Ciao,

I was born in Trieste quite a few years ago. My father was in the service there. My elderly parents, sister and myself will be there in September for 4 or so days. This is a trip of a lifetime for me as I was only 7 months old when we left. Will it be difficult to travel with elderly parents and knowing little Italian? We are all US Citizens.
Thank you for any helpful information.
Sincerely,
Annetta

How elderly is elderly? Our middle-aged children have trouble keeping up with us. If you were 7 months old, your mother must remember some Italian and it will come flooding back to her. I speak very little Italian and had no trouble.

You will find Italians very friendly and helpful people on the whole. That should help. Unless you get pretty far out of town, there will be plenty of English speakers.

If your parents have trouble walking, you need to consider that when making transportation arrangements. You can use taxis when available or even book guided tours if you want to get out of town. There is nothing wrong with a pair of walking sticks if they walk but are a bit unsteady. Many hikers of all ages use them in Europe. The cobblestones are uneven and anything that helps is fair game. Be sure all of you have comfortable shoes. You will be walking on those cobblestones too!

If your parents tire easily, plan accordingly. Don't plan to much on any one day and include lots of rest stops. There are plenty of sidewalk cafes for a coffee or lemonade (or wine) and these make pleasant work of a rest stop. Parks have benches and people to watch. There is a lot to be said for slow travel. 8^)

If they have serious medical problems, talk to their doctor and make sure you have copies of all their prescriptions with generic names since drug names can be different in Europe. If they have liquid medicines, be super sure you have the prescriptions with you as you go through security at the airport. Their doctor may have other advice too.

Be sure your know your ATM PIN in numbers, not letters. The European ATMs don't hae letters on them. (This has nothing to do with elderly parents but is useful information.) LOL

I hope all of you have a wonderful trip.

Thank you for your helpful information. My parents are 88 and 84 years. Both are able to walk without assistance but are not active.

We are going to take it slow but really do not have enough time to see much of Italy.

Thanks again for your help.

Annette

Hi Annetta,

If you want to stay only in Trieste it shouldn't be so difficult with the language. And perhaps your parents remember still a bit italian.
Do you have a hotel in the centre of Trieste ?

If you also want to visit Venice for example, you could take the Eurostar train ( Trieste-Venice ). Look at www.trenitalia.it ( also in english ) for more information. The Eurostar is a bit more expensive, but much faster than the normal train. The train stops in the middle of the centre of Venice, so a little walk ( or take the waterbus for only 5 euro per person ) should be possible for your parents.

If you need any help, you can contact me at our homepage by email.
I live about 1.5 hour driving from Trieste.

Greetings,
Janine