The Swamp Part of Italy | The Check-In - May 28, 2026
Me, 5/16/26, Palazzo Ducale, Matua, Italy
Letter
Dear Reader,
The Check-In is something I send out every other week (or so) to share what I’m reading, thinking, consuming, and sometimes dreaming.
In this edition, I share:
my favorite palace I’ve visited so far in Europe!
a magical secret garden
a geography lesson about Italy
an Italian dental care journey with cost breakdown (especially if you’re considering moving abroad to reduce costs—good to know what the costs are!)
a hike through 52 WWI tunnels
Dental Care in Italy
I’m a little late with this edition because last week I had some dental work done on Wednesday, and by Friday, I was in full infection-battle mode. As a digital nomad for the past 2.5 years, my routine healthcare tasks suddenly didn’t have the stability of one place to stay as a routine. Dental care was one thing that got a bit neglected.
I had been experiencing enough pain in my mouth severe enough to make me avoid chewing on one side for several months so finally, it was time to take action. I figured that Italian dental care would be slightly less expensive than American dental care. I’m going to talley up the costs and you tell me—is this more or less than what you pay, if you pay out of pocket.
I went in for X-rays and a consultation with the dentist about my pain. He immediately said, pointing to my fresh X-rays clipped to a backlit board, “We have found nothing wrong with your teeth. Not even a small thing.” What?? How could this be? No cavities? No decay? No root issues? What the heck was wrong with me then?
After some poking around and finding some very painful spots on my gums, he diagnosed me with gingivitis, which I’d heard of from the very intense 90s Listerine commercials, but truthfully didn’t know even one thing about. “You need to get your teeth cleaned more often! You have calcium buildup,” he said, in pretty good English.
I had no idea what he was talking about so I asked Google’s AI search engine:
“When plaque is left on your teeth for 24 to 48 hours, it begins to absorb calcium and phosphate minerals naturally found in your saliva. These minerals crystallize, hardening the plaque into a solid, rough crust. Because it binds to the enamel and contains hardened calcium, tartar cannot be brushed or flossed away and requires professional removal by a dentist. [1,2, 3,4, 5,6]”
They asked if I could stay for a cleaning, and I could, so I did. Finally, relief was near! And yowza, did they ever excavated my gums! The dental hygenist, who was very nice, numbed me up, but it was painful for days! On Friday, I woke up with a blasting headache and pain that seemed to form an electrical current from one side of my upper teeth up into my forehead and down the other side of my upper teeth. I couldn’t move.
I allowed myself to sleep all day, and by Saturday, I was ready for a 9.5 mile hike in the mountains (the 52 Tunnels hike).
It ended up being pretty spendy. Here were the costs:
€200 X-rays ($232)
€125 cleaning ($145)
€50 some sort of new patient fee ($58)
Total: €375 ($435)
I also had to buy a €17 gum-regenerative mouthwash ($20).
Was this less than, equal to, or more than what you pay for out-of-pocket dental care in the US?
One thing to add is that the care I received was exceptional. I’m not just rationalizing the big expense to make it feel more “worth it.” It was tangibly better than my last dental visit in Boston in the USA. About 4 years ago, I started to notice brown/yellow stains forming between my lower front teeth. When I visited a dental clinic for a cleaning, I figured they would remove them. When they didn’t, I figured “oh, these are just my teeth now! I guess this is part of aging!”
However, leaned back in the dental chair in Padua, lips stretched uncomfortably open, I could feel the Italian hygenist taking some time between these teeth. After, when I was set to go, I check them in the mirror. The stains were GONE. Gone gone.
So, maybe the visit was on the higher end, but so was the care.
Although, there have been times in the US when I’ve also had exceptional care. Forest Family Dental in Austin, TX used to offer a mini free teeth-whitening with every cleaning visit !
A photo tour of my weekend excursions:
A visit to Villa Barbarigo near Padua
These gardens were so enchanting!! While not as expansive as Versailles, they were more charming and less regal. More like tiny magical spots hidden among overgrown trees and hedgerows—the secret garden many of us always wanted as children.
From the Villa’s official website:
The garden has over 350 years of history. It was built between 1665 and 1696 by one of the richest and most important families in Venice at the time, the Barbarigo family, as a thanks to God for sparing them from the plague of 1630/31.
The garden is designed around an allegorical journey, conveying to visitors the positive message of a life where difficulties are faced and where there is always a solution: a life where, every now and then, it is good to stop and meditate; a life where time is precious and must be lived intensely, with joy, waiting for eternity.
You gotta be thankful when God spares you from the plague!
The best palace in Europe?? A tour of Palazzo Ducale in Mantua
THIS PALACE WAS INCREDIBLE! Probably my favorite palace I’ve visited in Europe.
Reasons why it’s top:
not too crowded, even on a Saturday
cavernous—rooms upon rooms upon rooms. It felt like a magical labyrinth
gorgeous paintings and frescos everywhere—so impressive!
rooms of different eras spanning several hundred years from the 13th to 18th centuries
From Wikipedia:
The Palazzo Ducale (Ducal Palace) in Mantua, also known as the Gonzaga Palace, is one of the city's main historic buildings. From 1308, it served as the official residence of the Lords of Mantua, initially the Bonacolsi, and later the main residence of the Gonzaga, who were lords, marquesses, and eventually dukes of the Virgilian city. It housed the reigning Gonzaga, his wife, their legitimate firstborn son, other legitimate children until adulthood, and notable guests.[3] It was designated the Royal Palace during the Austrian domination starting from the reign of Maria Theresa.
Each duke sought to add a wing for themselves and their art collections, resulting in an area exceeding 35,000 m², making it one of Europe's largest palaces[4] after the palaces of the Vatican, the Louvre Palace, the Palace of Versailles, the Royal Palace of Caserta, the Royal Palace of Venaria, Buckingham Palace, the Palace of Fontainebleau, the Winter Palace, or the Royal Palace of Stockholm. It comprises over 500 rooms[5] and encompasses 7 gardens and 8 courtyards.[6]
The Road of 52 Tunnels hike in the mountains
From Wikipedia:
The Strada delle 52 Gallerie ("Road of 52 tunnels"), also known as the 52 Tunnel Road, or Strada della Prima Armata ("Road of the First Army") is a military mule road built during World War I on the Pasubiomassif in Veneto, Italy.
The road winds between Bocchetta Campiglia (1,216 metres [3,990 ft]) [1] and the Porte del Pasubio (1,934 metres [6,345 ft]) [2] crossing the southern slope of the mountain with its spires, deep canyons and sheer rock faces, outside of the range of Austro-Hungarian artillery.
The hike was 9.5 miles (15km) took 5 hours and we were exhausted by the end! But it did feel like such an accomplishment to get through all 52 tunnels!
Me starting the hike at tunnel 1 and ending the first part of the hike at tunnel 52.
La Pianura Padana: The Swamp Part of Italy
Geography lesson time! Did you know that Italy has a swamp part? I sure didn’t!
I have been living in Mantua/Mantova (why they decided that “Mantua” is better in English than the Italian name “Mantova”, I’ll never know). You can spot it in the middle of map in the “Bassa pianura” or “low plains”.
Pianura = plain
Padana = Po Valley
From this website:
The Po Valley takes its name from the Po River , which the ancient Romans called Padus . The river crosses it entirely from west to east, flowing into the Adriatic Sea . What is now known as the largest Italian plain did not exist in ancient times. In its place was the sea, which reached the foot of the Alps. Over time, debris carried by the rivers filled this deep inlet, thus forming the great plain.
In the Po Valley [has]…the high plain and the low plain.
The high plain is located at the foot of the Alps and the Apennines. The soil is permeable and doesn't retain rainwater, which quickly seeps into the subsoil. For this reason, this part of the plain is quite arid, and it is also the furthest from the Po River.
The lowland is the part closest to the river, here the soil is impermeable, retaining water making it fertile.
The upper and lower plains are separated by the belt of springs . Rainwater, which penetrates the deepest layers of the soil in the upper plains, is stopped when it encounters impermeable zones. Unable to continue its course, it resurfaces to form springs. [Risorgive = springs]
It’s hot, wet and humid! Which, I don’t hate. Here is a video of the lake (swamp) in Mantua that I took this week. I sat at a lakeside cafe, writing this blog, and enjoying a beer.
A Random Wet Weekday in Mantua:
Blogs this period:
No new blogs.
Instagram videos:
No new videos.
Warmly,
Alison
Action Item:
Get informed about possible election fraud in the 2024 Presidential election so that we can work together towards finding new safeguards in advance of the 2026 midterm elections.
Watch videos by data scientist and former US military veteran Nathan Taylor of Election Truth Alliance. He is not a conspiracy theorist. He’s a reasonable guy calling for better systems that keep elections in check. He’s saying we need hand recounts, we need to evaluate modern risks with electronic voting, and we need to design systems that are safe from tampering. He would be satisfied if recounts show that he is wrong, but we still need to be more critical for the safety of our country.
Personally, after watching much of his content, it seems irrefutable that our 2024 election was tampered with.
Reading, watching, and listening to:
Reading.
Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America by Heather Cox Richardson.
I finished this audiobook, which I have listened to while running. It is split into three sections: Undermining America,The Authoritarian Experiment, and The Awakening.
She calls on our past agreement about how the government should function to keep private businesses in check, build infrasture, protect people’s rights in a way that promotes equality, and provide critical social services, then charts the history of how politicians such as Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan saught to reverse this understanding and agreement through the promotion of myths of rugged individualism and government tyranny, to serve the interests of the wealthy elite. Remember Reagan’s famous quote “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'“ (1986) Why did this resonate with so many Americans??
Without government regulation and accountability, we’ve let the private sector loot us all!
We are at a critical point in our history as a nation in which Trump has ascended to an authoritarian post. We see how this moment was the inveitable outcome of decades of targeted strategy by private interests. We must read books like this one and understand our own history to shake the brainwashing that led us here.
Read this one for sure!
Watching.
Is everything fake?
I have an admission to make. I can’t stop watching plastic surgery YouTube videos by Dr. Gary Linkov. I’ve been watching them for over a year now, and they are something I return to as a self-soother.
It’s important to label fake things as being fake! Most celebrity’s faces cost upwards of $50,000. When he does plastic surgury breakdown videos, he always includes the costs of the procedures. We need to stop idealizing faces that are surgically altered and appreciating people’s unique beauty.
It’s truly uncanny valley that everyone has the same face and teeth now, sometimes called “Instagram face,” or “Mar-a-Lago face”.
Below, I talk about a podcast I’m listening to called Everything is Fake (and Nobody Cares). I think watching Gary’s videos is a reminder that so much of what we’re exposed to in mainstream culture is fake. This is why I so often head for the mountains in my spare time. I just want to touch grass, hear real birds chirp (do you know about the satirical Birds Aren’t Real conspiracy theory??), and enjoy majestic views of nature as much as possible.
Here’s one of Gary’s videos I watched this week about Clavicular and looksmaxxing:
Watching.
I watched this film and series:
Exit 8 - Japanese (2025)
The Chesnut Man, Season 1- Danish (2021)
The Chesnut Man: Hide and Seek, Season 2 - Danish (2026)
Exit 8 is about a young man who gets some big life news over the phone after stepping off a subway car. He tries to leave the subway underground but keeps looping around and around. Suddenly, instructions appear on how to get out. He has to master 8 challenges to reach Exit 8. The most emotionally moving part comes with a little boy who joins him in the corridor. The movie captures the vulnerability of childhood well and the fact that we always carry our inner child with us, as well as all of their unmet childhood needs. When we learn to tend to our inner child, we get to advance to the next level in life—meaning, levels of understanding and awareness that shape our interpretation of reality. In my work as a life coach, I help people soothe their wounds so that they can overcome the challenges keeping them stuck in loops and cycles. I feel this film captures this inner work in a poetic way. I recommend this one!
The Chesnut Man, Seasons 1 and 2, were much better than the Åre Murders, the Nordic Noir I watched last month. There were a few things that didn’t seem probable to happen IRL, but overall, the pacing, suspense, and surprises were very entertaining.
Nordic Noirs always have at least one autistic-pattern-recognizing-low-social-skills detective as a main character, finding the tiniest links that come in clutch but pissing everyone off in the process, and The Chesnut Man is no exception.
Both seasons focus on children’s songs and games, and the childhood severe wounds that could make someone murderous. Given my work in child trauma health science education and prevention for the past 7 years, it’s satisfying to watch a drama that gets it exactly right—capturing the sequence of dark childhood events that lead to cycles of violence. If you want to understand the actual brain science of how this happens, you must read The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog and Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook — What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love, and Healing by Dr. Bruce Perry.
If you like dark murder-mystery detective shows, this is a good one!
Listening.
Everything is Fake (and Nobody Cares) on BBC.
This podcast was mentioned in the blog post from my last Check-In post about AI and Knitting Bullshit.
It’s about how politics became an entertainment spectacle in the USA, rather than something to be taken seriously. It follows Trump’s involvement in the World Wrestling Federation in the 80s and how that led to his particular brand of spectacle politics.
It also looks at shows like Oprah that promoted pseudoscientific BS and how the “your feelings are valid” ideology led people away from understanding some things are true, and some things are not true. “This is my truth,” they quote American politician Kamala Harris saying. But the actual truth matters, podcast host Jamie Bartlett argues.
Watching.
For anyone with hermit dreams, check out Martijn Doolaard, a Dutch guy who has renovated two very old homes in the Italian mountains. I watched this episode this weekend.
If you read my previous blogs, you know that I’ve been considering moving to the Italian Alps myself, although not on a remote mountain-top, but rather to the city of Trento, pop. 100k.
His videos are romantic in that they’re incredibly scenic, peaceful, and have an old-timey aesthetic, reminiscent of analogue times before we were glued to screens (quite ironically, given that we watch him on a screen).
Playing.
Disco Elysium.
I used to love playing adventure and puzzle computer games when I was a teen and also into my 20s. The last ones I played were Dreamfall, a sequel to The Longest Journey (2006), and Syberia II (2004).
But I didn’t continue to play anything over the years, even though it was something I really enjoyed! Also, I had never played using a video game controller.
My boyfriend thought that Disco Elysium (2019) would be a fun game, so we tried it. It was very fun, and I tried a hand-held controller for the first time.
This game has an interesting story of a depressed police detective who wakes up from an alcohol bender and must put together the pieces of his life and a murder amid a massive headache and existential crisis. I’m looking forward to continuing to play!
