I'm So Old That...
Feb 11th, 2005, 11:24 AM
#1
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I'm So Old That...
I'm so old that when i first started traveling Europe:
*Paris metro had first and second class cars!
*Travelers cheques and lines at banks were the way to change money
*Calling home was a real pain and expensive
*Keeping in contact with home meant either Poste Restante at the post office or tracking down the American Express for their mail service.
*No trains required reservations
* Getting to British soil meant taking boat trains to a Channel port and then a boat to the UK ('leading to one UK newspaper to tour "Fog Closes Channel Ferry - Continent Isolated!"
* In the Netherlands a 'coffeeshop' was a place where you'd go to get coffee!
* There was an East and West Germany, with walls between the two - entering the old DDR often meant a police interrogation.
*The UK used shillings and pence
* All the girls in France used tissue paper pants!
* Carnaby Street was a hot sight.
* Cappuccino was something only available in Italy
* Les Halles in Paris was a vegetable market as was Convent Garden (really dating myself now)
* youth hostels were run by martinent dictators enforcing rules like 10pm curfews and mandatory chores.
* Icelandair, the hippie airline, was the cheapest way to Europe, landing in Reykyavik and then Luxembourg.
* The dollar was so strong - in my notes as a college student traveling in the late 60s i was spending $2-4 a day for everything - food and hostel but not including YouthEurailPass that cost about $150!
* Parisian waiters once gave out old francs for new in change to unsuspecting tourists - the old francs were slashed in worth by 100 around 1960 so the old france 100 franc coins for example were now worth one france but still circulated - thus a waiter could easily fool tourists and make a bundle by sluffing off old francs for new!
*
*Paris metro had first and second class cars!
*Travelers cheques and lines at banks were the way to change money
*Calling home was a real pain and expensive
*Keeping in contact with home meant either Poste Restante at the post office or tracking down the American Express for their mail service.
*No trains required reservations
* Getting to British soil meant taking boat trains to a Channel port and then a boat to the UK ('leading to one UK newspaper to tour "Fog Closes Channel Ferry - Continent Isolated!"
* In the Netherlands a 'coffeeshop' was a place where you'd go to get coffee!
* There was an East and West Germany, with walls between the two - entering the old DDR often meant a police interrogation.
*The UK used shillings and pence
* All the girls in France used tissue paper pants!
* Carnaby Street was a hot sight.
* Cappuccino was something only available in Italy
* Les Halles in Paris was a vegetable market as was Convent Garden (really dating myself now)
* youth hostels were run by martinent dictators enforcing rules like 10pm curfews and mandatory chores.
* Icelandair, the hippie airline, was the cheapest way to Europe, landing in Reykyavik and then Luxembourg.
* The dollar was so strong - in my notes as a college student traveling in the late 60s i was spending $2-4 a day for everything - food and hostel but not including YouthEurailPass that cost about $150!
* Parisian waiters once gave out old francs for new in change to unsuspecting tourists - the old francs were slashed in worth by 100 around 1960 so the old france 100 franc coins for example were now worth one france but still circulated - thus a waiter could easily fool tourists and make a bundle by sluffing off old francs for new!
*
Feb 11th, 2005, 11:29 AM
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I remember when foreign tourists were not allowed into Soviet Union unless they were on a tour, and then they could only shop in special stores using foreign currency only.
And of course the locals were not allowed into these stores as it was illegal to keep that foreign currency.
And of course the locals were not allowed into these stores as it was illegal to keep that foreign currency.
Feb 11th, 2005, 11:37 AM
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My first trip (as a student) was by ship, NYC-Southampton with a stop in Cork, Ireland. I had bought a Renault Dauphine beforehand and picked it up near the Etoile in Paris - so that's where I learned to drive it. Then I drove clockwise around Europe for three months and then shipped the Dauphine home to NY.
The next year I "discovered" Icelandic with stops in Gander, Keflavik, Shannon, Luxembourg. I think it took 24 hours or so to get there.
The next year I "discovered" Icelandic with stops in Gander, Keflavik, Shannon, Luxembourg. I think it took 24 hours or so to get there.
Feb 11th, 2005, 11:37 AM
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I'm so old that:
You couldn't visit Czechoslovakia without getting permission from Cédok, and were assigned a hotel and told where you could and could not go. Our friends there had a dacha in the country with a floor board that was removable. They kept their radio underneath it and would take it out and listen to BBC. The bridge in Prague was covered with decades worth of soot. The "outdoor markets" were usually three or four vendors huddled in the middle of a square with a carton of rotten vegetables, and people queued up and haggled over them. People trailed you in the streets, and police stopped you if you had a German license plate.
You couldn't visit Czechoslovakia without getting permission from Cédok, and were assigned a hotel and told where you could and could not go. Our friends there had a dacha in the country with a floor board that was removable. They kept their radio underneath it and would take it out and listen to BBC. The bridge in Prague was covered with decades worth of soot. The "outdoor markets" were usually three or four vendors huddled in the middle of a square with a carton of rotten vegetables, and people queued up and haggled over them. People trailed you in the streets, and police stopped you if you had a German license plate.
Feb 11th, 2005, 11:40 AM
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In 1970, you could eat a decent three-course meal in some restaurants in the Latin Quarter for 5,00 FF -- about $1.00 US.
A liter of decent wine cost about a quarter.
If you wanted a hamburger, you went to Wimpy's on the Boulevard St-Michel -- there weren't any MacDonald's.
There were about 1/3 as many cars on the roads as there are now.
A lot of the metro cars in Paris were built of wood, and they rolled on wheels made out of metal.
There were often be a phone booth with a long line of people waiting in front of it. You knew that was a "broken" phone and that you could call anywhere in the world on it for free, so you went and stood in line to call home.
You often saw people hopping over the turnstyles to get into the metro without paying.
A liter of decent wine cost about a quarter.
If you wanted a hamburger, you went to Wimpy's on the Boulevard St-Michel -- there weren't any MacDonald's.
There were about 1/3 as many cars on the roads as there are now.
A lot of the metro cars in Paris were built of wood, and they rolled on wheels made out of metal.
There were often be a phone booth with a long line of people waiting in front of it. You knew that was a "broken" phone and that you could call anywhere in the world on it for free, so you went and stood in line to call home.
You often saw people hopping over the turnstyles to get into the metro without paying.
Feb 11th, 2005, 11:41 AM
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In 1970, you could eat a decent three-course meal in some restaurants in the Latin Quarter for 5,00 FF -- about $1.00 US.
A liter of decent wine cost about a quarter.
If you wanted a hamburger, you went to Wimpy's on the Boulevard St-Michel -- there weren't any MacDonald's.
There were about 1/3 as many cars on the roads as there are now.
A lot of the metro cars in Paris were built of wood, and they rolled on wheels made out of metal.
There would often be a phone booth with a long line of people waiting in front of it. You knew that was a "broken" phone and that you could call anywhere in the world on it for free, so you went and stood in line to call home.
You often saw people hopping over the turnstyles to get into the metro without paying.
A liter of decent wine cost about a quarter.
If you wanted a hamburger, you went to Wimpy's on the Boulevard St-Michel -- there weren't any MacDonald's.
There were about 1/3 as many cars on the roads as there are now.
A lot of the metro cars in Paris were built of wood, and they rolled on wheels made out of metal.
There would often be a phone booth with a long line of people waiting in front of it. You knew that was a "broken" phone and that you could call anywhere in the world on it for free, so you went and stood in line to call home.
You often saw people hopping over the turnstyles to get into the metro without paying.
Feb 11th, 2005, 11:57 AM
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When I was in high school I took a school trip to Europe for 5 weeks. This was an all-inclusive tour with airfare, lodging, breakfast and dinner daily, and all sightseeing. The cost of this tour was $1800, and I brought $600 spending cash. Looking back, I really should have brought $700, but I got through those 5 weeks with only $600.
At that time you could climb the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Pope walked through the crowds to touch hands just before the blessing. I know the Leaning Tower has re-opened, but I doubt any pope will ever greet people again as JP did before he was shot.
At that time you could climb the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Pope walked through the crowds to touch hands just before the blessing. I know the Leaning Tower has re-opened, but I doubt any pope will ever greet people again as JP did before he was shot.
Feb 11th, 2005, 12:08 PM
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Tuck H, my first trip, as a student, was on the SS America (or SS United States, I forget which) also from NYC, stop at Cobh, stop at Le Havre, and finally to Southampton, where we got on boat trains to London. Tell me your year, then I'll tell mine! 
Feb 11th, 2005, 12:13 PM
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grandmere - yes LeHavre! I forgot that I disembarked there and went by train to Paris. Ending up in England, we sailed for home from Southampton.
The year was '58 and I danced to Benny Goodman at the Brussels World's Fair.
The year was '58 and I danced to Benny Goodman at the Brussels World's Fair.
