My First Trip to Europe...

Old Jul 25th, 2016, 01:53 PM
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My First Trip to Europe...

was too long ago to admit - let's just say the Viet Nam War was going on and with my student deferment I was tooling around Europe rather than mired in some mud paddy - thank god!

Lots of things have changed from this trip decades ago.

I'm a bit late writing this trip report but hey...

First of all to get a cheap air fare I had to fly from Detroit to NY and hop the 'hippie airline' to Iceland and then after a two-day break there onto Luxembourg (I could have gone straight thru with a few-hour re-fueling stop in Iceland) -

So Iceland was the first country I visited in Europe and it was an eye opener - Landing at Keflavik airport (full of U.S. military planes) the long bus ride into Reykyavik was bleak - mile after mile of treeless bleak volcanic terrain - nothing much in sight.

Reykyavik however was so with it and modern -every young male had long Beatles-style hair cuts and spoke American-like English.

The fish stands down by the harbor were cheap but even then most things were so so expensive, especially for one on a starvation budget of about $5/Day and yes that was very possible. I still have my notebook of expenses in places like Germany and France where my total for food and hostel was about $3/day! (Of course I had a Eurail Youthpass back in the day when they were almost always a great deal as European train fares were calculated by so much per kilometer - a flat fee according to distance and the pass in a few trips paid off.)

I stayed at Icelandair'sHotel Loftleidir in Reykyavik on one of their special few-day break of journey specials - some of the best food I ever had - unlimited buffets for dinner and breakfast - a heck of a deal.

I took a bus out to see some steaming pools about an hour outside of Reykyavik but that's about it.

I was glad to be moving on - Iceland was just too modern and bleak. I marveled at all the open-air swimming pools in Reykyavik - heated by thermal underground water.

NEXT - Onto Europe proper in Luxembourg!
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Old Jul 25th, 2016, 06:30 PM
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Okay, PalQ, I'm on for the ride. I must say that you must pre-date me by a number of years... the Viet Nam war was long over on my first trip! "Student deferment"... was your number that low?
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Old Jul 25th, 2016, 06:55 PM
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This should be good. Eagerly anticipating the rest.
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Old Jul 25th, 2016, 07:03 PM
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Eager for more!
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Old Jul 25th, 2016, 07:03 PM
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All aboard!
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Old Jul 25th, 2016, 09:53 PM
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What a great idea PalenQ. I treasure memories of my first trip to Europe and look forward to reading more of yours.
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Old Jul 26th, 2016, 09:52 AM
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Thanks for you nice notes!

THE GRAND DUCHY OF LUXEMBOURG!

Iceland was interesting but not what I expect of Europe but Luxembourg City was - though this city gets panned as boring now by me and others the first-time in Europe proper it seemed so so European! I remember the Grand Place- a town square filled with outdoor cafes - Under age at home I ordered my first legal drink from one of them and reveled in it.

I don't remember much of what I did but got a cheap hotel - what did strike me was the deep gorge bisecting the city - I will never forget peering down and seeing a small stream running thru it and farmers tending small plots along it - so bucolic, at least from Iceland.

I was a stamp and coin collector so the Grandy Duchy was of special attention - money changing back them was a hassle - travelers checks being the main way of carrying money and as each country had its own currency it seemed like I was always searching out the American Express (for best rates on AMEX checks - better than banks) - this was before I at least had a credit card and even if I did few places would have taken it at places I spent money.

So Luxembourg seemed so so neat - but there was of course many more better places to come.

NEXT- FIRST TRAIN TRIP - HEADING TO PARIS!
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Old Jul 26th, 2016, 10:58 AM
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Looking forward to hearing more of your trip down Memory Lane. I suspect that your trip was in the same era as mine. I traveled with a college classmate and easily kept to the $5 a day limit though I wouldn't want to do it now.
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Old Jul 26th, 2016, 11:01 AM
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That was my the exact route of my first trip to Europe-Iceland, Luxembourg, then Paris. But after that we spent 4 months in Spain.
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Old Jul 26th, 2016, 11:03 AM
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"...was too long ago to admit - let's just say the Viet Nam War was going on and with my student deferment I was tooling around Europe rather than mired in some mud paddy - thank god!..."

Thank you for your service to America, by faffing about Europe while my college-student family members gave their lives so that you could talk about yours decades on.
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Old Jul 26th, 2016, 11:11 AM
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Fun! Looking forward to more.
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Old Jul 26th, 2016, 11:40 AM
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Thank you for your service to America, by faffing about Europe while my college-student family members gave their lives so that you could talk about yours decades on.>

Well actually the student deferment was only my first year and yes I took it but the next year was a lottery after student deferments were ended - I had a very low number (100% chance of going) but flunked my draft physical because of a congenital heart murmur and high BP which I have had my whole life both automatic grounds for exclusion - could not have gone if I wanted to and would have if I had to even though I marched on Washington too.

I should have clarified that lest you jump to the wrong conclusions - Trump, BClinton, Cheney and many others were draft dodgers IMO but not me.
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Old Jul 26th, 2016, 12:45 PM
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This is a fun read! Thanks for sharing!
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Old Jul 26th, 2016, 03:13 PM
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I always said I learned more life skills in that 7-week initial travel abroad than I did in all of my university years - how to cope on your own - in a foreign culture - not speaking the language even though I had had 4 years of French in school - one reason I wanted to go to Europe (besides the #1 reason - my livelong love of trains and trams!)

but I found once in France I could not understand much more than 'oui' or 'non' or a few basics -they just spoke too fast and as usual then in college the French we took was more reading and grammar than in speaking it - I could read newspapers quite well but talk to no one! What a come down!

Anyway onto to PARIS:
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Old Jul 27th, 2016, 01:46 AM
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on for the ride
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Old Jul 27th, 2016, 06:27 AM
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My first trip to Europe was a bus tour of Spain and Portugal when I was about 21. I'd just broken my engagement and thought I should get outta town so I tagged along with three girlfriends who already had this trip planned. Fabulous trip!

Enjoying your trip report, pal!
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Old Jul 27th, 2016, 07:14 AM
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thanks goddess - and in this thread NO talk of religion at least until I get to my 21st birthday when on a homage to James Joyce I sat by the Martello Tower at Sandy Cove near Dublin and waxed how he had probably formed largely my religious outlook!
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Old Jul 27th, 2016, 10:50 AM
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FIRST TRAIN RIDE IN EUROPE!

To fulfill a long long dream - to be in an area where trains and trams go everywhere it seemed anyway on first encounter.

Activate my first Eurailpass then hop on the train from Luxembourg to Paris- the old style trains now a memory on long-distance routes in most of Europe - just compartments no open seating, which I vastly prefer - better seeing out both sides of the train and not stuck in an 8-person compartment with others - if full you are afraid to budge!

Don't recall much of arriving in Gare de l'Est but decided to walk thru the heart of Paris with my on-my-back backpack (wheels now thank God but none then) - I was heading for the Champs-Elysees - not because that captivated my attention but the French (or Paris?) Tourist Office was there and I could book a hotel there according to my info (Frommers $5/day was all I had).

The thing I remember the most was it was hot- early July and I had no water bottle - I was walking thru the Tuileries in what seemed to take forever - I was so thirsty I had to stop at those little outdoor kiosks and buy those tiny tiny bottles of Coke for what seemed like an outrageous price - I stopped at several of these and regretted every one except I was so so thirsty - public water pumps that looked like fire hydrants had "Eau no Potable" on them so that scared me - so I was at the mercy of those kiosks.

But passing Notre-Dame and the Louvre and the suave looking Tuileries with the Eiffel Tower in the distance was so so exciting - I had finally made it!

Finally got to the tourist office and booked a small hotel near Montparnasse station- it was fine but I felt so isolated that I thought I would try the youth hostels - and decided after a few days to move to the (now infamous Hostel on Blvd Kellerman, near the Cite Universite) which proved to be a BIG mistake and scared me away from hostels for a spell.

I don't remember many exact details of Paris but did the usual - Louvre, Eiffel, Seine boat ride, Notre-Dame and lots and lots of walking around - always my passion anywhere.

I do recall distinctly my trek thru Pigalle - the tawdry site of Paris, rumored to have putains all over the place and girls there were - galore - asking me "vous voulez moi" - to which I said no - I had no interest in that but just seeing it all. Two gals got into a fight, pulling at each other's hair -that I will always remember. Pigalle seemed so so Parisian (to my then naive eyes).

The other thing I vividly recall is taking elevated metros around parts of town at night - you could clearly see the streets below all full of life - I rode these a few times just for the thrill of it.

I had come to France expecting all the women to be fashion blades but found out that it was about the opposite - especially outside of Paris where homemade dressed were more the rule than any spiffy thing from a fashion house.

NEXT THE INFAMOUS BLVD KELLERMAN YOUTH HOSTEL.
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Old Jul 27th, 2016, 11:38 AM
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Oh, come on PalenQ. Don't be such a pussy. What year was this ? Husbands #1 and #2, remittance men, both arrived in '61. I touched down in '64.
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Old Jul 27th, 2016, 12:17 PM
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five years after you! 1969! wow that is a long long time ago!
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