A Dream Trip to Europe

Come take a trip with me through Europe.

The most exciting trip of our lifetime was during the summer of 1966 when we spent 2 1/2 months traveling in Europe. Before we left the States, we ordered a VW bug, which we picked up at the VW factory in Wolfsburg, Germany. We flew to Frankfort. From there we went by train to Kaiserslautern to meet some friends who were in the USAF at Ramstein Air Force Base. From there we went to Wolfsburg to get the VW.

The Scandinavian countries, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden were next on our agenda. The people there were friendly and the young people were anxious to try out their English on us. The countries are clean and pretty with many flowers, and we had a wonderful time sight-seeing and eating their delicious food. A stop in Holland (the Netherlands) was wonderful as once again we saw things that had enthralled us as we read stories as children, including the windmills, the dikes, and the canals. The art museums were interesting and gave us a new appreciation of some of the early painters.

Back in Germany again we went to see my brother, who was stationed near Frankfort. Then we started on a swing through the countries south of Germany. Austria was beautiful, and we enjoyed seeing castles and attending an opera. We spent several days in Salzburg and in Vienna. The salt mines were interesting, and once again the people were friendly and helpful.

My brother then took three weeks leave and traveled with us (imagine three big people in a Volkswagen bug--especially a couple of nights we spent sleeping in the car because we were far from any hotels).

Historic Italy was one of our favorite countries, especially because as a high school Latin student I had dreamed of one day visiting the ancient ruins near Rome. We stood in the Coliseum and imagined we could hear the crowds and the animals. Walking through the catacombs outside Rome and traveling down the Appian Way with its stones rutted from the wheels of the vehicles of the early days of Rome brought history alive for us. Hearing Aida (for notes click here) at the Baths of Caracalla was a highlight for us two music lovers.

We visited the glass works in Murano and walked back and forth across Venice twice. Michaelangelo's Pieta had not yet been smashed and was still on open, public display at the Vatican. Michaelangelo's David in Florence was breath-taking. Walking through the excavated ruins at Pompeii made us imagine the pure terror the people there must have felt when Vesuvius erupted and buried the city. Seeing the beautiful blue waters of the Mediterranean and walking the streets of Capri were exciting, too. We spent several days camping on the shores of Lake Garda and once again were enchanted by the beauty of Italy.

Switzerland was beautiful with its Alps, white with snow at the higher elevations even in the middle of the summer. The country was so clean, and there were flowers everywhere. We stayed in the cities of Zurich and Lucerne and really enjoyed the beauty of the cities. Of course, no trip to Switzerland would be complete without the purchase of Swiss watches and a cuckoo clock.

After a few days spent resting at our friends' home in Germany, we struck out on the third leg of our trip. We went to Paris where we spent several days sightseeing. The infamous traffic problems were non-existent for us because it was during the time that most of the Parisians were on holiday, having headed to vacation spots where it was cooler than in the city. The Louvre was everything we had heard and more. Time was too short for us to really absorb the culture that was there for the taking.

A night trip across the English Channel (of course, in the days before "The Chunnel") took us to England. Because of a stomach "bug" contracted somewhere, we were sidelined for a couple of days in London, but got to do lots of sightseeing there, including people literally "on their soapboxes" in Hyde Park. Madame Tussaud's wax museum had some characters that looked so real, I almost asked one of them a question! The Tower of London was fascinating. We were in London on Princess Margaret's birthday and saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.

The summer of 1966 was the year of the airline strike. We were fortunate to be able to get passage back to the States on a freighter, whose freight was (lucky us!) Volkswagens! The freighter had quarters for 14 passengers. All the others were Germans who were on holiday and who purchased round-trip tickets. We were the only "one-way trippers." It was a relaxing 10 days as we traveled back to the USA, limping along because one of the engines on the freighter had problems. We disembarked at Jacksonville (for "Internet surfers" unfamiliar with US geography, just 110 miles south of Savannah, Georgia, our home). The cranes unloaded our Volkswagen first, and we drove home to begin another school year, tired but still unbelieving of the wonderful trip we had had!