Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Western Europe trip - '75

In Regents Park, London


In the summer of 1975, against my grad school academic advisor's wishes, I went to Western Europe for about six weeks. I knew I wouldn't have a block of free time like this again for decades.

I visited London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice, Vienna, Munich, Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam.

I used a backpack, a Eurail Pass, and I stayed in hostels and with friends of friends.

Oh, and in the photo above, that's one of my mother's purses I used throughout the trip, long before the popularity of the murse.

I kept a diary, including a detailed accounting of my spending. Here's the summary page – $1100 for everything, including air (click to enlarge):


(Click the image to enlarge it.)


From my diary, here are a few excerpts about London:

[On my third day in London, ] I finally found a water fountain! Outside one gate to Regent's Park, there was a very nice one engraved, "Erected by the Municipal London Drinking Fountain and Horse Trough Association." And it didn't work!

I fell in love with the British Museum.

[I saw several West End plays,] ... Alec Guinness in A Family and a Fortune ... Paul Scofield in The Tempest.

Three additional blog posts are also from my trip diary – about language, about cathedrals, monuments and history, and about taking my first baby steps into gay life.

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