Mappy Monday: Mom's 1953 Europe Road Trip - Last Day in Switzerland

From Mom's Europe trip diary, in the "PLACES VISITED" section: 

September 22, Tuesday – Road between Zurich and St. Moritz, Switzerland 

After getting money straightened out, left Zurich toward the Italian border.  Drove along the Zurichsee [Lake Zurich] and the Walensee, ate lunch in Chur, and then drove over mountains and mountains until we came to the Julier Pass.  It is one of the passes to Italy that is kept open all winter -- in days gone by, both the Roman legions and Napoleon's army used this pass.  We saw beautiful snow-capped mountains, one over 7,000 feet above sea level.*  Drove on to St. Moritz to spend the night.**

* Mountain peaks taller than 7,000 feet in this area include Piz Lagrev, Piz Julier, and Piz Calderas.

** According to the "HOTELS STOPPED AT" section of the trip diary, my mother and her friends stayed at the Hotel Steffani in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Here is a photo of the town of Chur, the oldest town in Switzerland:

Chur 2008 [26 October] / Bartosz Makara / CC BY 2.0

Joye Murphy along a mountain road in Switzerland (possibly the Julier Pass), 22 September 1953 / Geraldine Guokas Pape / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Here is the map for today's travels:

This is the 46th in a series of posts transcribing entries in my mother's 1953 Europe Trip journal.

© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: Mom's 1953 Europe Road Trip - Still in Switzerland

From Mom's Europe trip diary, in the "PLACES VISITED" section: 

September 21, Monday – Road between St. Gallen and Zurich, Switzerland 

Left St. Gallen and drove along Lake Constance and the Rhine until we got to Schaffhausen where we stopped to see the Rhine Falls.  They were very pretty.  From there we drove to Zurich* where I got a letter from Fred.**  We also exchanged our money for Italian, Spanish, and Frech money, and bought some Lindt bonbons liqueurs.***  Had wine at supper for first time on trip and it went to my head.

* According to the "HOTELS STOPPED AT" section of the trip diary, my mother and her friends stayed at the Central Hotel in Zurich, Switzerland.

** Fred is my dad, Frederick Henry Pape, who Mom was dating at the time.  She had written to him on August 3, 6, 12, and 13 (twice) according to the "LETTER REGISTER" section of the trip diary.

*** This is probably among the first of the famous LINDOR Truffles, introduced by this Zurich-based chocolatier in 1949.

Here are a few photographs my mother took that day.  The first, of Schaffhausen, shows the Munot, a circular 16th century fortress at the center of the town.

Munot and Schaffhausen, Switzerland, 21 September 1953 / Geraldine Guokas Pape /  CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Rhine Falls, Switzerland, 21 September 1953 / Geraldine Guokas Pape /  CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Here is the map for today's travels:

This is the 45th in a series of posts transcribing entries in my mother's 1953 Europe Trip journal.


© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

Mom's 1953 Europe Road Trip - Around St. Gallen, Switzerland

From Mom's Europe trip diary, in the "PLACES VISITED" section: 

September 20, Sunday – Area around St. Gallen, Switzerland 

Went to church - certainly hope it was Roman Catholic - couldn't see anything and service seemed a little different.  After breakfast we had hotel pack us a lunch and we drove about 90 miles in and around St. Gallen.  Went to Appenzell, Altstätten, Rorschach, Arbon, Wil, and back to St. Gallen.  Saw women in peasant dresses and hats, beautiful valleys, ate lunch along Lake Constance (raining of course), and terrific views.  Still had some lunch left over so ordered tea & cookies in our room and ate supper there.

St Gallen Kathedrale Türme [St. Gallen Cathedral Towers, 2009]
/ Christian Bickel (Own work) / CC-BY-SA-2.0-de

Mom might have attended Mass at the Abbey of St. Gall cathedral (constructed in the mid-1700s), pictured at left.  She certainly would have seen it in St. Gallen.

Lunch along Lake Constance might have been near the Badhütte, the Rorschach bathhouse, pictured below, constructed in 1924 and (today) "the only remaining structure of its kind on the Swiss side of Lake Constance."

The other two photographs, from Appenzell and Wil respectively, are of views she might have had in those areas.

Rorschach bathhouse [2 June 2014] / markus53 / CC0 Public Domain

Hauptgasse Appenzell [Appenzell Main Street, 2006] / Tobyc75 (Own work) / CC-BY-SA-3.0 or GFDL

Wil, Wolken über Altstadt [Wil, clouds over Old Town, 29 August 2004] / Manfred Morgner (Own work) / CC-BY-SA-3.0

Here is a map showing the travels for the day:

This is the 44th in a series of posts transcribing entries in my mother's 1953 Europe Trip journal.

© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

Mom's 1953 Europe Road Trip: In and Out of Liechtenstein

From Mom's Europe trip diary, in the "PLACES VISITED" section: 

September 19, Saturday – Road between Landeck, Austria, and St. Gallen, Switzerland 

Went through Austrian-Swiss customs at Feldkirch.  From there we drove to Vaduz, Liechtenstein, where we bought stamps and ate lunch.  No trouble through customs.  We drove around Vaduz for a while and then went over to Switzerland.   Drove along Lake Constance and to St. Gallen where we intend to stay for 2 nights.*  Has rained all day long.

* According to the "HOTELS STOPPED AT" section of the trip diary, my mother and her friends stayed at the Hotel Walhalla in St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Liechtenstein: Kathedrale St. Florin in Vaduz [August 2008] /
kyselak (Own work) / GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0

I thought it was interesting that Mom visited the tiny country of Liechtenstein.  Following are some images from the capital city of Vaduz.  The Cathedral of St. Florin dates to 1874, while parts of the Schloss Vaduz (castle) date to the 12th century, and parts of the Rote Haus (Red House) have been around since at least 1807.  

The Alte Rheinbrücke (Old Rhine Bridge) is a 135-meter covered wooden bridge, the only one remaining over the Rhine River, that links Vaduz and Sevelen, Switzerland.
It was built in 1901 on the supports of its 1870 predecessor, and was still open to auto traffic in 1953.

Liechtenstein Schloss Vaduz [1 July 2011] / St9191 (Own work) / CC-BY-SA-3.0

Vaduz - Rotehaus [31 March 2014] / Clément Bucco-Lechat (Own work) / CC-BY-SA-3.0

Alte Rheinbrücke / Presse- und Informationsamt, Vaduz / CC-BY-SA-3.0

I also thought it was interesting that Mom mentioned buying stamps in Vaduz, since they have had a Postage Stamp Museum there since 1936.

 Here is a map showing the route from Munich to St. Gallen, the travels for September 18 and 19:

This is the 43rd in a series of posts transcribing entries in my mother's 1953 Europe Trip journal.


© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.