I first went to Europe in the summer of 1976. It was a three-week group bus/camping tour. See 10 countries in 18 days; the kind of trip that only the young and energetic can undertake! The following photos illustrate the journey.
This was my first glimpse of Big Ben, down Whitehall. There are always children on the Trafalgar lions, so I’m told.
This photo shows my naivete about London; thought this was the front of Westminster Abbey, but it’s the back. It doesn’t matter; the Abbey was fascinating with all its effigies and plaques commemorating long-dead notables. Many people were doing brass rubbings. I came upon an enclosed garden from which all the doors to the priests’ rooms opened. I didn’t go in....
After a 5:00 a.m. start, I met my fellow travellers in the “Club 18-25” group and we loaded onto a bus. We travelled to Dover and I saw my first sight of the famous “White Cliffs.” I had always adored London and grew up on my aunt’s stories of the Blitz and the brave Londoners. It amazed my how narrow the English Channel is; to think that, after conquering most of Europe, Hitler failed to cross that narrow strip of water and subdue a small island. A true miracle!
We travelled on a ferry boat from Dover to Zeebrugge, Belgium. A quick trip across Belgium and we arrived in Holland, as you might be able to guess from this photo of the ubiquitous windmill. Holland was so flat and so green. We stayed just outside of Amsterdam and enjoyed its nightlife. We also travelled along the coast and saw small fishing villages like Volendam and more touristy things like a klompen maker (wooden shoemaker.)
Two days through Holland we crossed over to Germany. This is Cologne Cathedral, which was virtually the only city left standing after World War II. We sailed down the Rhine River and then crossed over into Switzerland (below.)
The air was so clear that it was almost drinkable. We made camp in a small village called Lauterbrunnen. We walked through the village and came upon the church. Behind it is a churchyard where many climbers who died on the Eiger are buried. We were told that at least six climbers a year died trying to scale it. I wonder if that is still true?
We zigzagged a bit from Switzerland, passing back into Germany and stopping in Munich. The bus took us to the Olympic site where the tragedy of the 1972 Olympics was still fresh in everyone’s minds. Being 1976, we had just held the Olympics in Montreal, my hometown. They were a financial disaster, one which the city is still paying for.
We then travelled to Saltzberg, Austria. This is a photo of the main square with the Dom Cathedral in the background. At the time, churches in Europe were quite strict and frowned on bare shoulders. At the Dom, a kindly priest lent my friend Liz an altar cloth so that she could go inside. Luckily we weren’t wearing shorts or we would have been flat out of luck.
Can you guess that this is a photo of Venice; probably, as this is one of the most-photographed cities in the world, as well as being the waeriest. This is a photo of, I believe, San Giorgio’s.
And now for my very favorite city, Florence. I found it to be so incredibly beautiful. We camped on the hillside that gave us this view. Spectacular. Florence awakened in me a true love for the Renaissance.
All too soon, we were whirled away once again. Pisa was a very small town and the only noteworthy thing about it was its Leaning Tower. As I copy what I wrote in my journal back then, I have to smile, looking at the photo with all the other lovely architecture in the foreground. Everywhere we went in Europe there was the antiquity that we cannot find here in the Pacific Northwest. However, coming from one of the oldest cities in North America, I rather took architecture for granted.
I’ve added this photo of Rapallo in to show that we did have a little “R & R” as well. We spent four days on the Italian and French Riviera with the glorious sunshine that had eluded us for the previous sixteen days.
My trip ended, appropriately, in Paris. No need to describe these landmarks! This was the beginning of a lifetime of travelling and, hectic though it was, I couldn’t think of a nicer beginning!
Many thanks to the following website for the background!
Timid Textures