Grand Tour 1932

[Letter 15] Aboard the "Conte Grande" Alexandria, Egypt January 24, 1933 Dear Folks: This letter will not be mailed before tomorrow or the next day. We have been in a different port every day but one, so naturally there has not been much time for letter-writing. Nevertheless, I believe you have been getting more letters than you expected. We got to Alexandria this morning and waited a while for the Egyptian officials to examine and stamp the passports. These dark-skinned guards take your passport away from you when you get off the boat and give it back to you when you get on the boat. Rather odd. Well, that isn't the only odd thing to report. From Naples our ship headed for Phileron , a port of Athens the capital city of Greece. Cook's had a big group at five dollars a person, but we decided to take in the sights in our own way. We took the electric train to Athens and then engaged a taxi. Soon we arrived at the famous stone hill, the Acropolis and were climbing th...

[Letter 14] Aboard SS "Conte Grande" January 18, 1933 Dear Folks, Here I am in the Lounge at a round table, typing on ship-board. I believe letters 1 and 2 also were written on board a boat. There is half an hour or so before dinner and I am tired of resting and reading in the stateroom. I expect to mail this letter in Naples to-morrow. One of the things I mean to mention in a previous letter is the way the land is utilized. The land is terraced: that is, a long stone wall is built and then a horizontal "step" is made, say eight or ten feet wide and then another vertical wall. From a distance the hill looks like a flight of broad steps, the verticals being gray and the horizontals being green. Think of the vast amount of labor used to wring a little fertile area out of nature. Our friends at the Victoria were genuinely sorry to see us go. Madame Lange, the charming Lithuanian lady, was interested in improving her English and in enjoying a good game of bridge. She, h...