When I booked our trip to Italy, I had a choice to fly out of either Milan or Venice for the same amount of frequent flyer miles. As a smaller and car-free city, Venice seemed like the best option for Joe, who has Parkinson’s Disease.
We had visited Venice one other time, and that was only for a day. I can remember wishing we had time to just look around, with no agenda to visit sights. So that was the plan; take a train from Padua, get to Venice early, have a relaxing day in an astonishingly gorgeous town, take a bus to an airport hotel, and fly out at sunrise the next morning.
We packed so light that we didn’t need drop our bags—our backpacks were also our daypacks. Here’s HOB wearing his luggage getting onto one of Italy’s many enviable trains.
As planned, we wandered about gaping, from one beautiful scene to the next.
Though I am normally one to follow along with notes, reading about various buildings, I didn’t want to do it this day.
HOB and stopped when we felt like it, taking in details, describing all the types of Venetian windows.
A couple of hours into our visit, it was clear I had made a mistake in planning.
Venice, as it turns out, is not a destination for someone with Parkinson’s Disease. Those canals? To get over them, you climb a little bridge. Bridge after bridge after bridge after bridge.
HOB is quite fit and he can climb bridges, better than me most of the time. But he gets tired, often suddenly, and needs to rest (ideally to sleep). While we had centrally located hotels during the rest of our trip, our Venice hotel was way out by the airport. My plan had been for him to nap next to me on public benches or in a quiet little park. But we couldn’t find any benches or parks.
We also couldn’t find a place to picnic, which is banned in most of Venice. (This makes sense because of the massive amount of tourists in the more famous areas).
Miraculously, we managed to locate a bench in a square with no ban on picnicking. I bought two cheap salads from a nearby grocery store. After we ate them HOB was finally able to rest.
To get off the island, we went up and down countless more bridges, getting lost on tiny streets along with the bajillion other day trippers. By the time we got to our airport hotel, HOB’s crabbiness, on a scale of 1 – 10, was about 37.
I can be exceptionally unrelenting (go ahead, act surprised). If I want something, I attack, going in from all angles. Try, fail, try harder, keep going, regroup, pivot, try again. It can be hard for me to admit when something isn’t working (like when I stayed at my old job thinking if I just worked harder and longer, it would stop being so awful). When HOB collapsed in the crappy airport hotel bed, I finally admitted defeat. HOB has Parkinson’s Disease, there’s no cure and he finds it frustrating and scary. Traveling in northern Italy is about as easy as it gets and, though he enjoyed looking at art and architecture, it was still too exhausting for him. No amount of planning is going to to change that. Sure, I can still travel, but will I ever travel with HOB again? If I make it back to Venice one day, he’s the one I want next to me on a bench in a beautiful square full of Venetian Gothic windows, sharing a picnic.
How we got to Venice: train from Padua.
Where we slept: Guest House Bella Onda. Price: € 161 for a double. Recommend? No.
Picnic at the Cathedral 
Not sure what to say! I guess sometimes we have to adjust! I suspect you are a great wife!
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Thanks. I am mostly an impatient wife, though I am the kind of person you’d want to bring to a doctor’s appointment because I ‘m quite the effective advocate.
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You’re welcome! I like the “effective advocate” part!
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I understand what you are saying. Even on shopping trips now we have to work out how much Leo can take and sort out an itinerary accordingly……
But how frustrating for both of you.
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Yes, and of course Leo was once the most intrepid of travelers.
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I still remember crawling through a ditch to get into Karnak to see the sunrise….
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What a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad disease. But Venice is a big challenge for anyone. We’re going in November and I just noticed the place I rented has 39 steps to enter. For some reason, during 3.5+ years of Covid no-traveling, we got 3.5 years older. I’ve always thought that in our old age we could have ourselves delivered to a central hotel and summon Ubers to haul us around. That doesn’t work everyplace, certainly not in Venice. I’m hoping for some romantic wintry fog though. I hope your ingenuity and determination will get you on more wonderful trips with HOB.
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What a coincidence—we also got 3.5 years older since Covid! You will have a lovely time in Venice. Go down your 39 steps early in the morning or in the evening when the crowds leave and you’ll have it to yourself.
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Still, really glad you were able to be in Venice with him again. Beautiful memories and I’m certain you shot way more photos than shown in this blog.
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Yes, I did take a lot of pictures, though I think I need to get a new camera soon. Have you been to Venice?
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Yes, part of a group tour 33 yrs. ago or so. 1.5 days there. We stayed at a hotel on one of the Venetian islands since we got there by water taxi. We did a gondola boat ride too. San Marco square (if I have name correct) was great and crowded. This was in May or something like that.
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Oh by the way, I’m retiring.
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No way! Congrats—more time for traveling 🙂
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Well, who know I might consider Chicago drop-off one day. You probably would make a great tour guide …though I know it’s also helping people who are suddenly ill, etc.
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I hope you do make it to Chicago sooner rather than later. I do know all the good architecture.
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Life sometimes relentlessly demands we pivot – it sucks. Hugs to you and Joe… I went back to Venice in January after several previous visits made up of scheduled days, determined to wander and get lost. I recruited a friend to go since clearly Hubs can’t do all the bridges. It was wonderful! But traveling without him makes me a bit sad. And I do feel guilty to be able to have the joy of travel when he can’t, and leaving him alone for long stretches at a time. It’s human. Be kind to yourself WOB, and try to enjoy the new places and experiences you have coming up!
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Thanks AGMA—I know you have some experience in this area so it helps to hear from you ❤
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Wow. You are both brave and I admire your tenacity.
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Thank you, Heather.
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