remembrance of travels past

Card mailed from the Intrepid on Aug 6th Dear D. I met Daddy and have rented a car and are driving around the Marseille area. We have a Citroen 2CV which is really an incredible car. -- almost like a toy put together with rubber bands. Maybe we'll go swimming today. Love Mummy August 5...

Army Museum across from the Alcazar Door of El Greco museum El Greco house detail Then we walked out Toledo Wall - Gate and they picked us up and took us to a restaurant for lunch City from restaurant They also took us to the Toledo-ware factory. I found out from the girl in the shop...

One of the things that happened on the tour was that our bus, coming down the hill met another bus coming up the hill and they were both practically flaking off paint on their sides the road was so narrow. So were eyeball to eyeball and had to back up. After the tour, I had dinner. From our...

They took us to a lace shop afterwards which was interesting, but I haven't bought any lace. Lace making I did buy my niece her Madrid emblem, which my sister didn't have time to get for her in Madrid. It is hard for me to describe the Alhambra. I guess you'll have to wait until the pictures...

One of the things we were told was that the fountains made the air cooler. Later when I was working on heat stress problems, I found that this was indeed true. A water curtain with a fan blowing through it makes the air cooler. I was particularly impressed with the fountains and flowers of the...

Thursday, July 30, 1964 - en route to Granada Dear Mother, Well the train is a madhouse. It is a good thing I have a seat reservation altho there are some unreserved which I could fight for. I don't know what I have written that makes your hair stand on end (Ed note: She's forgotten about the...

In the summer of 1939 my parents took me to Woods Hole They sat me cross legged in my dad's bicycle basket. We spent some time at the beach, and my mother remarked that I learned to lie in the water and kick my legs. But that they could no longer leave me on the beach and go out to swim...

June of 1938 my parents got a telegram that my dad's father had died on June 5th in Colorado. They were already planning a visit. But they didn't get out there in time for the funeral. Published in the Wet Mountain Tribune June 1938 "Death Calls John Figge - Pioneer Silver Cliff Resident"...

Market on Monday from Lonja Flower stalls outside market inside Central Market The Central Market of Valencia is one of the largest in Europe, covers more than 8,000 square meters, over two floors, inside Central Market This is a resort town and not used to American tourists. The shops...

I was planning to meet my sister in Madrid, and then go to Lisbon, Seville and end up in Valencia so I could meet my husband's ship there. However, we apparently couldn't get a train ticket from Lisbon or Madrid to Seville, and we also couldn't get anything to Valencia. So this narrative talks...

Streetcars from the bridge of the street above Following a fishwife up the street We are staying in Lisbon tonight. We got our Wagon-Lits express ticket this afternoon. we lost our money on the Seville reservation by waiting too long to cancel it. We are going to skip Andalusia and go back to...

Wednesday, July 22 Fishmarket post card from 1964 Dear D I went down here today (fish market picture) and took pictures of the fish and the fruit market. there were little donkeys pulling carts too. The women carry the produce on their heads in baskets. Whole families were here, with...

Window like the Tower of Belem Cab driver with my niece Niece in stroller Looking out over the countryside Photo from the court Cork Convent entrance The Convent of the Friars Minor Capuchin, popularly known as the Convent of the Capuchos (Portuguese: Convento dos Capuchos), but...

My sister's photo of me Pena Palace My sister's photo of me in Sintra (and her camera strap) Pena Palace dining room with ceramic ducks on the table Country side from the window Carved four poster tile below window Dresden fronted chest Room and me reflected in a mirror...

Sintra from the Royal Palace Sintra from where we ate Moorish ruins on hill Sintra Fountain in front of Royal Palace with Armillary Sphere Palace courtyard Looking out over the countryside Tile wall in the dining hall Gold ceiling Garden and town from the castle The Room of...

Queluz Versailles in the Pink Throne room African woman tile Venetian glass chandler Three graces plate in Queluz Queens bed with embroidered cover Music room Ballroom Dear Mother Yesterday we tried to rent a car, but they were all taken so we got a taxi for 340$ escudos for the...

An armillary sphere on top of the dome King Manuel I (1495–1521) built this monastery to thank the Virgin Mary for Vasco de Gama's successful voyages to India. It replaced a small chapel dedicated to St. Mary of Belém built by Henry the Navigator that was on the banks of the Tagus river. The...

Lisbon hospital out the bus window Hospital Scaffolding on a building Houses near Belem Vasco de Gama monument We saw the Tower of Belém The Torre de Belém was originally completely surrounded by water but over the centuries the Tagus river receded and a section has silted up...

I was born in November of 1937. Photo at two and a half weeks For the first three weeks, we did not travel at all. Relatives that were close enough to come (that is my maternal grandparents and great aunt who lived in the Philadelphia area about 100 miles away) came to see me. In those...

(continuation of the same letter) We made it onto the train OK after frantic last minute search for a lost ticket. We found it, after several more conversations in French. We left at 10 and my niece was hard to keep awake til then, but she went right to sleep on my sister's lower bunk. At...