degas

What the heck - get a wheelchair and push his big butt up any hills you encounter!

Seriously, leave him in the room while you tour - CNN, room service, and a saucy french maid will keep a smile on his face!

suze

last year i went ahead with a short trip to stay with friends in San Fran (from Seattle) when i had a torn miniscus (knee). really really bad idea!! i believe canceling, is worth considering. it is no fun to travel when you are in pain.

MoonGirl

This type of injury does not seem well suited to city sight-seeing. If that's what your heart is set on, I would consider cancelling. On the other hand, if you are just eager to get away, think about some type of destination where just the view and lolling around slowly provide a great vacation. My boyfriend -- who walks with a cane -- and I just returned from a late October week in Capri, for example. We slept in every morning, enjoyed a jaw-dropping view view while breakfasting on our private terrace, and then slowly made our way into town for an activity or two per afternoon. It's probably now a bit late for Capri (though nearby Ischia has thermal baths that could be inviting), but I hope you get the general idea. Try travel websites places like concierge.com and look for ideas for honeymoons or romantic travel to get some ideas. December will be off-season in a lot of resorts, but off-season can still have its charms . . .

travel_fun

Thanks for the reality check for what we probably really know...
A romantic get away would be fine if it were the two of us... but with our daughter - not an option.

MoonGirl

what about something like renting a villa or apartment in Tuscany and renting a car --home base with a great view, lots of intersting side trips possible . . . even if your husband is not up for doing all of the sightseeing excursions, he would still get to spend time with your daughter in a relaxing setting . . .

travel_fun

Sounds nice for my husband and me, but, ...wondering if our adult daughter who is a very much a city girl would enjoy enough for the trip to be relaxing...
do you have any sites to suggest for looking at rentals in Tuscany?
Thanks

MoonGirl

The Slow Travel website, slowtrav.com, is chock full of information and reviews about villas in Tuscany and elsewhere.

But there may be city destinations that fit the bill as well, depending your your budget -- e.g., a full-service hotel with an amazing view where hubby will be content to park himself while you and daughter do the more foot-intensive sightseeing.

But all of my suggestions have been assume that (1) it is a priority to spend time with your daughter this month; (2)she is located in Europe; and (3) your husband would be content with sitting around relaxing for large chunks of the dya. If all of those statements are not true, then it sounds to me like you should just cancel and wait till he is doing better. O(Has the doctor specifically okay'd airline travel, btw?)

You might get a wider range of replies here if you start a new thread with a more specific subject line.

travel_fun

Thanks MoonGirl...
Your questions and assumptions are good ones...
I will look into the slowtrav.com site again. We've been doing a bit of research to find out that once we are at museums we can rent a wheel chair, which would be fine. That is the place thta we'll have to do a lot of walking.
My husband is feeling ok ... he says that with his "boot" he has no pain, which is great. He's getting used to walking with the "boot" and feeling more natural with it.
In looking back at some of the posting on this site it was more about the pain than the inconvenience. Our last trip to Paris I think we walked the entire city... So, if this time we limit our walking we'd be ok with that. Maybe what we'd do is to combine the city with a few days outside the city in a hotel type resort area... don't know, just thinking out loud...
I suppose ideally we'd cancel the trip rather than deal with the various hassles, but my husband is now feeling like he wants to go. His doctor did say it was ok to fly with getting up every hour to walk.
If we go for the full length of time planned, we are now thinking that we'll spend some time in Paris and take a train to Vienna... with the idea of seeing a lot from the train window, cafes, and concerts along with my daughter and I doing some walking around... my husband seems OK with that...
Once I have a few more ideas for people to react to, I will take your advice and put up a new post...
I have a lot of planning to do in a very short time if we are leaving in 10 days!

travel_fun

We've decided to make the trip! With my husband in no pain, and a firm GO from his doctor, I'm scramling to make our reservations...
We're changing the trip from our original Italy to Paris with a possible train trip to Austria... We want to both be walking with no restraint on first trip to Italy... We've walked much of Paris and so will enjoy more of the museums (wheel chairs available), cafes and concerts ...we're excited!
Thanks for "talking" this through with me!

kelliebellie

Just wanted to add that temporary handicap parking permits are recognized worldwide. My husband broke his foot 3 weeks before our France trip and our parking permit allowed him to see a lot that he couldn't have without it. We just parked where the wheelchair logos were printed on the street and displayed our permit with no problems. We even flashed it to a police officer that let us drive up to Eze.

travel_fun

Thank you so much... that is a wonderful idea. I read that you went to France. Did you travel around the country, Paris... ???
Any particular places you visited that you'd suggest - we'd appreciate.

kelliebellie

We took the high-speed train down to Avignon from France and picked up a car and did the whole Provence thing and then drove over to Nice and Eze. What a wonderful area! You could spend a year on Provence alone. We did Nimes, Arles, Gourdes, and Avignon. In Uze, near the Pont du Gard, I made my husband take his giant walking boot up a hundred tiny winding steps to the top of a tower to see the view! He had to come down backwards on his butt.

travel_fun

Sounds like you had fun in spite of his boot...
I'm hoping for the same.
That would be a trip I'd love to make, but probably not this one. Will probably take a day trip or an overnight out of Paris.