The rain was pelting. down
and ‘bouncing: back six, in- ~
_ ches from the pavement. My-
_faincoat turned out to be
anything but waterproof. A
poor “dry-cleaning. ° job.
Rome. had left the . ‘collar

: concave. ‘so. the“ water it.
| trapped ‘dribbled down the
a back of my neck, oe

* The ‘hotel we had chosen
in desperation proved to be a
desperately poor choice.
The shower, when it worked
_ atall, varied from’ ‘freezing to

scalding © at - Te “whim of
'_anyone else in the- * place who ~
. turned on.atap. :

trayel-

by Barbara
McCreadie

The coffee: at ‘bredkfast
had a half-inch of muddy.*
sediment in;the bottom. The .
rolls were stale and covered ~
with.an. inch. orso of gunky’
syrup. My mother had a
drippy cold and my daughter
a good - case.‘of. travellers’
complaint. - ‘My disposition ”
compared” with that of a
moulting buzzard.

-. As we ‘clomped and .
squished through Venice, a
shop window full of beautiful
shoes caught my eye, and, as
I changed course to look, I
stepped right into a mound
of “doggie’s calling card”.
An elderly Italian man with
furled umbrella and
newspaper under his arm
said, compassionately,
“sporco!" which means,
“Dirty!” He balanced me as I
used a_ piece of his
newspaper to get some of the
mess off my shoe.

By this time I'd have
cheerfully donated my last
few traveller's cheques to be
home in my own kitchen!

The vaporetto. was
jammed. I found seats for
mother and daughter and
held on precariously to the
pole while 70 urgent Italians
pushed, shoved and stepped
on my wet feet. A quiet
voice said, “Madame, would
you care to sit here?"
gratefully slid into the seat

GREECE’79

16 days classical tour & cruise

wm %1307

based on double occupancy

includes: Airfare
v. Accommodation
. & All Meals
~ Two departures every month
from Voncouver
book early with us

.and offered to hold the
‘young. saan's ; parcels on. my
lap. «

He had a beard, a
packsack and some of the
most . fantastic camera
equipment I've seen hung
around his neck. In a few |
minutes, he unloaded the
camera and all on my lap.
Then he vanished!

a,

Good grief! It was
probably stolen goods and
the next thing I'd know, I'd
..be sorting out my belongings
in an Italian jail, Just about
what you woul expect on
“that kind of a day. But...

In a few minutes, he
returned. “Please, madame,
may | borrow your.
_ daughter?” . ‘Now that was
going a. bit. far! If 1 wasn’t.
already halfway -to jail, my
child was about to be kid- |.
napped.

“What for?”, I asked, with.
the. “buzzard” in. me taking
over.

‘lama photographer fora a ne

magazine in Columbia anid I

_wish to take a picture of your ~

little ‘girl at the front of the
vaporetto. for ‘the: cover of
my magazine. “You, will

_permit me?”

As it turned out, he hadn't . -

found a child that. appealed
to him .to photograph until
he saw Janine. His disap-
pearance was to choose the
‘Tight spot for the photo. I

handed him his cameras and

-supervised athe photo 4
session. arn Se
Janine, dressed. in a

‘Scottish kilt and a Canadian
leather-jacket- may just have
been the cover picture on a
Columbian magazine. I
didn’t get thrown in jail. We
reached our stop and filed,
‘before we had a chance to

exchange ‘cards.
The sun came out. We
found a_ beautiful little

garden with a fat pussycat |
who enjoyed being patted.
Our lunch was superb.
Mom's cold quit. We
changed hotels. We met
some charming people.

What had promised to be a
wretched visit turned out to
be a smash hit. Just goes to
show!

Travelling is a mixture of
experiences. What starts out
looking like a month of wet
Mondays can end up being
an hour of cheeful Fridays.

ose

QUESTION: A few years
back I heard about the
cholera epidemic in Naples.
From what I read, the whole
thing originated with
seafood caught In the Bay of
Naples.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 41

ase eee

a en

wy : "
Oe wt SID a on
cd

Balco Travel Ltd.

115 - 585 - 16th Ss
West Vancovuer. B C

925-1361

t

See Canada first
this year!

‘With the present value of the

Canadian dollar. one of your

wisest travel choices this summer

is Canada And just think of the

savings! Where else is the Cana-

dian dollar stilt worth a dollar?
Why not make this
the year to visit
family or friends?

Sunflight’s low cost charters

make it so aftordable. We have
weekly flights and convenient
weekend departures on Boeing
707 or 737 jets provided by

Canada’s regional airlines, Pacific
Western Airlines. Nordair, Quebec-

ar and Eastern Provincial

‘Airways You can Stay for one.

two or even three weeks

| VISA... |

VANCOUVER-TORONTO

ee exon? LOG

Direct thghts trom Vancouver International

Aveport wa Paciic Western Airtines Boeing 737

Ct

dere

oceot!] 2 or 3 week vacations

shee, lune | toFnday October ly

Page 39, April 25, 1979. North Shore News

little rai in must

3

VANCOUVER-WINNIPEG

eee owe? LOD

De

eco tip ts from Vancouver International

A sport via Nordaw Boeing 737 Choice of | 2 or
T WRK VACATIONS

" parts Satutday, June 23 to Saturday,

September 15

VANCOUVER-MONTREAL

eee our 249

Derect tights from Vancouver International

Airport wa Nordar Boemg 737
‘howe ot l 2 of 3 week vacations

eparts saturday Jute 16 to Saturday August 25
Long vacations of 7,9 or Ll weeks available tor

an

Our

yy $269

VANCOUVER-OTTAWA

eee omy 4D

ect thghts trom VartCouver international

Aurpottvia Bache Western Adtnes Boeing /43/
Cte ge ot) Yor 4d Week vad ations
eit watt hay, JUNO 2 ITO Saturday August eo

*

"CRUISING DOWN THE river, in ths case the Rhine, na boats» unigee i relaxing way of seeing man , parts of —
Germany often ignored by the more conventional fravellée. = wo -. ie : id ne

we

At these low prices,
you can afford to
take the children.

Infants under two years, not
occupying a Seat, travel free of
charge and children (ages 2-11),
save $10 when accompanying
an adult.

it’s so easy to book
a Sunflight charter!

Make your reservation
through a.travel agent 30 days or
more before departure and pay a
non-refundable deposit of $25
The balance of the fare is due 31
days prior to departure. You may
use your Visa/Chargex card for
any payment.
included features: Round trip air
transportation. Inflight meal ser-
vice tf appropriate to time of day.

Baggage allowance— 20kgs
(aaibes :

Not included: Canadian Air Trans-
portation Tax 15% (maximum $15).
For complete details on departure dates
bees aed durations please consult

Suothghts Summer 1979 Caytiak
brochure Your travel agent has your copy

Contact Your Travel
Agent for Reservations

Loemerreasatiaeewacoreeveromrernenersenmianen
‘

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