Friday 28 August 2009

I am home

So here we are home again, that was quite trip and I'll tell you about it over the next few posts but I am feeling absolutely exhausted today even though I've slept well both whilst we were away and since we've been back
I said in my last post that I broke a tooth, this happened on the second day of our holiday (yes I was chewing on a toffee) but I wasn't too worried as the tooth that broke was pinned, I assumed that I'd had a root filling so there wouldn't be any problem and it came from the back of my mouth so I didn't have a gappy smile. I mentioned what had happened to Irene when we got to the house in Tuscany and she recommended not visiting an Italian dentist. It wasn't till we got to Lazio that I woke in the night with toothache that got worse and worse until I was taking painkillers beyond the recommended dose, running out of stock and feeling awful. My face started to swell until it was hard to speak or eat and I felt thoroughly miserable. I spoke to Franco, a friend in Rome, to ask if I could buy anti biotics over the counter and immediately he took control, arranging with Mario our neighbour in the village to get me some medication from the local doctor. This arrived within a couple of hours, three large tablets the size of horse pills, one per day. They actually took about 36 hours to kick in, during which time I phoned my own dentist in Scotland who was really helpful, assured me that I should be OK until I got home, made me an appointment for my return and said the pain would soon go, which it did. My Italian lessons never covered this eventuality but I soon picked up the various medical terms and improved my vocabulary considerably. I'd recommend learning 'I'm in sodding agony but I don't want you carving me up' in the language of your destination just in case you ever have to visit a dentist abroad.
The trip was really worthwhile, we loved travelling round Europe and enjoyed having the freedom to do as we pleased, the pensioners version of Inter Railing I suppose. It must have been good, we are already considering doing it again, but not for a while.
Let me leave you with some pictures of our Italian garden whilst I go off to contemplate the chaos that has developed in the one here in Scotland, back soon.

9 comments:

  1. I love your photos! Great views. Glad the journeys were good and that your poor old tooth got kind of 'sorted'. I can't believe the summer is nearly over, it's flown by. Back to school next Thursday :( No, I'll be fine once actually back. Anyway, still a few more days to make the most of! Ros

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  2. What stunning views. I would never be able to leave them! I hate dentistry related problems. xxx

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  3. Nice to know you have returned safely and that u enjoyed ur trip except for you tooth saga, that must have been terrible,esepcially being so far from home.
    Love the view especially the little path, its looks so peaceful.
    Looking forward to hearing more of ur adventure's...

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  4. Thankyou Jenny, I'll happily put the kettle on to make you a much
    deserved cup of tea but alas my cakes are not of the food variety, lol.
    I only wish i could cook cupcakes that tasted as good as they look.
    I shall take that as a compliment though as i did make them myself....

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  5. I am simply amazed that you both made the long trip over here. Just thinking of a drive to say...Paris...it makes my head spin.

    So glad that you enjoyed your time in Italy and I do look forward to your future posts! Also, if you have a photo of your flipflops while in Italy, I'd love to mention you and your blog (with photo) in a post on my site. I think you already know how much I love slippers!

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  6. Good to hear you enjoyed your drive through Europe, despite the painful interlude. Lovely garden, btw.

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  7. Welcome back! Sorry about your toothache, not nice when you aren't at home. Looking forward to hearing all about your trip.

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  8. Glad you are back, looking forward to hearing more once you have settled back in again.

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  9. Glad you got back safely.

    What a bummer about your tooth. Typical that it happened after only being there a couple of days as well.

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