A Dilemma

Well tonight is treatment number 3 and Reese has walked around a bit today and eaten a bit. He seems more aware and more lively, but again we are being cautious and not betting on anything yet. And we've found ourselves in a dilemma.

Back in July Opera Chic allerted us to the Verdi Festival in Parma - and I was intrigued by the thought of seeing Verdi's first opera Oberto, particularly in the tiny Teatro Verdi in Bussetto (photo left). So being the far thinking person I am, I reserved tickets for a performance on October 27.

For some reason I kept putting off booking a hotel - first we had to find one that would take pets; then we had to check the regulations on Italian Trains for carrying small animals just in case the paper work on the car hadn't been worked out; when the papers came through and train travel seemed a bit too complicated we decided to drive; so we bought a TomTom GPS as everyone said that was a necessity when driving in Italy; then we discovered all we had to do was hit the A1 Autrostrade di Sol and head north - though the TomTom will be required for other trips. And I still hadn't reserved a hotel - just kept putting it off.

Then, as I have been reporting the past week or so, our Budfordshire (don't look it up, its a made-up word) Reese took very sick and has been undergoing treatment. So what's the dilemma? Well we figure we have four options this weekend:

1. Go as planned (there are hotels that accept dogs still available) and take Reese with us.
2. Go as planned and leave him with our good friend and Laurent's colleague Linda who is more than happy to look after him at her country place outside Rome.
3. I go as planned (I'm the opera freak in the family) and Laurent stays at home and attends to Reese.
4. We just cut our loses - the not inexpensive tickets are non-refundable - and cancel the whole damned thing.

I'm not sure the either option 1 or 2 would be the best thing for Reese and he is, after all, our main concern. At a hotel the incontinence could be a major problem and he would be in a strange place. And not that Linda wouldn't look after him - she loves animals and has already been a great help in finding a vet amongst so many other things, but he would be in a strange place with strangers when he's still sick.

Going alone is not a particularly appealing prospect and to be quite frank its going to cost a fair bit in train fare and hotel - it appears there is no such thing as a single room, Europe is no longer a place that caters to the single traveller the way it did when I first came here in 1968. So though we've pretty much decided on option 3 it may just end up being option 4 - there will be other Verdi Festivals.

I hate dilemmas - even ones as trivial as this one!

25 ottobre - Santa Daria