Dear Cha-Wel-Dor-Sue,

Pat and I along with Walter and Yvonne Pilpel left Kennedy Airport for Luxembourg, stopping briefly for refueling at Reykjavik Iceland. The trip was uneventful, inexpensive, and crowded to capacity, largely with young people with backpacks headed for one to two months of hosteling in Central Europe. My brother, Bill, and his wife, Katherine, were at the airport to see us off.

Our stay in Luxembourg lasted only long enough for us to pick up an Opel Record 1900 car at a cost of $500 for three weeks, unlimited mileage and no insurance, ($125 per person). We traveled approximately 3200 miles with gas averaging $1.50 per gallon, and getting approximately 30 miles per gallon. The car performed perfectly. The only problem we had with it was on the Italian Riviera when Walter looked the car with the keys inside. Pat solved our dilemma by finding a Concierge, who was a former Gendarmarie or policeman, and he was an artist at getting into looked cars. Within 30 minutes we were on our way, but not before a large crowd had gathered assuming we were breaking into another's car. The autobahns in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland were free but in France they cost a fortune. One day we spent $36 in tolls driving from Aix de Provence to Paris.

After leaving Luxembourg we drove to Metz, Nancy, and Strassburg where we intended to spend the night. Much to our surprise no accommodations were available anywhere and we finally drove 50 miles into Germany before we found shelter in Lahre in the Black Forest. What we did not know was that the day we arrived in Europe was the first day of Pentecost and the beginning of a three day holiday. Everyone in Europe celebrates this occasion and are on the road and no accommodations are usually available anywhere. This was the only time we had any trouble with accommodations although admittedly Walter had previously secured advance reservations for us for our two day stays in Munich and Salzburg, and our five day stay in Vienna.

The Black Forest is worth a visit but it is not unusual. Freudenstadt and Freiburg are old and interesting towns, but not classic in any manner.

Our second night was spent in Basle, a large commercial center on the Rhine, and we then drove through northern Switzerland stopping to see the Rhine Falls and Stein on the Rhine, a truly beautiful small medieval town with many swans in the river. It's truly worth a visit! Following this we drove all of the way to Munich, traveling the Alpenstrasse to Fussen to see Neuschwanstein, the palace of Joseph II, the so-called "Mad King of Bavaria". It formed the inspiration for the castle in Disneyland.

Munich was interesting for its Rathaus and Glockenspiel, the Deutches Museum (comparable to our Smithsonian), and its Art Museum, which houses more than 650 Rubens. Visits to the Hofbrau where Hitler started his political career, and to the Lowenbrau brewery were most interesting. Needless to say the products of each institution were sampled generously. I enjoyed for the first time a mild beer made from wheat.

Halfway from Munich to Salzburg is lake Chiemsee where we spent half a day with Walt and Yvonne's friends. They made available to us two electric powered boats, and we visited both the Herren Chiemsee, the site of the Konigs Schlosser King's castle, and the Frauenchiemsee, a small island where we had lunch. The day was perfect in all respects.

After leaving Chiemsee, we drove through the area known as the Salzkammergut, and saw St. Gelgen, St. Wolfgang, and Bad Ischl, and Gemunden. All of these small towns our on beautiful lakes. It was quite dark as we drove through Berchtesgaden to finally spend the night in Salzburg.

Pat lived in Salzburg and delighted in showing us her former home and haunts. Hellbrunn was a fascinating castle designed by a Bishop with a delightful sense of humor. The so called "Water Garden" reminded me of the "House of Fun" at Coney Island and which I visited as a child. There were pranks to be played with water at every turn in the path.

While in Salzburg we saw the Salzburg Marionettes and witnessed a performance of the Magic Flute by Mozart. It was beautiful!

Vienna is a beautiful city, somewhat marred by temporary subway construction. While there we were wined and dined by Walter and Yvonne's families. Visits to the Rathaus (City Hall) where we had dinner with Walter's cousin, were only one of the many pleasurable moments in Vienna. Walter's cousin was the Deputy Mayor and he gave the official scarf of the city to Pat and I was given the official necktie and cufflinks. Much wine added to the gaiety of the evening.

The Masked Ball was one of the highlights of our visit to the Vienna Opera House. The latter is very beautiful and, in fact, is merely a smaller version of the magnificent Paris Opera House which we later visited during our city tour of Paris.

On the outskirts of Vienna is Grinsing, in the wine producing area, and we spent an evening at a Heuringen, or winery, at which we ate cheese, drank the local product, and listened to Austrian folk music. It's a must on all tourist trails.

Walter and Yvonne took great pains to include everything in our sight-seeing tours, including the Prater (amusement park with the largest ferris wheel in the world - Third Man Movie), as well as many historic sites and buildings. Yvonne stood up one Sunday morning in a crowded church to hear the Vienna Boy's Choir while we meandered around the Hofburg. Incidentally, the Vienna Boy's Choir will be visiting the University of Connecticut campus this Fall, and Pat and I intend to be there.

The highlight of all highlights was our visit to the Spanish Riding School to see the Lippazaner horses. They performed only once weekly at precisely 11 :00 a.m. on Sundays and tickets must be secured months in advance. We were guests of the Deputy Mayor and sat immediately next to the Emperor's Box. Our view of everything was the best. Pat actually cried during the performance and the horses and the riders performances were matchless! Four hundred years of tradition have brought them to a state of perfection. Pat bought a porcelain showing a horse in one of the classical positions, and it now rests in our living room to remind her of her trip to Vienna.

From Vienna we drove to Innsbruck and spent the night at Seefeld, the site of the recent winter ski events. It is a beautiful ski area full of charm and beautiful vistas.

The next day we visited Garmisch-Partenkirken, Oberammergau, and the Linderhof Castle, finally spending the night in Kitzbuhl. The Austrian Alps or Tirol are beautiful in the summer but probably more enchanting in the winter.

After leaving Kitzbuhl we drove through the Dolomites to Lienz, Cortina, and finally Venice. I can now appreciate why Wells was so thrilled with these mountains while on his motor trip in this area. The Italian Alps in this area are almost pink in color and are rugged and unlike any other mountains I have ever seen. They certainly differ from the massive Swiss Alps.

Venice is unique and a jewel! There is no way of describing the innumerable canals, palaces, bridges, islands, artwork, glass crafts, gondolas, etc. It simply has to be seen to be appreciated and should be a must on everyone's trip to Italy.

After leaving Venice we drove across northern Italy's wine belt to Genoa, spending the night at Lake Garda. From there we traveled along the Italian Riviera, spending the night at San Remo. The following day we visited Nice, Monte Carlo, and Cannes, seeing the blue Mediterranean without a cloud in the sky. Beautiful yachts, hotels, vistas, etc., but the beaches left much to be desired.

After leaving the coast we drove to Paris and spent the next two days in overcast weather seeing one of the great, if not the greatest city in the world. It was all that I had expected of her, and someday Pat and I must return to see more of this truly magnificent city.

Leaving Paris we drove through Rheims and visited its cathedral and then on to Luxembourg stopping en route at Verdun, to visit the French National Cemetery commemorating this great battle. On the outskirts of Luxembourg is the American Memorial Cemetery which is meticulously maintained and truly a beautiful memorial to some of America's War Dead. General Patton is buried there with his men.

I've left out many of the details of our trip but perhaps you can get some idea of our trip from this rambling description of our three weeks in Central Europe.

Love,

DAD