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FreeFall > Across the Atlantic > 1965 Europe and North Africa

1965 Europe and North Africa Galleries

Prelude : I returned from my travels abroad in June, 1963. I went to work near downtown Chicago at my dad's company, W.D. Allen Tool & Machinery Inc. It was a small (formerly much larger) industrial supply outfit that had been around since 1887. He bought it with a partner around 1960. I did office work, moved inventory around and drove the delivery van. Driving the van I got to know Chicago pretty well. I liked working there, but if I continued I'd get drafted. To me that was like being sent to prison. My only choices were: army or school.

Prelude

1-England to Spain : I'll just mention one more thing about the military draft in the U.S. and drop the subject 'till it becomes relevant again. It always astounded young European and Australian fellows my age that there was such a thing in my country. Why on Earth, they wondered, would the country that won the Second World War need to continue to have a draft? Especially English guys whose country also won that war. Anyway, after what seemed like a sixteen hour vibro-massage on the DC-6 we got off the plane and stayed overnight in super-polluted Glasgow. The next day Jim George and I visited Edinburgh (he was really into Scotland). By the 7th of September we had arrived in London.

1-England to Spain

2-Campello One : I'd had three years of high school Spanish and then two more semesters at the U. of Illinois. By this time I was getting the hang of the the whole speaking Spanish thing. Well, good for me. On October 5th, I arrived at a private hostel in Campello. I would stay, on and off, in Campello for months. Winter would be coming on, it was cheap and the other souls staying, coming and going were of the same ilk: students, travelers of a kind and Americans in exile because of the draft.

2-Campello One

3-Trip to Marrakesh : I had met a couple of Americans my age at Casa Campello named Bill and Sue Johnson. They were from Costa Mesa, California. In the little courtyard Bill had climbed a tree and went "sssst" as I walked through. In those societies where it is used, "sssst" is a common way to get someones attention. Go "sssst" in a public place in Spain and all heads will turn toward you. We became friends and moved to Casa Tono. There were interesting people at casa Tono. More Americans avoiding the draft, an interesting Australian or two and always people from England or Germany.

3-Trip to Marrakesh

4-Campello Two : According to my journal, I arrived back in Campello from the Morocco trip on December 9th. I would remain there until February 16th. With the Mini Van I'd explore the surrounding area but would not take any more long trips. The vehicle was more responsibility than I wanted and I sold it in mid-January to an Australian guy for £135. I thought of going to Oran, Algeria via a boat that left from Alicante. I went to the Algerian Embassy in Madrid but was unable to secure an Algerian visa because my passport had an Israeli stamp in it. After about a week in Madrid I took the train back to Alicante and Campello. Let's see how I spent my time there...

4-Campello Two

5-Boats to Athens : It is time for me to get back to the business of travelling. My plan is to go to Athens and get some passport problems sorted out. I had a stamp from Israel which made it impossible to get visas for Arab countries. Compared to today, most countries were safe to travel through. The travel itself might have been arduous, but there was little danger. The colonial era in Sub Saharan Africa was coming to an end and the governments were still stable. The Arab countries were upset over the Palestinian land grab but what we now call terrorism had not yet become popular.

5-Boats to Athens

6-Egypt : On March 9th, 1965 at 4:00 in the afternoon I left Pireus for Alexandria. There were calm seas and plenty of others traveling deck class like me. I had been on a few boats by now. There was usually a nicer section of a boat, typically located further forward and on upper decks. Those parts of boats were also off limits to the deck classes. Deck class was pretty basic and the bathroom cleanliness index was at rock bottom.

6-Egypt

7-Across North Africa : I spent a few more days enjoying crazy Cairo. On March 30th I got on the highway to Alexandria and arrived there in one ride. That's good. Well let's see if I can accomplish the goal of getting across North Africa to Morocco! From there I'd continue across the Strait of Gibraltar to Europe and... ...who knows? About this stage of the adventure I was conciously (or otherwise) fretting about what I'd face when I got back to Chicago. School? Work? I know Uncle Sam would help me make some awkward decisions. Maybe I'd have to grow up soon...

7-Across North Africa

8-Gibraltar to England : The comment in my journal reads: "I did it!". On the 23rd of April, I hopped on a boat from Ceuta, on the tip of Morocco, going directly to Gibraltar. For me it was like taking a rocket ship from Mars back to Planet Earth. I was back in civilization. There was a hostel in Gibraltar and that's where I stayed. Everything in Gibraltar was "mini-sized".

8-Gibraltar to England

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