When Harry met Harry

Pisa was almost a no show for us. Too many people had said that, once you've seen the tower, there isn't much else to see. Barry, the aussie we'd met at the last site put it into perspective for us when he said, 'I can't come all this way and then tell people back home that I didn't go to Pisa, when we were so close to it.' That got me thinking, and he was right. So what if the internet is full of people 'holding up' the tower, and maybe there wasn't much else to see or do but, we should still decide for ourselves, otherwise, we might as well stay at home and look at the pictures on the internet.

You should see for yourself!

We headed for Camping Lago Le Tamerici where we knew we could get a bus to Pisa. As we got near we passed the back of Pisa airport, significant only because, our nephew, Harry Watkinson had shown an interest in joining us in Italy for a few days. The plan was to fly over, rent a chalet, or similar on the site were were on, spend a few days in Italy, then fly home. Pisa airport being this close presented an opportunity for him to get more out of his trip. 

I contacted him via messenger and suggested that, if he got himself a tent, he could fly out to Pisa, then move on with us to Florence, and then down to Rome. A much better prospect for him than a one site, few day visit.

This suggestion was greeted enthusiastically by him, but also set his head spinning as there was a deadline. We couldn't sit around for weeks waiting for him to 'prepare' so it was, in the next week or never! Luckily for him, he works for his dad, Gary, and getting some time off at short notice was not a problem.
It was all set then, he would fly out on the following Saturday and begin his Italian adventure.

In the meantime, we decided that rather than sit around, we would go in to Pisa and do the visit, that way when Harry came out, we would have a better idea of where we were going.

At Tamerici, you can get a lift down to the bus stop from staff at the site, which we took advantage of. Frederica and Alice were amazing while we were there and made us feel very welcome in the idyllic surroundings of the site. One of the things that they helped us with, was finding a vet for the other Harry, Sues' Yorkie, who appeared to have an ear infection. We took him off to the vet hospital near Pisa, where he was prescribed ear drops, a painkiller spray and antibiotics.

'I don't feel well....'

Sue administered a couple of the drops later that morning and Harry slept for a few hours. We tried to rouse him some time later as, even though we thought that maybe the drops and spray had made him drowsy, he hadn't so much as lifted his head for too long a time.
When we got his attention, his eyes were flickering side to side and he seemed a bit spaced out. We carried him outside and he could hardly stand. We put it down, yet again, to the painkiller spray and drops making him drowsy.

The next morning, although not in any discomfort, he was pretty much the same. Now we knew that this wasn't right and took him back to the vet hospital. 

Times like this are when you feel the full frustration of not having the language. Three people were in the room and all, it seemed, had their own diagnosis. 'He's going blind' announced one. 'He's deaf' announced another, 'It looks like a mental disorder' declared the third. Unfortunately, the Vet that had seen him the day before wasn't on duty and it was hard to get through to these three, exactly how he had been the day before.

One of the vets motioned to one of the men in the room to hold Harry while she looked in his ears. Harry screamed and howled while this went on, so much so, I had to leave the room. Sue stayed and could only watch as her 'baby' went through this seemingly rough treatment. When Sue came out, minus Harry, she told me that they wanted to keep him in for observation.

'Will this affect my driving?'

We drove back to the site, wondering what the hell we had done to him. It was almost beyond belief that he was in this state.
We had to compose ourselves however, as Harry the nephew was due to land at Pisa airport in the next hour or so. We had no sooner got back, when we had to set off to the airport.

We both agreed that we had to focus on his arrival and try not to let the dogs situation affect things. It wasn't Harry W's fault that this had happened. He was spending his hard earned money to come here, encouraged by us, and we owed him our full attention.

It was good to see the 'rocker' Harry, who turned up looking like a well travelled hippy with his long hair and beard. The only thing that gave him away was his shiny new backpack and tent.
Time flies and I had him down for 19 years of age, give or take. He's 24! How did that happen? Ah well, I guess we lose track.

Settled in.

We explained the situation with his namesake, and he was, as we expected, very understanding. It was going to impact on his time with us, there was no avoiding it but, we would do our best to minimise it.

How to look Italian, two hours after arriving!

We got Harry set up in his brand new tent in the same pitch as the van, and set about feeding him in the on site restaurant which overlooks the lake. His first Italian pizza and beer, and I need to stop talking about him as though he's 13 years old! That night Sue and I discussed the situation regarding the dog and made our decision......Continue reading 

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