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...

[Letter 13] Hotel Victoria Cannes, France Jan 13, 1933 Dear Folks The reason for my writing two days ahead of time is this: The "Bremen" leaves Cherbourg on the 15th and gets to New York on the 20th. As I have very interesting news for you, I thought I would rush this letter out sooner. So, here you are! I omitted to tell you in previous letters about our " carte d'identite ". All foreigners who stayin France more than two months are supposed to apply for one. Dora and I went down to the City Hall December 7th and answered a lot of questions about my mother's father's name etc. Then we had to pay 100 francs each and were given our identification cards, each with a terrible picture on it, which we had previously taken. Some people escape paying the tax by checking out to Italy for one night and then returning. Of course they would have to do that every sixty days. On New Year's day we had a grand dinner. Again I dusted off my old Tuxedo. Well this ev...

[Letter 9] Hotel Victoria Cannes, FRANCE November 18, 32 Dear Folks In my last letter I did not say much about our trip to Menton , Monte Carlo etc. because part of the trip was during the rain and so, though were were thrilled by the wonderful views, we decided then and there that we must take that journey again, in perfect weather. On November 11the dining room and the public halls were decorated with the flags of many nations in honor of Armistice Day. There were rattles and other noise-makers on the tables. We seated the six children at a special table for dinner and they had a hilarious time. I was the only man at a table of nine. A desire for wine was natural on such a festive occasion and so two of the ladies had large bottles of champagne on the table. We abstained. There are quite a number of husbandless ladies here and it is hard to tell which are widows, as those who have husbands rarely mention them. Three old British ladies have taken Dora's fancy. They are very brig...