16. Verona to Milan: April 26 2023. Unexpected changes to itinerary; unexpected way to spend last days in Italy.

26 April 2023

Ciao-

Well, where to begin?
We were supposed to head from Verona to a little place called Castle Strambinello, today—in order to gain access on Thursday (tomorrow) morning to see Damanhur which per its own website is “an international community founded by spiritual researchers, pushing the boundaries of perception to bring catalyzed personal-collective growth, and galactic understanding of our connection to the universe.’ Those of you who know me well are probably laughing already, but we really wanted to see this place which includes what looks like an amazing subterranean ‘cathedral’ that they call ‘the Temples of Humankind.’ The complex was dug by hand into the mountain. It’s decorated with mosaics, stained glass, sculptures, and wall paintings. You can google it and see why we were interested in seeing it. We did however laugh and say that we would send word out that if you didn’t receive a blog from me tomorrow night you should send out a search party, since it’s clearly some kind of cult and perhaps we were kidnapped! (Only kidding). After the visit to Damanhur, we planned to head to Milan for four nights and then on to Geneva.

But a few things happened and the final one just toppled the plans.

Both of us had developed bad colds—congestion and coughing—around the time we got to Verona. Once this started, I took the antibiotic I had brought with me because it was clear that it was bacterial. It seemed to begin to ease the symptoms for me. (I must have been to about three pharmacies for various over-the-counter remedies for both of us: cough medicine, nasal spray, lozenges, etc..) But just as the cold (for me) was easing up, I got a gout attack, which normally is not a big deal (I take a pill for the gout daily and thus don’t usually get any gout attacks, but somehow I got this gout attack (maybe too much wine), which really is like having a bunion or some sore on your foot; no real visual sign, but it hurts. Anyway, because I was taking the antibiotic for the cold/virus I wasn’t sure if I could take the gout medicine. I googled and really didn’t understand the answer, so I went to two pharmacies in Verona. The pharmacist said “Nessun problema” translated to “no problem.” But I was very wary because I wasn’t sure he really understood the question and initially thought I wanted to refill the prescription. So I went to a second pharmacy, and they pretty much also said that it wasn’t a problem. But the way I understood the information on Google, I thought it said the opposite. So I didn’t take the gout medicine and figured I’d suffer with the pain for a few days.

But Mike really felt miserable this morning as we set out on our drive. We got to Brescia and stopped for lunch and decided at that point to ditch the Castle and Damanhur and head directly for Milan, where Mike could just jump into bed and sleep off his cold. Therein began a series of phone calls to cancel the castle and Damanhur and to see if the Hotel Gray in Milan could take us for an extra night, arriving tonight instead of tomorrow night. (Hope you’re following all of this mess.) When we stopped in Brescia we went to yet another pharmacy, and again I showed the two pills and asked if there would be a negative reaction between the two. Again I was told it would be fine and again I was not sure the pharmacist understood the question.

So we drove on to Milan and Mike was feeling awful.. and I took over driving. We checked into the hotel which is located within earshot of the Duomo and the Galleria. Mike jumped into bed and I went to yet another pharmacy close by, thinking that as a big city I might get a pharmacist who spoke and understood more English and could explain any reaction between the drugs. Sure enough this pharmacist seemed to really understand the situation and warned against taking both drugs simultaneously. Glad I hadn’t taken the gout pill.

As I reached the Piazza del Duomo which is just down the street from the hotel and where the pharmacy was located, a woman with an amazing voice was singing (in Italian) Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”.. It was magical. My memories of previous trips to Milan are all good and we were looking forward to these few days. To me, Milan is like the New York of Italy, in spite of the fact that it only has about 1.3 million people. But I couldn’t hang out. Went back to the hotel and we both realized we should take the Covid test (which we brought with us).

Mike tested positive; I am negative. Then the recommended procedures began to settle in. I am now in a separate room at the hotel; Mike is in the original room. I had to quickly gather my things and thankfully was able to get the only vacant room at the hotel—which is a weird room, and hopefully they will move me to another room tomorrow. Mike is having all his meals by room service. The menu is very very limited (surprising given the rates we are paying for the hotel!) And we are now paying for two rooms. The 5-night stay will be like a mortgage payment… maybe higher. But it is for the best.

The hotel did seem to know all the protocols. And I have reviewed everything online on the CDC’s site. Assuming I continue to test negative, it seems that I can move about out in Milan, but I will avoid going inside places and given that we are traveling alone and I’m now without Mike, I’m really traveling alone, I don’t think I can spread anything to anyone. Mike will continue to test daily and we will see what transpires. I will also test daily. Our big question really deals with whether or not we can actually leave Milan in 5 days (supposedly that’s the recommended isolation period for Mike)… which would be Monday and that is exactly when we are supposed to head to Geneva, by train. Assuming I continue to be negative (keep fingers crossed), and I isolate for 24 hours, I’m free to move about. But we shall see how comfortable the family in Geneva is with all of this. Stay tuned.

The challenge now will be meals for Mike. The hotel, surprisingly at these rates, has a very tiny restaurant (and limited menu choices,) and having just had dinner at the restaurant, my report is that it is not very good. We had reservations for several wonderful dinners here in Milan. Anyway, we are glad to be in Milan, but a bit deflated. And Mike is not so good. We brought Paxlovid with us so he’s already on the regimen. If I test positive, I’ll need to rely on whatever drugs Italy is using since we only had one Paxlovid regimen with us. Since Mike already had Covid once—about a year ago–when we asked for the Paxlovid we figured it would be for me.

Fortunately we are not at the one star Verona hotel! The Gray is upscale and pleasant (although rooms are small), we both get CNN in our respective rooms; and I even found Law and Order in English! So I’m really set….

More tomorrow.
All the best. Stay safe.
Fern