Rome. The Eternal City. We traveled back in time as we walked its streets, meandered through the Forum, toured the Colosseum, and ventured underground through the catacombs. The Pantheon, one of the only intact Roman buildings, has a free-standing dome so large you marvel at how architects and engineers could design and build such a structure, many years ago.
You feel lost in the enormity of the city, feeling like you're shrinking in comparison. The Basilica. The Pietà, a marble statue depicting the lifeless body of Christ, held tenderly by his mother Mary. The Trevi Fountain, where I tossed a coin and made a wish.
Always ready to go, the Caravanners climbed onto buses for an overnight trip to Sorrento, Pompeii, and the Blue Grotto. We marveled at the cremated remains left behind when Vesuvius entombed the entire city with ash and lava.
Then, beautiful, mountainous, the blue azure Gulf of Genoa waters, with villages and cities clinging to the mountainside. The Caravan is in transit to Nice, France.
Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier III, the Sovereign Prince of Monaco. Truly a fairy tale wedding. Monaco was a must as a side trip on our way from Nice, and we laid down money at the world famous Monte Carlo Casino.
Next, to the French Riviera with three stops in a row: Nice, Cannes, and St. Tropez.
Beachgoing was popular. Unlike in the United States, scantily-clad ladies were decked out in bikinis, all the rage in European beachwear. Still considered risqué on many beaches in the U.S., Bridgett Bardot appeared in 1952 wearing a bikini in the movie Manina, the Girl in the Bikini. Acceptance of the bikini throughout the world was gradual, and then exploded. So at seventeen I was seeing it for the first time on the Riviera.
The Caravanners always put on a spectacular photo opportunity with a show and tell day about the purchases made so far on the Caravan. Watches, cameras, cameos, radios, scarves, and even Wally’s Isetta had a prominent place in the lineup.
Our Caravan women wore their Fräulein dresses from Bavaria, the men their lederhosen posing in a Schuhplattler pose. Ours were durable leather, traditionally were worn by workers. (I later found that on the African Caravan in 1959 that my lederhosen served as well as a work garment.)
The precursor for the Wally Byam Caravan Club’s International rallies began when Wally Byam attended his first rally in 1953 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Our itinerary included the 1956 rally in Perpignan, France. At the rally were hundreds of trailers from all over Europe. Our entire Caravan pulled in and parked, making quite a sight for the other attendees.
What did I learn there? One gentleman from Scotland loaned me one of his kilts and sporran to wear. We posed together in our tartans. Before we dressed he swore me to everlasting secrecy as to what goes on underneath the kilt. I will not disclose it now, I will never tell.
Part Three: From New York to Zurich
Part Four: An Instant Connection
Part Five: Brimming With Enthusiasm
Part Six: An Early Morning Excursion
Part Seven: One, Two, Down the Hatch
