After two months working on the Knorzer’s chicken farm, they drove me to the train station in Osterburken, where I boarded a train to Heildelburg and then Frankfurt. I had a suitcase, a red vinyl shoulder bag, a little yellow nylon backpack and a map of Western Europe. I certainly wasn’t equipped for backpacking around Europe. My return flight from Frankfurt was in 30 days.
I had no plans for travelling in Europe that summer in 1973. Although I had applied to the Canadian German Academic Exchange Society, I didn’t expect to be chosen. I had an offer of a summer job at F.W. Horner’s, a pharmaceutical company in Montreal, where I had worked the previous summer. That job would look good on a CV. So, I hadn’t been looking at maps, planning a route, finding places to visit, or searching for accommodations.
The seventies were a different time with no cell phones, internet or social media. Your every minute wasn’t being recorded. Even making a transatlantic phone call took preparation.
My only previous experiences of travelling alone were train trips from Montreal to Kingston, to and from University. Getting off the train in Frankfurt was a big deal.
“A little man on the train offered to take my suitcase off, then buy me coffee, then his apartment for 5-10 days, then to come to Canada and marry me and then to just go to a hotel for the night.”
That was my introduction to travelling alone. I kept walking, holding my suitcase and luckily he didn’t follow. I found a hotel near the station for 24 DM per night. The next day I walked around Frankfurt in cold rain. I had seen enough so the following morning, I began travelling north.
“ Took the train from Frankfurt to Cologne. Got on a first-class train and when the conductor came around, had to pay 25DM extra. Left my suitcase in Frankfurt. Need 50 DM to claim it again.”
A British fellow in the car tried to console me by saying I would get to Cologne quicker with no stops. I had all the time in the world, but limited cash. I found a hotel in Cologne through the tourist information.
“Walked along the Rhine. Went to the Botanical Gardens. Didn’t go to the zoo as you had to pay. Went to the Youth Hostel but no one was there. Will try again tomorrow.”
I figured staying at Youth Hostels would be less expensive and more fun than staying in a room in a cheap hotel. Most of the hotels I stayed at had single rooms without a private bathroom but breakfast was included. It was usually just crusty rolls, butter, jam and coffee or tea but good enough. I don’t remember there being lots of people in the hotels I stayed in so communal bathrooms weren’t a problem. I would spend the days walking around the different cities. I would buy food for dinner and take it back to my little room. I never went out at night. I had already begun thinking about going home early.
Still, I continued north and on the train to Amsterdam, I met two Norwegian girls and two Dutch boys. On arrival, the boys bought us Dutch hot dogs and gave us an abbreviated tour of Amsterdam in the pouring rain.
“ They then took me to a student hotel but as it was full, waited til I got a reservation at another hotel. In a room with eight, six English girls and an American from Connecticut.”
Amsterdam was an easy walking city. I walked over bridges and canals, went into museums, saw original Rembrandts and bought souvenirs but thought more and more about going home. I began retracing my steps and taking trains south.
“The train to Bonn was late so I came to Dusseldorf. Staying in the Diana Hotel. Rooms get worse as you go higher up. My room is about the size of the bed. Costs 22DM. Still can’t decide whether to stay.”
The next day I did travel to Bonn and spent two days there in a hotel that looked like a mausoleum but only cost 15DM. I spent my time walking around, stumbled on Beethoven’s birthplace and ended up walking along the Rhine. That was my favourite thing to do.
“Took the train to Frankfurt. Had decided I would go home. Went to a travel agent and found it cost 1800 DM one way so I decided I would stay in Europe for another three weeks!”
This was an easy decision because I didn’t have that much money. I couldn’t believe how much it cost and kept saying, it’s only one way. The agent said, that’s more expensive. With the money I brought with me and with my chicken farm salary, I only ever had 1300 DM. It never even crossed my mind to phone my parents and have them send me money. So I was stuck in Europe for three more weeks.
Notes:
In 1973, one Canadian dollar equalled 2.67 DM
I took all the pictures with my first camera. My first attempts at photography. I used slide film, so I only saw the results after I got home.
Genealogy Ensemble 