Write about then...
  • The Background
  • The Diary
  • About This Site

Feb 20, 1963 - Minarets and Bell Towers

2/20/2011

0 Comments

 
Click the postcard to enlarge

Picture
We drove to Sevilla.  The roads were full of holes and were covered with water in three or four places.  Seville is beautiful.  It has many lovely parks and many huge impressive Moorish buildings.  The Cathedral is one of the largest in Europe.  It was built on the ruins of a Mosque.  the Giralda, originally a minaret, was converted into a bell tower and the ramps that allowed the the Muezzin and others to ride on horseback to the top were preserved.  . The Plaza d’Espagna which is built in a semi circle    Parts of it are like the Sacrada Familia in Barcelona.  It is right next to  the Giralda  




0 Comments

Feb 16, 1963 - Bad Start, Good Ending

2/16/2011

1 Comment

 
Picture
Nasty day.  Rained all day and the lights went out.  About 8 pm we drove to Torremolino to a place called Pedros with the intent of having a Scotch and water.   We got our drinks and found ourselves in a little side room as the bar was full.  An older couple joined us and so did an older gentleman.  After awhile he said a few words to us, then ordered us another drink and eventually he paid for even our first drink.  Then he suggested that we go with him to have something to eat.    He took us to the El Camilon which was really a great place.  And there at 11:30 pm, we ate pigeon, cooked vegetables, soup, dessert and coffee.   And the nice man from Sevilla paid for everything.  It must have set him back close to $10 plus his drinks and dinner and then he went his way and we went ours.  Absolutely amazing.

1 Comment

Feb 7, 1963 - On the Road from Casablanca to Marrakesh

2/7/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
Camels on way to Marrakesh
We left Casablanca early heading for Marrakesh. The country was very flat and not as interesting  But we saw some camels,  donkeys,  sheep and goats all together beside the road and decided to get out and take a picture.  Judy was in the process of snapping it when two young boys and an older herder started running toward us.  Believe me we got in the car in a hurry.  Just as the car was shifting into 3rd several more converged on us from out of nowhere.  They were right in the road and two of them stood right in front of the car to stop it.  Pat put her hand on the horn and blew it until we were right on top of them.  They jumped out of the way when we were almost to them.  But lord knows what would have happened if we had stopped.  Maybe they were friendly  but they didn't look like it.  I am glad we didn’t find out.  It was really terrifying, especially since we can’t lock the left door from the inside.  


Picture
Marrakesh and Atlas Mountains
Marrakesh  is a lovely place.  It is made of red buildings and quite a contrast to the white of the other towns we have seen.  This afternoon we wandered into the old city and through the maze of souks.  Here, as in Tangiers, everyone wants you to come in and look with the same “How much is it?”  “Too much”  “How much will you pay?”  in operation.

Tomorrow is Friday, so the shops will be closed.  But Saturday we plan to go and buy souveniers.  I hope we are convincing enough to get what we want at close to our price.

0 Comments

Jan 28, 1963

1/28/2011

1 Comment

 
Picture
This morning we were informed that the American Navy had arrived.  We went down to the dock and there were at least 10 ships.  We walked  back to The Cosmos and then to the Kit Kat Club for hot chocolate.  There the excitement began.  We watched a guy go out in the street and talk to two American sailors.  He brought them inside and suddenly there were two girls beside them and it dawned on us that he was a pimp.  The first words exchanged were “you got any cigarettes?”  He was in and out a dozen times and every 5 minutes a new girl came in.  Inside he kept playing with one of the girls, rubbing her arm and pinching her butt, all the time talking to the sailors.  We were horrified that when they left they went straight into our hotel.  Juan and Jesus told us that the girls cost 200 – 300 pesetas for the Americans and 6 for the Spaniards!  Our street was full of them, they come out from everywhere when the sailors come to town by the boat full.   Finally we left the Kit Kat to buy some food for the trip and were really surprised that the sailors never gave us a second look.  (Maybe it was the knee socks, the penny loafers or the sun glasses.) 


1 Comment
    A daily diary of a journey in 1962.  Please post comments about where you were then on the Background  page.

    Currency Converter

     1962 was pivotal.  This is the background:

    It was a year colored by the Cuban Missile Crisis, an escalating involvement in Vietnam, the Berlin Wall and the Cold War with Russia, Civil Rights issues, a nascent space program, Nelson Mandela in prison, Betty Friedan's, The Feminist Mystique, the Beatles, Rolling Stones and the death of Marilyn Monroe. 

    In the face of all of this, Pat, Judy and I  blithely took off for Europe with the intention of traveling through Europe and North Africa until our money ran out.   We had a travel guide and a book titled Europe on $5.00 a Day.  Since we had all read The Ugly American in preparation for the trip, we thought we were very smart to buy a used Volkswagen with Dutch license plates.  We dubbed the car "Louie" since a cute guy from Switzerland named Louie had helped us acquire it.

    There was no such thing as a cell phone, a computer, Twitter or Facebook.  Our parents didn't hear from us for weeks on end.  We wrote regularly, but letters took forever to deliver and we only vaguely knew where we would be next.  It was a very cold winter and we followed the sun.

    Archives

    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010

    Categories

    All
    1957 Vw Beetle
    1962
    Acropolis
    Alhambra
    Arcadia
    Arlberg
    Arosa
    Austria
    Barcelona
    Beer
    Beja
    Belgrade
    Berlin Wall
    Bregenz
    Bristol England
    Bull Fights
    Byron
    California
    Canada
    Casablanca
    Catacombs
    Check Point Charlie
    Christmas
    Cortina
    Dec 1962
    Delphi
    Dolomites
    East Berlin
    Easter
    England
    Erlangen
    Expresso
    Fatima
    Fes
    Flamenco
    Florence
    Frankfurt
    Freighter Travel
    Generalissimo Franco
    Germany
    Gibraltar
    Gondola
    Granada
    Grenada
    Hadrian
    Hashish
    Horses
    Hostel
    Italy
    Jugendherberge
    Jugenherberge
    Kenitra
    Kif
    Lake Tahoe
    Lancers Winery
    La Scala
    Leaning Tower Of Pisa
    Lift Ticket
    Lindau
    Louie The Car
    Madrid
    Maladie Internationale
    Manheim
    Marrakech
    Milan
    Morocco
    Morracan Food
    Munchen
    Munich
    Netherlands
    Nice
    Obergurgl
    Opera
    Packages
    Palm Sunday
    Paris
    Parthenon
    Perpignon
    Piazza San Marco
    Pizza
    Pope John
    Portugal
    Postcards
    Post Office
    Reichstag
    Rome
    San Moritz
    Snake Charmer
    Souk
    St. Peters
    Switzerland
    Thessaloniki
    Valencia
    Valley Of The Fallen
    Vatican
    Venice
    Verdun
    Vienna
    Volubilis
    Wauvil
    Wauwil
    West Berlin
    Where Were You?
    Winterthur
    Yugoslavia
    Zell Am See
    Zeus
    Zurich

    RSS Feed