"German Society charter" Germany Travelogue by grandmaR

I was going to Europe to meet my husband's USN ship. He was a pilot and flew S2Fs (antisubmarine planes) off of an aircraft carrier, which was supposed to have the following itinerary

11 June - Leave Norfolk
21 June - Arrive Med
23 June to 26 June - Palma Majorca
3 to 8 July - Cannes (refuel)
10 July to 15 July - Naples

(do sea maneuvers)

23 July - one day in Rota Spain
25-30 July - Valencia Spain
1 August - anchor off Majorca - no liberty
3 to 8 August - Toulon France
15 - 22 August - Naples

24 August - leave Med

Between 3rd and 5th of September - arrive home in Norfolk.

However this schedule was not kept - I think they skipped Cannes and were in Nice instead, and then they went to Cannes after the July visit to Naples.

I was to meet him in Valencia at the end of July, and Toulon and Naples in August

Me and my youngest in 1964

Getting to Germany was a protracted trip. I didn't have time for jet lag.
Early in the morning of the 14th, I packed up my children in Norfolk and drove three hours to Baltimore. There, I left my two children with my mom. My oldest daughter was almost 3 and my baby was 10 months old when I left the US. I wrote postcards throughout the trip to my three year old daughter. The picture is one taken of me and my oldest daughter by my Dad in April 1964, and shows the camera I was using.

From Baltimore I took a train to Philadelphia (a couple of hours) to meet the German Society group. The group had a chartered bus which went to New York (another couple of hours), where we took a plane. This is what I wrote about it to my mom - with her comments

Train tracks 2007

The car I boarded was a smoker, so I moved forward and this car is air-conditioned and is "No Smoking". There was a little red headed boy here but his mother called him back to her so now I have a seat to myself. I bought a carton of milk to drink with my lunch, which is delicious (the lunch, the milk was Sealtest). Daddy's sandwiches would have cost 85 cents to buy. I ate the pickles and the lettuce too, but I am saving the apple and cake for later.

We just stopped in Wilmington and I get off in about 15 more minutes. Excuse my writing as the train is very wiggly.

Now I'm on the bus which doesn't sway as much but bounces.

The taxi fare from the bus to the German Society headquarters was only $1.25. It was 85 deg. F when I arrived and there was a Boy Scout Jamboree. One of the buses for the Jamboree had broken down and there were 3 men pushing it. They were having a hard time.

The Greyhound driver doesn't know Philadelphia or the way to the airport. I wanted to sit in front, and the Pastor is beside me to direct the driver. He is going to visit his 90 year old mother for the first time in 34 years. His wife is already over there. There are several couples, older ladies, a high school teacher and his class and a few families. There are a few women traveling with young children - their husbands saw them off.

I met an old lady at the rest stop who speaks five languages and has traveled a great deal. She didn't know she was leaving until 10 days ago. The Pastor said he had invited her up to his house in Canada and he was taking boulders out of the lake and she went to join him.

The bus driver is following the travel agent's blue VW to the airport and his wife is giving out tickets. It is flight 403 leaving NY for Cologne at 1900.

On the way out the turnpike, we saw the Worlds Fair. Went through it in fact. I didn't take any pictures. (I had been the previous year.)

Plane trip 2007

No stationary provided, only a burp bag. We are now aloft and it is much smoother than the bus, train or taxi. I am on the aisle which is just as well as I can now get out. It has been hot, but the cabin is cooling off. The pilot just told us to change our watches form 2003 to 0103 so we would be on Cologne time.

We have been handed our menus and maybe we will get dinner now. We are having filet mignon, which is the same name in all languages. Now they are coming through with the drinks cart, and before that they came through with the newspaper cart.

There is a lady with this group with a 17 month old baby which she says weighs 32 lbs. She also has one 12 and one 2.5, but their fares would have been so much that she left them home.

Have you received the travel insurance policy that I bought? If anything happens to me, you are supposed to institute proceedings, they told me.

Nighttime from a plane 2007

I'm going to sleep now, it is 02:25. The steak was good, but the roll was tough and cold. The lights are off -- beddy bye time.

Sketch of the original German Society building.

Well that was a short night, but I did sleep and fairly soundly. We have had our orange juice and wash cloths and I have been to the WC and have asked twice for writing paper but no luck yet. [My mom commended that she was glad she had provided me with paper.]

Mr. W said to tell Mrs. S (the secretary to the German Society of MD) that he took good care of me -- slept next to me all night!!. The sunset and sunrise are both on my side of the plane. Next to me are a mother and her 11 year old daughter Scarlett. The mother is a Berliner and went to medical school for three semesters. Her husband was in the AF and in NATO in Paris for two years and then in TX. He is out of the AF now. They are going to visit her mother in Berlin.

Mr. and Mrs W (President of the German Society of PA - I joined the German Society of MD last year so that I could go on this trip) and the Pastor are across the aisle. This is a charter flight by the German Society for the same price for 5 weeks as it would normally be for three weeks.

There is another toddler besides the one I mentioned and a tiny baby and a blind woman. The plane is full up.

Clouds over the UK 2007

It is now 0530 -- 1.5 hours from Cologne and we are south of Shannon. The sun has just come up. Breakfast is coming. We had no smoking over here because it bothers Scarlett, but Mrs. W. chain smoked all night. She doesn't look well to me. I think flying makes her nervous. This has been a very smooth flight.

We are now over Lisbon. The clouds are so thick we can't see much.

We are here - Safe and Sound

Next Cologne