Dearest, Darling Fiona!
How simply lovely to hear from you and know things go so well, with respect to new job, team colleagues, travel time, etc. Of course, with our delightful visit, I know just how short is your commute. I do apologize fro not being in touch sooner but things have been rather busy, not to say hectic, since I've been back home. [I believe I did send along some of the pictures I took the afternoon you served me such a delicious lunch, shortly after I left Switzerland, but if you did not receive it or I mis-rembered actually sending it, please let me know.] Most recently, we went to the Folk Fest at Jericho Beach last weekend and had a wonderful time. Sarge joined us but Flamin' was back in Nova Scotia for a friend's retirement party.
On Monday we drove back to Penticton and close friends, Colleen and Al, from Burnaby, spent night with us, even though we don't have a kitchen and house is a mess! Lady Dar decided to completely remodel kitchen while I was away in Europe so all the other rooms are filled with boxes of kitchen utensils, furniture, etc. This on top of the fact that our place was already stuffed to the gills with all of Chloë's furniture/possessions that we have been storing since she moved to Penticton last September. Big news here is that she had a call from developer, building her townhouse, a few days ago, and she will be able to move in on August 8th, as opposed to the end of that month as originally projected. Once this happens we will be able to put our house back in order aswe trust the kitchen will be finished by then as well.
Tuesday we drove down to Osoyoos, about an hour south, with Colleen and Al, to spend three nights at our "fractional condo", [A recreational property we bought last November, in a resort called Spirit Ridge, which allows us two weeks occupancy every six weeks, if we choose to stay. If not, suite goes into rental pool and we receive revenue based on total occupancy rate for entire resort over the fiscal year. Chloë, and three of her girlfriends spent the weekend there while we were at the Folk Fest.] Lady Dar celebrated her 71st birthday on Thursand we had a wonderful, wonderful lunch at Kismet Winery, not far from Osoyoos. Winery and restaurant, Masala, are owned and operated by an East Indian family from the Punjab so food was terrific. Both Lady Dar and Chloë had been there before but this was my first time and I was greatly impressed with a number of their red wines.
On Friday, Colleen and A left to visit more friends near Salmon Arm, north of us, and we drove back to Penticton as we had a meeting with our bank to arrange mortgage for Chloë's place. We will co-sign loan as she does not have the financial resources to qualify for mortgabe on her own. Even bigger news on this front is that two weeks ago she passed the Strata Management exam, [on-line course was through UBC's Sauder School of Business] that she requires for her job, working for a property management company, Pacific Quorum. She is now a licensed property manager and hefty increase in salary, as a result, will certainly help with mortgage payments!
In addition, we wanted to attend the wine club appreciation party thrown by Poplar Grove last night. It was a wonderful affair with two live bands and about seven or eight food stations serving all sorts of dishes paired with their marvellous wine. Gorgeous setting and loads of fun seeing friends and meeting new people while wine flowed freely. Funnily enough, over the course of the evening Lady Dar met Dana Chen, a classmate of mine in Library School. She knew Dana as she was in the year behind us. Anyway, she and her husband, Wayne, [We'd never met him before.], were on shuttle bus back to town when we left event and we invited them back to our "construction zone" for a drink and a visit. They will be back in September for another event so we invited them to stay, hoping our house will be in order by then. Anyway, party was more than a delight and the fact that we were able to connect with someone from over forty years ago was an added benefit.
Will spend much of today trying to tidy up house. Will stroll downtown, about ten minutes walk, [like your commute!], shortly, to Farmers' Market, held every Saturday, from May to end of October, to buy some vegetable and visit with freinds we oftern bump into. Tonight is another wine club appreciation party, this time at Upper Bench Winery. It will be a much smaller event than one at Poplar Grove but Shana and Gavin, owners, are simply tremendous people, along with all their staff, so it will be a great gathering, based on past events we have attended. Sunday afternoon we will head back down to Osoyoos until Thursday. Clan Sutherland are already there, all three children with spouses, Ryan/Megan, Nicole/Marvin, (both live in Kamloops now), and Rebecca/Corey, [They are currently waiting for their house to be built in Sendero Canyon, just half a block from where Chloë's townhouse! They are both RCMP officers and were transferred from Lower Mainland to Penticton this past April.] Not to mention five grandchildren, with Nicole's second child expected in December!
Whew, if it's Saturday it must be Bern and I'm swimming in the Aare! Anyway, that is a quick overview of life over last few weeks. However, in answer to your question about my trip since leaving you, while I the two, two-week bike trips, Czech Republic and Poland, were even more enjoyable than I could have imagined, the day after the final tour was over, June 11th, things took a turn for the worse. Long, long story but the gist of it was that I took two falls, (while walking, not biking), first on a tour of Auschwitz, tripping on an uneven sidewalk, to knock myself unconscious and spent the night in hospital in Oswiecim. When discharged I returned to Kraków and then went to train station to change my reservations for trip to Denmark where I planned to visit with close friend , Margareta and her twin sons. Returning from train station I was bumped, unintentionally, by a pedestrian, and fell again! Didn't lose consciousness this time but I was pretty banged up and had to have five stitches in my forehead and right hand. Slight sprain in both wrists as a result of fall so I was quite sore and looked like I had been in a fight, coming out the loser!
Anyway, a few days later I managed to make my way tp Prague but trains were so busy that I had to stay there for two nights before I could get a reservation for my bike, to continue on to Berlin. Same thing when I reached Berlin, hoping to go on to Hamburg, but by that time, (Unbeknownst to me, as I didn't realize it, thinking I was just exhausted from falls, etc.), I was suffering from pneumonia. A Good Samaritan, literally, Ulrike Blausche, a complete stranger, (about your age, Fiona, and a PhD candidate in Biology), approached me and asked if I needed assistance, saying I looked so unwell that she felt I should go to hospital. At the end of my emotional and physical tether I agreed and she called paramedics and I ended up being admitted to Charité Hospital, on Sunday, June 17th, quite near station, as it turned out, where I spent the next week, receiving antibiotics, inhalation therapy, etc!
Much more to story but next day I was able to contact Lady Dar and she made arrangements to fly to Berlin to "shepherd" me home. She arrived on Saturday, June 23rd and I was discharged next day. She found an apartment hotel very close to hospital and she walked my bike and panniers there, while I followed. Our flight back to Vancovuer was on Tuesday, June 26th, so I spent next few days resting while Lady Dar made arrangements to send my bike to Denmark, (Originally I was going to leave it back in France, where I collected it at the beginning of my trip. Had thought I would take it back to Canada but we were not able to find a soft carrying case which Air Canada required.), as it was too, too complicated to get it back to friends in Chabeuil where it had been stored since 2103.
Anyway, flight back to Vancouver was long and quite tiring with added delays in Berlin, missed flights in Toronto, as a result, but we made our connection to Penticton and Chloë collected us, just before midnight, in her pajamas, on June 26th! Finally home to find that kitchen work had begun day before. Nevertheless, it was a relief to there, no matter the circumstances. Went to see my own doctor a day or alter and he ordered all sorts of tests and then phoned me on Canada Day, July 1st, to report that I had a clean bill of health. Every day since, I've began to feel stronger, as pneumonia really saps one's strength, and I will start to ride a stationary bike as soon as I can set up apparatus, in our so-called Rumpus Room, after Chloë's boxes are removed. Used the elliptical machine at FCCC when staying at Harbour Terrace, over Folk Fest weekend, and more recently, at gym at Spirit Ridge, so my comeback has started! Many, many more twists and turns, regarding last part of my "adventure" but this missive has already gone on long enough so will say goodbye for now, Fiona. Lady Dar sends her fondest regards to you. [Chloë is away for weekend, at a "stagette" in Kelowna, but I know she would send her best wishes as well.] Until next we chat, take care of yourself, Fiona, and make sure you consult weather report before going hiking in a blizzard with Mad Max and Monica Vitti! Deep, deep affection and Cheers, Patrizzio!
PS: Massimo, I apologize for not replying to your earlier messages, and wonderful pictures of wine bottles, etc., but life on the road was hectic and then my unfortunate accidents and illness added to delay, as I trust you can imagine. At any rate, I trust I will be a better correspondent in future!
Pics: Face after two falls, first at hospital in Oswiecim then at my hostel in Kraków! Happier times at Folk Fest, with Kathleen and Steve, friends from Melbourne, and Sarge. Pool at Spirit Ridge with Chloë, Colleen and Al, last Tuesday. On patio at our condo in Spirit Ridge, that evening. At Culmina Winery, looking back towards Osoyoos. Lady Dar's birthday lunch! Poplar Grove and view over Okanagan Lake. Wayne and Dana back at our place after event.
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