january, 1977
We left Worms on Friday, January 7th "...for an hour's train ride to the little town of Oppenheim on the Rhine. We found lodgings at the Gasthaus for DM30 per night with breakfast. Breakfast was delicious -- 2 types of sandwich meat, cheese, brötchen, butter, jam, soft-boiled egg, and coffee."
"We walked about town Saturday morning and found out about a local happening that afternoon at the Rhine, so off we went. It turned out to be a 'swimming of the Rhine' by about 100 crazy souls in wetsuits, predominantly Germans but [also] a few American swimmers. It was drizzly cold, but it turned out a rather gay event, with a portion of the American 8th Army Band providing music and stalls offering glu-wine, wursts, and hot soup. An odd yet enjoyable afternoon."
"We walked about town Saturday morning and found out about a local happening that afternoon at the Rhine, so off we went. It turned out to be a 'swimming of the Rhine' by about 100 crazy souls in wetsuits, predominantly Germans but [also] a few American swimmers. It was drizzly cold, but it turned out a rather gay event, with a portion of the American 8th Army Band providing music and stalls offering glu-wine, wursts, and hot soup. An odd yet enjoyable afternoon."
"Sunday we walked through the Oppenheim cathedral, but I considered the inside less impressive than the outside. Sunday afternoon we traveled another hour by train to Mainz and located a pension in the suburb of Gonsenheim. That evening, in search of a place to watch the Superbowl, we discovered 8th Army Headquarters, and some soldiers took us to a gasthaus named Garcia's -- reception was terrible and we left before it was over."
"Monday and Monday night were spent reading in the pension, and after an early breakfast Tuesday we went into Mainz, checked into the Hotel Mira next to the bahnhof (DM40 without breakfast). We visited the Mainz cathedral, but the Gutenberg Museum was closed."
"Monday and Monday night were spent reading in the pension, and after an early breakfast Tuesday we went into Mainz, checked into the Hotel Mira next to the bahnhof (DM40 without breakfast). We visited the Mainz cathedral, but the Gutenberg Museum was closed."
Gloria's diary says that we traveled by train from Mainz to Kaiserslautern, and from there to Paris' Gare de l'Est station, arriving at 2:05pm on January 12th. "After getting a map of the city and the Metro, we walked underground and took the very modern and exceedingly clean Metro to Pont Neuf, walking from there across the bridge and onto the Ile de Cite, where we located the Hotel Henri IV."
"The hotel is quite ancient, very cramped, and the winding staircase is muscle-straining. The owner and his wife are friendly and helpful, the rooms very clean, breakfast plain but sufficient (2 chunks of French bread, butter, apricot jam, and coffee), and all for 32F50, or $6.60, per night. Showers are 5F. This place has a great location -- between right and left banks; Louvre across the bridge and down two blocks; further down the Tuilleries, Place de la Concorde, etc.; the left bank, or Latin Quarter with Sorbonne, many inexpensive restaurants, etc.; and Notre Dame is on the other end of this tiny island."
"At suppertime our first night we ate at Le Volcan, thanks to Russ' persistence -- only rarely have we found English-speaking waiters (twice), and unfortunately our minimal second-language skills are limited to German and Spanish. The meal was great -- the 'fixed menu', for 36F (total for two) included a wonderful vegetable salad (crudite), steak and boiled potatoes, cheese (fromage), red wine, water, and all the French bread you could desire."
"The hotel is quite ancient, very cramped, and the winding staircase is muscle-straining. The owner and his wife are friendly and helpful, the rooms very clean, breakfast plain but sufficient (2 chunks of French bread, butter, apricot jam, and coffee), and all for 32F50, or $6.60, per night. Showers are 5F. This place has a great location -- between right and left banks; Louvre across the bridge and down two blocks; further down the Tuilleries, Place de la Concorde, etc.; the left bank, or Latin Quarter with Sorbonne, many inexpensive restaurants, etc.; and Notre Dame is on the other end of this tiny island."
"At suppertime our first night we ate at Le Volcan, thanks to Russ' persistence -- only rarely have we found English-speaking waiters (twice), and unfortunately our minimal second-language skills are limited to German and Spanish. The meal was great -- the 'fixed menu', for 36F (total for two) included a wonderful vegetable salad (crudite), steak and boiled potatoes, cheese (fromage), red wine, water, and all the French bread you could desire."
"Thursday the 13th we walked and walked through the Louvre -- among the objects de art we viewed were the Venus di Milo, Mona Lisa, of course, Winged Victory, Whistler's Mother, Egyptian mummies, Greek statues, paintings, paintings, and so on forever. We ended the afternoon at Notre Dame -- I'll never stop being impressed by the rose windows -- and climbed hundreds of winding steps up the tower for a pigeon's eye view of Paris. We ate crepes for supper, came back to the hotel and slept very soundly."
"Yesterday we walked to the Jeu de Paume museum for the pleasure of seeing the great impressionists' works -- Monet, van Gogh, Gauguin, Pissarro, Lautrec, Manet... It was wonderful -- I couldn't help wondering how difficult it must have been for the one-time owners of those paintings to turn them over to the public, i.e. a museum. Beautiful art."
"Today we visited the Cluny museum, which had a lot of medieval art, but especially the 'Lady and the Unicorn' tapestries. There are six tapestries in all, and they are so lovely to me. Besides the peaceful unicorn, the background scenery is amazing -- flowers, animals, fruit trees -- and the lady and her maid-in-waiting look so serene. The entire tableaux is to me one of peace and calm and beauty. Afterwards, we visited the Orangerie, which houses Monet's Nympheas, or water lilies. Unbelievable -- pools of color upon pools of color -- how fresh and cool -- how beautiful."
"Tonight is our last night in Paris. Tomorrow we're off for Burgandy, but we'll be back."
"Tonight is our last night in Paris. Tomorrow we're off for Burgandy, but we'll be back."
THE FIRST LOOP
At this point in our travels we began what would be the first of five loops:
1) to Spain and back to Heidelberg (January 16 - February 5)
2) to Italy and back to Borken (February 11 - March 8)
3) to England, Ireland & northern France and back to Borken (March 15 - April 20)
4) to Scandinavia and back to Heidelberg, Worms & Borken (April 27 - May 8)
5) to Greece and Israel and back to Heidelberg (May 12 - July 2)
Gloria's diary says: "Our first evening outside Paris was spent in Dijon, a town known for its many mansions. The next day we headed out for Beaune to visit a winery, but found ourselves on the wrong train headed in the opposite direction. So we had a picnic lunch in Dole and boarded the next train for Dijon, where we transferred to a train in Avignon, arriving in the evening."
1) to Spain and back to Heidelberg (January 16 - February 5)
2) to Italy and back to Borken (February 11 - March 8)
3) to England, Ireland & northern France and back to Borken (March 15 - April 20)
4) to Scandinavia and back to Heidelberg, Worms & Borken (April 27 - May 8)
5) to Greece and Israel and back to Heidelberg (May 12 - July 2)
Gloria's diary says: "Our first evening outside Paris was spent in Dijon, a town known for its many mansions. The next day we headed out for Beaune to visit a winery, but found ourselves on the wrong train headed in the opposite direction. So we had a picnic lunch in Dole and boarded the next train for Dijon, where we transferred to a train in Avignon, arriving in the evening."
"The 18th we went to Orange, which is a town full of Roman ruins -- the amphitheater is supposedly the best preserved in the world -- the triumphal arch is nice also. Returning to Avignon we visited the 'Palace of the Popes' -- remembering my medieval history, Avignon was the home of the papacy during the 14th century, only to return to Rome again. As kings changed, so did life..."
SPAIN
My souvenir 'Reservado' train seat tag, which I used as a bookmark during the rest of our trip. It's traveled in my guitar case ever since.
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Wikipedia says, "the Barcelona Talgo...began operation on 26 May 1974 as the first-ever through train service between Barcelona and Paris." We boarded the overnight Barcelona Talgo in Avignon on January 18th, arriving in Barcelona the following afternoon. As Gloria says in her diary, "Our stay in Barcelona would not be accurately reported without mention of Dave, whom we met in Avignon right before the Talgo whisked us away to the south."
"After arriving in Barcelona, we (now including Dave) set out to locate a hotel, and soon found the Hipica -- and what a find it was. 13.57(?) for the two of us. Immediately we set out for Los Caracoles (snails), a restaurant recommended as having the best paella in the world. We wandered for a while along the seaside avenue lined with palms tress and heavily armed Guardia Civil (they had machine guns), and through dark streets filled with people and odors and music, and at last came to our destination. What a place. A señor led us through variously decorated rooms, up tiled stairs, through more rooms and finally to our dining room."
"After arriving in Barcelona, we (now including Dave) set out to locate a hotel, and soon found the Hipica -- and what a find it was. 13.57(?) for the two of us. Immediately we set out for Los Caracoles (snails), a restaurant recommended as having the best paella in the world. We wandered for a while along the seaside avenue lined with palms tress and heavily armed Guardia Civil (they had machine guns), and through dark streets filled with people and odors and music, and at last came to our destination. What a place. A señor led us through variously decorated rooms, up tiled stairs, through more rooms and finally to our dining room."
"We all ordered paella, and rose, and later sangria. The food was delicious...but the wines got the better of Dave, literally, for soon we were with a complete stranger. It soon became evident we shouldn't decide what to believe of all he told us, and quickly we left Los Caracoles. On the trek back to our hotel he walked up to one of the aforementioned policemen and attempted to handle the man's machine gun. Russ and I were startled -- hollered for him to halt -- and looked warily at the policeman. Fortunately for us all, he appreciated the fact that Dave was wiped out and even gave Russ and I a smile of understanding."
"From that point we were somewhat wary of our new companion. But the evening was almost warm, and it was Spain, and Russ and I were celebrating our third anniversary [of when we first met]...it was a great evening."
"From that point we were somewhat wary of our new companion. But the evening was almost warm, and it was Spain, and Russ and I were celebrating our third anniversary [of when we first met]...it was a great evening."
January 20th: "We were supposed to meet Dave at the Picasso Museum at 12 or 12:30pm, but he didn't show. No problem. We enjoyed the museum, which consisted mainly of hundreds of sketches by a young Picasso, some paintings (oil) on pieces of wood, and several paintings from his 'blue period' (these are my favorite)."
"Afterwards we ate a good lunch (salad, steak, french fries, bread, Coke), and checked at American Express for mail. No mail, so we sauntered down the Ramblas, looking at all the birds and flowers for sale, and decided to see the Santa Maria. We walked back to the harbor, saw the huge statue of Christobal Colon (that's Columbus), and walked through a replica of the Santa Maria. It's terribly small, and after crossing the Atlantic in a freighter, I honestly don't see how his small armada dared cross the ocean."
"Next we went to the Maritime Museum, where we saw Don Juan of Austria's 'Real', a galley ship in its full-sized, gilt gold replication, among many other interesting scale model ships and maritime items. Weary from a long day of walking, we began our trek back to the Residencia de la Hipica. Along the way we came upon a number of American marines and sailors, and found out that several days before a craft filled with Marines returning from liberty in the city was struck by a Spanish freighter -- 49 men died."
Wikipedia says: On 17 January 1977, in Barcelona, Spain, a landing craft being used as a liberty boat by USS Trenton and USS Guam, was run over by a freighter. The Mike8 boat capsized and came to rest against the fleet landing pier. Crew members from both vessels were on hand to assist with rescue operations. There were over one hundred sailors and marines on board the landing craft. 49 sailors and marines were killed. A memorial is erected at the landing pier in memory.
"Back at the freezing hotel (evidently they don't heat the hotel because it costs so much), in comes Dave with tales of going to Tarragona and seeing harpooned octupi being hauled in for supper. We showered and our heads were wet, so Dave kindly offered to go out for a sandwich and wine. He returned with both -- the wine was awful, the sandwich worse, but as Russ said, 'He did his best.' We sunk under the blankets and slept the night away in relative warmth. It's good to be in Spain."
Wikipedia says: On 17 January 1977, in Barcelona, Spain, a landing craft being used as a liberty boat by USS Trenton and USS Guam, was run over by a freighter. The Mike8 boat capsized and came to rest against the fleet landing pier. Crew members from both vessels were on hand to assist with rescue operations. There were over one hundred sailors and marines on board the landing craft. 49 sailors and marines were killed. A memorial is erected at the landing pier in memory.
"Back at the freezing hotel (evidently they don't heat the hotel because it costs so much), in comes Dave with tales of going to Tarragona and seeing harpooned octupi being hauled in for supper. We showered and our heads were wet, so Dave kindly offered to go out for a sandwich and wine. He returned with both -- the wine was awful, the sandwich worse, but as Russ said, 'He did his best.' We sunk under the blankets and slept the night away in relative warmth. It's good to be in Spain."
January 21st: "We left Barcelona by train around noon for Sitges, a summer resort town on the Mediterranean. We left our bags at the Office of Tourism and walked across the street for a satisfying lunch -- I had cannelloni, the steak and french fries, then ice cream, and of course the ever-present bread and wine. Then we walked down to the sea and along the coast for quite a ways, enjoying our first real viewing of the Mediterranean -- a fine misty rain was falling, but only seemed to refresh us as we sat on a deserted sail boat in the sand and watched five cats frolicking. Too soon it was time to catch our 4:15 train to Tarragona, so we returned to reclaim our bags, but no one had returned from their mid-day break (2:00-4:00 in this case) so we missed our train. We caught another, however, and arrived in Tarragona around dark. The hotel we found after several other stops was the Abella, with a nice looking room, but again exceedingly cold. Russ went directly to bed, while I bundled up with jacket and blankets to finish reading The Wind Chill Factor."
January 22nd: "Saturday morning we went out to walk through Tarragona. The city is built on at least three levels -- sea level, where the train station, amphitheater, and our our hotel are; climbing up stairs of stone or walking up steeply inclined streets one comes to the 'second' level, which is the city proper; and then there is a fortress up another level, and by this time quite lofty, and houses built out of the fortress' walls. Russ and I walked around the fortress, said to have been built in the 3rd century B.C., and enjoyed a great view of the town and the sea." (But for some reason we didn't take any pictures in Tarragona.)
We had a "...picnic lunch at the station before our train departed for Valencia. The ride...was beautiful. Mediterranean on our left, innumerable orchards of orange or olive trees, dotted with palms and cyprus trees and gardens of cabbage, lettuce, and artichokes. Lovely country. We sought a hotel through tourist information, and lucked into the Hostal Bisbal, an immaculate place with our own private bathroom and shower, such a luxury. And the weather was 'downright balmy', as Russ said, so we didn't regret the fact that there was no heat in the room."
We had a "...picnic lunch at the station before our train departed for Valencia. The ride...was beautiful. Mediterranean on our left, innumerable orchards of orange or olive trees, dotted with palms and cyprus trees and gardens of cabbage, lettuce, and artichokes. Lovely country. We sought a hotel through tourist information, and lucked into the Hostal Bisbal, an immaculate place with our own private bathroom and shower, such a luxury. And the weather was 'downright balmy', as Russ said, so we didn't regret the fact that there was no heat in the room."
"As we were leaving the hostal that evening, so were two gals who looked vaguely familiar to me -- we didn't speak. It turned out though that we had dinner at the same restaurant, and the four of us experienced one of the meals of a lifetime."
"Firstly, the place itself was attractive -- the walls were of ceramic tiles, appropriately portraying kitchen scenes and foodstuff -- the wall-to-??? was laden with various dishes, including lobsters, shrimp, shellfish, cold soups, and different desserts, We chose to sit downstairs in this atmosphere rather than upstairs in the 'dining room.'"
"Secondly, our waiter/owner (we took it) was lavish, a clown, proud of his establishment, rotund, and as it turned out, a hard man to refuse."
"Thirdly, the food: we, like our Australian friends Suzi and Margaret, ordered paella and wine. Period. Before the night was over we'd eaten paella (remarkably good, hearty portions), salad, some sort of custard with a wafer buried in it (reminded me vaguely of banana pudding), fried pumpkin, wine, more wine (this, our dear man said, was squeezed from grapes, not stomped), and we would have had coffee had Russ not put a halt to it all. The entire meal was served with a flourish I've never before received. Our bill was somewhat more than we'd counted on, but what the hell."
"Lastly, we bade farewell and adios and the four of us stumbled miserably back to the hostal."
"Firstly, the place itself was attractive -- the walls were of ceramic tiles, appropriately portraying kitchen scenes and foodstuff -- the wall-to-??? was laden with various dishes, including lobsters, shrimp, shellfish, cold soups, and different desserts, We chose to sit downstairs in this atmosphere rather than upstairs in the 'dining room.'"
"Secondly, our waiter/owner (we took it) was lavish, a clown, proud of his establishment, rotund, and as it turned out, a hard man to refuse."
"Thirdly, the food: we, like our Australian friends Suzi and Margaret, ordered paella and wine. Period. Before the night was over we'd eaten paella (remarkably good, hearty portions), salad, some sort of custard with a wafer buried in it (reminded me vaguely of banana pudding), fried pumpkin, wine, more wine (this, our dear man said, was squeezed from grapes, not stomped), and we would have had coffee had Russ not put a halt to it all. The entire meal was served with a flourish I've never before received. Our bill was somewhat more than we'd counted on, but what the hell."
"Lastly, we bade farewell and adios and the four of us stumbled miserably back to the hostal."
January 23rd: "Sunday in Valencia found us without cash and all the banks closed. Russ went to two fancy hotels in an attempt to cash a traveler's check, but was refused. So we walked along the streets enjoying the sunshine and the fountains and the flower market, while keeping our eyes open for restaurants that accepted one of our credit cards. We found none. As we had resigned ourselves to a meal-less day and were heading back to our room, we decided I should try the same hotels Russ had. So I walked in the first one and asked nicely and quietly, 'May I please cash a traveler's check?' And I did. Russ was somewhat put out over 'the way of the world', but we were saved from a day of fasting."
"We spent the afternoon and evening promenading with the thousands of Valencians -- they were dressed for the occasion, and I gather that the Spanish ritual of the evening promenade is their way of seeing and being seen. It is grand for us people-watchers."
"As an aside: the restaurant where we took dinner, and which we'd passed ten or so times in our morning destitution, turned out to accept our credit cards. So it goes."
"As an aside: the restaurant where we took dinner, and which we'd passed ten or so times in our morning destitution, turned out to accept our credit cards. So it goes."
January 24th: "Monday morning we took our bags to the station's lockers, and went to look at the huge fresh food market. Everything imaginable was on display -- the meats and seafoods being particularly interesting. I wondered how the merchants withstand the smell in summer's heat. We bought cheese, bread, oranges, canned peaches, and almonds for our evening meal, and then set off for the ceramics museum. It was wonderful. I especially liked the kitchen, and bought a postcard of it."
"We then walked across town for lunch near the river -- I had a delicious lasagne dish with Spanish noodles, and Russ enjoyed his onion soup. We headed back to the station to catch our 4:00pm train to Alicante, and again ran into our Australian friends. They'd missed their train to Granada, so decided on Alicante. Great!"
"We arrived in Alicante around 7:00pm and the four of us set out to find a hotel. We checked into the Navas, bought a bottle of wine, and shared the food we'd bought at the Valencian market with Suzi and Margaret."
"We arrived in Alicante around 7:00pm and the four of us set out to find a hotel. We checked into the Navas, bought a bottle of wine, and shared the food we'd bought at the Valencian market with Suzi and Margaret."
January 25th: "Tuesday brought warmth and sunshine, exactly what we were seeking, and we took advantage of the day by picnicking on the beach with our friends, getting sunburned noses as a result, and by carousing around the Castillo de Santa Barbara, an ancient fort overlooking Alicante and the surrounding sea and countryside. A wonderful day."
"After dinner we said goodbye to Suzi and Margaret, who were leaving the next morning for Florence."
January 26th: "Wednesday we planned a side trip to Elche, home of an enormous date-palm grove planted by the Phoenicians. We arrived by ferro-bus, a two car train which is very crowded, rickety, and slow. The municipal park was beautiful. Besides the massive palms laden with dates, the park contained lemon and orange trees, eucalyptus, morgan bay fig, cacti, flowers, and many doves."
"We ferro-bused back to Alicante and walked away the evening hours until time for our overnight train to Madrid."
January 27th: "Overnighting by train isn't thrilling, but it's a good way to save the cost of a hotel, and in most cases is warmer. We arrived around 9am in Madrid and went out to find American Express. Russ expected and received a letter from his mom, which was especially good since that was the purpose in coming to Madrid."
"The weather was terrible, rainy, gray, and cold, and seemed more gloomy, most likely, since we'd left such lovely weather in Alicante. We decided to duck out of the weather, and spend the hours, until our train departed for Cordoba, in the Prado. Since neither of us are very interested in religious paintings or in portraits of various kings, queens, princes, and princesses of Spanish history, we didn't linger long, so resigned ourselves to waiting for the train in the relative warmth of the station. So much for Madrid."
"The Talgo to Cordoba was fine but for the fact we had some problems (unknown) along the way, which caused us to arrive in Cordoba an hour and a half behind schedule. We walked out of the station to be greeted by Andalusian rain, and mud from three previous days of rain. We checked into the hostal Perales for a low 165 pesetas, and got exactly what we'd paid for: a roof over our heads, no electricity, and the sheets were so damp as to be honestly called wet. And Russ had a terrific head cold. Some days are like this. Most aren't."
"The weather was terrible, rainy, gray, and cold, and seemed more gloomy, most likely, since we'd left such lovely weather in Alicante. We decided to duck out of the weather, and spend the hours, until our train departed for Cordoba, in the Prado. Since neither of us are very interested in religious paintings or in portraits of various kings, queens, princes, and princesses of Spanish history, we didn't linger long, so resigned ourselves to waiting for the train in the relative warmth of the station. So much for Madrid."
"The Talgo to Cordoba was fine but for the fact we had some problems (unknown) along the way, which caused us to arrive in Cordoba an hour and a half behind schedule. We walked out of the station to be greeted by Andalusian rain, and mud from three previous days of rain. We checked into the hostal Perales for a low 165 pesetas, and got exactly what we'd paid for: a roof over our heads, no electricity, and the sheets were so damp as to be honestly called wet. And Russ had a terrific head cold. Some days are like this. Most aren't."
January 28th: "We awoke fairly early to the sound of traffic on waterlogged streets, and promptly set out to find another hotel. We located the Serrano and were overjoyed with our room. It included such luxuries as shower, towels, clean-dry sheets, a small rug on the floor, and -- blessing-of-blessings -- calefaccion (heat!)."
"We visited the ancient Moorish mosque, built in 783, and appreciated its new-to-us architecture. I really admired its simplistic style -- and then a surprise: a cathedral was built smack dab in the middle of the mosque in the 1500's, and it makes for a startling contrast in styles. I prefer the mosque."
"We visited the ancient Moorish mosque, built in 783, and appreciated its new-to-us architecture. I really admired its simplistic style -- and then a surprise: a cathedral was built smack dab in the middle of the mosque in the 1500's, and it makes for a startling contrast in styles. I prefer the mosque."
"We purchased cheese, bread, and fruit, with some 22 peseta wine, for a quiet supper and evening in our 'luxury' accommodations. I wrote a letter to Carolyn and Michael Kosser, and Russ wrote his mom. It was a good, leisurely evening."
Here are some excerpts from the letter I sent to my mother...
January 29th, 1977
Got your letter at Madrid American Express a couple days ago. Since we've been in Spain we've stuck to towns along the Mediterranean coast, because they're warmer, and get more so the further south we go, but after Barcelona, Sitges, Tarragona, Valencia, Alicante, and Elche, we decided we'd better ride up to Madrid and check our mail. So we rode an overnight train, got there about 9:00am and went straight to American Express. Yours was the only one for us there, but we'll stop back through before we head back to Germany and see if Gloria has one waiting then. I suppose you've already sent us our money c/o Gloria Rohrer, which is good, but you might also send your reply to this letter there too, since I don't know if there's time for another letter to reach us here in Spain before we leave.
After we picked up your letter we went to Madrid's big museum for a couple hours, and then caught an afternoon train back down to Cordoba, which is where we are now. We bought an English language newspaper when we got here and discovered we'd been in Madrid the day after some demonstrating had occurred, The paper said there were supposed to have been soldiers all over the place to maintain order, and frequent identity checks, but we didn't see anything like that -- it looked like any other big, bustling city to us. I don't know if you heard about a bunch of US military personnel drowning when their boat got capsized by a freighter in Barcelona harbor, but we were there the day after that happened and talked to some Marines about it down by the docks.
We'll probably spend another week or so here on southern Spain -- Cordoba, Malaga, Granada and Seville, and then go to southern Portugal for a few days. After that up to Lisbon, back through Madrid, and then a long train ride back to Worms via Paris. If there's anything really urgent to tell us, maybe a special delivery letter would reach us at Madrid American Express, but otherwise just send it to Big Bend College [where Gloria Rohrer taught]. The weather can really make all the difference when you're relying on your legs to get you around these different towns, so this part of Spain is pretty nice for traveling this time of year.
We did get rained on yesterday, but it was so warm in Alicante and Elche that we were walking around with no jackets on, and had lunch on the beach with a couple of Australian girls we met. It looks like today will be a good one here in Cordoba. I'm trying to remember my Spanish -- Jim gave me a Spanish phrase book to use before we left Borken, which has helped a lot. Of course, my first question is always, ¿Habla inglés? The ones who don't [speak English] seem to understand my Spanish alright, but understanding their reply is the hard part, since my vocabulary is so limited and they talk so fast. But it's better than communicating in France, where neither of us know anything about the language.
After we rejuvenate ourselves in Worms (and take advantage of your Christmas present), we'll probably head south again, this time to Italy. We've also got a little twelve language phrase book, and if they can't understand our pronunciation we can always just point to the appropriate phrase in the book. These hotel and restaurant people are used to dealing across all kinds of language barriers.
January 29th, 1977
Got your letter at Madrid American Express a couple days ago. Since we've been in Spain we've stuck to towns along the Mediterranean coast, because they're warmer, and get more so the further south we go, but after Barcelona, Sitges, Tarragona, Valencia, Alicante, and Elche, we decided we'd better ride up to Madrid and check our mail. So we rode an overnight train, got there about 9:00am and went straight to American Express. Yours was the only one for us there, but we'll stop back through before we head back to Germany and see if Gloria has one waiting then. I suppose you've already sent us our money c/o Gloria Rohrer, which is good, but you might also send your reply to this letter there too, since I don't know if there's time for another letter to reach us here in Spain before we leave.
After we picked up your letter we went to Madrid's big museum for a couple hours, and then caught an afternoon train back down to Cordoba, which is where we are now. We bought an English language newspaper when we got here and discovered we'd been in Madrid the day after some demonstrating had occurred, The paper said there were supposed to have been soldiers all over the place to maintain order, and frequent identity checks, but we didn't see anything like that -- it looked like any other big, bustling city to us. I don't know if you heard about a bunch of US military personnel drowning when their boat got capsized by a freighter in Barcelona harbor, but we were there the day after that happened and talked to some Marines about it down by the docks.
We'll probably spend another week or so here on southern Spain -- Cordoba, Malaga, Granada and Seville, and then go to southern Portugal for a few days. After that up to Lisbon, back through Madrid, and then a long train ride back to Worms via Paris. If there's anything really urgent to tell us, maybe a special delivery letter would reach us at Madrid American Express, but otherwise just send it to Big Bend College [where Gloria Rohrer taught]. The weather can really make all the difference when you're relying on your legs to get you around these different towns, so this part of Spain is pretty nice for traveling this time of year.
We did get rained on yesterday, but it was so warm in Alicante and Elche that we were walking around with no jackets on, and had lunch on the beach with a couple of Australian girls we met. It looks like today will be a good one here in Cordoba. I'm trying to remember my Spanish -- Jim gave me a Spanish phrase book to use before we left Borken, which has helped a lot. Of course, my first question is always, ¿Habla inglés? The ones who don't [speak English] seem to understand my Spanish alright, but understanding their reply is the hard part, since my vocabulary is so limited and they talk so fast. But it's better than communicating in France, where neither of us know anything about the language.
After we rejuvenate ourselves in Worms (and take advantage of your Christmas present), we'll probably head south again, this time to Italy. We've also got a little twelve language phrase book, and if they can't understand our pronunciation we can always just point to the appropriate phrase in the book. These hotel and restaurant people are used to dealing across all kinds of language barriers.
January 29th: Gloria's journal continues, "The next day we walked around the city some, admiring the tiled and flower-filled courtyards of most homes. We visited the municipal museum with its old Cordoba leatherwork and its prominent bullfighting displays, including posters, lances, capes, and costumes of Cordoba's long line of matadors. Afterwards we ate a terribly greasy lunch, and headed back to Serrano to avoid the continuing rain."
"We picked up a couple-day-old Herald Tribune and found out that Spain '...was enduring its worst crisis since the death of Franco 18 months ago.' The crisis was over the death of several lawyers (communists) by someone, and the ensuing demonstrations by the communists and communist sympathizers. Anyway, all this happened the day before we were in Madrid, yet we saw no signs of unrest, nor even the heavily-armed policemen we saw earlier in Barcelona. Nevertheless, I fired off a letter of reassurance to mom and dad, and hope they weren't frightened by the overstated (?) headlines."
"We picked up a couple-day-old Herald Tribune and found out that Spain '...was enduring its worst crisis since the death of Franco 18 months ago.' The crisis was over the death of several lawyers (communists) by someone, and the ensuing demonstrations by the communists and communist sympathizers. Anyway, all this happened the day before we were in Madrid, yet we saw no signs of unrest, nor even the heavily-armed policemen we saw earlier in Barcelona. Nevertheless, I fired off a letter of reassurance to mom and dad, and hope they weren't frightened by the overstated (?) headlines."
January 30th: "We went to the Cordoba train station and departed on our 8:30am train at 9:30am. The ride was fine since we slept most all the way to Malaga. We arrived in the midst of a wind and rain storm, so leaned into the elements and walked through town in search of the Hostal Carlos V, known to have push-button heat. Partly because of the weather, and partly because Russ's cold was worse and my indigestion and diarrhea reaction to that greasy meal in Cordoba, we flicked on the heater, crawled under the covers, and slept the day and night away."
I recall going to a pharmacy to find some medicine for Gloria's upset stomach, after looking in our little translation book to find out what "stomach ache" was in Spanish: "Mal de estomago." The pharmacist gave me something (not sure what it was) that seemed to help her feel better.
January 31st: "We awakened to a beautiful morning, so walked out and up beyond the Alcazaba to the Gibralfaro (which means lighthouse hill) for a wonderful view of Malaga, the mountains surrounding the city, and the port and Mediterranean. Especially fun was looking down into Malaga's bullring and watching two boys playing (or practicing) matador and charging bull under the instructive eye of their teacher. They were at this for at least two hours."
I recall going to a pharmacy to find some medicine for Gloria's upset stomach, after looking in our little translation book to find out what "stomach ache" was in Spanish: "Mal de estomago." The pharmacist gave me something (not sure what it was) that seemed to help her feel better.
January 31st: "We awakened to a beautiful morning, so walked out and up beyond the Alcazaba to the Gibralfaro (which means lighthouse hill) for a wonderful view of Malaga, the mountains surrounding the city, and the port and Mediterranean. Especially fun was looking down into Malaga's bullring and watching two boys playing (or practicing) matador and charging bull under the instructive eye of their teacher. They were at this for at least two hours."
"We ended the afternoon by lunching on the balcony of Malaga's paradore up at the Gibralfaro. Russ had bread, cauliflower casserole, chicken, ice cream, and water. And I had a great salad, all for the not-so-low price of $9.07. We gladly paid for the scenery."