Cologne to Amsterdam

July 14, 1963

It was Sunday but since we could not understand a word we decided to make time and keep driving. We took the Autobahn and drove along seeing nothing but other cars and highway all day. We went way past our exit and had a hard time getting off. So we took the back roads after that to see some countryside. In a little town we found a grocery and though it was closed for Sunday we got them to let us in and bought some things, Berliners and bread and stuff. We stopped in the woods, off the main road and lunched. There was a lot of junk strewn around, dirty paper and old cans and bottles. Litter bugs! Patty stepped into a trap someone had made and we all laughed about that.

We drove on into Holland on the autobahn, not seeing much but making time. We could smell something burning. The car sounded funny. Our Thessalonika the job seemed to be running out. So we turned off into and started looking for camping signs or a VW garage. We had to ask directions finally but found our camp and limped in. It was a big deserted, soggy field with water standing in some places, not too inviting the grass was lovely and green. We drove out in the middle gingerly and then the car gave a croak and expired. A nice little grandmotherly looking lady in charge said they had had a two day rainstorm, the worst in years. Mother set to work washing all the clothes in the wash house and daddy was called the garage to take the car. They came and towed it away ignominiously. We had supper in the sort of sitting room of the camp, pork chops, fried potatoes and Seven Up and watch TV a while. We all got baths and to bed. It was almost sunny and good wind so are close got dry.

Utrecht

July 15, 1963

Daddy and John got up quick and got to the garage bright and early so they’d work on us first. Seems there was a rag in the back daddy used to test the oil and wipe his hands, which had gotten sucked into the air intake. The technician thought there was something else major wrong but couldn’t work on it for two or three days and thought we could limped to Amsterdam so we left the car for servicing and did some sightseeing. We went on a boat tour of the canals of Utrecht of which there are plenty. It was restful sitting in the boat and seeing the old city glide by. We saw into everyone’s cellers, wine cellars, cheese cellers, beer cellers, etc. We got Patty her doll and mother spoons and daddy his Phillips shaver he had wanted so long. Then we found a little place where we wedged ourselves in and had sausage, fried potatoes, applesauce and strawberry Sundaes.

We went to the Cathedral and climbed the tower which was 447 steps and looked around at the countryside. We were killing time while daddy went and got the car. After we got down we tried to get into the church but did not have the admission price. We looked around the cloister outside the church, picked up pieces of someone’s shattered windshield and cool bar heels till he arrived.

We drove to Amsterdam gingerly and in the depressing rain. The fields are all pastures, cut through with drainage canals. We could see oil pumps but no windmills. We stopped at American Express and got a letter from granddaddy saying they had a house for us, stopped to see the VW garage and made a date for the morning and then made our way to the camp to watch the 707’s roar over us. The whole field we camped on was perfectly level, short green grass and sodden, so every footprint filled with water. I flopped down on my camp bed and it collapsed each perturbed daddy but we got it fixed.

July 16, 1963

Daddy and John – heard this before? – Took the car to the garage and we wash dishes and tidied things up. Then we took a tram into the American Express and met them there. We went on a tour by bus. Stopped at the Museum and looked at some famous masterpieces, the old part of town with narrow streets, bridges at each block over the canals, where Anne Frank lived and the blocks and blocks where the Jewish section was and they had all been exterminated by Hitler. They are going to tear the whole section down now. We saw the palace with 26,000 piles supporting it on the mud and sand. The guide showed us some of the beautiful modern homes and we visited a diamond factory and saw how they cut and polished gems.

We ate lunch in a very rushed little cafeteria, terrifically cheap but good. We got plates of the wiener snitzle, roasted potatoes, applesauce, tomato and noodle soup and pudding. Then we hurried home and packed up because we could have the car and there was nothing wrong with it at all.

We drove out to Harlem on the coast and found our way to the sea. The dike was so huge we could hardly realize what it was, just sand dunes, the wind was cold off the North Sea. We bought a fried fish and a huge pickle and some Seven Up. We laughed about the joke about the man who wanted the cup of coffee to pour on his feet, we would have too. Then as we followed the coast down we went past a lot of tulip feels we were where they were digging the drive bulbs. We passed beautiful homes and nice tree-lined streets. In Delft we got a teapot mother had her heart set on.

We stopped for the night at Dordrecht and met two American families. One family had been in Jordan doing relief work, Mennonites and the other were a couple, Friends. She was wearing an Orissa skirt, something that had been sent to the US and sold at a church bazaar. They were very friendly and nice the kids went out in a boat and had fun the grass was nice, ground dry, it didn’t rain and we really enjoyed this place. It wasn’t a bit crowded either. The bathroom was on the slant, made us all feel seasick! We sat up quite late talking and enjoying the moonlight.