Embrace the Journey: Plan an Adventure

We enjoyed breakfast at Hotel de la Ville

In Civitaveccia, we quickly realized we were on our own. In terms of priority, securing lodging every night would be Job #1. I felt confident Donnie and Ramona would handle it. We had to do self quarantine in Italy for who knows how long, so my job was to generate ideas for fun.

“Donnie, I’m glad you like the idea of driving to Amalfi! Ramona will find us a good place to stay. Meanwhile, there are good things to see in Civitaveccia. The railroad station looks interesting. That fort-like place across the way must have a story and Civitaveccia looks interesting.”

Embrace the Journey: Pivot and Redirect

Thinking positive in Civitaveccia 

Sometimes, you just have to pivot and go a different direction. Bad Karma had followed us from Lyon to our Mediterranean Cruise. Proof of vaccination, which is what we thought was all we needed, wouldn't do. We had to produce a Negative Covid test before embarking on the cruise ship. Donnie still had a sore throat. Could this be Covid? We used the self test kits we brought and sure enough he tested positive. Testing again at the port, he still tested positive. So, instead of cruising the Mediterranean, we were exiled to Civitaveccia. 

Embrace the Journey: It's Okay to Need Help

The Confluence Museé

Our next adventure was the Confluence Museé. It was promoted as a "must-see" tourist destination. The Museé was located at the southern tip of Lyon where the Rhone meets the Söene. It was very modern, large, cultural, historical, and an architectural sight.  

Donnie and I usually do museums, even big ones in a couple of hours. We saw inside and outside by early afternoon. I easily walked 13,000 steps, my daily goal. On the down-side, it was hot. I battled fatigue by going inside and sitting down.

We were hungry when we arrived. Then we explored all around looking for a cafe. Museums always have cafes, right? This one only seemed to have an expensive, sit-down restaurant - not what we wanted. Donnie was getting antsy, so Liz went off site in search of food. She returned with sandwiches. Not the lunch we envisioned. We ate our sandwiches on a bench while watching the sleeping Loleh.

Entrance to Park de la téte d'or

By mid-afternoon, Donnie and I were ready to leave, but how? “The plan” was to end the day at a BIG park. Philippe wanted more museum so we left him. He would join us at the park later. We rode the bus to the park, a nice respite.

When we got to the park, I was ready to walk again. This park was reported to have lots of unusual features. I was curious. My first impression was, “This is nice. I love the wide paths. Wonder where all the ‘good’ stuff is? Where are the bathrooms?” I was really focused on finding a restroom. We found what looked like some permanent porta potty.

(Aside: Restrooms didn't seem to be high priority here. We found Porta potty look a-likes. They were gender neutral, positioned side by side on the side of the wide path. The stainless steel potty had a rim to sit on. There was no toilette paper and no hand washing available. I rejected the facility.) 

Loleh preferred playing out of his stroller

I went in, turned around and came back out. I said, “Liz, surely there’s a restroom somewhere. This potty is not working for me.” We walked some more, seeing a lot of the park while looking for a real restroom. It was late afternoon and I was worn out. We had planned to eat leftovers in the refrigerator for dinner. 

We never found a restroom. My legs were really fatigued so I said, “Liz, can you help us get home? I’m too tired to enjoy the park today. Let’s do the park tomorrow when we are all fresh. Do you think we can get a taxi? I don’t think we are set up to do Uber.”

The busy corner with whizzing cars

Back at the entrance, rush hour traffic was bumper to bumper. Liz had no luck finding a taxi or Uber. Finally, we decided to walk toward a taxi area. We stopped at a bus stop.

“Let’s wait here? There’s a bench and maybe we’ll get lucky.” Time advanced as we analyzed our situation. 

"Donnie, this is bad! We don’t know where we are. Our phone is low on battery juice, and communication is challenging. Could it be any worse? Yeah, we could be stuck here all night. Maybe Liz will come searching for us. Wait, we have the only key to our place! Nobody can get in. That's really bad. Maybe we should call Liz to see what she suggests?”

Donnie said, “I already did. I’ve texted both but I’m not sure it’s going through.”

“Looks like we are stuck! This is when I curse MS! If I weren’t so weak, we would find a way to walk home. I'm sorry, my legs are done. Wonder how far we are? You do have the address, right?”

Resting after walking to the park

Very soon, a young man comes to the bus stop. I'm thinking, “He looks smart, maybe a student. I'll try speaking French to him.”  With my awkward French, I learned he was a student and spoke some English. He understood our dilemma. Then he proceeded to call at least three taxi companies before finding one that would come get us. No doubt he missed his bus. 

He insisted on staying with us until the taxi came. “I want to make sure you get in the taxi and he knows where you want to go.” We were so thankful and relieved!

When the taxi  arrived, before getting in, I gave him a big hug. “You are our Angel! Your mama would be proud of you. Thank you. We had visions of being here all night.”

The next day, refreshed and eager to try the park again, we walked to the park along the Söene river. Our scare was a learning experience on many levels with many lessons. We were reminded that it's okay to ask for help. There are really good people everywhere. We realized we aren’t ever totally helpless. We survived the crisis!