My First Trip

The first time I went to Europe was in 1977. I went to see the Bay City Rollers. What I liked about Europe was the Bay City Rollers. Below is a picture of me with the Bay City Rollers at their fan club in Edinburgh.

Lol, but seriously, my friend I traveled with has friends and relations in several European countries. Thanks to their generosity and hospitality, we were able to experience a bit of what life over there was like. We visited Timisoara and Bucharest in Romania. We stayed in Germany and in Vienna. I love history and art, and it was wonderful. On our own we briefly visited Paris, went on for a week in London, with a day trip to Canterbury, and several days to Scotland. In Scotland we met Pat, who is a dear friend to this day.

My Second trip…

…in 1979, was a very different experience. I flew to Madrid to meet a friend who was studying there. We had backpacks, hostel passes and Eurail passes. We saw Madrid and Barcelona. Barcelona has the most amazing architecture, as I am a Gaudi fan. After that we went to Monte Carlo, and then met some new friends at the stop in Nice. There was a train change in Pisa in the middle of the night, so we left the station and walked to the Leaning Tower, which was bathed in moonlight. I’ll never forget it.

After that – Florence, Rome and Venice. An Art History major’s dream come true. We met more friends at the hostel in Interlaken. Mostly those we met were fellow Americans, but from all over the country. And one great Canadian! We went to Germany, Amsterdam, Paris, London, Dublin and once again – Edinburgh.