I gotta be honest, today was not the best day. There are two reasons for this: 1) It was raining pretty heavily, and 2) I had to go to the hospital again.
The day started off with us leaving Verona for the Peschiera del Garda Village, a tiny town on Lake Garda. We were scheduled to get a walking tour of the area, then have the rest of the afternoon free. However, the weather gods just couldn't give us a break, because it was raining from the moment we arrived to the town. It also didn't help that my feet were hurting a lot more today that it was painful to walk. As a result, I stayed in a cafe with Dr. Duquin while everyone else went on the tour. We ordered cappuccinos to sip while we waited for everyone to return from the tour. I thought the rain would stop while we waited, but it just kept on downpouring. When it started to lighten up, I gathered enough energy to explore the area with a few others. We went into a few of the shops, but I didn't see anything particularly eye-catching. We walked along the lake for a bit, which was a nice view with a lot of pretty looking buildings around it. One of the restaurants along the water had fettuccine alfredo on the menu, which I found amusing since we had been told beforehand that alfredo wasn't a thing in Italy.
After walking around town for a bit, the rain started to pick up again, so we returned to the cafe. I ordered a delicious pesto ravioli for lunch, which turned out to be the most pleasant memory of this day. After I finished the pasta, I inspected my hands. They appeared more red and swollen than yesterday. The antihistamine I was prescribed obviously wasn't doing anything and I seriously needed medical attention. I guess it was a good thing that it was raining so hard, because our professors and Luca agreed that the weather was too harsh to do anything and decided to head back to Milan early, which meant I could get to a doctor quicker. We caught the earlier train to Milan and then Luca and I went back to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital around 6pm, but we were waiting around for 4 hours until I finally saw a doctor, who thought I probably had some type of viral infection, but she couldn't say for sure, so they drew blood to do tests on, which meant more waiting. We got the results an hour later, but they all came back negative, so we left the hospital at midnight with no answers. Luca arranged for me to see a dermatologist tomorrow, so hopefully they'll be able to diagnose me.
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Day 11: Company and Doctor Visits
Today was definitely our busiest day on this trip, because we had 3 company visits planned. Our first visit was the Mozzecane Fashion Consortium, a company dedicated to helping fashion companies find new markets. It was the nicest company visit we've had yet. I felt like I was in an actual business meeting; we all sat together at a long table with the manager and president at the head of the discussion and they all had water for us to sip during the meeting. They talked about how companies were based on the "ready to wear" model, which strives off of good quality, Italian made products. Again, this company also talked about how cheaper fast fashion was becoming too competitive to keep up with. They noted how young people care more about price and older folk care more about quality and where the product was made.
After this first meeting, we went to one of the companies that is part of this consortium, the Sartoria Cavour-Tailoring Company. We got to walk through the workshop and see how each part of the tailoring process took place. Like all the other companies we've visited, their products were also way out of any one of our budgets (a jacket cost a few thousand Euros).
After this company visit, we had a group lunch at the San Marco Restaurant, outside the city. They started us off with two kinds of pasta for an appetizer, then they brought out the main course: numerous meats and veggies. However, I was only able to get halfway through my meal. The whole day my hands and feet had been hurting, and I thought I could just deal with it, but while I was eating I noticed that red dots were forming on my palms. I told my professors right away and I had to leave the group and miss the next company visit to go with Luca to a doctor. We first went to the hospital, but it was taking too long so we arranged to see another doctor. This doctor seemed to operate out of her home; her office was in what seemed like a remote, residential area. She was really nice though, and she couldn't definitely tell me what my condition was, but that it was probably an allergic reaction to something. After the doctor's visit, Luca and I went to the pharmacy to get the prescription that I was written, and then we went back to the hotel. I got back just in time to grab dinner with some friends. We went to a pizza place, where I got a margarita pizza. You would think we'd all be sick of pizza by now, but none of us are.
After dinner, a bunch of us went out to get gelato and then to explore all the parts of Verona that we hadn't yet seen. We walked to the castle/fort, which was situated over the river. I sat on the edge above the water, and it was relaxing to just listen to the running water and eat gelato. After that, we walked along the edge of the river and skipped rocks. There was also a park with a pool of water in the middle of it. At first, we all thought the water was really deep, but it turned out to only be a couple inches high. Verona is a very peaceful city at night, as we walked around town it gave off a sense of tranquility and calm.
After this first meeting, we went to one of the companies that is part of this consortium, the Sartoria Cavour-Tailoring Company. We got to walk through the workshop and see how each part of the tailoring process took place. Like all the other companies we've visited, their products were also way out of any one of our budgets (a jacket cost a few thousand Euros).
After this company visit, we had a group lunch at the San Marco Restaurant, outside the city. They started us off with two kinds of pasta for an appetizer, then they brought out the main course: numerous meats and veggies. However, I was only able to get halfway through my meal. The whole day my hands and feet had been hurting, and I thought I could just deal with it, but while I was eating I noticed that red dots were forming on my palms. I told my professors right away and I had to leave the group and miss the next company visit to go with Luca to a doctor. We first went to the hospital, but it was taking too long so we arranged to see another doctor. This doctor seemed to operate out of her home; her office was in what seemed like a remote, residential area. She was really nice though, and she couldn't definitely tell me what my condition was, but that it was probably an allergic reaction to something. After the doctor's visit, Luca and I went to the pharmacy to get the prescription that I was written, and then we went back to the hotel. I got back just in time to grab dinner with some friends. We went to a pizza place, where I got a margarita pizza. You would think we'd all be sick of pizza by now, but none of us are.
After dinner, a bunch of us went out to get gelato and then to explore all the parts of Verona that we hadn't yet seen. We walked to the castle/fort, which was situated over the river. I sat on the edge above the water, and it was relaxing to just listen to the running water and eat gelato. After that, we walked along the edge of the river and skipped rocks. There was also a park with a pool of water in the middle of it. At first, we all thought the water was really deep, but it turned out to only be a couple inches high. Verona is a very peaceful city at night, as we walked around town it gave off a sense of tranquility and calm.
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