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A Different Easter Story

Cowpuncher

Well-known member
Many years ago, 1973, when I was working for Big Oil in Brussels, Belgium we decided to drive to Rome for Easter. Good Friday is a holiday in Europe.

We left Brussels and got about 150 miles into Germany when the traffic started piling up. German helicopters flew over the traffic and made announcements which, of course, we couldn't understand. It didn't make any difference anyway. Several severe accidents took place.

We reached Switzerland in mid-afternoon. The road abruptly ended in a huge snowbank - maybe ten feet high, There was no traffic over the Alps. Remembering we had seen oncoming traffic a few miles back, we backtracked. A sign pointing the was to a train carrying cars led us to a shuttle. We drove on the train. It was snowing and windy when the train left the north side of the Alps. Twenty minutes later, the train emerged on the other side of the Alps and it was spring there with all the fruit trees in bloom.

We had planned on staying the night in Lugano, Italy and driving on to Rome the next day. Of course, every hotel was either closed from the season or completely full. We decided to drive on to Rome that night.

The traffic was horrendous. The Autostrada was a 300 mile parking lot. Since there was nothing else to do, we just stayed on the road and eased along. At one point, we made seven miles in three hours. Accidents were everywhere and cars were running out of gasoline. Fortunately, we made it through the traffic to a huge gas station. The traffic eased up and we got to Rome about 11:00 AM.

Driving in Rome is certainly an experience. I guess they trained on those chariots years ago. We had an Italian friend who spent the day showing us Rome. Delightful.

Sunday, we took a motor coach to St. Peters square to see the Easter services. The weather was partly sunny with a sprinkle now and then. However, when the Pope came out and gave his talk, thew clouds cleared and it was beautiful, Our children were aged 4 and 8 at the time so I was holding them up on my shoulders so they could see what was going on.

I noticed that the wife's purse was open and reminded her to be careful in crowds. There were about 250,000 people there that day. After the service, we sat on the banks of the Tiber river and waited for the crowd to disperse. I had a sudden thought. Did the wife have her passport?

Of course, the purse had not opened by accident. A lowly scoundrel had opened it and taken her car keys and passports!! Fortunately, I traveled a lot in Europe and always kept my passport separate.

When you register at a hotel in Europe, you have to show your passport or identification and the police check every night for persons of interest. I thought they might be able to locate our hotel from the things taken from the purse. We were driving a Volkswagen station wagon which stood out in a crowd of thousands of Fiats. As a precaution, I took the rotor out of the distributor when parking the car near the hotel.

It is no fun if you lose your passports in a foreign country. The US Consulate will give you a temporary passport IF there is another American there with a passport to vouch for your identity. And don't say the passports were stolen - they were lost.

Took a day to get the new passports. Drove back to Brussel through Austria and Germany, in beautiful weather, this time without traffic.

All in all, a memorable and enjoyable trip.
 

Cal

Well-known member
Very good story. Late '01 we did a 6 mile walking tour (following a bus tour)of Rome during the Immaculate Conception holiday. Lots of people, few restrooms, but got within a couple of car lengths from the Pope. Rome has got to be one of the most fascinating places on earth.
 

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