The fabled 16th-century artist El Greco, was Cretan, not Spanish, but spent most of his adult life in Toledo and remains one of the city’s most important historical residents. Although El Greco never actually lived in the house, the museum accommodates many paintings by the master who developed his own unique style of elongated figures, most often of Christ and the Apostles, with dream like pigmentation. Caring for someone with dementia can be emotionally and physically draining; this is someone you love, someone you have possibly spent your life with. They are changing and your relationship is changing.

None of us know what the future will bring. My dream for a long time has been to travel and so if you are sitting there with a dream too, if you really want it, you can get there too. If you find yourself saying “I’d love to do this or that someday” or “I wish I did this when I was younger”, then think again. Hoping to do something someday doesn’t work. Someday may never come. Start doing small things that will get you nearer to realising your dream today. Indeed, as the condition develops, you may need to limit your travel so that week-long road trips become ‘day drives’ instead. This can be just as rewarding. What is your biggest fear about motorhoming as you get older? Getting tired or lost on long drives? Becoming more nervous on the ever increasingly busy roads? What about dementia? The panoramic speedboat “Amadeus Salzburg” offers its guests extraordinary views of the city and its scenic surroundings on the journey along the Salzach river. This specially built boat negotiates the currents of the shallow, fast flowing river. Our captain and skipper are 2 cheery Londoners who seamlessly slip from German to English informing us of more fun Salzburg facts. Our river cruise finishes with a waltz and I’m revived and ready for our next attraction.

Caravanning Around Australia

Are you making all the decisions without consulting your partner anymore (so that they feel a loss of control and autonomy)? This architectural complex comprising the Cathedral, Residenz (the centre of the Prince-Archbishops power) and the Benedictine St Peters Abbey, houses 5 separate museums, so give yourself plenty of time to wander through and soak up Salzburg’s Baroque history and culture. The highlight for me was the Cathedral’s Organ Loft, which gives a unique perspective of the Cathedral itself. Our brains are frazzled with facts by the time we leave the museum so a coffee and apple strudel in the impressive Residenceplatz, the historic centre of the city, is well overdue. There is a young musician on a piano in the square, treating us to some Mozart as we watch the horse drawn tourist carriages gracefully trot round the square. Being Austria, very clean and efficient, somebody is left to clear up the whoopsies after the horses have done their business. And so, there are many “Municipal Equine Cleansing Operators” on bicycle also frequenting the square. In Glasgow they would be better known as “the pedalling shit shovellers”. When it comes to your continuing motorhome adventures, always make sure you travel with all the phone numbers of friends and family who would help in an emergency.

When you hear remarks such as, “Everyone with dementia does X, Y or Z” – refuse to believe it. Seriously – if you’ve met one person with dementia, you’ve met one person with dementia. Statistics tell us that some form of dementia will affect between 5 to 8% of us from the age of 60. This figure rises to 50% once we reach our mid 80s. When emotions become aroused – and they will – it’s a good idea to find a way to safely contain them or distract yourself, all the while remembering to breathe! This is where meditation and mindfulness can play an important role in managing your own emotions. We are visiting the island of Arran with good friends for a week filled with wonderful walks, good food and wine, and lots of fun to celebrate the arrival of a new decade.

Dementia is “a syndrome in which there is deterioration in memory, thinking, behaviour and the ability to perform everyday activities.” (1) In effect, it is brain damage of one type or another (with each type causing a variety of different symptoms). From the village a trip on the funicular 360 meters above its rooftops there is a spectacular viewing platform, the ‘Skywalk’ ……… what a view.