Domain of the Golden Dragon Crossing the Prime Meridian- Part 4

Traveling Back to the United States 

Going the LONG Way

27 Sep 1965 - 23 Oct 1965

Adventures in Italy

Part 4

Sunday, 10 Oct 1965 -

The Coopers left Greece the night before for an 18-hour cruise across the Ionian/Adriatic  Seas to Italy. Martha writes a quick detailed postcard to her family telling them about our time in Greece. Nice to know that we had a personal cabin to sleep in on our way to another country. To this 9-year-old, it is much better than trying to sleep on a plane!

We enter into Brindisi the next morning around 10AM. 

Walking through the town’s market place we see all of the sorts of different peddlers & what they sell to local buyers. Here is a local sponge seller.

Things have to be run differently now that we are using the European Railroad. My parents came up with this excellent & efficient travel arrangement. “We had a COOPERative system as we arrived in each city. As soon as we got off the train Mary would sit with luggage, Gib would inquire about timetables & fairs, Stan would phone for hotel reservations if needed. We'd all take the bags to the baggage room where Marty would put fresh clothes in one bag & check our excess baggage.”

We board our train & found seats together for the five-hour ride to Naples. We spend 2 days in Naples. 

Monday, 11 Oct 1965 - 

Martha continues in her Christmas letter, “At this point, we started buying food in local shops to take on the trains with us as we travel through Europe, as food is very expensive on the trains. So, for our supper that evening we had salami, cheese, bread, wine & fresh pears. The European railroad system is very good & we always knew what we were doing. We rode second-class trains & we found them very comfortable. While in Naples we hired our own guide to take us down to Pompeii, 17 miles south of Naples.  

I remember this visit. Here is a souvenir booklet my parents picked up. In the Table of Contents; my parent checked off the places we looked at. This includes the Museum, Forum, Basilica, Temple of Apollo, Building of Eumachia, House of the Vettil, House of the Faun, Arch of Caligula, the Amphitheater, & House of Silver Wedding.

Pompeii was buried under lava & ashes after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. Serious excavations began at the end of the 16th century.

The item that made the most impression on me was at the museum was of the form of the dog. The victims found in the renovation after discovering Pompeii in 1798, were preserved by running liquid plaster into the skeletons as they were discovered, which takes the imprint of the bodies left in the ashes; this when solidified, preserves the actual skeleton & shape of the body as it was in life.

We visited the Forum. Back in 1965, you can see the top row marble horizontal bars above the Colonnade. In current photos, they are gone.

You can see Mt. Vesuvius in the background.

We walked along on one of the streets where you can see the oval steps for pedestrians to step on as they cross the road.

In the House of Vettil, on the north wall, we took a picture of one of the many "Freso" paintings in Pompeii. This one depicts Daedalus & Pasiphae of Roman mythology. 

Dad takes a picture looking down into the Amphitheater. 

We return to Naples for dinner. We stay at the Grille Hotel near the city's railroad station.

Tuesday, 12 Oct 1965-

We walk around the city of Naples. We stop for lunch at an outdoor cafe. Gib & I enjoy feeding the pigeons. Gib misses the pigeons that he raised in Japan. Mary finds her doll from Italy.

Wednesday, 13 October 1965 - 

After checking out of our room, we walk to the train station to buy our ticket to Rome. It is a 90-minute ride.

Our Naples & Rome Train Tickets

Ruins of ancient Roman Viaduct

We departed Naples at 1100 & arrived in Rome at 1315. We visited Rome for 7 hours. We were able to see the Roman Forum, the Coliseum, the Catacombs & St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. 

Roman Forum

Interior of the Roman Coliseum 

Interior of the Roman Coliseum

We take a tour bus out to the Catacombs of Domitilla, the largest in Rome, covering 11 miles of caves. We were led into the underground burial tunnels by a guide.

Our guide

The steps that lead us down to the tombs.

You can see the name engravings on the stones.  Artwork is added throughout the tunnels as seen here.

Tickets for St. Peter's Plaza in Vatican City, Rome.

Our tour bus takes us back to the central city & we move on to the Vatican. We purchased tickets to go inside. 

Martha remembers that Michelangelo’s Pieta in the Basilica was on a world tour. The time we were there, the Pieta was in the United States. We saw a reproduction of this beautiful statue.

In the evening, we board an overnight train to Zürich, Switzerland, which lasted 8.5 hours. 

Domain of the Golden Dragon Crossing the Prime Meridian- Part 3

Traveling Back to the United States 

Going the LONG Way

27 Sep 1965 - 23 Oct 1965

 Part 3

The Cooper family is now leaving the Middle East & on their way to southeastern Europe to Athens, Greece.

My brother, Gib, was on a hunt for postage stamps as we visited each country to add to his collection. My mother was adding to my doll collection that she started when other friends & my father would bring to me after they returned from a foreign country. 

Here is a photo of my collection from 1962. This also included my miniature dog collection. We would also find dolls from each country for Mary on this current trip which I just retrieved from photos waiting to be placed in my travel scrapbook mentioned in a previous post.

Doll of Thailand

Doll from Iran

Thursday, 7 Oct 1965 - 

We depart Tehran, Iran, at 0720 taking Air France to Beirut, Lebanon. We arrive at Beirut at 0810 to depart within the hour to fly to Athens, 

Greece. We land at 1115.

Landing in Beirut this time in daylight. 

View of Beirut from the plane.

After checking into the Astor Hotel, we went out for lunch & walked around the city. We saw the changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Syntagma or Constitution Square in front of the Presidential Palace. We shopped for souvenirs including stamps for Gib, dolls for Mary, postcards for Martha & unusual small musical Greek instruments for Stan. We tried to sample the local foods as much as possible. 

We had a beautiful view of the Acropolis Hill with the Parthenon & other ancient buildings from our room at our hotel, especially awe-inspiring at night with floodlights on it.  

Friday, 8 October 1985 - 

We awaken early & have breakfast to walk around this beautiful aged historic city. My mother uses her Kodak Instamatic camera & my father uses his movie camera visualizing our moves. My parents were planning to show these films & slides to the family when we returned to the U. S.

Our first destination was to view the Parthenon at the top of the Acropolis. We are awed with being in a place where early Greek history took place. We were part of a guided tour group of this “high city.”

I remember being amazed by the beautiful women carvings on the Porch of the Caryatids at the Erechtheum temple dedicated to Athena & Poseidon. 

Martha points to Mars Hill located across the city of Athens, Greece, where St. Paul preached the Gospel.

Walking down from the hill, we passed the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, a second-century theater & take this photo at the most top area looking down into the theater.

We continue to walk on the south side of the Acropolis to the Dionysus Theater. This theater is in a more ruinous state than the previous one as it was built in the 6th century BC, 800 years earlier. Stan and Mary sit in the High Priest’s marble seat. We continued on to see Ancient Agora which was the central business area.

Saturday, 9 Oct 1965 - 

The next morning, after breakfast, we packed our luggage for departure at 1300 for a three-hour bus trip to the city of Patras on the west coast. In Patras, at 1730, we boarded an overnight steamer to take us across the Mediterranean Sea to Brindisi on the east coast of Italy.  

Domain of the Golden Dragon: Crossing the Prime Meridian - Part 2

Traveling Back to the United States 

Going the LONG Way

27 Sep 1965 - 23 Oct 1965

Part 2

Mary, Gib & Martha in Tehran, Iran

We left Japan on  Monday, 27 Sep 1965, with plans flying as much as we could with the military. Getting out of Japan with no scheduled flights was adventurous, but I would not do it now as an adult. Flying from Yokosuka to Okinawa, Japan, then on to the Philippines with delays; & then on to Saigon, South Vietnam, & on to Bangkok, Thailand. We experienced a couple of delays with plane & later war problems in New Dehli, India. My parents then moved on to commercial flights. My father made arrangements for us to fly with Air France to Columbo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) &  transfer to another flight to Karachi, Pakistan, & another transfer flight to Tehran, Iran. What happened was the adventure!

Saturday, 2 Oct 1965 - My mother continues in her travel journal.

I awake at about 0730 but lie in bed as the others sleep soundly. The phone rings at 9AM, Mr. Peter asking if we want to tour the Royal Grand Palace. Told him we had other plans. Woke everyone up to get dressed & down to breakfast. Children had pancakes with white Karo syrup. They said tasted like doughnuts. My drip dray dress needs no pressing. Our packed bags ready to be removed from the room. After breakfast took a cab to the American Embassy, through Embassy Row. Our cab driver pointed out many interesting spots to us. “The White House” he called the Prime Ministers residence also called the Kittakacharn, He drives on the left side of the road. There are pictures of the King & Queen Sirikit everywhere. We passed the MAAG (Military Assistance Advisory Group) Compound which we later returned to after leaving the U.S. Embassy. To this point, I was much impressed by apparent cleanliness & wide neat streets of Bangkok; but, driving through the Chinatown district was an eye-opener as this area was the complete opposite of Bangkok with congested traffic & filthy streets. The people seem pleasant & happy enough though. After leaving the embassy, it took at least an hour to go a few blocks to reach the MAAG Compound. Noticed the Thai equivalent of a lei in the flower shops. They are straight in length of various colored rope with fancy knotted tassels on either end. I noticed theses hung around the necks of a few passengers at the airport. At the Compound, our cab driver waits. At the exchange, we bought more film. Also saw the Indian stripe Madras bedspreads I’ve been wanting to get for Gib. They were $2.75 ($2.95 at Clark) but didn’t have in blue-green. Stan had to go to an office for a special permit to buy cigars. Mary & I look around. I broke my sunglasses in half at the nose piece. Bought new ones (blue) as that was all they had for 60¢ but not as good as my American opticals. Mary & I looked around the Oriental shop upstairs but they didn’t have much. In the area was also a commissary, a very busy place. We were back to the cab who took us back through the congestion to a stamp store where Gib got Thai stamps & I bought & wrote postcards.  

Here is a postcard, Martha writes to her in-laws. (She mails the postcards & Stan’s letter to her parents from the MAAG compound.) 

I wonder if Gib purchased those same stamps for his stamp collection.

Our cabbie waited & then took us back to the hotel about 1430. For ฿70 ($3.50) we had a 3-hour tour of the city. In the lobby restroom to freshen up & in the Silver Room at the hotel for lunch. Mr. Elhail joined us for a short chat. The desk clerk came in to tell us they removed our bags from room. After lunch, we waited in lobby playing cards, writing, etc. until airport transportation arrived at 5PM. Drove different route out of the city where we saw country sights on back roads than on the main highway. At the airport, our luggage taken directly to Air France check-in & Stan didn’t even have the tickets! While he arranges for the tickets, he learns we can only use American Express Card to Paris or New York. What a predicament as we only brought $300 Travel Cheques with us intending to go American Express all the way. He has to straighten this out by buying tickets all the way to Paris & will be reimbursed when we get to Paris, even though we are going to Tehran. While children & I wait in the lounge, our flight is announced & there is no Stan. He finally arrives just as the bus is loading for our plane. We ride out to the plane & board. We have a French &  a Japanese stewardess & a French steward in our section. Many empty seats so Stan & Gib share 3 seats. Mary & I the 3 behind them. Many nationalities represented. A young pregnant woman with a small baby about 1 year sit across from us. We take off at 1900. Towels & candy. I read the paper, Dad & I have Scotch & water, followed by a delicious dinner from a French menu. Beef with mushroom gravy, cooked celery hearts, Prosciutto ham salad & vegetable salad, canned water, French rolls, fresh Thai fruits & later café. Mary went to sleep & I tried to go to sleep. Stan & Gib play cards & sleep. We arrive at Colombo, Ceylon,  about 1945 with a one-hour stopover. Airport terminal rather primitive lent of tropical atmosphere, open with rough tables & rattan chairs. As Mary & I walk hand in hand, she tripped on step & turned her ankle. Almost took me down with her. I got her in a chair & I examined her, it looks OK. Everyone was concerned. Airport office comes to inquire. Ceylonese waiter & attendant, Indian type, bare feet, long white skirts with white mess jackets. Stan & Gib to post office desk to buy stamps. Mary & I join them. A young mother asked if I could speak English & then she asked for help. She is a Belgian evacuee from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), who spent 15 days at the Belgian embassy in Bangkok, she got word from the Belgian government that her husband (a Doctor) had left East Pakistan on the 29th to Ceylon. She wanted Stan to call a certain Catholic hospital to see if he might be there as Belgium has no government representative in Ceylon. She was on her way home but wanted to talk to her husband if she could find him. She is 6 months pregnant & with an 11-month old baby, Isabel. She says she started to learn English only 6 months ago. Does very good. After many phone calls, Stan was unable to locate her husband. While waiting, Mary & I played with little Isabel. We were served a carbonated grape or lime drink. The grape was different but good. We return to our plane, a Boeing 707. We spoke Japanese to the Japanese stewardess & learned she lived in Yokohama. Announcements made in French, English & Japanese. We taxied down the runway but called back to the terminal for some unknown reason. We were asked to depart from the plane. When we got back on, Gib was not with us so Dad ran all way back to the terminal.  Gib had gone back to the men’s room. We took off at 2145. Slept to Karachi. 

Sunday, 3 Oct. 1965

Arrive Karachi at 0100. Got off & walked to the terminal. Looked at souvenirs. Then had coffee 

courtesy of Air France. Spoke to a German couple & back to plane. We took off at 0200 & slept to Tehran. We arrived at 0330. We went through immigration. It was very cold. Mary & I were freezing in our summer dresses. Get luggage & taken to Carlton Hotel near the American Embassy by Air France in their minibus. The driver tried to talk us into Tehran Palace Hotel. [Maybe he knew this would be a better place for us to stay.]  Arrived hotel at 0400. Had to wait for a desk clerk. Very sullen. Steward took us to 6th floor. 2 rooms. Would not give us 1 room with an extra bed at that hour. Our first reaction to this hotel was one of disappointment. Stan complained that the rooms were not cleaned nor ready, so they took us to 2 more. Stan & Gib in a suite, Mary & I across the hall in a smaller room. Our room had an unpleasant odor. But, we were too tired to think of anything but sleep, so to bed. Cold, as no blanket, only a sheet over us. Awake at 9AM. Stan & I discuss the room arrangement. Move all luggage into Stan's room. Dress & down to breakfast at 10:15. The waiter told us breakfast was served from 7-10, but for us, he would serve. The hotel had lots of marble & Persian rugs. Small hotel, the simple dining room just off the lobby with about 8 tables, a TV set & sofa arrangement in front of the TV. We had a simple breakfast of fried eggs, french rolls, Nescafe, butter & very good cherry preserves for the cold dry toast. After breakfast, Stan arranged for us to share their suite with extra beds in the sitting room for Gib & Mary. After breakfast, we took a walk seeing sights. Most places enclosed by high walls. Came to a square where we took pics in front of a statue. There were Iranian & Austrian flags galore in honor of a visit by Austrian president Jonas. Took a left turn off the square where there were many gift & Persian rug shops. Stopped in one where we looked at brass samovars & lanterns. Considered a lantern for $4. Walked further then took a right which brought us on to a more dilapidated street with curb shops (covered stands) selling mostly clothing, household wares, etc. One food cart had huge red beets cooked over charcoal pots with syrup to go over them. We stopped in a shabby looking restaurant for soft drinks (Pepsi & Orange seem to be only available). Big pot over fireboat at the entrance contains white thick pasty looking substance. Flatbreads in all sizes & shapes (round or oval) being handled & sold by street vendors. We saw horse & donkey carts. 

On a street corner police box, Stan asked the man for directions to the Bazaar. We took a right & strolled in front of metal worker shops, broom making shops of little boys working diligently with great pride in their speed while we watched. Junk sellers including buttons on the bare sidewalk. Some people with just a few items to sell. One with empty jars of all sizes & shapes. Clothes where some must have been 10 times used. Herds of sheep with paint marks being guided through streets. Turn right into what we thought was the Bazaar. I hung on to my purse. Stan tells me that the men were staring at Mary & me. We hurried through the narrow dirt street where we came to an opening where more vendors sold their items on the ground, including old sewing machines, old phonographs, rusty locks & keys, & birds. We looked for a way out & took it. We walked on until we came to a mosque. In front of the mosque were stalls selling mostly chrome samovars & scales of all sizes, mortar & pestles in brass. Into walled mosque area where we looked into the open central area & watched the men at prayer. We moved on & took a cab back to the hotel. They brought an extra bed in for Gib. We got bathed & dressed after a short nap. Stan & Gib out to stamp & music stores. They came back with a Persian flute of 2 reeds, very difficult to play. Need lots of wind. We took a cab to the US Armed Forces O’ Club in the hilly suburbs. Women were dressed in their chada, mostly black & some small dull prints. 

Had a cocktail with a nice dinner. A good soothing 4 piece band played for the diners. After dinner we looked through an art shop. We met an Army couple who just arrived a month ago from Pennsylvania. We took a cab back to our hotel & to bed. 

Monday, 4 Oct. 1965

At 0500 Gib woke me up to feel his head. He was burning with fever. His temperature was 102.° The family went to breakfast while he stayed in bed. At 0700 Stan went to the American Embassy. I sent tea up for Gib. Mary & I went back to the room. Gib’s temp 104º. Stan returns. Says Navy Attache Capt. McCarthy sending his car at 1PM to take us to the hospital. We stayed in the hotel. We had dry Prosciutto ham sandwichs & coffee for lunch as full one meal costs $2 each for a French menu. Waited for McCarthy's car. About 1330 Mrs. McCarthy herself arrived. Very friendly & apologetic as she had taken other out of town friends shopping & didn’t know she had to be back at noon. Stan said Capt. McCarthy had tried to call her so I could go shopping with them too. She & their Iranian driver, Aly, took us the long distance out to the Army Hospital in the suburbs. Very nice hospital. Mrs. McCarthy went home. She then sent Aly back for us. Also offered her car for sightseeing tomorrow. Accepted. We spent about 2 hrs. in the hospital. Saw Dr. Houston. He told that Gib had a viral influenza. Temp still 104º. Aspirin, bed rest, lots of fluids. Aly takes us back to hotel. Gib back to bed about 1600. Putter around room. Then Mary, Dad & I around went around the corner to Semiramis Hotel for dinner on their roof garden. Have drinks. They have glass walls so we have a night view of the city. Watched the wild vehicular travel at the intersection below. Mary & Dad had a big chicken dinner. I had a chelo-kabob, which I couldn’t eat. It was a plain lamb (more like tough mutton) kabob on plain white long grain rice. Tasteless with a peculiar odor. This might be a little more decorative but the food at Carlton is better. After dinner, we walked back to the hotel. Watch TV for a while. American Armed Forces TV service from 4-11 PM.  So to bed. 

Tuesday, 5 Oct. 1965

Up at 7AM to bathe & dress. Call Dr. Houston. He told us to come out & pick up Gib’s medication. To breakfast in the hotel. Then we wait for Aly to pick us up.

This is where the diary ends in her composition/journal book. A writing tablet was inserted in the book (with some pages torn out) starting again a week later on Wednesday, 13 Oct 1965.

Using the Christmas 1965 letter, I can fill in the blanks from here. Mom writes: 

We tried to get a military flight out of Iran, but would have to wait a week. As it was we spent 4 days there as Gib had a seize of traveler’s disease. The senior Naval Attache, Captain McCarthy, & his wife were wonderful to us. They took us to the US Hospital & gave us their car & driver to get around. They even invited us to stay at their house, but we thought it would be too embarrassing for Gib. 

So, while he stayed in the hotel room, the rest of us were driven outside the city to see the way of life in Iran. We saw the old Shah’s tomb, watched the antiquated method of cleaning Persian rugs, & then toured the city; browsing around the old bazaar & other markets. We saw the crown jewels, the Shaw’s palace & made other many interesting observations too numerous to mention. I’m sure we saw all there was to be seen in Tehran. After Gib licked his problem, we flew again by Air France through Beirut, Lebanon, to Athens, Greece.

Persian rugs drying after they are woven. They are plunged into pond cold water then spread to dry in the sun for colorfastness.

Shah's Tomb

Tile Architectural Feature

Entrance to the Shah's Palace

Thursday, 7 Oct 1965 - 

We depart Tehran, Iran, at 0720 taking Air France to Beirut, Lebanon. We arrive at Beirut at 0810 to depart within the hour to fly to Athens, Greece. We land at 1115. Martha sends another postcard to her in-laws.

Believe me, our time in Europe fares much better than the first half of this trip.