Travel Snippets 2 of 9

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At the Isle of Capri’s Marina Grande, we rode a funicular railway up the hill, to the village square. Capri is like a diminutive opera setting — incomparable beauty, exceptional climate, superb facilities. Coast line is irregular, mostly cliffs, inaccessible at most spots, honeycombed with grottoes and subtropical vegetation. The narrow city bus took us to the town of Anacapri, then the single-chair lift for the twelve minute ride to the top of Mt. Solaro. The dress salesman in the town of Capri indicated agreement, then quickly kissed Emmy on the neck and said “Bella, Bella.” But when she indicated a lack of interest in what he was really trying to sell, he showed a lack of interest in selling the dress for that price, so no buy, and no sale either. Most every wife or daughter will meet at least one Italian who will insist he is Casanova reincarnate. (1980)
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At the McDonald’s Restaurant near the Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic, the public restrooms (next door to McDonald’s) were not free, exactly. Approximately 12¢ for a woman, and 8¢ for a man. Something about a difference in the plumbing involved or required — well it was one or the other. (1995)
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At the Plitvica National Park (near Zagreb, Yugoslavia), sixteen lakes are connected by thousands of little, hundreds of medium, and dozens of large waterfalls. We rode in a large set of trailers, pulled by a huge tractor, a couple of miles up a twisty road, to the highest lake. Then we walked down the hill on the four feet wide wooden pathway that meandered over lakes, under waterfalls, through the Plitvica forest, up and down some steep ramps and stair steps. Most of the time that slippery wooden walkway had no hand rail, and it seemed even narrower when we met other people also walking under an open umbrella. A scary walk through a gorgeous natural treasure. (1989)
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At the Renault dealer in Merzig, Germany, as they replaced a wheel bearing and did a grease job and oil change, the mechanic discovered a need to replace the radial brake pads on the front wheels. The owner of the Renault garage had said he was going to visit the US in five years. As I paid the larger than expected bill, I said to the owner, “US in two years.” (1988)
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At the street market in Ghent, Belgium, Emmy bought a smoked Mackerel, some olives, American cheese, sourdough bread, and cherries. A young woman near-at-hand was broadcasting her sales pitch in a lilting rhythmic manner. A man in an adjacent booth said it was a singsong sales pitch about the low price, and good quality of her herring. (1995)
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At the town of Barendrecht, The Netherlands, we stopped at the Post Office to make some phone calls. When the couple of calls from Holland to the USA were complete, the woman said they were free since she forgot to set the meter before we started, so didn’t know what the cost was. We didn’t object to that at all. (1979)
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At the Versailles Palace in France, during one of several visits, Emmy put her hand on what looked like a cold marble slab and found it was actually warm, realistically painted wood — an amazing paint job. But most of what she “felt” was genuine cold marble. (1979)
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At two McDonald’s restaurants we visited in Belgium, there was an elderly lady who kept the restroom clean, and expected a few cents from us for her trouble, or rather to relieve our troubles. We don’t know if this custom is a way to keep the restrooms clean, or to keep the old ladies employed — it does both. (1991)
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At Ueckesdorf, just outside Bonn, Germany, we stayed in Cousin Reinhold and Christiane’s driveway a couple of different years. The first time, Simone (then about 3 years old), came out and looked in the RV, but she just could not believe their company was actually going to sleep in their driveway, instead of inside their beautiful home. (1988)
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Athens, Greece, is famous for its smog, but this day, according to the Athenians we talked to near the Parthenon, is a one-day-a-year clean-air day. From the Acropolis, we could see forever. (1989)
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Before we drove the RV to Rotterdam, The Netherlands, to be put on the TS/S Stefan Batory for our cruise to Montreal, we had packed a bunch of goodies, including a couple of very large boxes, five suitcases, a huge Army duffel bag, a large hanging clothes bag, several miscellaneous boxes and bags, and “a partridge in a pear tree.” Luckily, neither The Netherlands customs officers in Rotterdam nor the Canadian Customs officers at Montreal cared even a little bit, not even a glance. I used that word “luckily” because we didn’t have to spend the time and bother, not because we had something we should not have had. (1985)
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Before WW II, Potsdamer Platz, the highlight of old Berlin, was congested with the scramble of pedestrians, the clutter of auto traffic, the clatter of 600 street cars each day, and was the meeting place of five of Berlin’s busiest streets. In addition to WW II bomb damage, the main battle on 17 Juni 1953, (the East German uprising against the Soviets), was fought in Potsdamer Platz. The Berlin wall was built across the Platz, it was a “no man’s land” the years the Berlin Wall stood. Fancy skyscrapers, including the Sony Center, DaimlerChrysler, a large movie Theater, and the Beisheim Center (apartments, offices), have been constructed since we last visited Berlin, in 1991. Soon after the East German uprising, as a constant reminder of that citizen insurrection, the West Berlin government renamed the street Charlottenburger Chaussee, just west of the Brandenburg Gate, “des 17 Juni Straße.” (1991)
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Before you leave home for your trip to Europe, write to the tourist offices of the countries you may visit and request brochures and maps of specific places, and information about items of general interest. Your local bookstore has travel books that will tell you what to do, and what to see, and what to buy, and what to eat, and where to stay. After you arrive in their country, the Tourist Information Office in each town will load you down with brochures and detailed maps of every nook and cranny you may wish to visit. Take brochures in any language. Photos will be useful, and a “local” will be able to direct you when they see the brochure. Tourist Offices will often make a hotel reservation for your night(s) in their town.
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Believe it or not, just a couple of short Venetian blocks north of St. Mark’s, beyond the Clock Tower, we found some very famous Golden Arches, and more important, clean restrooms. Years earlier this had been a Wendy’s, then a Burghy for a few years, and is now a McDonald’s. An order of Fries cost less than the public restrooms. (1995)
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Between Brandisi and Bari, Italy, we saw a dozen huge billboards that featured a large photo of a woman’s bare breast (one bare breast and nipple) on the left, and on the right a baby whose eyes and mouth confirm he is obviously on his way to dinner. I told Emmy the baby was most likely paid to make the advertisement, but I was more experienced and would have done it for nothing. No, I didn’t even suggest she could play the part of the Lady, so I could gain more experience. At least not at that exact moment. (1989)
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Both Amsterdam and Hamburg claim more bridges than Venice. Those are large cities, we can easily walk from one side of Venice to the other. We haven’t seen them all, but not many people have seen as many of the 117 islands, 150 canals, and 400 bridges, as we have, during seven visits. In Venice, boats of every size and shape are used to transport everything, including funerals, passengers, baggage, items for sale in a store. Between the main part of Venice and the Island of Murano, there is Cimitero di S. Michele, Venice’s Cemetery island. The lavishness of the ceremony, and the extravagance of the procession, most likely reflect the net worth of the deceased. Garbage must be hauled by boats. Specially constructed bins are rolled next to a canal, a crane on the barge picks up the garbage bin, it opens automatically and dumps the garbage into a specially constructed barge.
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Both my Brother Jesse, and Emmy and I, found a lot of Japanese on the beach at Saipan. The ones we saw were honeymoon couples from Tokyo, staying at the Intercontinental Hotel. The Japanese were on the Saipan beach here again, but under much different circumstances than Jesse had seen from his Naval ship during the invasion in WW II, all those years ago. (1980)
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Both Norwegian shepherds were dressed in shabby old cloaks that hung in loose folds — they appeared to be out of “Central Casting,” costumed for a part in a Hollywood movie. As we drove around a hairpin curve we noticed a sheep had hidden behind a boulder. One more sharp curve brought us to the second shepherd, near the road. We pointed and gestured, and when he finally understood we were telling him about a straggler, he reached among the folds of his ancient tattered mantle, brought out an old huge U. S. Army surplus walkie-talkie and told his buddy to go get the wayward one. (1979)
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Boulogne, France, was the surprise city on the French coast, along the English Channel. The Basilica was built between 1827 and 1866 and dominates Boulogne as the Sacré Coeur of Montmartre dominates Paris. As we drove through the town the beautiful cathedral dome was visible, but when we finally parked right in front of what we thought was the cathedral, the streets were so narrow we could no longer see a dome anywhere. After entering the cathedral and enjoying the nave and the accompanying art work, we finally decided the dome must be on some other building. But before we left the sanctuary, we went around in back of the altar and looked up — there at last, the cupola of the dome. Not nearly so large as St. Peter’s in Rome of course, and in need of paint and renovation, but beautiful nonetheless. (1985)
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By the time Emmy arrived at the flea market in Locarno, Switzerland, 99% of the buyers had left, the sellers had put away 99% of the things that had been for sale. Emmy managed to buy 99% of a towel rack with glass rods and brass brackets. Now if we only had the missing 1%. Well, later I did find a screw that fit. (1985)
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Calcutta, India, had not been damaged by war, but it appeared almost in worse condition than war damaged Manila. The worst thing was, in the morning men with a cart, came by, kicked the street people, then picked up those who had died during the night. I was told they were dumped into the Hooghly River. In the couple of days I was there, I toured downtown, visited some expensive hotels, and shopped in what I remember was the 2,000 stall “New Market,” where I bought a camera and a suitcase. I remember seeing that camera someplace, sometime in the past few years. Now why on earth would I get rid of that heavy leather suitcase? I didn’t need it, but it was memorabilia. The only other shopping center I have seen that compares with Calcutta’s New Market, is the much larger 4,000 stall Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey, where Emmy and I visited in 1989. (1946)
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Can you imagine a 14 story building, 500 meters long? That’s 1,650 feet, a third of a mile. Another is even longer, 700 meters, nearly a 1/2 mile, with 13,000 residents. In Gdansk, Poland, they call these “The ants nest.” The largest apartment buildings we have ever seen. In Eastern Europe there are thousands of multi-story apartment buildings, all built in the boring Socialist architectural style, that is, no style at all. 1991)
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Can you imagine geysers erupting in the snow, with elk and buffalo between the viewers and Old Faithful. And swans swimming on the rivers that were kept warm with geyser water, even in the middle of winter. Our wintertime visit to Yellowstone National Park, in a 12 passenger snow cat, was fabulous. Under one Geyser, don’t remember which one, a little piece of wood had been sitting under eruption after eruption. We know there is a limit to how many things can be taken from such places, so we asked the driver if it was OK, and he said, “Sure.” We were there 6 or 8 times, another visit in the snow, but usually in summer time. (1979)
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Carrera, Italy, the mountain town of marble quarry fame, is where the marble for Michelangelo’s Statue of David was quarried. When we visited Carrera’s mountain top we bought a marble rolling pin from the same quarry, paid $9.50, and I call it, “David's armpit.” (1988)
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Cathedrals, monuments, and impressive buildings all over Europe have been carefully cleaned in recent years, and we think the results have been spectacular. But as one man, in Nancy, France, told us, “They are washing off not dirt, but tradition.” Another example is the Monument to Sir Walter Scott, Princes Street, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is rather black, but we were told that when they decided to clean it, the citizens protested. On one of our several visits to Cologne, Germany, they had repaired a portion of the Cathedral, and those repairs were clean. When I asked if they were going to clean the rest of the ancient cathedral — that took 634 years to build — the man in the tourist office almost screamed, “Of course not!” They blackened the repairs
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Ceramic tile was being removed from the floor in a large room in a building near the St. Francis’ Basilica. I picked up a small broken piece and “asked” the workmen if we could take it to California as a souvenir of Assisi, Italy. But the workmen insisted we take a full eight inch square (almost) piece of tile. (They measure in centimeters.) It’s right beside my computer, used every day as a coaster. (1989)
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Certainly there is no shortage of products to buy, and places to buy them. You could travel anywhere in Europe with only your wallet (filled, of course) and purchase everything needed to live well. Rather than carry a lot of cash, or even many traveler’s checks, we suggest Visa or Master Card to obtain the local currency at banks in most countries. From Bergen to Barcelona, Venice to Vienna, London to Liechtenstein, and throughout Europe, cash is often dispensed as quick, or quicker than at home in California. Credit cards are usable most everywhere, in gas stations, restaurants, grocery stores, antique stores, and department stores. One time, in Austria, I waited and waited for the money, finally thought the ATM machine was not working and walked away. I was called back by an honest Austrian, when the money finally arrived a few moments later. (1995)
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Chiusi, Italy, looked spectacular so we drove up the almost impossibly curvy steep street. We found a place to park on the edge of a ledge, walked around the town, then had an ice cold Coke and some peanuts in our RV. As we were leaving we saw a bus load of Americans who were struggling and trudging up the hill to Chiusi, their bus wouldn’t fit on these streets. We jokingly refused when they jokingly (we think.) asked for a ride. (1985)
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Cousin Köbus showed us his “Khomeini woodpile,” in back of his home in Mettlach, Germany. He had no intention of being in the position of having a problem heating his home, if the oil supply was cut off by the then ruler of Iran. (1980)
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Dan and Linda were with us in Germany one year, and we were at the Burg Restaurant in Saarburg. I had just told the story about the diner asking the waiter, “What’s this fly doing in my soup?” Replied the waiter, “Looks like the backstroke,” when Dan said “There is a fly in my soup,” and there really was. (1985)
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Daughter Linda has a love affair with the book, “Gone with the Wind.” Her collection includes copies in many languages. On our second visit to Kraków, Poland, (after the Berlin Wall fell), a hundred yards from where we had parked, the very first bookstore where we looked, had copies of the book displayed in the front window. Maybe the only bookstore in the world with that book in the window, in the past many years. A few days later we were in Prague, Czech Republic, and Linda was lucky again. We found a two-volume hard cover edition of “Gone With the Wind” in Czechoslovakian, in the very first bookstore we shopped. In Copenhagen, Denmark, “Gone With the Wind,” was playing in a theater, advertised by well-worn posters. I visited two book stores, but neither had the book. A bookstore clerk suggested a used-book store nearby, and success at last. (1991)
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Do you know the difference between a cane and a walking stick? Answer, “Twenty years.” When I first thought of that answer, 20 years was correct, but by now who knows how many years, or maybe months, or days the answer might be today. My son-in-law was in Singapore on business on the 49th anniversary of my 18th birthday on the troop ship in Singapore’s harbor, so he bought me a cane to add to my collection of 50 or so. Now I call a cane my “Sympathy stick.”
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Dozens and dozens of sidewalk cafe’s in Greece have an awning over the tables, a unique design, found only in Greece. They have constructed a simple pipe frame, sloping two ways from the ridge. The awning is connected to a pipe at the top (ridge) with an awning descending down each side, like a roof. The awning is wrapped around the top pipe in such a way that when a crank is used to turn that pipe, the awning on both sides is wrapped around the top pipe, and pulled up from both sides. The bottom edge of awning on each side, is attached to a heavy pipe to give it weight, and to hold the awning in place when the wind blows. We have seen thousands of sidewalk cafes in many countries, but this awning is unique to Greece, and we see it there, many, many times. (1989)
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Dressed in tie and raincoat (well that’s not all I had on), I rode the train from Mettlach, to Saarbrücken, Germany, and walked in the rain to the Casino. The gambling casino is located in the Saarlandhalle, next to the Stadium. I checked my raincoat, paid the money required to become a member of the club, and bought $50 in gambling chips for our friend Mike’s world-record chip collection. A different scene than in Las Vegas. In mid-afternoon in a very plain room, the players wore a coat and tie, the “dealers” wore tuxedos. A man (pit boss perhaps) sat in a chair high above the roulette table (the only game in play) watching all. I did spend a few minutes looking around before I claimed my coat and left the casino. I’m not all that excited about gambling. (1985)
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Drove to the top of a mountain near Montreux, Switzerland, in 1980 to the headquarters of the Moral Rearmament Group. Emmy remembers she loaned her copy of the “Up With People;” record to someone, and did not get it back. They did not have one for sale here. We are looking for Dr. Schaeffer and his wife. He is a minister and they both are authors, and have a church here in the mountains. As we left the office, we met Bill and Sarilyn from Texas, and their two daughters, Paige and Amy, ages 12 and 10. Sometimes they stay in a tent, and other times in hotels. We then found they are staying in the same campground we are. In the evening they came over for some popcorn, and the next morning we went to Dr. Schaeffer’s church together. A few years later we visited their home in Texas, and at Christmas 2006, we are still communicating. One of the joys of travel.
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Due to a lot of work by my Sweetie (who managed our apartment buildings) and President Carter’s inflation, I was able to get off the computer industry payroll in 1978 at age 50, after nearly 30 years of making my living in the computer business. I didn’t quit work, we just worked for ourselves, owning real estate and trust deeds. That provided enough time and money to live well (our opinion of living well) and permitted many trips, including nearly 1,000 nights of travel in Europe, and 124 ports on five continents, by ship and ferry. It’s been fun, both the 30 years in the computer business, and especially the nearly 55 years of working and enjoying life with my beautiful wife, Emmy. (1978)
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During four years we were driving a Dodge RV that needed a tire size not used on European vehicles. In 1979, in Spain, we had them mount our spare tire, to replace one that appeared to be nearing the end of its life. A few days later, in Nice, France, we asked at several tire shops, and finally had two Firestones of one size put on the front, and two Goodyears of another size mounted on the back. Cost, $700. We had asked at several different tire stores, and found that each had called the same wholesaler, and each were told about the same four mismatched tires. But it worked just fine, except for the exorbitant price. In 1985 we needed tires for a different Dodge, and found a Michelin

wholesaler had four of that size tire with a price at least double the cost at home. On the Michelin tire it said, “Made in the USA.” (1980s)
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During one visit to Bonn, Germany, there was an advertising campaign about their city, and there were many signs and bumper stickers, with the name Bonn spelled with a lipstick kiss as the “o.” (1979)
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During our first trip to Hawaii, on the beach on the Island of Maui, Emmy saw a little piece of driftwood sticking out of the sand. She wiggled and waggled (yes, both Emmy and the driftwood.) and it ended up being a piece 5 feet long, with branches about 2 feet long near the middle, with a heavy 18” piece at the one end that looks something like a horse’s head. It was too large to check on the airplane, so we took it to the dock, and made arrangements for Matson Lines to send it to Los Angeles on a ship. They said we should be thanked for cleaning up the beach, but we should wrap it in some cardboard, someone might think it was debris, and throw it overboard. A self described wood expert told us it did not originate in Hawaii, it really drifted there from somewhere else. Still have it, of course. For a several years we had it hung above our fireplace, but it’s been sitting in the desert sunlight for nearly 30 years, and still looks like a piece of driftwood.(1968)
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During our RV travels in Europe we rarely stay in hotels (23 out of about 1,000 nights in Europe, the last European hotel was in Prague, in 1985); we infrequently eat in restaurants (perhaps lunch); we almost never leave the campground at night (there goes the theater, and night clubs); and we think the building itself is the most interesting part of most museums. But isn’t it wonderful that we both loved the way we traveled, it couldn’t have been better. During our 50 some years of both business and personal travel in the USA and Canada, when not traveling in an RV, we have spent hundreds of nights in very nice hotels, and have eaten thousands of meals in very nice restaurants, but rarely was either experience appreciated more than a meal and a night in our trailer, campers, and small RVs.
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During our visit in 1989, one shop keeper said an earthquake in 1984 caused a lot of damage to buildings in Assisi, Italy, damage that was still being repaired — there were dozens of building cranes visible above the city. I said, “The crane must be Italy’s national bird.”
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During our visit on Sunday August 24, 1980, as we walked toward downtown Brugge, Belgium, we found hundreds of people in costume and medieval dress, along with flocks of sheep and many horses, waiting for a parade to start. This “Pageant of the Golden Tree” recreates the showy marriage of Charles the Bold to Margaret of York (sister to the English King Edward IV) in the summer of 1468. More than 2000 actors, six choirs, and 100 horsemen paraded through the heart of Bruges' historical center, telling the history of the town in about 90 scenes. Dancers, singers, horses, flocks of sheep, and hundreds of people in costumes, were organized in one parade scene after another, as they “marched” through the city. It was very interesting, although we learned more than we needed to know about Brugge’s history.
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During our visit to Hawaii, in 1968, we visited six islands — Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Kauai, and Oahu. — I still haven’t met anyone else who has been on all six. Special fare on the airlines was $5 per person, per island, we flew on five hops. To and from Lanai, was by boat from Maui. We’ve visited Hawaii five times, made eight or ten Island hops, the cost was as much as $30 to $40, much more than the $5, that first trip. While sailing on the M/S Enna G, we spent a day and a night on the ship in Honolulu. Since we had been here before and knew our way around, with three other people we rented a car and I drove around the Island of Oahu, and visited parts of Honolulu. (The man with us in the car, died while walking around the deck of the M/S Enna G a few days later, while sailing from Honolulu to Majuro.)
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During the late ‘30s and early ‘40s, a few men, at the head of state, turned Germany into the most hated nation in the world, and for the next 40 years the East Germans were brainwashed by their liberal-left government. But isn’t it wonderful to observe how fleeting and how superficial that brainwashing was. The ideas of freedom are so ingrained in human nature, no debriefing or retraining was needed when the Berlin Wall fell. They knew instinctively how freedom works.
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During two different trips to Hawaii, we drove to Hana, Maui. The Road to Hana is unbelievably curvy — at almost no place will you have the wheels pointed straight ahead. It is 52 miles of some of the most breathtaking scenery you can imagine. Drive slowly and enjoy the sights, the 56 one-lane bridges, and the 617 curves & turns. Charles Lindbergh was living in Hana when he died, and he was buried a few miles further along this road, past Hana. We visited his grave in 1984, when Emmy’s Cousin Toni was with us.
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During two of our visits to Nürnberg, Germany, we spent the evening in Oberasbach, a western suburb of Nürnberg, to visit with a family who had been friends of Emmy’s sister. One year, when it was time to leave, Axel telephoned the campground in Erlangen to get instructions on how to find it. When we got off the Autobahn in Erlangen, it took a most unusual number of twists and turns and camping-signs, to find it in the darkness. But there was a campground, and we got there OK. (1983)
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During WW II the Americans bombed Vienna numerous times, and one time the Opera building was gutted by a fire. Our tour guide at the opera seemed to think it had been unnecessary and done on purpose. I played tennis, many times, with a US Air Force pilot who bombed Vienna several times in WW II. When that pilot visited this building and heard that comment, he pointed out — to the disgust of the guide — when his plane had been hit by anti-aircraft fire, he jettisoned his bombs wherever he was, so he could get back to his base. The bombs fell where they fell, he had no control of that, but he saved his crew. (1980)
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Each time we approach Rothenburg, Germany, Emmy wonders if it can really be as delightful and captivating as she remembers from our last stay. On our several visits so far, she has yet to be disappointed. MGM filmed the movie “Grimms Fairy Tales” in Rothenburg, and it looks like just maybe it was built by elves. Rothenburg’s wall has a roof that protected the guards who walked guard-duty in years gone by, and the tourist who walks tourist-duty today. There are about thirty towers, perhaps a half-dozen gates for vehicles, and several more for pedestrians. (1980)
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Early in 1979, in our travels in a Dodge RV in Europe, it dawned on us that each time we traveled we must have photos of our vehicle in our wallets. Otherwise, if we had a problem, or someone stole our vehicle, what would the police in Italy or Yugoslavia for example, think when we said, “Someone stole our Dodge Cobra Van, or our Dodge Transvan.” The photo would prove it was the only vehicle in Europe that looked anything like that.
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Eastern Airlines took us to St. Croix, Virgin Islands. Don’t remember the hotel name, but it was not nice at all. The building was OK, our room and the balcony were a mess. Christiansted, St. Croix, was a pleasant city, and lunch at the Cafe de Paris was excellent. And surprise, in a jewelry store Emmy found a ring she couldn’t live without. I followed my lifetime rule, if my Sweetie wants it, I buy it. As I’ve said, I am lucky that the only really, for real, actual, ridiculous item she ever wanted was me. But she had less attachment to that ring than to me. At the Island of St. Thomas, in a store with the same name, she exchanged it for one she liked even better. I never suffered that problem, maybe she never got a good enough offer for me. Maybe no one else wanted me! (1978)
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Electric power in campgrounds throughout Europe is 220 Volt, but plugs are different in this country and that. England’s plug is about 2 inches square and 1 inch thick, with three large flat prongs, and there is a fuse inside the plug. The German plug is 1 inch in diameter, and about 2 inches long, has two round prongs with the “ground” built into the plug itself. The French plugs are similar in shape, but you must have the proper adapter, since the “ground” is built in the receptacle, not the plug. Italy uses a three prong plug, but they are in a different arrangement, than the German and French plugs. At the Tivoli, Italy, campground, a man nearby gave us a plug into which we plugged the San Marino plug, into which we plugged the German plug, we plugged the whole thing into the Tivoli (for some reason, it was not like the normal Italian gadget) receptacle, and that worked. (1985)
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Emmy always liked the precision flower beds we found many places in Europe. While walking through the precise geometric display of hedges and flower beds in the immense gardens beyond the Versailles Palace, near Paris, France, Emmy said, “I would like more color in the flower beds.” I suggested that if she walked through the garden, they would be much more colorful indeed. Please understand, I said that right then. I didn’t just now invent that compliment, and dozens more, for this book. (1985)
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Emmy ate a buffet lunch at a large Department Store in Barcelona, Spain. She enjoyed items like herring, various salads, roast beef, chicken, artichoke hearts, even ice water with plenty of ice. First time Emmy has eaten paella, a rice, fish, and chicken dish. None of those are my favorites, so I just kept her plate filled, and I watched her eat, as I have done hundreds of times. You’ve heard the story, “I would rather — do this or that — than eat.” Well, “I would rather keep my Sweetie’s plate full, than eat.” (1979)
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Emmy awoke in the Oslo, Norway, campsite feeling weak and dizzy. This was early in our RV travels in Europe, so we decided that if Emmy is not feeling well we should check into a hotel so she can rest in comfort tonight. Found the Hotel Grand in Oslo, with a shower, and two very hard beds. Motel 6 would have been much better at less than $70, based on the tiny room and the hard bed. Our room was on the 6th floor and we could still hear Oslo street noises all night. The RV is really more comfortable, and campsites are quieter than hotels. Emmy would have rested better in the RV. As we traveled, we learned such things about travel in our RV. (1979)
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Emmy bought a pink coral necklace in the country of San Marino one year, then bought a matching pair of earrings during another visit to the same store in another year. The $11 blue purse (negotiated down from $22) she bought in San Marino, is still used many days of the year. (1985)
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Emmy can spot a flea market anywhere. One time we were driving on I-90, across the wide open spaces of South Dakota on a Saturday morning when she picked up the map, pointed to a town-name and said, “Let’s get off the Interstate and see if Kadoka has a flea market.” Sure enough, their annual; once a year; flea market. How did she know? Of course we bought something. The Mount Rushmore National Memorial, in SD, is well worth a visit. (1986)
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Emmy decided to get her hair colored and set, and whatever else it is they do in those places. We found a tasteful looking shop in Kórinthos, Greece, the nice looking lady’s hair was pleasantly styled, so we thought she must know what she is doing. Emmy has bottles of things she carries for such an occasion, but when she tried to discuss what to do with one bottle, they couldn’t understand each other. Finally they found a lady across the street who could speak English, and they all decided they could go ahead. All went fine. The hairdresser was anxious to communicate with Emmy. She showed her a picture of a man on a tractor, and to let Emmy know it was her son, she touched her stomach. She is a very attractive young grandmother, and showed pictures of her grandchildren. Her husband drives a tour bus. (1989)
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Emmy had spent the day resting in the RV, and I returned to the Paris campground early in the evening, with both my feet and my ego hurting. I had walked all over Paris (sore feet) and only received one proposition while walking the street in Paris, of all cities (sore ego). A really pretty and very well dressed young lady in a shopping area on the Champs-Élysées asked a question in French. When I responded, “I only understand English,” (I would understand that question in any language), she repeated in English in a very articulated Hollywood-movie voice, “Would you like to go with me and make love?” I replied (I say), “I’ll have to ask my wife.” She barked in a very rough, coarse manner, “YES or NO?” After I told Emmy the story, just for fun (I think?) that was often her response to my answers to many of her questions, for the next couple of years. We loved to kid each other. (1980)
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Emmy has been on an airplane more than 100 times, and once the landing gear would not come up, so the plane slowly flew from Chicago to Kansas City, but no real problem. I have been on a plane 1,500 times at least, once we returned to the Frisco airport because a baggage door light would not turn off, no other problem. I can only remember once when my plane landed at a different airport, because of weather. I usually carried my suitcase, but luggage was checked a hundred times and more, I remember only two times when luggage was lost for a day or two.
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Emmy has been thinking, and that can be expensive. Emmy, surprise surprise, decided she must have the brass charcoal stove we saw in Fussen, Germany, last Friday, so here we go. We spent Sunday night at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, (site of the 1936 Winter Olympics), so just to be different, we are going into Austria, and will drive through that country and cross the border back to Fussen, Germany. In Austria, we passed some kind of a toboggan ride down the Austrian mountain on a track, no snow needed. Emmy said it looked like fun, but admitted she would be too chicken to take a ride. Finally the store in Fussen opened, and the brass charcoal stove was there momentarily, then in the RV. Of course there is nearly no room for us anymore. The lady in Fussen’s antique store said the stove was 150 years old. Must be antique, the metal was cold already. (1983)
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Emmy is amazed at the way they farm in this part of Poland, but none of this is surprising to me. I did these same jobs, using a “broadcast box” (used to plant seeds of many kinds), and both horses and tractors, long before I met her. No one felt sorry that I had to work so hard all those years ago. (1991)
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Emmy mentioned we were surprised, but pleased, to find that each year millions of French people visit the US Army Cemetery, near Colleville-sur Mer, France, along the Normandy beach. Cousin Monika’s husband, Henri said, as he held his hand over his heart, “The Americans came to liberate us, they did not come for money.” What a wonderful sentiment. (1980)
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Emmy noticed she had lost her head scarf on Jun. 27, 1985. I retraced our steps inside the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and found that some kind soul had picked it up and hung it on a rail near the Cloister Portal. Some time later, on Nov. 3, 1988, Emmy lost that same head scarf again. I retraced our steps, and about a block from Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, I found it hung on a low railing in front of a Florence, Italy, bank. How many lives does that scarf have? I put in the dates just to show off — she did keep a diary. The diary comments concerned the nice people in both cities, who placed the scarf in a noticeable place, and did not stick it in their pocket. It wasn’t just a note about her scarf.
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Emmy really liked the flea market in Nijmegan, The Netherlands. (We’ll let you know if we find a flea market she doesn’t like.) Emmy bought a small copper planter with blue ceramic handles, and after we were in the RV and ready to leave town, we had to find another parking place, then run through the rain to get a brass coffee pot she can’t live without — not for coffee, just because. (1985)
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Emmy remembers the tiny old, old airplane that we flew from St. Croix to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, she doesn’t want to do that again. There were few seats, one row on each side of the aisle. Haven’t the foggiest idea what kind of a plane it was, don’t remember ever seeing another one like it, except maybe in the Shirley Temple movie, “Bright Eyes.” If I guessed right, when she sings “The Good Ship Lollipop” while the airplane is taxiing, that is similar to the model we flew on this short hop, but I think ours was smaller yet. We were originally scheduled to fly in a seaplane, but a couple of weeks earlier, one of them crashed, some of the others were still grounded. I was anxious to fly on that plane, Sweetie was more than a little dubious, so no-fly that way. (1978)
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Emmy said we had very nice experiences with French people, and mentioned how helpful people had been on more than one occasion. Our beautiful French friend Brigitte said, “That’s impossible, French people don’t even like each other.” We met Brigitte and Paul while on a visit in Africa, in Cueta, Spain (Yes in Africa), on our way to Morocco. We took them to lunch in Nice, France, and years later we ate dinner in their mountainside condominium high above Nice, and the Mediterranean Sea. (1980)
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Emmy says her disposition is affected by the rain. I wondered what caused that. I liked it best when her predilection, or preference was for me. Sometimes I wondered what I could try next to agitate her propensity, her innate inclination.
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Emmy says it’s funny, in one store at one time she doesn’t find anything she likes, but then another time, another store, another wallet, another Credit Card. The Visa Credit Card company just loves her. Our Visa card is dated 1967. It’s never been canceled, but the card has worn out and needed replaced, a couple of times. Nearly 35 years ago, we paid interest maybe a month or two, on our Visa bill.
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Emmy seems to be allergic to something in this area of Greece (certainly not the driver), she sneezes, but doesn’t have a cold. The dictionary says, “Allergy — An abnormally high sensitivity to certain substances, such as pollens, foods, or microorganisms.” Thank goodness I was never a microorganism. She was addicted to me, was never allergic to me, her name was spelled Emmy, she never expressed enmity. A couple of times over the years, when I approached an automatic door that would not open, or an escalator that was not moving, I did wonder if it was my personality, or did that door and that escalator treat everyone the same. (1989)
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Emmy signed up for her Social Security checks at the US Embassy in Bonn, West Germany, in 1988 while we were visiting Cousin Reinhold who lives near Bonn. Her first Social Security check was deposited in our bank account in California, on about February 1, 1989. Being married to an older woman does have certain advantages. Well, I did have to wait a year for my first Social Security check.
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Emmy still had a few Disneyland pencils and US flags, so gave them to some young boys we met on the street in Yalta, Crimea. We stopped at the Intourist Store, but could find nothing of interest to buy. Right next to the cash register there was a large abacus (we saw several), but when I started to take a picture of it, the cashier immediately put it under the counter, and didn’t want a picture taken. The jewelry counter had lines of people, but still nothing we wanted, although it would have been nice to buy something for Emmy in this city. In the marketplace there was a kiddy-land with many rides in operation, and teenagers are playing video games in one store. (1989)
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Emmy thinks Millau, France, is a nice town, probably because it has a flea market. We had spent the night in the Tarn River Gorge in France. People were going down the Tarn River in canoes, and a man in a truck is going down the road to retrieve them, and bring them back to the starting point. Once out of the gorge area, Emmy says the scenery looks like Pearblossem, Calif., which is not the biggest compliment ever paid to an area. (1983)
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Emmy walked down a long flight of stairs, then climbed down a ladder to get her foot wet in the Mediterranean Sea, on the Italian Riviera. There was no beach, she had one foot on the bottom rung of the ladder, the other in the Mediterranean Sea. Who said she doesn’t know how to enjoy her vacation. This campground, near Imperia, Italy, was perched on a narrow sloping place, above a steep drop-off into the Mediterranean Sea. We did put blocks in front of the tires this time, just in case. RV is on a slope, but was just fine for sleeping. (1983)
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Emmy was shocked to see how hard the laborers had to work to move huge carts loaded to overflowing with carpets, clothes, pots and pans, and the other thousands of products that are sold at the 4,000 shops in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey. Many times the huge pile of “goods” were just loaded on the back of some hardworking man. (That’s not a sexist remark, we didn’t see any women doing this.) No way motor vehicles could be used, and thousands of stores must be stocked with things to sell. I seem to remember (maybe!) a couple of battery-driven delivery vehicles, but a man was cheaper to operate, and could get into smaller places to pickup or deliver the goods. The Bazaar burned in 1546, 1618, 1652, 1660, 1695, 1701, 1750, 1791, 1826, 1954: there were earthquakes in 1766, 1894. It has always been repaired after each disaster. (1989)
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Emmy’s Cousin Hugo told us that Emmy’s father was such a ladies man that when he moved from Saarburg to go to college, he asked a friend, who worked for a Saarburg newspaper, to publish his obituary, so the ladies wouldn’t expect him to return.
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Emmy’s friend asked her to buy a set of Villeroy & Boch dishes with the Amapola pattern. The cost, including packing, postage, and customs duty, was around $800. Her friend compared those costs to the retail price list for the dishes, which was well over $3,000. I thought that spending someone else’s money should have satisfied Emmy’s craving for Villeroy & Boch products at the factory in Mettlach, Germany, but it just whetted her appetite. (1988)
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Enter the town of Mont-St.-Michel, France, through the Outer Gate, then follow the Grand-Rue, the narrow uphill main street lined with old houses, restaurants, and souvenir shops. The street ends at a long flight of steps leading to the Merveille (the Marvel), the superb Gothic buildings on the north side of the Mont, and at the very top, the Abbey Church culminates in a tower whose tip is 500 feet above the sea. It is quite a climb to the entrance of the church. The walk up the steep street, followed by uncounted steps, leads first to a need to sit and rest. The Mont, with the Abbey Church at the very top, is in sight of our RV in the campground located where the causeway meets the mainland. The sunrise and sunset glistering on the buildings on the Mont, as seen from the RV’s dining or bedroom window, is splendiferous. (1980)
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Every Saturday morning, Emmy’s Cousin Toni had a Putzfrau (a cleaning lady) come to give Toni’s house a thorough cleaning. I told Toni that she should keep an eye on the lady, because when she arrives in the morning, she has a pocket full of dirt that she then sprinkles in this room and that, so she really does have something to clean up during her hours of work. I said, “If she didn’t do that, the house was already so clean, the Putzfrau had no way to know when she was finished, and had earned her pay.”
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Exactly where we found it is not remembered, but somewhere in France, Emmy bought a 10 inch high, 5 inches across, half round, with handle, and a hole to hang on a wall, light blue porcelain “something.” Emmy was going to put flowers in it, but when we got home, she noticed a little spout at the bottom, and inside are markers for each half/liter up to 2 litters. Best we can figure, it is hung on the wall and is used to supply water for a douche — so it never made it as a flower pot. The label says, “Fabrication Française, L & Cie,” with a picture of an eagle and the words, “L’aigle, Marque Déposée.” That means, “Eagle, Trade Mark.” (1988)
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Famous book stalls line the riverside on the Rive Gauche, the Left Bank of the Seine, just across the river, south of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. Some book stalls are on Rive Droite, the Right Bank, but there are many more on the Rive Gauche. A low concrete banister stands between the sidewalk and the long drop to the river, and wooden boxes are attached to the banister. When opened, each becomes a book and art store. We walk here at one time and see an almost continuous line of wooden boxes attached to the banister. The next time, the top and sides of the boxes have been unfurled, merchandise is displayed, and we are in the midst of Paris’ famous bustling art shopping market. (1985)
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Ferrara, Italy, had one thing we believe was unique, at least we haven’t seen it elsewhere. There were parking places for visitors from other countries only, no Italian license plates permitted. We found that very convenient, but the next time we visited Ferrara, those exclusive parking spots were gone. That is, the signs saying “No Italian license plates” were gone, the parking spots remained. (1989)
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For both of us, especially for me, food is a means to an end, not an end in itself. We eat to travel, we don’t travel to eat. Hotels, restaurants, and campgrounds are tools of travel for us, never our destination. Sweetie loved eating at a buffet, especially in Las Vegas. I could eat with her at a breakfast buffet, but how could I eat enough bacon and eggs to equal the lox, cream cheese and bagels, and the other seafood's Sweetie just loved. When we went to the dinner buffet, I would take her plate back and forth from our table to the food, and watch her enjoy a sumptuous meal. I liked that better than eating. In Vienna, Austria, they weighted the loaded plate, charged by the gram. Little food, a lot of money. Lunch Buffet at the Dresden, Germany, Hilton Hotel would have cost $26 each, plus over 30% as tax and tip. It was very easy to ignore, yes for both of us to ignore. (1995)
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For example, Rome’s Colosseum was built between 69 and 80 AD; da Vinci finished the “Last Supper” in 1497; an amphitheater was constructed in Nimes, France in 50 AD; Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was completed about 1345. So by the time of our last trip to Europe in 1995, about the only thing of interest to us that had changed since our first visit in 1970, was the removal of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain, and the beginning of the restoration of Dresden, Germany. (1970-1995)
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For lunch in Budapest (or elsewhere), my Sweetie was the cook and responsible for the essential body nutrients, I was the driver and and my responsibility was to find the most beautiful spots to park the RV for meals. In Budapest, in 1980 while the Berlin Wall still stood, we went to the top of a hill in Pest, overlooking Budapest. There we found a large Russian Monument commemorating the “liberation” of Budapest in 1944-45. We ate lunch with the Danube River, Chain Bridge, Margaret Island, Margaret Bridge, and the Parliament Building (one of the most beautiful government buildings in Europe) just out our dining room window. The food was splendid, the view was superlative. A large group of Soviet tourists were there with a Soviet Army Officer. They gathered as a group for pictures and I introduced myself as an American. I asked if they were Russians, and they smiled and said Soviet. I did not ask the Soviet Officer about Afghanistan and the Olympics. (1980)
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For much of the drive on the island of Hvar, Yugoslavia, there were wall-like piles of stones in field after field. I would guess the “walls” were no more than 20 to 40 yards apart, and while they are most likely just a place to pile the stones, the ground between the “walls” was still covered with smaller stones. Since there are miles and miles of hills and fields like this, crops of some kind must have been, or still are, grown here, but we saw no sign of what it might have been. We could see no reason for the stones to have been piled in rows in the first place, except that was easier than carrying them completely off the field, somewhere. We have a book with aerial photos of Yugoslavian Islands in the Adriatic Sea, that show the miles of fields of rows of stones that go no where, except dividing the fields into small parcels. (1989)
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For our 30th wedding anniversary, we decided to visit the Big Island of Hawaii. A week after I obtained the plane tickets, we saw a special airfare, one night in a hotel in Hilo, six nights at the Kona Hilton, and a rental car for a week, for about $5 more than the cost of the tickets I bought a few days earlier. It didn’t take long to correct that problem. We had stayed at the Kona Hilton before, but we are not inclined to just lay on the beach, or by the pool, and we had already seen much of the Big Island on other trips, so after a few days at the Kona Hilton we were bored. We found other fascinating things to do that didn’t include the beach or swimming pool. We are sightseers (at least part of the time), not vacationers. (1981)
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For reasons we never understand, Europeans just haven’t developed the taste or need for ice, like we have. The RVs we drove all made ice cubes, some very few, and some a few more. We were often on the lookout for more ice, because it’s indispensable for ice-tea and Coca Cola, American Style. We found McDonald’s restaurants were always ready to give us a large cup, or a bag of ice.
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For some unknown reason, walking the sloping worn steps of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, in Italy, reminded us of climbing an escalator that is stopped for repairs. You don’t expect an escalator to be stopped, you don’t expect stair steps to slope and tilt this way and that. Steps are worn, the worn place changes from the outside, to the middle, to the inside as we progressed up and around the Tower. It's a curious feeling to be “drawn” to the lower side of each step, with the extraordinary sensation of circling up and down, alternately too steep and too easy. Nearby there are vendors in little buildings up against the inside of the town wall. As Emmy made a small purchase, I was so enamored with the very beautiful young lady who sold it to her, I  neglected to take a photo of the two most beautiful ladies in Europe. (1995)
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For us the RV means: Quiet — believe it or not, the campsites are quieter than the hotels where we have stayed. People gather and talk, children play ball, etc., but by dark all is quiet. Refrigerator — We can keep food and drinks cold, and even make ice-cubes. Ice is hard to find in Europe, but so necessary for Iced Tea, and Coca-Cola American style. Beds — we sleep better when we’re in the same bed night after night, and we are more comfortable with our own familiar pillow and blankets. Chemical toilet — very handy, nothing like a clean private restroom after hours of walking, and it beats going down a strange, cold, dark hall in the middle of the night. Hot water and Private Shower — We don't worry about clean floors, hot water and fresh towels, we have it all. Sure, these amenities are available in a hotel of most any price, but in the RV everything is ours, and ours alone.
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For us, clothes on a hanger, goodies in the refrigerator, our own toilet and shower, are the seal of approval for RV travel. Could you and your travel partner spend 6 weeks or 6 months in a space half the size of your dining room? For me, no problem. For Emmy? Well, she usually said, “yes,” but it did depend on the specific question. I could have spent my life with her in a phone booth, that’s all the space I needed — the closer to my Sweetie, the better.
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For us, the most important, the most interesting parts of travel are: The people — where they live, where they work, where they shop, where they worship, and how they get from one place to another. Architecture and antiquities — cathedrals, homes, apartments, stores and other buildings, from ancient ruins to brand new. Stone walls, bridges, castles, abbeys, amphitheaters, theaters, and aqueducts that were constructed in ancient times. Geography — the layout of cities old and new, the marketplace, the streets and the country roads, the farmland and industry, towns on the tip of a hill or in the depth of a valley, the mountains and rivers.
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From my chair I can see dozens of collectibles, including about 50 items in my cane collection. One very nice cane was purchased across the street from a McDonald’s restaurant. That McDonald’s was located at the west end of the Charles Bridge, in Prague, Czech Republic, just a couple of blocks from the US Embassy, the residence of Ambassador Shirley Temple Black, really. We visited Prague three different years.
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From Riomaggiore, Italy, a 15 minute walk along a picturesque, curious, narrow path, a niche hewn out of the rocky cliff and overhanging the Mare (Sea) Ligure (Italy’s west coast), brought us to Manorola, the next Cinque Terre town to the north. This trodden path is called the Via dell’Amore, or “Road of Love.” I had high hopes both times we were here, but we just walked. (1988-1995)
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From Starigard, to Hvar, Yugoslavia, the road continued narrow and twisty. Hvar, an old town, was nicer than Starigard, but not as nice as Korcula, a few miles south, where we visited a few years ago. There is a wall high on top of a hill around a castle-looking building, but we didn’t climb the hill. The church and its tower are quite nice. The funniest thing, a man washed his dog in the harbor, the dog would get away and roll in the dirt in the flower beds, then back to the water, then back to the flower beds the dog would go, over and over. The man, the dog, and the audience, enjoyed the performance. We bought a brass scoop Emmy wanted, that they used to weigh produce at street markets. We stopped on the nearby dock for lunch in the RV, the man came over and asked for it back, so he could finish the market day. (1989)
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From towers and hilltops we have seen the rooftop view over Italian cities such as Rome, Florence, Venice, Urbino, and many others, and we must say the view of Siena from Torre del Mangia, the tower that soars above the Palazzo Pubblico (Town-hall), is unique. The perspective of the multistory red brick buildings that line the narrow streets, is most unusual. There must be many places in Siena where the sun never shines. Siena extends over three red clay hills, and these buildings are built from the red clay, from which the color “burnt sienna” is named. (1980)
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Gargoyles have been used as ornaments and as drain spouts to move rainwater away from the Münster (Cathedral) in Freiburg, Germany. We noticed the builder also used them to make a political statement. On the south side of the building, several of the gargoyles are using both hands and feet to hang on to the side of the Cathedral, with their bare fannies pointing toward city hall. This must have been a long time dispute, all those large statues could not have been designed, carved, then mounted on the Cathedral, until months or years had passed. (1980)
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Germans, and all Europeans, love to spend time at sidewalk cafes and outdoor rest