Just got back from my first visit to the local doctor. He’s been Matthew’s doctor for some time now and has the office just off to the side of the piazza as you turn to go up towards the city hall from the church. He’s a soft-spoken fellow and didn’t blink an eye when I said that I’d got through last night by breathing the steam from and drinking a tea made of rosemary and cloves for my cough because they were both good anti-spasmodics and the rosemary a good antiseptic for the respiratory tract. In fact, he agreed that these were good things to try asked me about the allergies I’d had in Texas, shook his head at the mention of ‘ragweed’ and then sent me along with a prescription for Zithromax and Cortizone to take care of the bronchitis. My neighbor loaned me her nebulizer so I can breath the cortizone and I picked up some cream for her daughter at the pharmacy on my way. Three kinds of medicine including antibiotics (I opted for the generics) less than 15 euro. Visit to doctor, free. Another positive experience with the public health system in Italy.