Whatchawearing
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Europeanvaction1979/30.1
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.
Waiting in line at Brindisi Dock
Game of Street Soccer
Al Playing Frisbe
Italy Behind Us
Ralph
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Day 30-Sunday, June 24 1979
It was one of those warm mornings with a very stiff breeze fanning the nylon tent. Unhurried hours were spent repacking our equipment after a leisurely breakfast at the cafeteria and a clothes washing and drying session. Although we had planned on having a hot meal around four, we were forced to settle for hamburgers at the recreation center because the cafeteria was closed until evening hours.
The waiting line at the Brindisi dock was not too long, but we had over an hour and a half to wait before we could board the ship. To pass the time we watched, with interest, three young men display their dexterity with a soccer ball as they shuffled it back and forth between them and their feet. Soon the boys joined in the street game with their ball and, not to be outdone, Al and Jan displayed their frisbee talents until the wind got too strong forcing the game to conclude.
Expresso Oblia, the Italian liner, stood majestically waiting in the port. She was a much larger vessel than the Egnitia, the Greek ship which had brought us to Italy. Since it was an express cruise, with no stops, we would be landing in Patras, Greece in fifteen hours instead of eighteen. At six-thirty the line of cars started moving slowly past custom officers and finally, forty-five minutes later, our turn came.
Workers directed us to a parking spot in the hole of the ship. It was hot and noisy to say nothing of the engine fumes which made us uncomfortable while we unpacked our gear to take to the cabin deck.
Once again, the Boileau gypsy caravan joined the multitudes wending up narrow stairways from the ship's hole where the VW was stored for the night. Each of us was assigned something to carry while Al and Craig struggled with the heavy ice chest.
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This time our cabins were slightly larger than a closet and definitely cleaner. We had a wash basin and, in our room because it wasn't needed, we converted the unused bunk into a sofa which gave us the feeling of having a sitting room. But, since we had an inside cabin, we were without the large picture window, a luxury we hardly missed.
Eight P.M. We watched, from the top deck, the last corner of Italy fall behind us. When we went down to our cabins and climbed into the bunks the noise of the screws and engines we steady and throbbing. Sleeping at sea, with the cradling motion of the ship brings a refreshment to the act that, for me, sometimes has become complicated. But, the certainty that no phones can ring, no door bells chime, no special delivered, serves as a sleeping potion, and the knowledge that next morning you are going to wake with the coast of Greece in view puts a smile on your dreams.
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Day 31-Monday, June 25 1979
A loud rapping on the door disturbed my slumber. The porter called we should vacate the cabin and I awoke abruptly with the feeling that he was adding under his breath, "Americanos sleepy heads." And sleepy heads we were - it was after nine.
The ship's lounge was comfortable and for the next few hours provided us a place to play scrabble and drink cappuccino and cokes as well as a view of the sea from the wide expanse of windows surrounding the lounge.
Up on deck at twelve-ten, we were treated to the sight of how a large vessel docks. It was assuredly more difficult than parking an automobile, but accomplished with great skill by an invisible captain.
Before long, we were varooming along the coast of Greece, anxious now to get back to Athens. Al found a delightful spot for a picnic lunch by the Gulf of Corinth at the mouth of the canal. Here we got a different view of the Corinth Canal. Instead of looking down at the blue-green water, we were looking high overhead at the distant bridges spanning the narrow slit in sheer rock.
The closer we got to Athens, the more excited we became with anticipation of seeing the dog and cat's reaction to our return. Ralph, confined in the upstairs quarters and apparently asleep, did not welcome us when we drove in the driveway. Once Al gave a whistle, the dog was ecstatic. Using a ladder, Al ascended to the roof over his front door, climbed through an open window and had a happy reunion with his animal. Ralph is a large dog. The sight of getting him off the roof and down the ladder in Al's arms is one I'll remember forever. Quiet time was being observed by the entire neighborhood except for Ralph's happy barking. He cared little as he greeted each one of us not knowing that he was disturbing the peace. Suey, being feline, showed no outward emotion, but I think I heard her purring just a
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little louder as she rubbed her back between our legs.
When we unpacked, the living room looked like the movers had come and gone leaving wall-to-wall boxes. It was hard to believe, as we surveyed the clutter, that all of this had been packed in the rear of the VW. We acted like children at Christmas as each box was opened and we admired the souvenirs from our journey.
That night, the water bed became a gentle sleep inducer for a tired body as it rocked me to dreamland.
