Europe '85 Part I

Europe '85 is a transcript of the journal I kept while traveling in Europe in 1985. Except for very minor editing, these entries are exactly the way I recorded them in a spiral bound notebook. I am a much different person now, and my writing style has changed. I was 32 when this trip was made. I will add pictures where appropriate. [My itinerary changed at the last moment as my charter flight to Amsterdam was canceled. My travel agent got me on a flight for London, but I did not get a chance to do my homework on London, so it was a hit or miss visit there.] Enjoy!

Saturday, September 14th, 1985, Over the Atlantic, 5:45am

We are somewhere over the Atlantic right now heading for London. My trip so far has been extremely pleasant and promising despite omens otherwise this morning.

I woke up at 10am later than I wanted to. I had stayed up until 5am hoping to fool my body so I could cope with jet lag. It didn’t work. I had many errands to run and still had to choose what clothes I was taking and pack.  Though Friday the 13th is usually a good day for  me, I began to worry after my first sortie out of the house this morning.

I went to the bank to deposit my long awaited tax refund check. Disaster of all disasters, I locked my keys in the car! I had to run home and break my kitchen window in order to get my extra keys. The potential for screwing up my trip threw me into a controlled panic. I did manage laugh at myself as I was running back to the house. Ironically, when I returned 2 hours later, Rev. Bennett next door, was climbing through his living room window as he and his wife had locked themselves out too. The rest of the morning was spent scurrying about doing last minute things (and buying a pane of glass). Amy arrived around 3pm and took me to Dulles.
 
The day was crisp and cool, sunny with a few clouds. It felt more like a day in October than one in the middle of September, especially after 95° heat last week and early this week.  I was surprised at myself for not being more anxious and thrilled about finally going on my great European tour. I don’t feel the anxiety or giddiness I might have felt if I were younger.

My seat mate on the plane has turned out to be a delightful woman of 55.  We started talking when she sat down and we have been talking all night.  She’s going to London on business and then spending a week for vacation.  After talking for quite a while we discovered that she is originally from Shippensburg and that my old landlady Mrs. Hall was a friend of her mother’s. Small world! Oh,  I forgot, her name is Rhea DiBenedetto.

Saturday, September 14th, 1985, 1:45pm,  British Geological Museum, London

I am near total exhaustion.  It is all I can do to stay awake for another 15 minutes.  After finally getting through customs which were surprisingly cursory, I got an explorer pass on the Underground. Rhea told me that I could get tickets to same day shows at Leicester Square.  I took the tube there since I had nowhere else to go and found the ticket kiosk but it did not open until 2pm and I was there at 9am. The weather was just what one would stereotype for England: cold and drizzly. Nothing was open around Leicester Square. It is London’s theater district but in many ways it reminded me of Greenwich Village in New York. I wandered around there for a while (with my bags) wondering how to go about getting a room. [It is now 2pm and I can check into my room. I will finish this later after I get some sleep!]

September 15th, 2:45am, South Kensington, London

To complete the above entry, I stopped at a tourist information center and got information regarding finding living space. I had to go to Victoria Station. The information center there booked me into a dormitory at the Imperial College at the University of London. [Hotel $17.80/night] I could not occupy my room until 2pm. I sat in the cold for an hour totally exhausted and became so miserable I walked down the road to a couple of museums which were warm and even interesting to my sleep deprived mind. I wrote the above entry at the Geological Museum.

I came to my room and immediately went to sleep. I had set my alarm so that I could go out and get a ticket for Mousetrap playing downtown.  When the alarm went off, I rolled over and went back to sleep.  I finally got up, cleaned up and decided to investigate a bit of the nightlife.  Since the tube stops running at midnight, I had to hurry.

I found a pub at Leicester Square and chatted with a very nice guy there named Neville.  We talked for a while and I encouraged him to accompany me or lead me about.  He suggested a dance bar which we walked to.[Cover £8] It was nice to have some company.

First Day Impressions:

Heathrow was a madhouse! Thousands of travelers disembarking nearly all at the same time (7am) and scrambling for customs, money exchanges, baggage pick up etc. The tube reminds me of NY’s subway without the graffiti.  The cars seem smaller where headroom is concerned. Arriving in Leicester Square exhausted in the cold rain was not the best way to have a first impression. Much like Greenwich Village with small side streets and little parks there were also the theaters which added a 42nd street air. That early on a Saturday morning there were few people about and fewer places open. I really didn’t know where to go so I wandered the streets toward Piccadilly where I found the tourist center.

London, when one is cold tired and wet, is a city like most others.  I looked around and saw dirty decaying buildings. I did not feel like there was anything very foreign here.  The cars seem to be on the “wrong side” of the street and the accent is different. ( I hear myself imitating the accent in my head but I will never let it cross my lips here.) British men have the appearance of being somewhat effeminate by American standards.

Neville and I got along reasonably well but it made me aware that I was a bit lonely. I feel that loneliness now and wonder if it will be my constant companion on this trip. I have doubts that this trip may not have been a good idea.  A fear lurks in the back of my mind that I will run out of money. I decided on this trip as a means of a challenge – to build my self-confidence and as a way of breaking patterns that were hampering my growth.  I hope I don’t end up breaking myself.