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happiness

Mom’s Tour de France 23 (FGK 114)

This is the end of mom’s letters that were published in the Cochrane paper. I”m kind of disappointed, I wasn’t ready for them to end- what happened? Did she get to stay and keep travelling? Check out the price of her little punchbuggy!!

About 6 o’clock we went searching for the Youth Hostel. It was a quaint little cabin in a groove of trees run by a darling little man who spoke no English but seemed to be accustomed to this situation. By this time we knew enough German to tell him we were cold and wanted to stay only if there was some heating. He showed us the room with a usual row of bunks and with a little coal stove in the corner. He soon had a roaring fire going and we were huddled around trying to get warm for the rest of the building was like a refrigerator. As we were finishing up our supper of bread and cheese, four other girls came to spend the night with us. They were from Manitoba and had just finished university there. The four of them were going all through Europe in their Hillman for a year. They had already been to England, Spain, Morocco, etc and had some fascinating stories to tell.

Thursday morning, Pat, Carol and Jeannie visited the old fort which overlooked the town and I went for a drive in the country. It had stopped snowing and i could see the mountains which surrounded us. There are many interesting little villages in this area. I had all sorts of fun poking around them and trying to talk to them in my inadequate German vocabulary of about five phrases. We met again for lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon looking at the shops. It was tempting but since we were all in the same financial situation we helped each other resist it to mostly window shopping. Thank heaven I’m not a skier or it would have been irresistible.

We planned to spend all day Friday driving to Vienna but road conditions were so good that we arrived there in the early afternoon. Our meals of bread and cheese which we ate in the car also helped save time.

We were fortunate in the fact that the Youth Hostel was along the route which we took into town so we were able to find it comparatively quickly – ie., after asking two gas station attendants, a man in the street, and a postman. We were completely overwhelmed when we saw the building. It was built two years ago, has an elevator and heating!! We really couldn’t have asked for a better place. I have to go to lunch now so will write more about the trip later.

If you’re interested I have some of the costs of the car broken down so you’ll know where some of your steers are going. The car itself totalled $1,361.00 US dollars, the insurance $120 and about $40 for the transportation etc. From what I’ve heard I should be able to get a fairly good price for it at home. It’s really nice to have something to ride down to the restaurants in now.

We are going to London for three or four days next month for a field trip. It should be interesting, I’m very excited about it. If it’s ok with you I think I’ll stay out of Stanford Spring Quarter and travel over here with Gail for a while and go home about the first of June and then to summer school. Let me know what you think about this ‘cause I have to let Gail know soon, her mother is coming over next moth too.

Lots of love

Margi

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Mom’s Tour de France 22 (FGK 113)

I had to laugh at mom’s speedy driving. I come from a family of speedy drivers – I remember white knuckling it a lot when I was a kid and Grandma was driving me somewhere. Dad always seemed to be one demerit away from losing his license (but swore he needed to drive that speed just to keep up with everyone else on the road). As a kid, I always tried to get in the back of the suburban my uncle would drive when we would do family visits to my aunt and uncle in Arrowwood, partly because it meant I could hang with my cousins and partly because it meant the long trip would take about half the time. If it took my parents an hour and a half to get there, it would take my uncle about 45 minutes and we would have stopped at allllll the feedlots along the way as well. I am speedier than my kids, but remain a family disappointment on trips as I hold up the line with my relatively slow driving). Mostly I’m cheap and don’t want to pay tickets.

We found a little restaurant near the hotel where we had one of our best meals in Germany. We ordered rindsgulasch in the hopes that it would turn out to be something good – and it was. Hence, another word was added to our growing German vocabulary. I think “rinds” means beef, at least it tasted like it.

We ended the day by doing some window shopping and going to the bahnhauf (which had finally appeared again) to have milkshakes. It tastes so good to have milk products again that we each had two helpings. It’s the first time I’ve made such a glutton of myself, usually I stopped at just one! We got lost again when we stepped out of the bahnhauf and it took us almost an hour to find our hotel which was (in the book) a ten minute walk from the station. Someday I’m going to solve the Great Mystery of this city. As we were entering our hotel we heard someone calling our names – it was Bob, Tim, Bill and Denny, some boys from the Centre who were staying in the hotel just across the street. They had just arrived as they had taken a longer route. I was able to get their advice on the roads, my car, etc as they are all quite experienced in that sort of thing.

We left the next morning for Salzburg. As there is an Autobahn all the way it was no time at all until we were in Austria. As usual we were completely lost as soon as we entered the town. I, who happened to be driving at the time, chalked up some sort of record for the trip by being stopped by three different policemen within fifteen minutes. Since we had such an obvious problem of communication, they never bothered giving us a ticket.

Salzburg is a fascinating town and is one of the places for which I would enjoy returning in the summer. It is noted for its beautiful scenery which we could not see because of the snow, its music, history, and of course Wienerschnitzel. From the moment I discovered a taste, this meant I ordered it for almost every meal in Austria. As you can see I’m really turning into a gourmet.

The streets in Salzburg are of the small narrow and twisty variety. It’s very easy to find parking places in Austria which was fortunate because everyone walks in the middle of the street, a situation somewhat frustrating for a driver.

It was a snowy afternoon – perfect for museums, so we went to the place where Mozart worked and some of the churches. One of them was particularly interesting as it had something from almost everyone period. Romanesque to late Baroque in it. We also tried some of the Salzburg coffee made with mounds of whipped cream. I think it’s the best I’ve found in Europe. I like it even better than the Italian.

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Mom’s Tour de France 21 (FGK 112)

This is the last letter of mom’s that was published in the paper. I am really hoping that we discover the rest of them and I can read about the remainder of her year abroad. Thank goodness Grandma kept everything. This letter is a long one, so part one is today and there will be at least one, perhaps two more instalments before I go digging through boxes again (there are still a few more letters sent to mom while she was in the hospital).

It’s weird for me to think of how drastically mom’s life was changing. 10 years ago she was still a healthy and rambunctious kid, getting into everything, riding her horse, and playing with her siblings and cousins. 5 years ago she was working her way out of a long hospital stay and then moving to Florida for school. Not too far in her future she would graduate from Stanford, move to Toronto, go to law school and meet my dad. 10 years in her future she was just about to give birth to me (taadaa!!)

I remember mom making this cake and wanting so badly to become the Queen. I have no idea whether or not I ever did though.

Tours, France, January 15, 1961

Dear Folks

I’ve just returned from Suzanne’s having done nothing but EAT all day. She invited Gail and I over for lunch today but asked us to come early if we wanted to help prepare the meal.

I made a cake!! It is my failure kind so Suzanne taught me how to make it – you won’t believe how domestic I’m getting! We also helped with the other things. It’s so much fun in the family now because we feel free to play with her little sisters, tease her brothers, and gossip with her mother. They are extremely patient with our French so we don’t mind making lots of mistakes. Since we are still celebrating the feast of the Three Kings, we had a galette (a type of cake) for dessert. The prize was in my piece so I was the Queen. The suspense while everyone bites into their piece is terrible. After lunch we drove out to Suzanne’s aunt’s in the country. They are having a special celebration there to taste the wines in the caves which line the hillside. Everyone in the village was there with venders at every turn calling crepes, roasted chestnuts, etc. I was amazed once we entered the caves to find it exactly like an exhibition at home. Lining the walls of dirt were washing machines, television sets, and I even saw in one cavern a car!! I was driving so I didn’t taste the wines like I was supposed to, but it was fun watching all the others. After we went back to the aunt’s house where we had another galette – this time Gail was the Queen.

I think I left off in my last letter just as we were entering Munich. We got there after dark so were able to see the brilliant Christmas decorations. The main streets were lined with huge lights in the form of stars etc. It is possible to sense the quick tempo of this city the moment one enters it. It is alive and growing in the sense that all of Western Germany seems to be moving forward and looking to the future instead of the past. This is especially noticeable if you see it compared to some other European countries. We managed to find our way to the famed Rathskeller in the basement of the town hall where we had a dinner composed of a variety of German sausages. I ate so many I never felt quite the same towards them again and started ordering other dishes from then on. The Rathskeller itself was a fascinating place with its huge German style of architecture and costumed waitresses. You could practically feel yourself back in the Middle Ages. We had the name of a good but cheap hotel which we found in our “Bible” ie “Europe on $5.00 a Day” but in spite of the directions which were given in the book we found it impossible to pick the right route. We were told to start at the Bahnhauf (railroad station). This was a formidable task in itself for it always failed to show up when we expected it but on the other hand, we kept running into it at the oddest places. It continued like this during our entire stay in Munich and we always found our way home more or less by chance. This lead us to the conclusion that the Munich bahnhauf has the astonishing ability to disappear underground for hours at a time only to appear later at the other end of town. That is The only explanation I can give. The first evening we gave up in despair and finally stopped at a gas station to ask directions. We were so baffled by the German answer that was given us, two travellers who had their car there offered to lead us to the hotel. We turned so many corners and got so throughly confused that we decided we were being led on a wile goose chase. Just as we were going to turn and go in another direction their cart stopped right in front of the hotel! We felt rather guilty of being so suspicious of people who were simply being kind.

The next day we prepared to see the Glockenspiel when it went off at 11 am. We spent so long over breakfast that we barely had time to get down in front of the city hall to watch the big clock. Pat was driving when the car with four confused jeunnes filles made their left turn in its main intersection on the wrong light. Imagine our horror when we saw the policeman blow his whistle and flag us down to the curb. He stomped over to the car to find four frightened faces peering up at him and babbling away as fast as they could in French. When he found out we spoke no German, he went around to the front, saw our French license plate, got a resigned look on his face shrugging his shoulders, and said helplessly “La va!” We thanked him profusely in French and made our escape quickly before he discovered what terrible accents we had. By this time it was almost eleven so we decided that Carol and Jeannie should go watch the clock while Pat and I tried to find a parking place. We soon discovered that we had set ourselves an impossible task. We were all the more nervous because we were stopped by another policeman – that made two intersections we had to avoid henceforth at all costs! We finally found Carol and Jeannie a half hour later. We were told that for the first time in years the Glockenspiel hadn’t gone off. After the big airplane crash, which you probably heard about, there was no singing or dancing in Munich for a week. The whole city went into mourning for the dead. We spent much of the afternoon riding around in the car and looking at various buildings. We visited Maximillian Palace which was so huge we couldn’t get through it all. It is still furnished in late baroque and rococo style. The grand ballrooms with enormous chandeliers, lavish furniture, and magnificent carriages make one wonder how the princes lasted so long without a revolution. Their wealth must have been incredible. We couldn’t appreciate the beauty of the gardens as they were covered with snow, but they surrounded the huge central building for acres. One needs a lot of stamina to live in a palace like that as the rooms are so far apart.

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Mom’s Tour de France 20 (FGK 111)

December 1960

Hi:

We are now in a youth hostel in Salzburg. There are also four other Canadian girls who are driving through Europe for the winter and staying here. The is place seems like sheer luxury because the one we were in at Neuchatel didn’t have any heat. This one has a lovely little stove right by my bed.

It has been snowing here all day so we haven’t had much of an opportunity to see the scenery which is supposed to be lovely. We are trying to economize because we stayed at a hotel in Munich and they charged us far more than we thought they would – not a very nice surprise.

We have been having all sorts of adventures. We are constantly lost in the cities and usually end up going the wrong way on a one way street. The policemen have been very patient and nice (mainly because we couldn’t understand them). People have helped us out on the street and in the stores. Every time we hit a new town we head like homing pigeons to the nearest Shell Station, which has maps of the city. We now know the German terms for left, right, etc.

The weather hasn’t been nice enough to take any pictures. I was foolish enough to put slides in my camera instead of black and white. I was so enthusiastic over the results of the ones I took in Rome that I got carried away.

(The next night)

I did some shopping today and spent my spare money. Austria is as bad as Italy, it is a terrible temptation to pass a store.

I wandered around some of the mountain villages this morning. They still use horses on many of the farms. It looks very Christmassy to see them pulling sleds full of firewood.

If people have sent me letters etc but haven’t heard from me, tell them not to worry, because we left on December 17th and won’t pick up our mail until the 9th of January. It will be nice to have that pile waiting for me!

I also haven’t mailed all my Xmas cards yet – so some of them will be New Years! I usually cannot get very much writing done while we are travelling. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas. I’ll be thinking about you then – in Venice I think. From what we hear, it is going to be a white Christmas which is something new for the kids from California.

I’ll try to write again soon

Love

Margi

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Mom’s Tour de France 18 (FGK 109)

Part one

January 8, 1961

Hi:

I realize you must be almost ready to disown me, it’s been so long since I’ve written. There is so much to say, I didn’t know where to begin. If i don’t get it all in one letter I’ll try to send it in instalments.

My car didn’t arrive from Paris until the last day of finals. Of course I rushed right down to see it, hoping to drive away in it that very afternoon and get a start on our trip – the next day. Pat came down with me and was just was excited as I to see the bright shiny blue Volkswagen complete with a sunroof which slides back in sunny weather. It took a day and a half to clear it with insurance, customs officials etc. I was issued a temporary license plate which actually consists of a piece of black tape with some numbers chalked on it. They assured me that when I return my permanent plate would be ready, which didn’t help much then. While in the midst of doing all this, there were countless things going on at the centre. We gave a Christmas party for some of the people of Tours who had put so much effort into the centre. Between the end of the last final at noon and that evening, decorations were put up all over the building and last touches were made on a dinner which was a traditional American dish in that there was turkey but it was served in the French style and with Loire wines. We had entertainment for them – this was also a mixture of both cultured – and then sang carols in French and English.

Friday I was invited to a dinner at noon with a French Family. They served the French version of lemon pie! We also had roast pheasant and some sort of sauce made out of chestnuts which was just delicious. It was the first I’ve I had visited their home so we spent much of the afternoon comparing cultures and telling out our homes. By this time I had to leave to pick up my car, I didn’t get back to the centre until late and consequently had to stay up until one am packing.

The four of us agreed to get an early start, leaving Tours at 7am. We had just gotten about 10 kilometres out of town when the engine started making weird noises and finally stopped completely. We were let sitting in the dark on a country road with no idea how to get to the next town. We all looked at each other a little foolishly, because in the rush to leave, no one had thought to get the gas tank filled! A couple of trucks passed by but wouldn’t stop. Finally Pat, who is no one to stand on ceremony, got out of the car, took off her bright red scarf and flagged down the next truck. The poor man didn’t have much choice as he saw this weird apparition coming at him out of the dark. He was very nice, however, and gave Pat and Carol a ride to the nearest gas station while Jeannie and I waited in the car. We questioned why the Germans, who are so efficient in everything else, neglected to put gas gages on Volkswagens! The rest of the day passed without any serious incident. We were all learning how to shift gears on VWs so did not make very good time. It was the same route we took to Switzerland in November but since it is what I consider to be one of the most beautiful sections of France, we didn’t mind the repetition. There was a light fall of snow on the Jura’s which excited everyone in the car but me. By the end of the trip Californians were beginning to come around to my point of view. At the Swiss border we hoped to buy the green card which signifies that we had international insurance as this is the first thing they ask for at almost every frontier. Imagine our dismay when we discovered the office was closed and we would have to pay extra for every country we entered because we didn’t have it! We decided to make Neuchatel the destination for our first day.

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Mom’s Tour de France 17 (FGK 108)

I remember as a teenager finding an old sweater of my dad’s sitting on a shelf. I’d never seen him wear it, I thought it looked kind of cool, so I stole it. Turns out it was a sweater he’d bought at a market in Rome while they were there on their honeymoon. I loved that sweater, and once I wore it completely out it became my barn/riding sweater. One time I was at a horse show and there was another girl there wearing the exact same sweater. Dad had to go over and talk to her dad to see where she’d found it and apparently that girls parents also had honeymooned in Rome around the same time, and the dad had also bought the sweater at a market. That girl also had found the sweater while snooping and had made it her own. So, all of mom’s coins in Trevi Fountain were worth it – she went back to Italy several more times.

Part two of mom’s letter

During our tour the day before we had a world famous ice cream parlour pointed out to us. It is a place frequented by all the movie stars as well as those of us of more humble status. After dinner a large group of us, including Prof. Knolls and his wife who are as full of mischief as any of the students, took off through the little back streets for the goodies. The store is in the square of the fountains of the Four Rivers. These are lit up at night, making them even more beautiful than in the daytime. I think the poor people in the shop were a little overwhelmed by having a group of 20 singing Americans descend en masse, demanding the specialite de maison, but they are probably quite used to it because we all were served within a few minutes. Some of the kids had birthdays so we sang to them – with all the Italians joining in. I had so much to eat I could barely waddle home.

Thursday was a free day with no tours. Pat, Carol, Susie and I spent the morning finding the Yugoslavian embassy to get our visas. When we finally got these we almost drove the little man mad because he only spoke Italian and Yugoslavian. There happened to be a lady standing by who spoke French so she translated for us but I have never seen anyone so relieved as he was when we finally left. Pat and I stopped at the Fountain of Trevi on the way home and i threw in my three coins just in case I couldn’t make it back the next day. We also had a water fight there – much to the consternation of the policeman on the corner.

I spent the afternoon window shopping – I wish you could see the beautiful things they have in Italy. It just killed me not to buy anything. Fabulous sweaters only cost about $10.00 and the purses, gloves and shoes – oo la la!

While I was wandering around I came upon a splendid fountain in front of the terminal. It really was a fountain to end all fountains. I spent about 15 minutes watching the sun on the water. That is the fun of Rome. You never know when you are going to stumble on a magnificent fountain. I also explored St. John the Lateran. The church were all the funerals for the Popes are held and where they used to live. From hereI walked down to the colosseum where I hoped to catch a bus home. Italy is the only country where I would have enough nerve to ride a bus alone. The people are so warm and friendly I always have more than enough help getting on and off – when I get home remind me to tell you about some of my experiences on buses, I’ve gone some dillys. I asked the conductor if the is was the bus for Ponte Sisto? He said “si” but made all sorts of gestures which I couldn’t understand. Since the bus definitely went to my stop I decided to get on anyway. An hour later I discovered what the gestures meant. Before ending up at Ponte Sisto the bus makes a route all over the city! Well that’s one way to see Rome.

Friday morning we left bright and early for Tivoli. First we visited Hadrian’s villa. This is the size of a small city and it is just incredible to see the luxury which existed at this time. By this time we were experts at climbing over ruins. Two of the boys disappeared underground in the sewer system only to pop up in front of us while we were studying the mosaics in the sun room. The guide was a little perturbed but the boys had a wonderful time. This trip also gave us an opportunity to see some Italian countryside. As our buses climbed up the mountain to the fountains of Tivoli we had vistas which stretched out as far as Rome. The fountains themselves were glorious. There is an enormous garden which is full of every type of flower imaginable. In places there are long walks stretching out lined with fountains on either side of them with one enormous one at the end. You have probably read about the organ fountain which is also there.

Our bus took us a little farther along the road to a viewpoint where we could see two enormous waterfalls tumbling down the mountain side into a valley with vineyards on the hills and pastures in the bottom. There was a tiny little church perched on the top of the hill with a narrow little path leading up to it. We ate our lunch while perched on the wall overlooking all this. The tour continued in the afternoon to some more ancient temples and villas but I returned on an early bus with some others who were feeling the effects of the Roman hikes, to have a two hour sleep. I woke up just in time to dash out with Gail and Pat to throw another coin in the fountain and eat a doughnut in front of it before dinner. We were planning a birthday party for one of the boys so had to get back early. That was my 4th coin in the fountain – for an extra strong wish to return to Rome again. After dinner we just had time to pack and take a bus to the station. You never saw a tireder more loaded down group in your life. No one wanted to come back to Tours. Most of us spent the two nights and a day on the train trying to recuperate – without much success. Some of the kids had their guitars along so there was more singing than sleeping.

We reached Tours at 2:30am this morning (Sunday). We didn’t get to bed until 4:30 though. I was really glad to see it!! Suzanne invited Gail and I to her place for lunch. It was just wonderful. We are starting to feel that we can be at home in her home. In France, this is really something. As usual they sent us away from their place just loaded down with food. She is just a darling girl.

All my Xmas cards will be late because I ordered some and they still haven’t arrived. This really makes me sad. Please tell everyone to hold on, they’ll come one of these days. Don’t expect to hear too much from me between now and the 15th as we are having our exams. I really don’t know how I”m going to do – they could be bad news. But I think the education I’ve received outside of the classroom will make up for some bad grades (I hope). The competition here is rough as most of the kids are outstanding Stanford students. The more I talk about it the more scared I get. Guess I’d better get to work.

Wish me luck with my finals. I need it!!

Love,

Margi

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Mom’s Tour de France 16 (FGK 107)

I have to say, after my years spent in the South I finally understand how useful the phrase “y’all” is (as well as the plural versions including both y’all and all y’all). I never got it before, but y’all is at least as handy a phrase as our Canadian “eh”, maybe even more so.

These letters really impress me – people are so kind. There are so many random strangers who just appear and make mom’s trip more enjoyable. Not just how they help her physically get around, but how they invite her (and her friends) places and try to ensure they have the best possible opportunities to see all the sights and take in the essence of Rome.

Part one of this letter:

December 5th, 1960

Hello Y’all (Mustn’t forget my stay in the South)

I returned this morning at 3am to find a nice little pile of letters waiting for me in my box.

Rome is past- and it all seems like it was a dream which was too good to be true. We have ours this and next week <I assume exams??> so everyone in the group has a pressed and worried feeling. I can’t remember when I last wrote you from Rome so I may miss a few experiences in my letters – but that will give me more to tell you when I get home.

We were taken on our most fascinating tour Wednesday morning when we were taken through the Roman forum by a man from the American Academy who is writing a book on the subject. He had the gift of making the past come alive for us as we walked among the ruins, ancient temples, and palaces. It was a bright summy day and all the Marble columns stood out against the deep green grass – a day which makes me decide I should have learned Italian instead of French! He told us the history of the spot -factual and traditional, and how it evolved from a swamp separating the tribes to a meeting place to arrange peace. They are still discovering new facts about it. Johnny, Russ, Robby, and Larry all made sure I got to the very heights of the Palatine hill. I’ve told them if they ever come to Canada I’ll have them out for a big steak. They really got me into some of the most impossible places during our stay there. I snapped all sorts of slides there so you will have an opportunity to see some of the things we saw there. I am going to send them home to be developed as I’ve been told they make a better job of the colour processing in America. I’ll give you the number of my film so you can send me a bunch which will be paid for the processing in advance – then I can send them directly to the company.

By the time we had spent four hours climbing all over the forum, we were starving so we sought out a bus to take us home as quickly as possible. We had barely gotten on it when the conductor started making all sorts of gestures while explaining something in great length in Italian. He spoke neither French or English so we were at a loss. Finally another man got on the bus who spoke French and translated for us. The conductor wanted to know if he could take us on a tour of Rome in his car in the afternoon. We were overwhelmed because we had never even seen the man before but also sensed that he really wanted to do this very much so we said this would please us. That afternoon he called around a the villa in his little car and jammed Pat, Russ, Gail and I in it. None of us spoke Italian but Russ had a phrase book with which we tried to make some sense. He took us to see one of the more famous churches – there we met a couple who spoke French so we were able to communicate somewhat with our friend. From there we went to one of the hills where we could see the entire city with the mountains in the background. As it was at sunset, the whole scene had a rosy tinge which reflected off the sky and mountains. He took us to St. Peter’s which Russ had never seen (the rest of couldn’t explain that we’d already been there – besides there is always something new to see.) By this time it was getting dark so we went back to the villa. Russ tried to buy him a drink to express our thanks, but while he willingly accepted the vermouth, he wouldn’t let us pay for it. He wanted to take us out again the next day also, but since this was already planned we regretfully declined. He just wanted to do something kind and help us as much as he could.

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Mom’s Tour de France 13 (FGK 104)

In 2009 a bunch of us were fortunate enough to go to Rome to see my cousin get married. Large as the city is, it seemed as though every time we turned a corner we bumped into a Copithorne, which made our sightseeing days pretty damn enjoyable as we always had someone to share them with. I loved that trip, and I’m so grateful that mom and dad were in good enough health to fully enjoy the trip too. The wedding was amazing, the food was outstanding, and the place was unbelievably spectacular. I hope to get back again someday soon.

Rome, November 25th 1960.

Dear Everyone:

Well – I made it at last! You know how I’ve always wanted to see Rome. We left Tours at 2am Thursday morning and arrived here at 5:30 this morning. I had sleepers for both nights so didn’t get too tired. There was some snow in the Alps – it reminded me of home, only there are fortresses along the passes instead of the wild kind of nature that’s in the Rockies. There were two busses to meet us at the train. They took us past all sorts of fascinating monuments to our hostel which is run by some monks and is a block away from the Tiber. A great big breakfast was served and then we were let loose on the town. Gail, Pat, Ruth and I walked along the Tiber for a way and then turned off up a street which led past some sunken ruins of Republican temples. There were all sorts of cats prowling around the broken columns and statues. I tried to take some pictures but don’t think the film was set right. We then wandered to the central church for the Jesuit Order. It is a magnificent example of baroque art. The marble had designs in it made of different colours of rock, and the paintings on the ceiling were well worth a stiff neck. The streets of Rome have no rhyme or reason. They just twist back and forth or else end abruptly at a fountain or a church. Every time you turn a corner you don’t know whether you are going to run into some old Roman theatre or a church. It makes one feel so very ignorant because it seems as though the whole wealth of western civilization is displayed here like a historical pageant. I never realized there was so much history I didn’t know about – and I never thought I’d see the day when I thought a building dating from the 8th century was relatively recent! After we came out of the Jesuit church Gail and Ruth lingered in a little shop while Pat and I strolled a little farther on, planning to meet them later. I wanted to see the fountain of Trevi first thing (remember the movie?) so we went to find the right street. When we went back to get Gail and Ruth they were gone so we decided to go on. We asked an Italian policeman for directions and boldly set off – not sure whether or not we had really understood the Italian. After we turned innumerable corners and gone up some little side streets we decided it was time we got our bearings again. We saw a priest standing on the steps of a church so I said, “Oh, let’s ask him, priests are very well educated so he’s bound to know French or English!” He had already seen us so we went up and hardly got our mouths open when he said: “You speak English?” We were immediately relieved and started to speak in very slow careful English – imagine our embarrassment when he answered us fluently. Then Pat asked him if he was Italian. He gave a start and said “Aye n’ if I had any Italian blood in me I’d give it back to them! I guess I haven’t been puttin’ on me brogue enough!” His face just overflowed with mischief. If I’d given it a second thought I’d have guessed he was Irish – and after we heard him talk a bit we knew!! When we asked him where the fountain was he insisted on taking us there because he had a few minutes of spare time and it wasn’t far away. As we were walking along we found out that he is a student at a school here for fellows who are going through to be priests. Classes let out while we were there and we met ones from the US, Canada, and Germany. They are there from all over. When we got to the fountain, Jon (that’s his name) offered to take our picture in front of it. That got me to explaining how I have this gorgeous camera and don’t really know how to use it. I had two pictures left on the film so Jon took those of us and offered to take us to a camera shop where I could get the film changed. We didn’t have any Italian liras so he said he’d take us to a place where we could get our money changed. We said “Oh no,” we didn’t want to take up more of his time since he’d already spent about half an hour with us. Then he told us he was already late for class by 15 minutes, that he might as well cut the whole thing and that while his Superior might not understand he was sure God would! So we proceeded to have a guided tour. Jon told us the best Italian foods to buy and the cheapest places to get it. I got a slide film put in my camera and had my travellers cheque changed into Italian money because you get 20% off here for cashing travellers cheques in stores.

After we left the American Express we went to the Spanish Steps. By this time it was almost noon and Joe had to leave us, after giving us careful directions for our way back. We got hopelessly lost and finally had to take a taxi in order to get back to the villa in time for lunch. After the meal the whole group went off in busses for a general tour of Rome. We saw so much it’s just impossible to name it all. We went through an old quarter where they say the people who live there are now the same (type) as those who were there during the time of Caesar. This road led to the top of one of the seven hills of Rome. Here we had a magnificent view of the entire city spread out before us. St. Peter’s was the next stop – we just saw the outside as this trip was just to get a general idea of the city. We went past all sorts of Pope’s palaces and Emperor’s tombs and ended up at the stadium where they had the olympics last summer. It is by these buildings that Mussolini was going to make into a second forum. There is still a big monument there with his name on it. We stopped in the Park Borghese overlooking the Plaza do Puopolo. This gave another view of the city. Several countries have their Academics in the park there and there are all sorts of ponds etc scattered through the trees. It was here that I saw my first Punch and Judy show – only it was in Italian. when we were going by the monument Emmanuel 11 on our way to the Colosseum we met some kids from Stanford in Italy so they came along on the tour with us. We went out a little on the Oppian way and followed the old wall of Rome until we came to a freeway which went right under the gates. We also passed the place where they used to have their chariot races. By the time we started home it was evening and we could see the sunset over the city. Tomorrow we are going to the Vatican and will have a chance to see the Pope. Pat and Ruth came with us as we wandered down some back streets tonight to a little pizza place which had been recommended to us. I burnt my tongue on a pizza, but it was just delicious. We also had some Italian pastries which were also yummy. I wish I could send some of those dishes home to you, they are so much fun to try.

It’s now 9pm – and I’ve spent an hour writing this letter. There is just so much to say I can’t get it all down on paper I think I’ll go to bed instead.

I’m going back to the fountain of Trevi before I leave, so I’ll throw a coin in for you all.

Love,

Margi

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Mom’s Tour de France 11 (FGK 102)

I know mom was really annoyed at Grandma for sending these letters in to the paper to be published (can you imagine how annoyed she’d be with me posting these again 60 years later hahahaha) but I am so glad Grandma did – this was a Mom who I never knew and I’m so honoured that I get this little peek into her life post polio but before Melissa.

I had to chuckle when mom was describing how she wanted to learn to cook while in France. If she got French cooking lessons, we never benefited from them. But not only was cooking not really mom’s thing, it was physically difficult for her and became more so the older she got. A bonus of this – that I didn’t realize until I was older – was that it meant that my sister and I got a dad who did a lot of things for and with us that many dads in the ‘70s didn’t do. I grew up thinking it was normal to have a dad who helped around the house and who spent time playing with his kids. It wasn’t until I became a bit older that I understood what an anomaly he was – especially for the time.

November 13th, 1960

Dear Folks,

You’ve all been neglected in my writing lately! I thought I would have lots of time this weekend because Gail went to Belgium and I stayed here, but I didn’t even get any studying done. Thursday afternoon we went to have tea with a French family in one of the suburbs of Tours. It is not one of the wealthy sections of town but it was a very clean and happy home. The tea was very simple but good and the family just sat there and fired one question after another. I’ve never been in a home here yet without having to get out the map and show them where I live. I wish I’d collected more snaps to bring. They made me feel just as home because we sat around the kitchen table to talk and drink tea.

Friday was Armistice Day (Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!) so Tours had an Armistice celebration. There were both French and American troops with a band and flags all over the place. Some men were decorated with the Legion of Honour also. At noon that day I was invited to lunch with a doctor and his wife who are from the more wealthy class. The meal was served by a maid in uniform and there was a vast array of knives and forks from which I invariably chose the wrong utensil. I was in the awkward position of having everything passed to me first so I had to decide how to manage it. In spite of all this the afternoon was just fascinating because they were such excellent conversationalists. There was a German student there also and they were discussing the last war (he could really speak French, I just listened) among other things. I was very interested to see how they felt about those things and about the present world situation. The French have an opinion on everything and every opinion is different. I wish so much that I could speak the language better to try and understand some of their positions. I still haven’t reached the point where I can carry on a good conversation or even understand everything that is said to me. After speaking French for six solid hours as I was on Friday, I’m just exhausted. This is really an experience though, because they tell us it is very difficult to be invited into the French home – and I’ve reached the point that if I’m invited to another I’ll never be able to waddle off the boat.

Gail and I met two girls from the Lyiee, Suzanne and Danielle, who came to visit us a few times and took us to see the movie. We had them over for dinner here on Wednesday night to show them some of the building. They are really just darling girls and have been so helpful because they take time to speak slowly and to correct our mistakes. We’d forgotten that Wednesday was the night we got the election results so everyone here was quite boisterous (the democrats that is). But they understand when we told them Americans didn’t sing at the table all the time. After dinner some students from the French med. school came over in an impromptu demonstration for Kennedy. They were dressed up in red, white, and blue costumes and made all sorts of comic speeches – half French, half English for us. They also sang some students songs (which we didn’t understand but I was told it was better) so we sang some back to them. I believe med-students are the same no matter what country they’re in.

On Saturday, Suzanne came by in the afternoon and we walked over to her place and then to Danielle’s house which is on the other side of town. Here we listened to some records (I tried to translate an Elvis Presley song into French for them but even I can’t understand it). They both have penpals in New York and have saved up all sorts of post cards so of course I had to describe our one rushed day there. They are just as fascinated by the idea of seeing America as I was of seeing Europe. On the way back, Suzanne took me to a patisserie to have some more yummy cakes and some tea. She also invited me to Sunday dinner at noon. I had mentioned how I would like to learn how to cook some French dishes so she asked me if I would like to come early and watch her make the meal. Her family have a boucherie (butcher’s shop) in a narrow winding street in the old part of town. It’s near a building where the man who made Joan of Arc’s armour lived. They live in behind the store. I was just overwhelmed to see all the work that goes into these meals we have been having with a family and what an occasion it is to have even just one insignificant guest like me. I’m sure they weren’t very wealthy but they just put out the very best of everything they had. This has been the case in every place we’ve gone to. Each plate was a masterpiece and Suzanne worked lovingly over it. The frustrating thing was I couldn’t express myself well enough just to let them know how much I appreciated it. I felt so guilty having all that done for me and know how much it was probably costing them. During the meal I go the usual questions about America and the atlas was brought out again. I’m beginning to feel like a walking encyclopedia- but I hope I’m giving the right answers to all these questions!! I had to sample their best wine and tried almost every cheese they had- I couldn’t even go to supper tonight I was so full. Her mother invited me back again to do some cooking. I told her that it took all my ingenuity just to work a can-opener! They don’t know what they are letting themselves in for.

Did i tell you we are going to Rome for 10 days on November 24th? It’s one of the trips conducted by the university. We have to pay $25.00 and for one meal a day but all the rest is paid for. I’m really excited about it.

I’m not sure where I’m going for Christmas. I may go to Vienna if the roads are good and if the weather’s fine. If not I may go to Spain or inland. I would rather wait until spring to see England as i don’t think the weather is too pleasant there now.

Tell somebody to write, yours are about the only letters I get.

Love,

Margi

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Mom’s Tour de France 9 (FGK 100)

I can’t believe I’ve hit 100 posts From Grandma’s Kitchen!! I am so grateful I’ve got these letters to share.

This is the second half of the letter describing mom’s trip to Germany. I noticed again that she mentions stealing apples off of trees to snack on. I had always figured it was dad who taught us to steal fruit – but now I wonder if maybe mom also had a hand in that. As children, when we would vacation on Vancouver Island, dad was famous for pulling over on the side of the road and sending my sister and I into the ditch with buckets. We had to stand amongst the prickly thorns and pick as many blackberries as we could, as quickly as possible. The drive back to Calgary after our vacations was always a very pungent one as flats of berries sat on top of our luggage.

Her description of the little parade watched reminds me of the Cochrane Labour Day parade when I was a kid. I think the only people watching the parade were parents of kids who were in it- everyone else was in the parade!

Mom bought a camera! I will have to dig around and see if there are any photos of her adventures in Europe.

About seven we got hungry but didn’t know where to find an inexpensive restaurant. While we were going through one of the towns we saw a Shell Station. We knew it would be German, but it felt so good to see a familiar sight that we stopped there to ask where to find a place to eat. Luckily the attendant knew a few words of English and with our few words of German he directed us to a lovely little wooden restaurant. We went in what we hoped was the right door and seated ourselves around one of the tables- which were similar to picnic tables. The waitress couldn’t speak French or English, but we got a menu by gesturing- then the fun started, because we were just starving but couldn’t understand the menu!! We spent about 20 minutes trying to decipher it . By this time a man and his wife had sat down at our table. Everyone in the room was very amused but we were getting hungrier and discussed in English where we should ask them if they would help us. Finally the man leaned over and said, “This is a very good meal!” He spoke a little French and English!! For less than a $1.00 we got a huge platter of meat and mushroom sauce, a platter of spaghetti, and a big salad among the four of us. We were so hungry we ate almost all of it. It was just delicious. We ended up having them all teaching us how to count in German and a few more sentences – like how much does it cost etc. We got into Ulm, which was our destination for the day, fairly late but found a hotel right away. It was new and clean. Our beds had the great big German feather mattresses on them – which made it very difficult to get out of bed the next morning!

Breakfast was served by a quaint old German lady who loaded us up with extra bread for lunch. As you probably have guessed by this time, bread and cheese is the cheapest meal you can get over here. We visited the church (I sent you a post card of it) and attended the service there which was Protestant. (Munster in Ulm an dear Donau hochster Kirchturm dear Erde (161m) Munster (cathedral) at Ulm on the Nonnau highest steeple of the earth (161m).

From Ulm to Stuttgart we were on one of the German autobahns. These are just marvellous – the same thing as a freeway. At Stuttgart our troubles started – everyplace we drove while we were in that town we got lost. We had to count an extra hour whenever we wanted to go somewhere just to get ourselves untangled. After crossing the city about three times we finally got on the right road for the campus of Stanford in Germany. This is in the country near a tiny village not far from Stuttgart. We could see the buildings in the distance because it was at the very top of a hill, looking out in all directions. The sides of the hill are covered with vineyards and apple trees. There is a tiny winding road up to the top lined with trees, from which we took some apples because we hadn’t bought any. We got a great reception from the students there, it was almost like coming home – to meet someone who spoke English!! They showed us all over the centre. We both have different advantages. They live in the country, get to know the people of the village very well and have a homey atmosphere. We have more of the advantages of living near a big town and can meet more students and our building is more modern. Since they have been established longer than we have, they have a few more things – like a record player and more books in the library. Remember this time last year when I was dying to go to Germany? I am still just fascinated by the language and would love to learn it. After taking a walk around the village, we went back to Stuttgart to see Christof, Gail’s friend. He is one of the nicest people I have met over here. We had supper with him and his sister. It was a very simple meal consisting of German bread with cheese and liverwort. Their company was so enjoyable that it was one of the best meals we had. They served some apple cider that had just started to ferment. It was delicious. I wish that it could travel so I could send some for you, but you have to drink it at a certain stage. Christof studies physics at the University of Stuttgart and he had a book on his shelf that was written by Ruth’s father who is a professor at Cal. Christof is also an amateur photographer – some of his pictures were really terrific. He gave us all one as a souvenir. This hobby comes in very handy because the next day he took us down town to buy cameras. I have a fabulous Zeus camera which I got for $50.00 off because someone had exchanged it. I am so excited with it I can hardly wait to run out and get some pictures. I’ve seen so many things since I’ve been here, it’s just killing me without a camera. We walked around the streets of Stuttgart a bit and then went to have a lunch at a milk bar. We had some German bread and pastries for next to nothing. They even sold milkshakes but we just had plain milk. That afternoon we headed for Baden-Baden and the Black Forest. This was one of the prettiest parts of the whole trip. On the tops of some of the hills we could see old ruins of castles. Down in the valleys, here and there we could see a little town. The forests are very well cared for. We could see where they had been re-forested after lumbering. At the top of one of the hills we came across a little store run by two little old men. We stopped here to buy some cookies. We went to so much trouble and get all this in German that he gave us chocolate bars to eat long our way. After leaving the Black Forest we took the Autobahn to Strasburg. The Rhine is the border between France and Germany here and we were caught in a traffic jam on the bridge, trying to get through French customs. They were looking in the trunks fo cars – and we had five cameras plus a lot of odds and ends from Switzerland. We decided to say we were tourists so went in that lane but the little man didn’t really believe us because we had French license plates. We more or less just drove off before he could figure the whole deal out. We spent the night in Strasburg in a tiny hotel in the old part of town. The street we were on was really interesting – hundreds of years old. The people there speak a mixture of French and German – I didn’t think they know what they are half the time. The next morning we visited the cathedral and threw a stone in the Rhine. Since we were quite far from Tours and this was our last day of holiday, we had to drive straight back. We hadn’t seen this part of France before though, so it was quite interesting. I saw some Herefords in a field. There was also some big stacks of baled hay – much more than around Tours.

It was All Saints Day and in some areas of the little villages we passed through they were holding services and parades. Everyone in the village was in the parade so there was no one to but us to watch them. We got back in Tours about seven thirty, in time to compare our experiences with those of the other kids who had gone travelling in all directions.

Margi Copithorne

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