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Europeanvaction1979/10
My father was in the USAF. We spent nearly nine years in Europe. We lived in Greece, Italy and England. Every few years my Grandparents would come to visit. When they did, we were off for a five week journey across Europe. My grandmother kept a journal of our travels. Recently while cleaning out a closet, my Mother came across the journals. The memories came flying back! I decided to share these journels with you. Each day I will post a chapter as she has written them. I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I did.
The first Journal was in 1979. We lived in Hellenikon Greece.
Too funny ;-)
Alberoello Trulli
Inside a Trulli home
page 18
Day 10-Monday April 4 1979
The coin laundry became known as "Boileau's Rest Room." We literally took over the place ignoring the questioning looks of the people utilizing the washers and dryers. Our strange comings and goings carrying toothbrushes, soap, towels and clean clothes into the rest room, to say nothing of two of us (or three, in the case of Al and the boys) going in together caught them believing we were somewhat weird.
Our morning "bath" over, we drove the short distance from the base to the hospital where George, oxygen tube in his nose, told us he was feeling better. The doctor, however, did not plan to release him until the following day.
Having time on our hands, we inquired as to sightseeing of interest in the area and were given directions to a town nearby which was noted for their fine quality woven bedspreads.
On the small, quiet back road that started from San Vito AS, we found the countryside much prettier than the dirty, congested city of Brindisi. Villas, looking like tiny castles, surrounded by fertile fields of wheat, dotted the rural area while horse drawn carts moved slowly along the road reminding us of a day in the past before automobiles and energy crises. Lining most of the road were rock walls three to five feet in height while wildflowers, ranging in colors from white, yellow, red to deep purple, grew in profusion everywhere. The extremely narrow road snaked its way up and down low hills like a roller coaster.
The town of Alberobello carefully points out its 'zone Trulli,' one of the curiosities of southern Italy. Here we saw a unique city with hundreds of conical houses of whitewash and gray slate. These 'trulli', found scattered all over the neighboring countryside, are authentically usable houses and have been for centuries, but they look unreal, the invention of playland. The stone of the region is easily worked and the roofs give protection against heat and rain. Ryan summed it up nicely when he said they looked like upside down ice cream cones.
The reason for these strange looking houses was that years ago the people
Our morning "bath" over, we drove the short distance from the base to the hospital where George, oxygen tube in his nose, told us he was feeling better. The doctor, however, did not plan to release him until the following day.
Having time on our hands, we inquired as to sightseeing of interest in the area and were given directions to a town nearby which was noted for their fine quality woven bedspreads.
On the small, quiet back road that started from San Vito AS, we found the countryside much prettier than the dirty, congested city of Brindisi. Villas, looking like tiny castles, surrounded by fertile fields of wheat, dotted the rural area while horse drawn carts moved slowly along the road reminding us of a day in the past before automobiles and energy crises. Lining most of the road were rock walls three to five feet in height while wildflowers, ranging in colors from white, yellow, red to deep purple, grew in profusion everywhere. The extremely narrow road snaked its way up and down low hills like a roller coaster.
The town of Alberobello carefully points out its 'zone Trulli,' one of the curiosities of southern Italy. Here we saw a unique city with hundreds of conical houses of whitewash and gray slate. These 'trulli', found scattered all over the neighboring countryside, are authentically usable houses and have been for centuries, but they look unreal, the invention of playland. The stone of the region is easily worked and the roofs give protection against heat and rain. Ryan summed it up nicely when he said they looked like upside down ice cream cones.
The reason for these strange looking houses was that years ago the people
page 19
were taxed on their roof surface so by building roofs that came to a point the tax was considerably lessened. Whether this interesting information is fact or fiction, I have not been able to determine.
The 'zone Trulli' is clean and bright with a central walk that is a steady line of souvenir shops. Shops are 'trulli' and even the church with it's medieval arches wears a characteristic cone. Some houses had white-knobbed tops and looked like teakettles.
Ice cream at an outdoor cafe under awnings and shade trees was eaten with relish after we finished buying everything from toys to Jan's lovely woven, queen-sized bedspread at most reasonable prices.
Driving through a small town on the return trip, our attention was attracted to an Italian funeral. Large arrangements of wreaths lined a walkway from the Church to the street where the casket was carried followed by women attired in black dresses, while police halted traffic until the procession passed.
Our day ended on a quiet note with supper eaten at the campsite under the shade tree, a couple games of scrabble and, of course, the trek to "Boileau's Rest Room" for a sponge bath while we washed and dried dirty clothes. I even summed up courage to shampoo my hair in the large wash basin located in one corner of the laundry hoping the people would not think it strange. No one seemed to notice so Jan and Al followed suit amidst a great deal of giggling as we tried to shield from view the one leaning over the basin.
The 'zone Trulli' is clean and bright with a central walk that is a steady line of souvenir shops. Shops are 'trulli' and even the church with it's medieval arches wears a characteristic cone. Some houses had white-knobbed tops and looked like teakettles.
Ice cream at an outdoor cafe under awnings and shade trees was eaten with relish after we finished buying everything from toys to Jan's lovely woven, queen-sized bedspread at most reasonable prices.
Driving through a small town on the return trip, our attention was attracted to an Italian funeral. Large arrangements of wreaths lined a walkway from the Church to the street where the casket was carried followed by women attired in black dresses, while police halted traffic until the procession passed.
Our day ended on a quiet note with supper eaten at the campsite under the shade tree, a couple games of scrabble and, of course, the trek to "Boileau's Rest Room" for a sponge bath while we washed and dried dirty clothes. I even summed up courage to shampoo my hair in the large wash basin located in one corner of the laundry hoping the people would not think it strange. No one seemed to notice so Jan and Al followed suit amidst a great deal of giggling as we tried to shield from view the one leaning over the basin.
