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Feb 16, 1963 - Bad Start, Good Ending

2/16/2011

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

Phil

2/18/2011 12:33:26 am

Pat always said she really liked Torremolino. Now I understand - free drinks and free food. Always good when you are on a tight budget.

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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.

Feb 16, 1963 - Bad Start, Good Ending

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1962 was pivotal. This is the background:

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