Category Archives: Europe 1952

60 Years Ago Today

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Saturday August 23, 1952:

Today we started a guided tour of London, which was 698 square miles. There were bombed out buildings with all the debris cleared away. First we saw Trafalgar Square, National Gallery of Art, Savoy, Bush House, statue of William Gladstone, St. Clement Eastcheap Church, building of Lesser Courts, Fleet Street, and Cheshire Cheese. Strangely it was legal to drive on the right hand side of the road and so different than what I am used to. Crazy!

On our tour, Tom Collins was our guide and we passed by more bomb damage, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Cannon Street, an old London stove, a narrow winding street, East Cheap Street, Tower of London, and All Hallows-by-the-Tower Church where John Quincy Adams, the U.S. sixth president was married.

We emptied the bus to stand in line to see the Crown Jewels. It was the real deal with the largest cut diamond in the world at 513 carats. There was a round display case which was built to a point. We viewed the Royal Scepter, Imperial State Crown with a Cullinan II Diamond, Black Prince’s Ruby, Queen Elizabeth’s Crown for the Queen Mother, Queen Mary’s Crown, and St. Edwards’ Crown which was less bejeweled with only a few earlier monarchs crowned with it. Later, it was used only for display at the coronations. Unfortunately, in 1649 a.d. Cromwell confiscated and melted down most of the Crown Jewels.

As our tour continued we saw an ampulla, which was a small nearly globular flask or bottle with two handles. It contained oil which the sovereign was anointed with. Then there were salts which were placed on a coronation banqueting table where people would sit in front of or behind according to rank. Then we viewed the Maundy dish, which originally were six silver dishes used to hold the gifts. Now Maundy money, specially minted, was distributed to the poor of Westminster.

Next we learned about the Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348 a.d., which was the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. And there was a legendary old 13th century wall that the English didn’t even know existed till World War II bomb damage revealed it.
We arrived at the Tower of London, the bloody tower where untold unofficial executions took place. And from the 3rd century to 1820 there were many political prisoners there as well. Sir Walter Raleigh spent 30 years there in prison under James I and was visited by Prince Henry.

Finally, he was executed at the Palace of Westminster in 1618 a.d. Archbishop Laud, who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 a.d. to 1645 a.d., was held in the Tower of London. He leaned out from the Tower of London and blessed Charles I Earl of Stratford.

At the Tower of London, Beefeaters were ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London and acted as tour guides. The walls of the White Tower were 15 feet thick and earlier it was used as a prison. On display was the uniform coat of Duke of Wellington, an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, who was one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century. Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, was tried for treason with trumped up charges and beheaded at the Tower of London. Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII, died in childbirth. Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, was also tried for treason for committing adultery while married to the King and was beheaded in the Tower of London as well. Lady Jane Grey, who was a prisoner at the Tower of London during her nine day reign was convicted of treason, let go, and died later in the Wyatt’s Rebellion.

The ravens of the Tower of London comprised of at least seven individuals (six required, with a seventh in reserve). The presence of the ravens was traditionally believed to protect the Crown and the Tower. A superstition suggests that “If the Tower of London ravens are lost or fly away, the Crown will fall and Britain with it.” It was pointed out how the Tower Bridge center rises to allow boats to come through.

After the Tower of London, we headed to Tooley Street while we learned that the population of London was 8,300,870. Then we went down Duke Hill Street and to Nancy’s Steps that led to the London Bridge. Next we caught sight of the English stock market, Bank of England in Windsor, Princess Street, Moorgate Street, garden at the bottom of bombed out building, St. Gill’s Church where Oliver Cromwell was married, a congested area, Cheapside Street, a bombed out warehouse, and an office building section. We also observed the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral which was architect, Sir Chris Wren’s, masterpiece. There were eight scenes painted on the dome showing the life of St. Paul.

There was a book which holds 28,000 names of U.S. military men who had lost their lives in military operations from the British Isles. There were pictures of a presentation of a book to Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower which was dedicated on July 2, 1951. Continuing on there was a statue of Queen Anne in front of a building that used to be at St. Paul’s Cathedral. At this time a fire engine buzzed by us.

At 1:30 p.m. we were at Trafalgar Square and started off to St. James Park, Buckingham Palace, statue of Queen Victoria, Queen Mary’s house, Marlboro House, Hyde Park corner, War Memorial, and Park Lane. Benjamin Disraeli, a British Prime Minister, lived at Grosvenor Square, a large garden square. It was the end of the morning tour.

In the afternoon, our tour resumed to Dickens Old Curiosity Shop, Lincoln’s Inn, Covent Gardens, Long Acre Street, Little America, Roosevelt’s Statue, Oxford Street, Wallace Collection Museum, and Marble Arch, which was built to be a white Carrara marble monument entrance to Buckingham. It now stands on a large traffic island on Oxford Street. Soon after was the smallest house in London where special smaller furniture had been made for it. And in Hyde Park there was a dog cemetery.

Then we drove by Kensington Gardens, Serpentine swimming pool, Prince Albert Concert Hall, Albert Memorial, Royal Palace of Kensington, Queen’s site gate, University of London, Science Museum, Natural History Museum with a petrified tree in the garden in front of it, Sloan Street, Edgar Allen Poe’s school where he went, park for old soldiers, Chelsea Barracks, apartment houses for workers, fashionable Dolphin Square, St. George’s Square, apartments for workers with all different colored doors, Tate Gallery, Parliament with a picture from Lambeth Bridge, St. Thomas’ Hospital, Big Ben, County Hall, red brick Scotland Yard, and Statue of Richard the Lionhearted.

We ended back at Westminster Abbey and waited for a few minutes before we could go through. Since services were being held the choir was singing. Then a prayer was said, organ music was played and everyone stood. Kipling, Handel, and Scott were just a few of the many distinguished literary people that were buried there. Oh, oh! There were no shoes inside the church. Oh well! What can one say. It was too late.

Then we ended up on 10 Downing Street where the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom works with over 100 rooms. There was a British red telephone booth on the sidewalk. I forgot to push the buttons. We called Halliday Hall about getting tickets, but no soap.

Later Lucile, Betty Lou, Carol, Elo, and I squeezed in for standing room only for The Millionairess staring Katharine Hepburn. When it was time to go home, we got on the tube. After awhile we wondered about being on the wrong train, because we were the only people left except for one other man.

Finally, a conductor came up to us and told us we would never get home this way, because this train was going to bed, I guess. We hadn’t heard him call to change tubes. So he told us exactly which train to take to get to Clapham South. After following his instructions, we made it back to the hotel safely for a good night’s rest.

60 Years Ago Today

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Friday August 22, 1952:

In the morning our hotel included a big breakfast. Afterwards I dashed down the street to see about tickets with L.O. and just barely made it back in time for our tour. I left Betty feeling low.
Our guide told us that there were definite class distinctions with many British born snobs. First on the agenda was Oxford. It was a pretty town and the university had 27 schools or colleges with buildings scattered all over town. I took pictures at Christ’s Church College, one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. John Wesley (1636–1678) was an English nonconformist minister who was a student at Oxford.

Next was the Trinity College which was another college at Oxford and I snapped some pictures of it. I viewed the first work of Christopher Wren. He studied at Oxford and was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history. Soon after we saw the Bedouin Library with broken bottles on the walls. Each student bedroom had a sitting room.

As we left Oxford we drove by Blenheim Palace, the home of Sir Winston Churchill. It was in a small town, Woodstock, that was eight miles northwest of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. The palace was 2700 acres and walled. I noticed a vegetable garden between the wall and road with scarecrows and unusual haystacks.

Later we stopped for pictures of the countryside in Warwickshire. We also discovered thatched roofs which had lasted over 400 years and one church that had shrubs in the shape of bottles. Back on the road I caught sight of flax fields and a waterfall that was a miniature Niagara.

We learned one of the earliest discoveries of England was by Pytheas of Massalia, who was a Greek geographer and explorer from the Greek colony around 300 B.C. During this time the Celts, which had inhabited most of Western Europe, arrived in England. The Celts were fair haired and wore bright colored clothes with brilliant colored necklaces. Also, Druidism, a religion, was practiced by offering human sacrifices at this time.

In the middle of the 2nd century Rome conquered the Celts and built big walls to keep the Picts and other enemies out of England. In the 5th century Roman’s military withdrew and left Britain open to invasion primarily by the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Hoards who initially settled in the eastern part of the country. The Hoards wiped out Christianity, but it was reestablished in the 6th century by Augustine, a Roman philosopher and theologian. In the 580 A.D. King Ethelburt was the first English king to convert to Christianity.

During 871-899 A.D. Alfred the Great was noted for his defence of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of southern England against the Vikings. Danelaw was used to define the treaties, boundaries, and kingdoms between the English king, Alfred the Great, and the Danish warlord, Guthrum. Then from 1042-1066 Edward the Confessor was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England that helped to restore order. He was the founder of Westminster Abbey which was later demolished in 1245 A.D. to make way for Henry III’s new building, which still stands today.

Before his death in 1066 A.D. Edward the Confessor mishandled the succession issue of whether William the Conqueror or Harold II of England would ascend to the English throne after his death. Harold II ended up taking the throne, but Edward’s dangerously indecisive actions contributed to the eventual Norman conquest of England by William the Conquerer at the Battle of Hastings.
During William the Conqueror’s reign he built the Tower of London with the Gothic arch which had been started in Northern France. At this time Charlemagne reigned and united much of Western and Central Europe. In the 14th century Joan of Arc, a peasant, heroine of France and a Catholic saint, was burned at the stake by the British in Rouen, France. She paved the way for the coronation of Charles VII through her divine guidance in many important victories in the Hundreds’ Year War. Charles VII crowned at Reims, France helped remove the English elite and replaced them with a new French-speaking aristocracy. And their speech had a profound and permanent effect on the English language.

Soon we arrived at the 14th century Warwick Castle with a moat and drawbridge. There was a picture of Warwick on the grounds and in the chapel of the castle there was a blind guide who was a war veteran. The oldest piece of painted glass in the window near the rear of the castle. Then I saw a Virgin Mary painting by Perugino, an Italian painting of 14 bishops, and a portrait of Lord Warwick’s family in the hall.

There were portraits of the Earl’s great great grandson, Lord Brooke by Morrison, and of the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1837, who reigned the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In the dining room there was a portrait of Charles I by Van Dyke at other end of the great hall. I glimpsed swords, armor, tapestries, a long table, Italian carpet, chairs, Oliver Cromwell’s helmet and carvings and a painting by Rubens. The last royalty to use these rooms was the Countess of Warwick.

As we continued through the Warwick castle, I identified a portrait of Frances Evelyn, an Italian marriage chest, an English bottom drawer, an American hope chest, a cedar drawing room, and an Italian decoration. There were Van Dyke paintings with the middle painting taller than the others. I learned that Robert Rich had been Earl of Warwick in 1918. The green room was the music room and there were Rubens portraits and paintings of Princess Margaret, Lady Brook, Richard Dumbleby, a Spanish warrior, and Earl of Stratford.

Our tour progressed to Queen Anne’s bedroom with paintings of her over the mantle piece and bed. There was a replica of the crown at the head of the bed. She weighed 14 stones or 308 lbs. and had 17 children, who all died before her death. Next was the balcony and a painting by Hobey of Henry VIII at age 45 hanging over a fireplace. I noticed a little clock which had belonged to Marie Antoinette and a bronze. There was a little round painting located through the wall and down some stairs.

Then on to Stratford-upon-Avon where Anne Hatheway, 26, and Shakespeare, 18, got married. It was the third birthplace we have visited of some of the greatest writers. Previously on the trip we saw the birthplaces of Goethe and Dante. Along with Shakespeare’s living room, there was a museum in what used to be his father’s workshop. This was where Shakespeare’s printed works, early quartos, and folios were put together.

With a Holy Trinity Church nearby, an old ferry traveled across the River Avon. There was a U.S. Army Field Band giving a concert in front of a new theater.
Next on the tour we saw the Memorial Park and extra iron ore sitting in the middle of the field. There was a spot for tea and cakes where we found another bus load of kids. We had punch and banbury cross buns. We all sang, the bus load of kids sang, we sang, they sang, we sang. They clapped and we clapped. It was so much fun! I spotted a new kind of car which was a one seater. What a great day!

From 1154-1189 A.D. Henry II, who was born in France, brought reformation as he ruled as King of England. At various times, he controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Richard the Lion, the next English king, had a great reputation as a great military leader and warrior. In 1191 A.D. he took 8,000 of his men to Palestine to help a family friend to try and retain the kingship of Jerusalem. Then around 1649-1660 A.D. there were six Stuart monarchs who ruled both England and Scotland as well as Ireland.

In 1215 the Magna Carta was the first document that was forced upon a English king by a group of his subjects, the feudal barons. It was an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges. In total fifteen Plantagenet monarchs, including those belonging to cadet branches, ruled England from 1154 until 1485. It was a royal house that originated in France. King Edward I of England, who ruled from 1272-1307, gave his son Prince Edward, later King Edward III, the title Prince of Wales. Wales was subsequently annexed by England under the Laws in Wales Acts in the 1500’s. Then King Henry VIII ruled from 1509-1545 A.D. During this time Martin Luther challenged the Catholic Church and helped provide an atmosphere for the Church of England to flourish. Also, from 1523-1534 A.D. a Medici, Pope Clement VII, was Pope.

60 Years Ago Today

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Thursday, August 21, 1952:

While ever so happy about a bath in our hotel room, I noticed it was still raining for our last jaunt on this continent. We had a lecture on England en route to Dunkirk, France.

Now back to the drive we saw Belgian soldiers on field maneuvers. We stopped near Bruge, Belgium to see a windmill, elevator bridge, and Ostend Cathedral. It was a beautiful, lacy cathedral. Then I caught my first glimpse of the North Sea coast. We stopped for pictures at the lovely beach where I caught sight of a land soil boat among the war fortifications along the coastline of sand dunes and grass. Farther on I noticed an overgrown graveyard with crosses.
I spotted a hotel that was built like a boat amidst the sand dunes by the shore of the North Sea. At 3 p.m. we said goodbye to Belgium and hello to France. As we left the Belgium border it was a cinch with no red tape at all.

Then at the French border I observed an inspector looking over some meat which was hanging in a big truck. The French border was just as easy as the Belgium border due to a little grease on the job by American Express. The inspector came on the bus and looked at Andre’s passport and asked if we had ours. Andre asked him if we could get out of their country and up went the gate. And we got through fairly easy with no bags opened. Andre was happy to be back in his own country and the mob livened up as we greeted Marseille, France.

Then we reached Dunkirk where the British had been pushed into the sea. Under blue skies Dunkirk still looked like it was at war. There were rows of houses with red tiled roofs as we stopped by a monument to Dunkirk and had our last dinner on the bus. We indulged with a can of pickles that we have had since Venice. Remember how some of the sailors we met there had given us food from their ship? We also had a big surprise: cookies. We cut bread and made sandwiches on our laps as per old times.

We reached Calais at 1:30 p.m. A Liberty ship had collided with another ship farther out in the channel and was sinking in the harbor. Part of the ship had drifted and the other half sank. After we got out of the bus some French Marines posed for pictures for us. At the dock there were touching good byes to Andre, our bus driver. I shed a couple of tears.

Touring Students Near End of Extensive European Journey

(Editor’s note: This is another in a series by Mrs. Afton A. Hansen of Provo on her experiences with a group of students touring Europe.)

Dear Friends,
The small countries of Holland and Belgium are none the less significant in European history and must have been important to those ambitious Romans who seem to have preceded this Brigham Young University tour by several years, and left their mark in statuary and stone as well as in ideas and laws. In every country, thus far, we have heard the story of “when the Romans were here.” Of course, it took the Romans nearly 900 years to achieve their purpose, while ours has been done in three months.

Entering Holland from Germany, we were immediately aware of the verdant beauty, which plenty of water brings, and the comfortable looking homes which come from economic stability. Large brick homes, many with thatched roofs, are surrounded by spacious gardens and groves.
Amsterdam in Holland is a thriving, homey city, called the Venice of the north because of its canals and waterways throughout the city. In a large glass-topped motor boat we made our customary inspection of the city and found everything to be clean, ship-shape and in good working order. That is, everything but the pulley bars anchored to the fancy gables of some of the older homes. They were used in times past to hoist merchandise from the waterway to the third floor storage room. It seems that it was a very good way to avoid those narrow, steep stairways inside the house.

One typical house, with red shutters and a light burning in the second story window, was said to be the place where Rembrandt lived. This revered old gentleman stands alone in the park just across from our hotel. Right now a pigeon is resting comfortable on the top of his artist’s beret.
Because Holland is below sea level, the dykes are strong and wide enough to support our big blue bus as we travel out in the country for a better view of the windmills. It is somewhat strange to see the land so low on one side while the sea is higher on the other side. Across the green fields can be seen the black and white cows grazing and the white sail boats apparently sailing on the pasture. From the distance the water in the canal is not visible. The slow moving arms of the windmill indicate that water is being pumped into the canals which carry it to the sea, whence it came.

There are no bridges across the larger canals, but a ferry-boat transports people, cars and our big blue bus on our way to the Island of Marken, where the inhabitants retain old traditions in living and in dress. For work and for dress up—the men wear long black bloomer-like pants made of heavy woolen with a tight skirt of the same material. Wooden shoes of course, are part of the picture but not everyone wears them. The ladies and children wear full, dark skirts, colorfully decorated above the hemline. A white blouse, colored bodice, a white lace cap and wooden shoes complete their costume.

A little old man, leaning on the close bottom half of his door, seemed to invite us, with his toothless smile, into his house, which like all the houses on the island is built on piles. On the walls of his cozy, but simply furnished room, were hung a collection of plates of which he was most proud. He was a man after my own heart, so to speak, for I have been collecting plates too. You may come to my home most any day now to have pie and see my plates and spoons.

“The Hague” is the capital of Holland. In passing through this beautiful clean city where in the Peace Palace, the World Court of Justice convenes, we could only wish for a longer stay. Of necessity we had to hurry to Rotterdam, where we were to leave our heavy bags, until going aboard ship for the return voyage.

Brussels in Belgium is a crowded city of 1,300,000 population much like any crowded American city. Kind, availability and prices of merchandise are also about the same as in America.
That , which in Belgium is most unique is the delicate and beautiful hand-made lace, which may soon become a lost art, because the young girls do not care to learn this intricate skill. With needle, bobbin and hand loom, the deft fingers of older women produce designs with linen thread which are called Rose Point, Pearl Point Dutchess and Princess. It is quite expensive.

Brussels is also crowded with huge, massive, impressive buildings in a variety and conglomeration of style and architecture. Statues of royalty and nobility have their story to tell, as well as the statue of the brave young mother who led the resistance movement during World War I, and when shot by the Germans, so bravely said, “I’ll show you that a Belgian mother is not afraid to die.”

Stopping at the gates of the Palace of King Leopold III we saw the changing of the guard. Through the pickets of the iron fence, during a rainstorm, a few pictures were taken. The formality and stiffness of the ceremony almost equaled the stiffness of the fence. True to form, however these girls tried to catch a movable expression in the faces of the handsomely uniformed guards. From the bus, they waved and smiled, with not a flicker of an eye cast from the guards, until in order to get out, we passed them the second time, and then the lone sentry outside the gate responded with a vigorous wink of one eye, much to the delight of the girls.

Parks and driveways around Belgium are beautiful with castles, cathedrals, formal gardens and a great variety of trees—beech, walnut, chestnut, elm, oak and maple. There seems to be as many windmills in Belgium as in Holland.

At Ghent in Belgium we held a farewell party for Andre, our French bus driver who chauffeured us through traffic thick and thin in France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Holland and Belgium.

Whenever anything irregular happened Andre’s appropriate remark, with his French accent, was “experience.” Leaving him next morning at Calais, over the border in France was a sad “experience,” as he sped on to his home in Paris and we took the steamer across the English channel to Dover and thence to London.

See you there,
Afton A. Hansen

As we got on the boat we were handed a white slip to fill out for English Customs and directed to “D” deck in the third class section of the ship. We went across the Straits of Dover in a pretty little white ship. It was beautiful weather with a lot of English marines aboard.

As we approached England, the White Cliffs of Dover were not quite as white or as high as I had imagined them. At 5:20 p.m. we landed in Dover and had no trouble with customs.

My first glimpses of the English country side was from the train as we rode toward London. It was pretty and green with lots of orchards. But there were so many chimneys. It seemed there must be one chimney pot for each room on the roofs of the houses. I watched red roofed cottages, green countryside between smoky tunnels, and huge apartment houses. I could see the Thames River and the train station. Then I noticed double-decker buses driving on the wrong side of road. Crazy!

An American Express bus came to the train station to pick us up. A big fat driver took us to our hotel. He had never heard of the hotel and had a rough time finding it. Halliday Hall, the hotel, was in a residential area where there were separate rooms and baths. Alice, Elo, Carol, Alene, and I left the hotel pronto to find London via the tube. South Clapham Station was not far and it took only 12 minutes from the hotel to get to the center of London. We explored Piccadilly Square and the vicinity surrounding it as we ate hot dogs.

60 Years Ago Today

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Wednesday, 20 August 1952:

In the morning we were off to see Brussels in the bus. As we were sightseeing from the bus there was a 50th anniversary for one monument and 100th anniversary for a large exposition building from 1930’s. At the Royal Palace of Brussels the Changing of the Guard wasn’t too showy. However, the Palace of Justice building was a huge monstrosity with almost every architectural style combined in one building. While driving around it was hard for me to resist the beautiful lace and linens in this city.

Then we left for Ghent which was much older looking than Brussels. When we arrived about 5:30 p.m. it was still raining. We found Hotel Flandria where we stayed and went out to buy stuff for our lunches. Later we had a farewell party for Andre in a nice café down the street from the hotel. He had a beer while everyone else ate big beautiful banana splits. Thankfully each of us gave him a dollar while the directors gave him ten dollars for his navigating and driving efforts.

60 Years Ago Today

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Tuesday. 19 August 1952:

It was gray and drippy as we left for Belgium the next morning. We traveled through the Holland Tunnel again, along a large dyke, and by a 21 Windmill section. All of us ate Dr. Rogers’ apples as we crossed the Rhine again and the North Sea Dykes.

We reached the Belgium border around 2 p.m. There was a beautiful tree-lined road with big houses and thatched roofs. Later on there were lovely fields of begonias. We drove into a Flemish speaking section of Antwerpen where there were narrow buildings and a big opera house with a Rococo decorated arch. Then we got to see the Royal Palace grounds with guards all around it.

Next we continued driving to Brussels, which was two hours from Antwerp, where we were to present a program for LDS members at 8 p.m. However, I had a sore throat and wasn’t feeling too hot, so I decided to goof off. So instead of doing the program, I enjoyed a nice rest in the hotel room.

60 Years Ago Today

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Monday, 18 August 1952:

At 6 a.m. the hotel desk called us too early. Horrors! We scurried back to bed till 7 a.m. or so for more sleep. Breakfast was at 7:30 a.m. and we didn’t have time to shower, but the kids on the top floor did however.

Then it was time to decide whether we wanted to go on a boat trip at 9:15 a.m. or an art museum at 10 a.m. I decided on the latter along with Elo. With our extra time we trotted around trying the doors of shops until we finally found one open. I purchased a pencil, which I’m using right now, and a little tablet dealy.

Elo and I got a clue about Rembrandt’s house so we proceeded to try and find it. We picked up a guide at the Clock Tower and as a result got there in a round about fashion. I identified a likely spot where Brother Avery might have gone barreling in the mossy brine of the canal. Along the way we passed canal barges loaded with junk scrap metal. At the market place they sold all kind of junk instead of food like most others we had seen.

As Rembrandt’s house was closed when we got there we gazed at the outside, which was quite unpretentious. Then we got rid of our guide and looked for a spot to catch the trolley and ended up at Neve Market. After we caught trolley 11 and thence transferred to trolley 7 we got off practically at the door of the museum with 10 minutes to spare.

We caught sight of Virginia down the street gazing in a window, so we ducked in a doorway and stood there grinning from ear to ear when she came by. We had to wait a few minutes to get in the museum, so we walked through the big archway to see the back of the building.

It was a pretty big museum. As a crowd was waiting to get in the museum we saw that several other members of our mob found their way here too. The famous paintings we saw inside are listed in the back of my Amsterdam guide book.

During the tour we unfortunately discovered that the Van Gogh paintings were in another museum, Stedibjk Municipal Museum to be exact. Our time was almost gone as we hurriedly tried to find the other museum according to the guides information. However, there were many buildings behind the museum and we didn’t know which building it was. I asked a couple of ladies, but they turned out to be tourists too.

Then we found a lady that wasn’t a tourist. She didn’t understand at first, but soon we came to a mutual understanding and she directed us to the right building. It was a miracle. We found it! So we had a running jump through the museum, but not clear through it. Though we did see most of the Van Gogh paintings and some other important artists.

A girl at information directed us to a trolley. We were already ten minutes late so we ran to catch the trolley when we discovered it was going the wrong way. The next trolley going the right way came soon after. Here we were right across from the Kursael or Concert Hall. It seemed like an awfully slow trolley. When we finally came running and puffing into the dining room most of the kids were on their second course. At any rate, due to the good timing by the waiter, with a delay in serving desserts for the rest of the mob, we ended up finishing at the same time together.

At about 1 p.m. or shortly thereafter we were off to Rotterdam. We stopped at American Express across from the Royal Palace. Bev had a letter from Elder Elton about tapestries, but he had been transferred. We picked up Ione at the Hague. The Hague which means hunting grounds, was the capital of Netherlands and the seat of the World Court.

Ione was waiting with Claire right by the Peace Palace. I ran over and stuck my nose inside the Peace Palace which was built in 1913. A man wanted us to pay even for that small privilege. A donation was given by Carnegie for the overall cost of the Peace Palace. He gave 1½ million to help build the beautiful gardens, marble staircases and an elaborate lobby. It is older than the League of Nations. Over three million people live around the Hague.

As we came into Rotterdam we passed through a large housing district and sighted our hotel before we had wandered half as far as we usually do. We were staying at the Atlanta Hotel, but first we had to deal with our baggage problem.

Afterwards, we found out there was an American Express just down the street. I thought I was following Herr Rogers and Watkins to the said American Express, but I found myself down the street in the wrong direction. An accommodating young man helped to get me started in the right direction. In fact, he practically walked me to the door. Just for kicks, I asked for mail in the mail depot. Well, whatta ya know! A big fat surprise with a letter from the Hoyts.

Then I found my way back to the bus. Not everyone was there, but we went anyway. We traveled through the Maas Tunnel which was a fine example of Dutch engineering skill. There were six tunnels with two tunnels each for cars, bikes, and pedstrians with each tunnel going one way.
En route we ran into a little unexpected difficulty as Andre came close enough to almost hit a little girl either on foot or on a bike. When our baggage problem was finally taken care of we went back to our “neaty” hotel. There was a bathtub in each room. Yea!

From our short travels through Rotterdam I could see that the heart of the city had been completely destroyed by Hitler and vast reconstruction was in process. This was the birthplace of Erasmus, a classical theologian scholar and celebrated philosopher. We ended up at an open cute little restaurant, Erasmus, which was not far from the hotel. There was an Erasmus statue in front of the restaurant and I had a fish dish called Erasmus. Funny heh? Near the hotel I noticed An American in Paris was playing at a movie theater. Then I lost one of my one ounce copper earrings and went back to the cafe looking for it.

60 Years Ago Today

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Sunday, 17 August 1952:

In the morning I bathed standing in a little round wash basin as I cleaned the bottom half of me. And then I cleaned the top half of me sitting on a marble table around a bowl. Afterwards, I felt quite clean. Then it was off to breakfast for a delicious meal which was similar to the breakfasts we had on the Sibijak. I noticed LO came to breakfast in peddle pushers.

Then we were off to church at 10 a.m. Our 10-15 minute walk turned out to be a 25 minute stroll past canals and leaning buildings. We met Clara Borgeson and Grace Lam. We gave our program in a good sized hall with a piano and organ which was used for church services. Members were friendly, but not quite so prone to shake hands with everyone.

The Dutch seemed quite easy to understand, so it wasn’t too difficult to sing the hymns in Dutch. In class one of the missionaries answered our questions about Holland and socialized medicine. We learned that a collector came around each month to collect money for health services. Also that Dutch school was compulsory till age 14 and four languages were taught in school: English, Dutch, French and German.

Unfortunately, there were many inactive LDS members in Holland. And the converts to the LDS Church came from people who had fallen away from other denominations. Most Dutch were narrow in their ideas and felt comfortable in ruts that they didn’t want to be disturbed. And while the missionaries served in Holland, they tended to gain weight, because of the good food here. Holland had special lanes for bikers which the missionaries used to get around.

Afterwards, we caught trolley 16 back to the hotel for dinner and another big delicious meal. I finished with a big bowl of fruit for dessert.

Next we were off to Marken Island with uncertain weather. On the ride out I glimpsed windmills, houses, and other sights. Some canvas came loose and started flapping in the breeze so we had to stop in order to fix it. While we were stopped, I snapped a picture of a windmill in the distance. I wanted to take advantage of an opportunity when it presented itself. I spotted ships on a dry dock on the way to the island.

Our bus drove onto a ferry to cross a big canal. I noticed curtains in the little boats along the canal. When we got to the island we parked the bus and the mob spent money for Dutch chocolate ice cream with windmill spoons.

A small motorboat chugged across Zuiderzee Bay. In ten years or so this will all be land and canals.

Then it started raining cats and dogs. The streets were deserted except for a couple of boys standing near the buildings. That was quite frustrating since our main purpose for coming here was to see people and take pictures of them. Instead we strolled around in the rain.

As the sun tried to shine a little we got a few pictures of typical Dutch costumes and houses. Inside a quaint little shop was an old withered lady in native dress where I bought a souvenir. There were lamps with lace shades and cracks in the wall. Then I had great difficulty in getting shots of the Dutch men, because they would turn away. It was hard to tell little boys from little girls. I heard a guy expanding on the differences in their costumes.

So many tourists were running around it was almost impossible to get pictures without one of them in it. I discovered that a few of the children were dressed like those in America. Some people wore wooden shoes and others had regular shoes on. A man, who was dressed just like anyone else, strolled along with two little girls in native costumes in each hand.

When it was time to go back we had more rain. But where was the bus? I stopped in a souvenir shop and saw blue and white jewelry, wooden shoes, and little costumes. There were painted black caps and aprons which weren’t quite so colorful. We strolled over to the cafe next door to the WC. It was jammed with people, mostly tourists, I believe. There was a Dutch sailor who had had several drinks and was in high spirits.

Henry started waving across the street in order to gather the mob. I had gotten off on the wrong street and heard the big wingding in a café. There were costumes, music and dancing. Finally I followed the brick streets along the canal to the bus. I don’t know for sure how Andre got here or how we found him, but we were all together again. Yea!

Missionaries called back from a souvenir shop to tell “them” (Dutch members) that we would be late for church. We were scheduled to give a program–good thing to let “them” know. We did go to the church first, but it was already too late by the time we arrived. We didn’t even go in and headed back to the hotel.

At the hotel L.O. and I jumped out of the bus and dashed down to see if we could get tickets to Heidelberg Romance. Yep! After buying tickets, we hurried off to dinner. Gee! I could really gain weight on these types of menu. We had delicious cream soup again and all the rest of the works with luscious ice cream for dessert.

I got a good start on packing before the movie. My, my, I didn’t realize I had collected so much literature on the trip. We had to pack so we can leave our big suitcases at Rotterdam. Afterwards, as we walked down to the movie we were met by throngs of people coming from the earlier show. They took over the street like we do on the hill road at Ricks College off of the upper campus between classes. Only there was so much more people. About the only thing I spotted getting through this crowd was the big trolley.

At the theater there was a small man from the night before that was ushering the second door and he recognized me. As we entered the theater we were greeted with clouds of smoke from people smoking. This was much different from our experiences in America. Our seats, which were the cheapest we could buy, turned out to be almost on the stage and up the side wall it seemed.
At first I had to fight to stay awake because it was so warm. Still we were able to enjoy the movie immensely despite the heat, smoke, and seats. In the movie we got to see the famous sights which included the Heidelberg castle, former old bridge, and Red Ox Inn. We even got to see the famous Heidelberg fireworks.

Back at the hotel I ended up packing until almost 2 a.m.

60 Years Ago Today

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Saturday, 16 August 1952:

I woke to find soot from the ventilator on one of my pillows. Since my bottom sheet didn’t reach all around my straw tick bed, there was straw tick all over and half of Alene’s mattress hanging over my bed. I purchased breakfast for two marks. It consisted of three rolls with meat and watered chocolate. Then we stashed the suitcases in the bus. Whatta chore this baggage was!
On to one of the grandest Gothic cathedrals in the world. Cologne Cathedral which was started in 1248 a.d. Unlike those of Notre Dame the towers were completed. I observed a big hole in one of its walls though. It was damage from World War II.

One of the members showed us around. She was dressed in something like a nurse’s aide costume. She had been coming to this cathedral for 52 years and each time she came she saw new meaning in the surrounding symbols. I noticed the organ was damaged as well. As we were leaving Cologne I noticed block after block of buildings in ruins. Cologne was apparently one of the hardest hit cities in Germany.

Meanwhile, Betty told us about her trip up the Rhine River and meeting Duane and his companion in Dusseldorf. The missionaries go to Berlin for conferences and they told her many stories they had seen there. It was similar to our impressions in Vienna, Austria of empty cities with unfriendly people. About 1000 people came across from East Berlin every week after the war and they had to leave everything. Allies were trying to feed and cloth them even while utilizing Russian flags to make clothes for the children. She confirmed that there was practically no reconstruction in Russia controlled areas to speak of.

During a big youth conference, the people were tightly rationed with food for weeks so they could put on a good show. Scaffolding was put in front of buildings and flags hung all over to prepare for the conferences. Then we drove through an industrial section of Germany with many factories.
As we passed through the Ruhr district of Germany we saw many fields of flowers. I noticed “Rats” written on a building. We sighted our first windmill while we were still in Germany. Here we were racing toward Holland and already I could feel the Dutch influence.

At the border I spent my last pfennigs on two oranges and a roll of candy. Then Dr. Rogers came in and gave me a big scare. My German visa had never been signed by the official who had made it out. After all the times I’ve been in and out of Germany, the Germans caught it on my last time out. Thankfully the situation worked out and I was good to go.

Medieval, Royal Castles Are Big Attraction for Travelers

(Editor’s Note: This is another in a series of articles by Mrs. Afton A. Hansen of Provo on her impressions of a European tour she is making with a group of Utah Students)

Letter to the Editor

Dear Friends,
Castles and palaces in Europe are so numerous that they should come in for their share of mention.

Although the medieval kings and the emperors tried to outdo each other in buildings of splendor, it was Louis XIV of France who was the most imitated. His display of magnificence, splendor, wealth and beauty, at Versailles is oft repeated throughout Europe. Not many of those palaces are now occupied as living quarters, but are museums of treasure and art, owned by the government, and open to the public for a small admission fee.

The Royal Castle of Herrenchiemsee is a gigantic structure created by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. He was called the “mad king.” It was unfinished, but the finished royal splendor surpasses the original at Versailles. Entering the richly decorated, gold and marble staircase, we see hanging from the ceiling a Viennese crystal chandelier with 125 candles, partly burned. On the walk are original masterpieces representing mythical characters — statues of Apollo, god of poetry and song, Flora, goddess of flowers, and Minerva, goddess of wisdom.

Fabled Richness
We proceed through a vast extension of rooms and apartments, gradually increasing in richness and brilliance. There are curtains (drapes) of lilac damask, silk, embroidered with gold thread. One pair of purple velvet drapes weighs 300 pounds. French Gobelin tapestry in exquisite design and color are on walls and bed canopy. Fireplaces are of marble with one of Meissen porcelain, which is unbelievable elaborate and beautiful. Hardwood floors are artistic in design with a variety of woods. The balustrade in the state bedroom is skillfully carved wood and gold leaf. A 300 year old clock within a gold case in the conference room is still keeping good time. Enormous mirrors on the walls in the reception room, 100 feet long, make the room seem infinitely larger as they reflect lights from 33 crystal chandeliers, and 44 candelabrums, hold 2300 candles which are lighted by 60 people every Saturday evening when a public concert is held. I hope that it is almost as breathtaking to read about as it was to see. The short boat ride to and from the castle added to the romance of the day.

Another castle built by Ludwig II is small but none the less a treasure of wealth and artistry. Poor fellow, he only lived here a few days, but it took nearly five years of strenuous work to build it. The formal gardens and terraces might have been more extensive and luxuriant had he lived longer than his 41 years.

History Made
Heidelberg Castle on the banks of the Neckar River in Germany has a somewhat different story—not so elaborate, but where intense history was made. The courtyard here is as highly commercialized as an American carnival, but we were glad for the milk bar and a cold glass of milk.

People of Heidelberg can also boast of their renowned university, as well as the famous representative of the human race—the Heidelberg jaw, a fossilized bone, belonging to the earliest known type of Paleolithic man. Many evidences of prehistoric man, dating back 1000 B.C. have been found in this area.

Castles Numerous
Medieval Fortresses, castles and cathedrals are also numerous on the banks of the Rhine River. A seven hour trip up the Rhine by river steamer from Mainz to Kein revealed a grand panorama of legend and reality, industry and commerce. No wonder the Rhine as well as the rich Ruhr valley is so desirable and strategic.
Though Germany’s wounds are deep, her efforts for the good and noble are persistent, as is shown in the Oberammergau Passion Play, the Wagner Music Festival in Bayreuth, and Kinderzeche in Dinkelsbuhl and the other community activities. This display of talent, with democratic cooperation will go a long way in proving that love and humaneness are superior to brutal force.

Afton A. Hansen

Then we went to exchange our money. It was 3.70 guilder to a dollar. Hofs Dutch Officials came in with our passports after the Germans had gotten through with them. The Dutch looked us over as the passports were passed back.

Now we’re off to see Holland. There was a flood on the road with isolated houses in ruins. We spotted our first big windmill in Holland. Everyone was clamoring for a picture. So, of course, Andre buzzes on. I recognized new kinds of architecture which kind of reminded me of Baltimore. We drove through a town with a cheese mill. Then back to woods, fields, hay in bunches, and our first man wearing wooden shoes! Next we hit a territory that looked just like those around sawmills at home. Darling houses were everywhere. Oh my kingdom for great pictures! Heather was growing in the open places.

A fruit stand stood by the roadside along with beautiful homes and flowers, cows in the meadows, and bridges. Everything was clean and neat. It was raining like it usually did when we entered a new country. We discovered canals, bicycle lanes, power lines, railroad cars and more houses. The autobahn was much smaller here than it was in Germany. LO was having a tizzy about the stunning sights she saw out the bus window.

We drove by a beautiful park with people on the grass and a basket of fruit all wrapped up with ribbons. The quite wide streets were filled with bikes but few autos. I identified a kind of square architecture which was repeated over and over again. As kids were fishing in a canal, I realized I hadn’t seen any ruins from World War II yet.

Dr. Watkins was asking for directions in German I guess. There were canals at every turn and a market place selling all kinds of odds and ends instead of food for a change. A boy on a bike showed us the way to Schiller Hotel which wasn’t bad looking from the outside. It was on a one way street with trees growing out of the sidewalk all along the canals. We had to go around the block to get on the right side of the street.

At the Schiller Hotel cab men were out front watching and smiling. A Rembrandt statue and park were across from the hotel and a sidewalk café was nearby. We checked in and I got room 33 on the 3rd floor. I walked the narrow carpeted stairs that went up half a floor at a time. It was a nice room that overlooked the square.

In the room there were two round basins, hot water, rugs, drapes, satin comforter, two tables, and lounging chairs. It was really cute.

As soon as we were settled we hit the streets. One shopping street was entirely turned over to pedestrians with no cars on the street at all. The shopping area had people walking down on the right side and back on the left side. There were tall people as well as short people, which was kinda nice for a change.

I looked around in a department store for various things to buy and then wandered into a small shop which directed me to an even bigger shop. By this time the gang had become separated. Shopping in groups always seemed to present a challenge.

A store called Gerzon had several shops on the same street. The first shop just had yard goods. Finally, I found the store with some linen and there was Alicia buying hankies. After much debate, I bought a large size pure linen cloth and a couple of hankies. I cashed my two five Swisse franc notes. The poor cashier showed me all the different kinds of money she had changed in one day. I received 4.31 francs for the 5 franc note.

My dinner was especially delicious as I enjoyed it with my two letters which miraculously appeared with the key to my room. I received news from Caroline and my old faithful letter writer, Twila.

Back to eating, I indulged in the most delectable soup since Italy or Swisse. The rest of the meal had peas, carrots, beans, french fries, bread, and roast beef. The bread and roast beef were particularly good. The meal was topped off with dessert and whipped cream. The restaurant gave such wonderful service.

Later I spent a little time after dinner in our darling room looking out at the city lights in Rembrandt Square and writing. At 9:30 p.m. I left for a movie. There were mobs of happy people thronging the streets of all nationalities. Amsterdam at night was really fascinating. It seemed everybody goes to the theater.

I caught sight of clean, delicious looking food in a stand-up café on the corner across from the square. The streets were wide and clean. Once again there were not too many cars, but a big trolley and lots of bikes. We were really excited about seeing I Lost My Heart In Heidelberg. However, we made a new discovery. If you want to see the movie in Amsterdam one must buy tickets in advance. Big sigh! “Geschlossen” on the box office! We coaxed and tried to persuade the doorman to let us stand or sit on the steps but no soap!

The only alternative was window shopping. So we caught the trolley 16 past Kursal where there was a concert that we didn’t go to. With the help of a kind man we got off and transferred to trolley 1 past the Latin Quarter, tenements, and residential area. Then on to the central station. From there we took trolley 5 back to the Rembrandt Plaza. This kind of made a triangle of the west portion of the city. It showed us what at least one section of Amsterdam looked like.
Now at the hotel again, we stopped to talk to LO and two missionaries. Bert and the other missionary told us about the plan to reclaim most of the Zuiderzee Bay from the sea in the next ten years, and also about Avery’s plunge into the canal.

60 Years Ago Today

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Friday, 15 August 1952:

I woke to the ringing of the church bells. The day looked dreary, but maybe it was too early to tell. I dressed and hurried downstairs for a breakfast of ham and eggs with Mrs. Hansen. The cheaper rates for breakfast were good till 8:30 a.m.

There had been a big dance last night and Mrs. Hansen had stayed in Weisbaden till midnight. Many LDS servicemen were disappointed cause we couldn’t go. And so were we.

Everyone lugged their bags down at 9:30 a.m. to wait for the river boat down the Rhine. In the still dreary morning I bought a pastry and looked for some fruit. I sat in a street side hotel café writing till boat time. I noticed a bicycle brigade with boys and girls touring by bicycle. I talked to one of them down by the pier, who was from Baltimore. They were from all over the states and most of them were quite young looking. They were traveling with the SITA, a group that arranges international travel experiences for students.

As I got on the big river boat I discovered there were two decks. Lots of people were piling on the boat when we got on and lots more after us. It was smooth sailing with interesting people and sights. There were three languages being spoken at our table: German, English and French.

The waiter brought in delicious looking fruit sundaes. I asked one waiter where we could wash the fruit we had brought with us. He brought us a bowl of water and a napkin. There was a full menu for dinner downstairs. Meanwhile we ate our fruit, pastries, and a candy bar from Mrs. Hansen. I spied a Wiesbaden PX box on the boat.

The boat stopped at little towns along the way to let passengers off and take on more. It seemed there were castles at regular intervals and we heard about the Rhine River legends. We got a souvenir map that showed the details of what we saw.

It was almost 3:30 p.m. and my stomach couldn’t stand it any longer. So some of us went down to the foredeck dining room to eat. Since it was between meals, we were afraid we had lost our chance to eat. However, the waiter, who was friendly and sympathetic, found us some wieners, bread, and potatoes. We also had apple soft which was an alcohol free apple drink. LO and Alice succumbed and bought the tall dishes of fruit sundaes we saw earlier.

After eating I tried again to watch the scenery and write at the same time. The kids on the SITA tour were taking the opportunity to sleep on the deck.

In Cologne, the missionaries, Andre, Helen and Margaret met us. The latter came with Andre so they could visit the P.E. school. We dashed straight to church to give a program. We were changing clothes on the bus and in the church. It was quite an experience with both guys and girls changing at the same time.

Our program was quite similar to the Frankfurt program. Yet we had a smaller and more appreciative crowd. We used their organ but our chorus was rather stale. Poor Bev was still saying “Ick” during the program.

After the meeting, we talked to several of the members. One of the members we talked to was a little blonde girl of 16. She looked much older and gave us her address since she was coming to America in about a year. The branch president told us that they had tried to get a big hall for our program, but no soap. Boxing clubs can rent the hall, but not the Mormons, even after all they have done to help the people after World War II. As usual we had a rough time getting away.

Just like in Nuremberg the first sight of our hotel was quite a shock, but it wasn’t so bad inside. We ate while waiting for the confusion to subside over who went where. Seven of us were in a dormitory upstairs and down the hall. I just took a quick look in the room before I hurried downstairs to write. I ended up talking to the missionaries until 2 a.m. At 2:30 a.m. the manager at Hotel Deutzen Hof sent me off to bed.

Dear Folks,                                                                   15 August 1952:

Today we are sailing down the Rhine. It’s cloudy today, but beautiful nonetheless. This Rhine steamer is crowded with people of all nationalities, a group of American students touring on bicycles, and a group of little boys from England. We saw the room in the Frankfurt mission home where President McKay slept.

We gave a program to a big crowd of missionaries, members and investigators in Frankfurt. It was fun doing it and I hope they enjoyed it. It is pretty hard to prepare programs en route. That one was advertised as a concert, but I’m afraid it couldn’t be classed as such. We gave one the night before in Heidelberg, and then afterwards the missionaries and servicemen took us to the snack bar and treated us to hamburgers and ice cream. I gave my speech again in Nuremberg instead of Vienna and did a better job than the first time.

Most of the cities we have visited in Germany are still very much ruined, although they have been built up a great deal since the war, but when you consider the fact that they were practically leveled, it’s really sad. They have managed to save some of the art treasures by taking them out in the country. The relics from Goethe’s house in Frankfurt were taken to twelve different places and kept till after the war. The house has been restored and the relics brought back to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth.

In Bayreuth we were really lucky to see Parsifal. In fact, we were so lucky and it was so wonderful I could hardly believe it. In fact, I’ve been pretty lucky all along. I think I’ve seen more operas and concerts than anyone else. Rigoletto in Paris, La Traviata in Rome, Elektra in Munich, Marriage of Figaro in Salzburg, The Gypsy Baron in Innsbruck, Parsifal in Bayreuth, just to mention the operas.

Vienna was quite an experience. You’ve never seen our bus so quiet as when we entered the Russian zone. We weren’t sure what to expect and we didn’t want anything to happen to keep us from getting in the area. The Russian who checked our passports and cards was very young and kind of a smart aleck. The streets seemed deserted in the little towns we passed through. It may have just been the time of day, but the people we saw seemed very quiet and they didn’t smile or wave.

The American zone of Vienna is built up quite a bit, but practically nothing has been done in the Russian part. They really scared us about taking pictures, but we managed to get a few. There weren’t any operas or anything going on there, but we went to an American movie and had popcorn. Silly thing to do in Europe, but different. We had seen movies in all other languages.

Our meeting with the saints in Vienna was wonderful The people really appreciated having us come, and we really enjoyed meeting them. Many of them are trying to come to America, especially from the Russian part. Some, in fact, may leave all they have just to get out. Our plans are all final for the Scandinavian tour. We are supposed to give a program in Malmo, Sweden, while we are there. We will not get to Stockholm, because we will only have two days actually in Sweden.

60 Years Ago Today

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Thursday, 14 August 1952:

After I indulged in a continental breakfast at the hotel, all of us brought our bags down before we left to see Frankfurt. Then I waited at a street side café next to the hotel for Alice and Dot. Karen and Leland came along with them and they took us on a conducted tour of the zoo, the second oldest zoo in Germany.

The zoo was started in 1858. On March 18, 1944 the zoo was bombed and many animals had to be shot. Since the war, the zoo had been rebuilt with animals like flamingos, tigers, leopards and laughing hyena. Metro & Goldwyn Studios had donated some lions to the zoo. Approximately one million people visit the zoo every year.

They had American Prairie dogs and Steinmarder weasels. Boy! How the rodents room smelled. Some remains of the zoo ruins had not yet been restored from the war. Also there was a ruined castle and an old aquarium which had once been one of the finest in the world. There was a children’s playground near the Shetland ponies, monkeys, and little baby goats. I snapped a quick picture.

A Nestle Kinder zoo was still in the process of being built. Next animals were the donkeys, dogs, cats, roosters, hippopotami, mom and baby elephants, rhinoceros, and seals. Then there was a bear castle and thatched roofed houses for the bison and zebras. Only one building had not been damaged during the war.

After the zoo we caught a trolley. Soon after we met the bus as we walked towards Aachen, which included the Kaiser Karl’s Gymnasium, town hall and cathedral. There was a famous statuary before the cathedral which was 13th or 14th Century Gothic architecture. Holy Roman Emperors had been crowned here. At that time seven electors would meet at the cathedral to elect the new emperor. The badly ruined cathedral was being repaired. I observed the coat of arms and the Carolingian building that was replaced in 1200-1250 a.d. It was the sole relic of what was known as the short knave inside the cathedral. The golden bull and art treasures survived the bombings of World War II in 1944.

Next on the tour was the tower, which took 100 years to build. It was started shortly after the cities of Ulm and Strasbourg were built. The interior was still under repair. There were ugly 9th century murals in the process of being replaced. An altar piece carving reminds me of the work of Donatello, an early Renaissance Italian artist and sculptor from Florence. I observed red Gothic pillars and that everything was in bad condition.

Then we went around to the tower entrance where kids were playing in the court yard. For 30 pfennigs we hiked a long dizzy climb. At the top there was a beautiful view of the devastation from the war. We observed a famous old bombed out bridge, an American hospital on the horizon, and the Main river.

We met a couple from Argentina on the top. He was born in Frankfurt and had come back for a visit. He asked us about Mormons, so I gave him a tract. Afterwards, we walked along the river over to Romerberg square. Some men and boys were sitting on the door steps of the former town hall or rathaus which was being repaired. There were three Gothic steps and the gables which were emblems of Frankfurt and statues of the four Holy Roman Emperors that were crowned here in Aachen: Friedrich I, Ludwig I, Karl II, Maximilian II. It was reconverted to a town hall in 1405 a.d. Next was Paulskirche which was a church with important political symbolism.

We circled around it till we found the Goethe haus where Johann Wolfgang von Goethe lived until 1765. There were paintings with children that represented different months of the year. I found a place where rain water ran down and was saved for washing clothes. On March 22, 1944 the house was damaged during a bombing raid. The original furniture was taken out to the country to 12 different places with samples of wallpapers so it could be reconstructed. It was restored for the 200th anniversary of Goethe.

I noticed a 1700’s hand carved wood framed mirrors, clay and cast-iron stoves, walnut cabinet, inlaid furniture, 1800’s paintings of hunting scenes and original dishes from the famous pottery plant nearby. In the kitchen there was an open hearth stove, running water in the house, and cookie forms which were wooden carved. Coffee grinder, copper bread box, shopping basket, waffle iron, tea warmer, cake and pudding forms were in the kitchen as well. Other interesting finds included a little pack with a box to take food on a trip and a chair and ladder combination.

As we progressed through the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s house I discovered a linen cupboard in the hall. We were told the stairs and railings were original. Sketches of the Vatican, St. Angelo, and Coliseum were in the house. A Venetian glass chandelier hung in the dining room upstairs. The porcelain stove was made in one of finest factories and there was a portrait of Goethe’s grandfather on his mother’s side, who was mayor of Frankfurt at one time.

In the music room the guide played a few notes on the spinet, a keyboard instrument. There was a game table and clavichord where Goethe had had his first piano lessons. A family portrait hung with five little angels in background to represent the children in the family who had died.
In the house, there was an astronomical clock which was made in 1749. It told the time, day, month, year, and zodiac sign. It ran for eight days and five hours then when it was time to rewind the bear would lay down. Soon after in the library of the father, who had been a lawyer, there were books, sheepskin bound and handwritten. There was a calendar showing Goethe’s birthday. In the father’s waiting room there were paintings collected by him, mirrors brought from Venice, and porcelain pipe lighters. In his mother’s writing room there were paintings of Goethe at 27. He lived here until he was 26 years old.

In other rooms in the house I saw a sewing chest, card table, stove fired from outside, lantern to light the way in the streets, (wealthy people had two candles), and portraits of Goethe’s father and mother. We walked in the room where Goethe was born and there was a bust of Goethe at age 30. And a symbol of his poetry and star which had come from his death room in Wiemar, Germany, where he died in 1832. There was a newspaper with a notice of his birth on Friday August 29, 1749 and some relics of Cornelia, his sister.

Goethe’s work room was next with the desk where he wrote Faust and other works. Then we got to see the library and a puppet theater that was given by Goethe’s grandmother when he was five years of age. He wrote little plays for it. I glimpsed at originals of many books and a picture of the square with the crowning of Leopold II. Also, included were scenes from Goethe’s original production of Faust, a plan of Frankfurt in 1760, and other drawings. Some were done by Goethe himself, as well. In the hallway there was a standing writing desk, spinet, and a linen press with 12 dozen sheets. Washed linens were done twice a year. Two servicemen listened to Dot translate what the guide said in German.

After Goethe’s house we caught another trolley and traveled past the shell of the opera house. Written on the front of the opera house was Dem Wahran Schoenen Guten. We also saw the US Court of Appeals and the Rothschild Estate.

We jumped off the trolley at Palmen Garten, a botanical garden near the Service Club and snack bar. And on the lake were swans and boats. At the botanical gardens there were hot houses with all types of cactus, coxcomb, begonias, and all kinds of beautiful tropical flowers and plants. Among the park landscape I caught sight of a pond with gold fish.

Karen and Leland were telling us jokes as we walked through the gardens. Then there was a palm house with Bavarian and tropical palms, and a room with all sizes, shapes, and hues of orchids. In the water lily room I tried to take a picture. One really hot and damp room had parasitic plants that were tropical. Finally, we ended with a stunning rose garden.

Afterwards, our trolley was waiting at the gate. As we got on a serviceman gave me his seat. We got off at the Central-Bahnhof Frankfurt Station at 4 p.m. Ben and Cherie were talking with the missionaries and servicemen. The crowd gathered and we crossed the street to get on our trusty bus and head off to Wiesbaden. Ben and Cherie stayed behind to get a camera. Then we discovered Pat and Betty were missing too! Betty had gone to meet her boyfriend.

We traveled through the Rhine Valley and stopped at Wiesbaden for 45 minutes or so. Boys were playing near our bus by a huge red Protestant Church. I talked to one and he showed me the main street of Wiesbaden. There was a passageway through a building just like in Salzburg. Also there was a beautiful park, concert building and statue of Kaiser Friedrich, a German Emperor and King of Prussia nearby. I snapped a picture of my friend in front of the big concert hall and exposition building. He called it the Kurhaus.

At 6 p.m. I heard the church bells ringing. So we headed for our bus. When I got there the gang argued about whether I was late or not. Everybody had a different time though, so I think I dodged the fine for now. However, all of us had to wait longer for Bonnie and Kay.
After we found everyone, we followed the Rhine River to the Rudesheim Hotel Germania, which was right on the banks of the river. I was in room 25 which was on the top floor. It wasn’t luxurious but comfortable with a straw tick. There were no towels and the WC was on the first floor.

At the hotel the weiner schnitzel was 3.50 marks. Too much! I looked around for something cheaper, but ended up coming back to eat in the little cellar below the hotel. It was the same kitchen for both places. The atmosphere was interesting with accordion players and singers plus the food was delicious. Upstairs we found the waiter we had talked to and he had decided that he would give us the rate of 2.50 marks for dinner. But I guess it was then too late for us to get that rate.

Betty Lou and I walked down a little narrow street on the other side of the hotel. It was really buzzing and full of people. I observed cabarets, bars, and cafes. There was even dancing in one place. It started to rain so we stopped in the doorway to watch the dancing. We came “home” when the rain subsided and fell into bed exhausted.