captain of the hydrofoil (!!!) ) transferred all of our things to the back of his van..and we were off to our hotel. We had made it to Salina!!!!!!!

I'm sorry, I got so far off track about my own trip that I did not add much to the subject under discussion here, about the less-ambulatory travelers.

I might try to paste this to my ongoing trip report...hope I can do that.

BUT, one more thing: WE were eating breakfast at our first hotel, in Trapani, and next to us was an Indian-American couple who were lovely to speak with.
Out of the clear blue, the male of this couple handed us a walking cane and said we could keep it!!!!! I think it is called a walking cane...just a straight stick with a know at the top and rubber at the bottom tip. (The bottom rubber on my partner's cane had disappeared somewhere around Trapanii so even though I applied layers of strong tape to the bottom, it is now less stable and makes a clicking noise when it touches pavement...I tried to find a rubber tip but had no luck so far..will ask again at hotel.....)

So, that's my tale. Partner is in horrible shape, awaiting a hip replacement, but EACH AND EVERY person we have encountered in Italy has been kind and willing to assist and this has made the challenge much easier to bear. ALTHOUGH, for a few minutes in Catania, the subject of a return to NYC was brought up...I had purchased refundable tickets so thhink we would not have suffeed any financial penalty but who knows...in any case, we are still here, stumbling along and for my last comments, I will say that for anyone with mobility challenges, the Aeolian Islands should be crossed off the itinerary.
I walked to the town of Malfa yesterday and was pretty wiped out on the uphill walk back to the hotel carrying, as usual, my shopping bags filled with interesting foods....WHEW..it was difficult, Partner will not be able to leave hotel except in a taxi to a restaurant or, hopefully, on the "caper tour" I booked for later today, or tomorrow..

Sorry to go on and on about this. Again, will try to cut and paste to my Sicily Trip Report...

But if you have problems walking....IT CAN BE DONE! You need to rely "on the kindness of strangers" very often, but do not miss the chance to travel..(More on my very personal loss this week in the trip report..I am devastated. But that makes me even more determined to go where I can go, now rather than later, if at all possible)

SusanP

I can add another recommendation for hillsandroads.com if you want day trips out of Florence to see some of Tuscany. I have used them twice, once in 2005 and again last year. While it is technically a driver (not a guide as well), they will add interesting information along the way. If you know where you want to go, they will let you know if it is feasible. Or you can tell them what you are interested in and ask them for suggestions.