June 12, 1967- a day that will live in infamy.. or that is how the New York Times put it, but, hey, the press puts a twist on everything. With families in tow, Stan and I left Chicago O'Hare at about 9AM for NY JFKennedy International. Getting to Kennedy by 11 AM with our flights leaving at 9 and 10 PM left us plenty of time to check in and catch some food before our long overnight flights. We were certainly not going to 
risk hang ups and miss our flights. Extra time gave us the opportunity to make the rounds at Kennedy before settling in for our flights. By early evening- as we guessed by the position of the sun, I said good-by to Stan at the Pan Am terminal for his flight to London then Luxembourg. Me, it was time to amble back to the International Terminal and check-in at Icelandic for my flight to Iceland ( 24 hour stop over) then on to meet Stan in Luxembourg. I had two great days en route, Stan had two harrowing days en route. He met me at the airport in Luxembourg ( a dead giveaway that not all went well on his trip over) and we went back to our hotel right in the center of town for our FIRST NIGHT IN EUROPE!!! Stan had two beers in h
is room that he was saving for a special occasion, I guess this was it, since we had to leave tomorrow for Belgium. Over the next few weeks, we lay a path ( to now use a worn out phrase) of shock and awe - more shock than awe-through Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, back in to Germany. We were much surprised that we were allow a second chance to visit this country ( and others as we progressed). Following Germany, we explored Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France and lastly UK. In 1967, student travel, particularly high school age students were very rare. Even moreso, travelling solo and outside of a class group. We met dozens of people who warmly treated us and made us feel extremely welcome. The landmarks, historical locations and the awesome beauty were overwhelming and greeted us everyday. In Italy, we had the great opportunity to meet up with a foreign exchange student who spent a year at our high school, Fabrizio Corsini. "Fab" and I were on the cross country and track teams together and he showed us a fantastic time during our short visit to Reggio Emilia, Italy. In August, we hit the beaches in England where my distant relatives spent time to make us very welcome in Plymouth . They took us on a tour of the Hoe, at which Sir Francis Drake was bowling in some kind of tournament before "striking" out against the Spanish. They told us he had little time to "spare" or he could be "pinned" down. If that happened, his career would be in the "gutter." I have glossed over the entire trip to offer a flavor of locations and timing. Future blogs will deal with specific and more local "adventures" and mishaps. But for now, that's all I can divulge as of this moment, based on an agreement the State Department required we sign upon entering the US and allowed us to use new names, Clark Kent and Buzz Lightyear.
risk hang ups and miss our flights. Extra time gave us the opportunity to make the rounds at Kennedy before settling in for our flights. By early evening- as we guessed by the position of the sun, I said good-by to Stan at the Pan Am terminal for his flight to London then Luxembourg. Me, it was time to amble back to the International Terminal and check-in at Icelandic for my flight to Iceland ( 24 hour stop over) then on to meet Stan in Luxembourg. I had two great days en route, Stan had two harrowing days en route. He met me at the airport in Luxembourg ( a dead giveaway that not all went well on his trip over) and we went back to our hotel right in the center of town for our FIRST NIGHT IN EUROPE!!! Stan had two beers in h
is room that he was saving for a special occasion, I guess this was it, since we had to leave tomorrow for Belgium. Over the next few weeks, we lay a path ( to now use a worn out phrase) of shock and awe - more shock than awe-through Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, back in to Germany. We were much surprised that we were allow a second chance to visit this country ( and others as we progressed). Following Germany, we explored Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France and lastly UK. In 1967, student travel, particularly high school age students were very rare. Even moreso, travelling solo and outside of a class group. We met dozens of people who warmly treated us and made us feel extremely welcome. The landmarks, historical locations and the awesome beauty were overwhelming and greeted us everyday. In Italy, we had the great opportunity to meet up with a foreign exchange student who spent a year at our high school, Fabrizio Corsini. "Fab" and I were on the cross country and track teams together and he showed us a fantastic time during our short visit to Reggio Emilia, Italy. In August, we hit the beaches in England where my distant relatives spent time to make us very welcome in Plymouth . They took us on a tour of the Hoe, at which Sir Francis Drake was bowling in some kind of tournament before "striking" out against the Spanish. They told us he had little time to "spare" or he could be "pinned" down. If that happened, his career would be in the "gutter." I have glossed over the entire trip to offer a flavor of locations and timing. Future blogs will deal with specific and more local "adventures" and mishaps. But for now, that's all I can divulge as of this moment, based on an agreement the State Department required we sign upon entering the US and allowed us to use new names, Clark Kent and Buzz Lightyear.
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