?What is one of your favorite trips that you've taken? What made it great?

After arriving at my unit in Germany at the beginning of February of 1962, I found that since the Berlin Crisis of June of 1961, there was a dependent ban, the armed forces where not taking dependents to Germany; nevertheless, as soon as I found out that I could buy an airline ticket from American Express and pay for it in installments, I did so, bought a one-way ticket on TWA from New York to Frankfurt for Miriam. She arrived on her 18th birthday, the 18th of March of 1962.

We rented a room with bath at a house, later moved to a very small apartment on the third floor of a 6-unit apartment building in Pfaffen Schawbenheim, a village close to Bad Kreuznach, still later on back to Bad Kreuznach, to the second floor of a private house at Mobüstrasse 56 owned by Walter and Gertrude Vogel, finally to comfortable government quarters.

First, I bought a 1953 Mercedes 170, with suicide doors, that had a heater but without fan, later on, after my son Humberto was born, sold it and bought a 1956 Buick Special with Dynaflow automatic transmission, but most importantly, with a great heater.

Humberto was born on 18 September 1962 at 2nd Evac Army Hospital, the one we had in Bad Kreuznach. When he was six months old, his pediatrician, Captain Daniel Harston, detected a heart murmur and referred us to a cardiologist in Frankfurt, who after tests and a hospital stay, told us he had a hole in his heart, asked us if he was active, which he was in excess, and told us not to worry unless he stopped being active, that it probably would disappear as he grew up.

Imagine now the vicissitudes of Miriam having to report to German police every week at the beginning until the priest resolved that problem, the first room we rented where we had to start a coal fire to heat the water to take a bath in the bathtub, having our first baby and now learning that he had a hole in his heart, being thousands of miles away from both our parents, when Miriam was 18 and I was 20 years old.

Although we had become friends with Walter and Gertrude, Germans in general were not easy to befriend, were not friendly until they knew you. They are too serious, too formal.

Although we had travelled to Brussels, (about 5 hours drive from Bad Kreuznach), to visit Enrique Almagro and meet his girlfriend Didi Spottiswood, had knot yet gone anywhere else. We bought a used camping tent for $10, a Coleman lantern and stove, air mattresses and sleeping bags.

Gasoline for us was rationed at 100 gallons per month, but very cheap at 11 cents a gallon, so we bought 5-gallon cans of gasoline to travel to Brussels, because gas in Belgium was about 60 cents a gallon

Then, on September of 1963, we decided to take a vacation. We went to Spain's Consulate in Frankfurt to get a visa for Miriam (I did not need one, I travelled with my military leave order), but got there just after 1 PM and they closed at 1 PM. Then, a man with a turban came out to the reception suite and I insisted that we were from out of town, that we needed to see the consul. I had worn my uniform, a terrible idea as it turned out, and when the Consul finally saw us, told us that it was impossible to issue a tourist visa for a Cuban, that it was a long, complicated process. Not only what he said, but the way he said it, infuriated me, so I told him to keep Spain, that we would go to Italy instead.

So it was that we went to the Italian Consulate and there, things were completely different, very friendly, accommodating. He asked me if Miriam's passport was still valid and I told him that, although the Cuban passport had the issue but not the expiration date, everyone knew that it lasted 8 years. He gave us the visa for Miriam with no problem, then we explained that the baby had no passport, no papers other than his birth certificate. He replied that it was not a problem, that in Italy they love bambinos.

After obtaining the visa, we ventured on our great adventurous trip, left Bad Kreuznach and drove to Garmish-Partenkishen, a ski resort by the Alps and the Austrian border, the Army had quarters there where we stayed that night.

Next morning, we left early on the Brenner Pass, toward Insbrück and then Verona in Northeastern Italy. the German border was manned by formal functionaries wearing dark green coats, then across the no-man's land to the Austrian border, where likewise functionaries wore black coat and were very serious. On the other side, the Austrian personnel were the same, then the no-man's land.

All morning we had climbed the mountains, passing struggling little cars with engines revving in first gear between switchbacks, but some time past Insbrück it was all downhill and the Low setting of the transmission did not impede the car from increasing speed; the asbestos of the brake pads began to burn, a terrible stink and the brakes began to fade. I pressed hard with both feet on the brake pedal and was able to stop at a rest area, where we watched all the little cars we had passed on the way up, pass us on the way down, still revving up in first gear while the engine compression enable them to maintain their low speed.

When approaching the Italian border we experienced a great surprise when we saw the Italians wearing a loud green coat, with the collar button undone, the tie knot loosen and loud music blaring from the radio.

Our son, not yet quite one year old, was in the back seat in a car bed, covered by a blanket; we hoped nobody noticed, but when approaching the Italian border he woke up and started crying. After giving the border guard my leave papers and Miriam's passport, he asked about the bambino, whereupon we told him that he had no papers, to which he replied that it was not a problem and let us through.

Finally we got to Verona. Using our trusty campsite guide for Europe we went to it, set up our tent and went to the U.S. Army offices in Verona to buy gasoline coupons for Italy for use at Esso Standard Oil gas stations at a discounted price.

We then went in search of the Balcony of Romeo and Juliet, famous due to Shakespeare's work. We could not find where to park the big Buick, found a movie theater with an empty parking lot and asked a Carabinieri, dressed all in white and with white gloves, what we could do; he told us to park where tour buses did, for it would not fit in regular parking spaces. We had difficulty finding the balcony, because we didn't realize it was in an internal patio with a narrow entrance, but finally did and upon returning to the movie theater to get our car, found it surrounded by little Fiat 500's and similar small cars. Our son was tired and crying and we sought the Carabinieri to tell him about our dilemma. Although he was dressed immaculately in white with white gloves, he told me to grab one end of a Fiat's bumper while he grabbed the other, so that we moved several cars away to open an exit for us. Incredibly friendly!

When we left Verona I would have liked to go to Trieste, city right on the border with Slovania, but there was no time, so we drove southeast to Venice. Found our campsite, set up the tent, then went to a large parking lot just outside the canals, walked to a pier and contracted a motorized gondola, so we could see most of the important sights in one day, which would have been impossible in a pole-pushed one. Consequently, we travelled through many canals, where the gondoleer pointed out things such as the "Bridge of Sighs," Piazza San Marco and several other very nice things, including some absolutely beautiful mansions. Then he took us to an island to see the Murano crystal factory.

Murano was quite an experience, we saw glass blowers grab hot glass tubes from the oven, attach them to an adapter in their mouths, blow on it as they used something resembling pliers in each hand that they rotated until beautiful glass figurines were formed, then laid them aside to cool.

On the way out we went through a store where there was a exquisite glass water fountain for $1,500; everything was too expensive for us, but we bought a rough glass ash tray for $5 to keep as a souvenir.

We went also to the Piazza San Marco, visited the Basilica of San Marco and, as we did often throughout Italy, asked for and drank "due cafe."

From Venice we travelled west to Pisa, on the Autostrada, a toll road better than the German Autobahn. There we climbed the Leaning Tower, whose circular staircase's steps were worn mostly on the side the tower was leaning to as you went up. On top there are seven bells, each with a different musical note, and a beautiful site looking next door to the Baptistry and the Cathedral.

From Pisa we travelled south to Rome and it was already dark when we arrived. We had a street map of Rome but quickly got lost until, very happily, we realized we were on one side of one of the columnades in front of Saint Peter's Basilica. Now oriented we found our campsite right in the city.

At the entrance to the campsite there was a counter where a Yugoslavian sold refreshments, so we stopped and asked for due cafe, then driving to our site, we saw another tent with a Mexican hat hanging from the front. We stopped, they were two young guys who had just graduated as engineers and were touring Europe.

The following day we drove to the USO office, that was located at the Via della Conciliazione. There they had very cheap tours for American servicemen, so we took advantage of that and joined several of those bus tours. Thanks to that we were able to see many sites that we could not have seen on our own, as traffic in Rome was brutal, we often got lost, orienting ourselves when we saw the monument to Victor Emmanuelle II, also called The Typewriter due to its shape, at the Via Cristoforo Colombo.

When we returned to the USO the first day, we found that the big Buick, that we had parked in one of the narrow side streets that were adjacent to the very wide Via della Conciliazione on both sides, had actually blocked traffic there.

Other tours took us to places like the Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains, where Michaelangelo's Moses was then available to touch and had a worn foot in consequence. That is the most impressive statute I have seen in my life. They also took us to Santa Maria Maggiore, San Giovanni in Laterano, The Pantheon, The Coliseum, Foro Romano and other places.

We were able to buy tickets right there at the USO also for visits to the Vatican Museum, other places and for a Papal Public Audience that was held on Wednesdays.

Paul VI had just become Pope after the death of John XXIII and the day of the Pope Public Audience we dressed up, Miriam wearing high heels and were so early that we were first in line, right by Saint Peter's door. A Swiss Guard that saw us there as he did his rounds back and forth came to see us, told us that we would be trampled when they opened the doors by the unruly human mass behind us, and was so nice as to give us different tickets and take us in ahead of time to bleachers on the side of the main aisle of the basilica, by which Paul VI was brought in on a throne carried by men on their shoulders. We saw him very close and there is a picture with us in the foreground and the Pope on his throne that we bought and still have.

The Papal Audience was on the 18th of September, so after we left The Vatican, we stopped at a bakery and bought a birthday or torta, to celebrate Bert's birthday back at the campsite. When we stopped at the Yugoslavian's cafeteria to ask for due cafe, we put the box containing the cake on the counter; the Yugoslavian asked what it was about and we told him the bambino was 1 year old today, whereupon he turned around, yelled to his wife about the bambino's birthday, told everyone around, turned on music and shortly we had a party. The Mexicans came with their guitars, played and sang, we lighted the candle, sang Happy Birthday, Bert went to sleep and we had a great impromptu party.

We visited the Vatican Museum where we stood in line, with many nuns in the line ahead of us, the one in front of Miriam asked to pick up the beautiful baby, whereupon they passed Bert up the line from nun to nun and back again.

At the Vatican store we bought Pope Blessings, elegant documents blessing the named family; we ordered and received one for us, another from Miriam's parents, for my parents and for the Emilio Villamil family; this last one we had mailed directly from The Vatican to Cuba.

We toured the Basilica, saw La Pieta up close, before the protection it has now, went down to the mausoleum of Pope's tombs, all we possibly could in the limited time we had.

Had we known of the existence of Padre Pio then, we would have cut our stay in Rome short and driven to San Giovanni Rotondo to see him, only an hour and a half driving to the southeast of Rome. As it was, from Rome we drove north toward Florence.

On the way north, a British tractor-trailer that was pulling a second trailer behind the one attached to the 5th wheel, something rather common in Europe then, tried to pass another truck, but having the steering wheel on the right, had to pull to far to the left to pass, not realizing that another truck was coming in the opposite direction, which resulted in a spectacular accident that block the highway for hours. After waiting long in line, the Carabinieri rerouted traffic cross country, through farms, until well passed the accident, where they returned traffic to the highway.

We finally arrived at Florence, saw the famous Ponte Veccio, a replica of Michaelangelo's David that is on a hill overlooking the city, but did not go to the museum to see the original, nor visited DaVinci's Last Supper.

From Florence, we continued north to the City of Milan in Lombardia. There we went to L'Scala, a world famous theater, purportedly with the best acoustics. We also found the Milan Cathedral, the prettiest, most elaborate facade of any we had seen.
From Milano we drove northeast to the Swiss border and entered the San Gotardo Pass, a narrow road with switchbacks where we had to stop if a bus or truck were coming south, otherwise they could not navigate the switchbacks. We stopped in Bern, camped in a beautiful campsite next to a river across which was a zoo. There we took an 8mm movie of Bert walking toward us, that we later transferred to DVD.

We stopped at a bakery to taste some of the famous Swiss sweets, that had a counter with grass front leaning in at the top,; a redhead attendant came to help us, speaking first in French, then in German, while we pointed to the sweet we wanted and talked to him in English. After a while, I told Miriam in Spanish "que tonto es, no nos entiende" to which he quickly replied in perfect Spanish, ¡pero ustedes hablan español? ¡Hubieran empezado por ahí! He was a Spaniard.

From Bern we drove to the German border, got on the Autobahn and drove north back to Bad Kreuznach.

Back