Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Dh wants me to take his mom on a trip to Italy before the end of the year. I know it's late planning this but I always plan trips last minute and it always works out fine. I've never been to Italy (but I've traveled elsewhere in Europe) and she has never been out of the USA before. My husband has spent tons of time in Italy for work in the mid-2000s and would like to have his mom go to the main touristy sites of Rome, Venice, and maybe another city. She has knee problems and can't walk for long periods of time. He seems to think she can do this but I don't. I think of Rome or any european city and I immediately think "lots of walking!" I also worry about her tripping and falling on the cobblestones. She also doesn't like stairs. This just seems like it would be too much for her. He counters with, "well, how to all these other retirees get around Europe?" (River cruises or they're just in better shape, I say).
And I know y'all will ask - why isn't he going? He doesn't have any PTO left, and I have 3 weeks I need to burn by 12/31 or I lose it. I have one week accounted for, so this trip could be two weeks if needed. I've taken her on trips but it's always been usa road trips to national parks with the overlooks right in the parking lot, ya know?
Thoughts ? Or any other ideas on where I could take her? Like I mentioned, we've done all of the National Park stuff out west. I thought about Iceland as I've been there before and that's an easy road trip place, however, I went in summer. November or December weather there can be a beast.
We took both my parents to Italy and they have similar mobility issues. My mother needed a wheelchair. It was a serious undertaking. Luckily, my DH and I are both in agreement about the importance of parents and multi-generational trips so whether they would come or not was never a discussion. We had to adapt and spend more money.
We were 7 so we had to rent an enormous conversion van. It's not for the faint of heart to drive around Rome but DH is from a country with driving chaos so he rather enjoyed it. DH would drive kids and parents to front of museum, exhibit, and then we'd have to find a place to park the van for the day. If you do this, you must be an EARLY riser.
We also bought a light travel wheelchair for my mother and took turns wheeling her around. she has some mobility but not enough to do cobblestone streets and walk miles through densely packed cities. My dad is much stronger and was able to help push, and it served as a dual cane/rest for him. WE took lots of walking stops.
I made reservations for every single thing ahead of time - museums, restaurants, tours, hotels, etc. And when we went to Amalfi, I had to rent a BNB on the top of the hills so that we had ample parking (actually a converted farm, which was great). For Vatican, we did the Vatican Breakfast so as to get the early entry before the crowds. Totally worth it.
We went in November low season, which helped a ton with the cars/crowds.
It may be difficult but it'll definitely be worth it. MIL would be thrilled.
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