It was a very hot day in Rome, and in the Vatican Museum in particular. Circumstances forced us to exert ourselves running down the street before meeting with our tour group -- we had been given the wrong meeting area and were very nearly late.
The museum, largely open-air, has no air conditioning in most of the facility. This, coupled with rooms full of visitors, little breeze to break the heat, and the earlier over-exertion, my wife eventually succumbed and passed out on the marble floor of the museum's second level. She came to shortly afterward, but still was not able to cool down. We became concerned and finally a doctor recommended she be taken to the hospital, requiring a race in a very loud Italian ambulance.
I sat in front while the medics attended to her in the back.
This photo is of the Emergency Room waiting area, where I spent a few hours communicating poorly with the staff who genuinely wanted to help but spoke only broken English, and my Italian was even worse than that. My High School Spanish, and that language's similarity to Italian, helped us find a middle ground. Finally one man came on duty who was able to speak English reasonably fluently and he kept me informed.
I was deeply touched by how friendly and warm the Italian people are in these sorts of situations, and can tell anyone who will listen that the Italian medical system is, in many ways, superior to our own.
I just don't recommend needing it.
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