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Newsletter #21 - November 7-13, 1959 |
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Newsletter #21
November 6-13, 1959 Mailed Paris, France 11/17? Received Philadelphia 11/23/59 Hello: We are really rolling over rough waters today [November 6] , and I feel petty good tonight, but from lunch until now I've had a real case of seasickness. Our ship left the Ionian Sea and went through the Straits of Otranto into the Adriatic and the cross currents plus the high winds caused our "Istra" to roll, pitch, toss and all kinds of things while we were having our noon meal, and I had to hurry up on deck and freeze for the rest of the afternoon as I had my worst case of sickness on the high seas for this trip. Last night I played bridge with Meredith and the two Florida chaps, but tonight I'm satisfied to write this newsletter and just take things easy as I have had nothing to eat except dry toast and a little tea, and I'd rather not feed the fish any more this cruise. The one musician from Boston and the woman writer and I were the only passengers who minded it too much although the rest didn't take it too well. I am going to take a Marzine tablet tonight to help me rest and keep me on a more even keel. Today [November 7] I feel fine again and we had a nice time at our first Yugoslavian port, called Kotor, which is the only European fjord south of Norway. Here In rockbound Kotor we saw medieval fortification, several old churches and palaces and quaint homes within the old walled city. The city outside the walls is more modern but not nearly as interesting as the older section. We had a cloudy day so Meredith could not take pictures and we actually had quite a bit of rain upon arrival, but we walked around in the rain as we only had a few hours in this port. Later today we get to Dubrovnik, a famous town of stone which was founded 13 centuries ago. Here we are again in teaming rain in the quaint city of Dubrovnik. Here we took a tram to the old walled city which was built during medieval times. Dubrovnik is known as "The Pearl of the Adriatic" and even tho it is pouring rain and a quite dismal day we can still say it is a unique, picturesque coast town. We visited a school here, but I'd give up teaching if I had to teach in the type of atmosphere we found at this particular school. We saw many churches, monasteries, palaces and magnificent ramparts and fortresses, and the nobleman's castle where Wally Simpson and the Duke of Windsor spent part of their honeymoon. It is the best known tourist center of Yugoslavia and a tourists paradise in many ways. The Ducal Palace is in a lovely clean area in need of repairs but we must say it was a fascinating lovely place and we'll never forget the charm of Dubrovnik in the rain. (We had an eight hour stop here. The money is called dinars and we get 400 dinars for one U.S.dollar.) Another port on Sunday [November 8] morning at 7 A.M. was Split, Yugoslavia, which is also a cultural, economic and tourist center of Dalmatia. Here we saw a Roman Palace 1650 years old, which is now homes of the people and its lovely outer surroundings were full of flower stands and outdoor shopping areas when we were there. The city also boasts well preserved ramparts and numerous buildings as the town gate, Jupiter's |
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Newsletter #21
Temple, Galleries, cathedrals and old palaces. It is a great city for well-known summer festivals, drama, opera, ballet and concerts. Sunday being our heaviest sightseeing day we hurried lunch after a two and a half-hour trip from Split, and we were in the City of Sibenik, the site of Europe's all-stone cathedral and a region rich in vineyards and fishing. We have surely enjoyed everyone of Yugoslavia's walled cities, and I must say they were certainly well fortified. At dusk we arrived at Zadar, an historical town on a narrow peninsula and formerly the capital of Dalmatia. We crossed then to the new city of Zadar across a pontoon bridge and it surely was a contrast to the walled city section which was so quaint and architecturally beautiful. A great number of their historical monuments and buildings are well preserved such as the church of St. Donat of the Ninth Century and others. We had only a one-hour stop at this port but we surely made a good use of that hour. Monday [November 9] and we have a full day in port at the biggest Yugoslav harbor and the terminus of railway lines on the Adriatic at a city called Rijeka, which is another important cultural and industrial city with beautiful old historical buildings and monuments. After roaming about the city for several hours we had lunch and then took a bus to two other Yugoslavian cities nearby, namely Opatija and Lovran, and they are both considered the Riviera of Yugoslavia, with remnants of medieval buildings, beautiful woods of laurel, oak and chestnut, parks and flowering gardens. We walked through wonderful formal parks and promenades and among the grounds of some very elaborate hotels and I do believe we hiked at least five to six miles and at all times the scenery was impressive and everywhere we saw exciting rugged coastlines and beautiful clear water among beautiful rock formations. We have now cleared customs and tonight is our last evening aboard the "Istra". Tomorrow we will be in Trieste and another country. We certainly have enjoyed our six nights and six and a half days of this cruise and we both hope to come back again to see Yugoslavia's gray rocky mountains and this sea, which has cut beautiful bays and innumerable coves and thousands of islands with a broken coastline of beauty. We'll never forget the nice friends we have met and we know we could not have found a better cruise bargain and still have seen some of the most magnificent landscape of the whole Mediterranean. [November 10] Again we have another money named Italian liros and more dismal weather. We're staying here in Trieste another day as we have seen lovely buildings and interesting places in the rain and hope by tomorrow the sun will shine and Meredith can do a bit of photography so we can share Trieste later with all of you through his pictures. Sorry, no pictures as it's still raining, so we have to leave by train for Venice as soon as we finish this infernal packing again. Before leaving Trieste I must tell you it's surroundings, stores, shops, historical buildings, ranges of steep hills, its large port with ships of many sizes, shapes and nations has a real holiday appeal to us and we might return after we have a car. We missed Venice as it was still raining in sheets when our rain pulled into the station, so we rode for another ten hours through many towns in Italy and then through picturesque mountain villages of Switzerland. We really were impressed by the scenes of snow-capped mountains and the quaint Swiss villages nestled at the foot of many of them. Travel postcards, posters and the many pictures you see of - 2 -
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Newsletter #21
Switzerland are not exaggerated, as it really is a lovely country. It has magnificent mountains and lake scenery as we drove along Lake Geneva for over an hour seeing breathtaking landscape almost continuously. We're in the clean and healthful city of Lausanne on Lake Geneva which is amid vineyards, woodland and lush meadow areas. Sitting 12-1/4 hours on a train was a long trip but the scenery even in the rain was gorgeous. (The sun did shine for a few hours in the afternoon.) [November 12] The city of Lausanne has more charm in the crisp air and sunshine today than it had in the misty rain yesterday. You must enjoy climbing to live in Lausanne as the city is built in tiers and our hotel halfway up one hill has balconies from all its rooms where guests may enjoy the mountains any hour of the day by only stepping outside their balcony door. Today we took a train to Geneva which is the first city I've seen which I could move into immediately. It is beautifully situated on the banks of Lake Geneva where swans and ducks, seagulls and pigeons hover and roam at will. It is hard to imagine a city with a more romantic setting; at the junction of the flashing Rhone River and Lac Leman in the shadows of the might Mt. Blanc, the Alps' highest peak, she stands majestically. We took a city tour and enjoyed every minute of the tour and the guides lecture on the history of Geneva; naturally he took us to see the cities many beautiful parks and especially the Park of Ariana with its exquisitely landscaped gardens and monumental cream-colored buildings which were once the "Peace Palace" built for the League of Nations. Geneva is headquarters for dozens of International Organizations as the Red Cross, World Council of Churches, International Y.M.C.A., World Health Organization, etc. Geneva is half-encircled by green-clad ills which were changing colors behind which rise to one side the towering Alps and on the other the gentle slopes of the Jura mountains. The modern section of the city faces the lake while the old town huddles around the cathedral area. It's just another city we would like to return to when we are driving as we were greatly impressed with its beauty. The shops were most interesting and quite tempting. [November 13] We are back to Lausanne once more and plan to leave on the morning train to Paris, which will be a 6-1/2 hour ride. Neglected to mention the many lovely flower shops and flower stalls we have seen in both Geneva and Lausanne and the variety of flowers they have to offer. Even the outdoor flower vendors display them in such an artistic fashion and its the one item which is quite reasonable. (I think watches and Swiss music boxes were exorbitant in price in these two cities.) Our hotel here is exceptionally nice but quite costly. We're still looking for that cheap Europe everyone has told us about as we certainly have not gotten to any cheap places thus far on this entire trip. We're still fine and busy as beavers doing something all the time, even in the rain. Our next newsletter week will begin tomorrow in Gay Paree. Fondest regards to all, Meredith & Charlotte - 3 -
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