February 3, 1970
11 PM Tuesday
Dear Mother, Dad, Serena, John & Mary,Hi! I'm sure you understand that the reason I haven't written lately is because I never go anywhere or do anything so there is nothing new to write. (The previous sentence applies only the the last five minutes since I sat down to write this letter.)
To go back in time a ways, I had a good time visiting Sue and her husband Steve, in Erlangen. He is from Portland, Oregon where they will be moving when he gets out of the army in July. Sue and Steve are very much in love and everyone seems happy about the marriage except Sue's parents who refuse to accept Steve and haven't told any of the other relatives that she is married. Hopefully time will improve the situation. Steve has been in the Erlangen area for two years so I met alot of their German friends as well as army friends. Meeting all the Americans who speak English, had English books lying around, and all sorts of American food that they buy on the base -- it was almost like being in the states again. I even got to drink a glass of kool-aid. Sue and Steve have only one room to live, eat, and sleep in but they are hoping to move into an apartment in March. Sue does the cooking on a hot plate, he keeps the coal stove (most apartments are heated by a coal stove, too) going, and the dishes get washed in the bathroom sink. I was able to stay in Sue's old dorm room which she had leased until February 1.
I took an overnight train to Hannover, flew Pan-Am to W. Berlin and the 13 of us met at a travel bureau there. Ann had been in Munich for the weekend but she stopped in Münster on the way to Berlin and brought me a letter from Mike and a nice birthday card from Grandma. I haven't decided yet what to do with the money she sent me.
A bus took us through the wall and over to the East Berlin airport which is the deadest airport I've ever seen. Our propellor plane to Moscow was pretty dilapidated but there were also double winged, 12 passenger planes which I understand are still in use. Customs going into the U.S.S.R. wasn't too bad -- they checked one or two of our group's luggage and let the rest of us on through. The Moscow airport was the next to the deadest I've ever seen. Especially when one considers it is the 5th largest city in the world. [now the 19th largest metro area per wikipedia] Our guide Nonne, a lady of about 35, met us at the airport along with a bus which took us the 17 miles into town. The flight took 2¾ hours and there was a time change of two hours so we had a short day.
We stayed at the Hotel Metropole which was very centrally located and even had heat in the rooms. The meals (3 large ones per day) were also fantastic. I especially liked the Borsch soup and some kind of drink which was slightly carbonated but not sweet like soda pop and came in assorted fruit flavors.
Our first night there we walked over to Red Square and then the 1¼ mile around the Kremlin and saw the changing of the guard at Lenin's tomb. I certainly felt sorry for the guards standing still for an hour in the bitter cold.
Every place we went during the days the bus took us. Fortunately, it was also heated. We got a tour of the city, saw the University, where all the students are paid to study. We saw the steam on top of the heated swimming pool. I guess the water is comfortable but even the men are required to wear swimming caps so their hair won't freeze. Saw and did all sorts of other things which I don't really feel like elaborating on at the moment but everything is written down in my diary so I can tell you about it when I get home.
It was also quite interesting just to talk to our guide.
And there I was in Moscow on my 21st birthday. It was rather frightening to wake up that morning and suddenly discover I'm a genuine grown-up and fully responsible for all my own actions. So far everything seems to be going about the same. It was rather a low blow though when that very day Nonne (our guide, who didn't even know it was my birthday) told me I looked 15.
On Friday afternoon we retraced our path from Moscow to E. Berlin to W. Berlin to Hannover. Dick and I had decided to spend the weekend in Hamburg so we jumped on a train for there. But we got there too late to get in the youth hostel so we just stayed on the train and did an overnighter to Copenhagen. We spent part of Saturday walking around there, even ran into two other K kids, and then headed back to Hamburg. It's kind of neat because the train goes on a ferry for two hours and you can get off the train and walk around on the boat. We saw the streets of Hamburg on Saturday night (I wouldn't want too much of that) and two museums on Sunday. The Youth Hostel is on a hill overlooking the harbor which was nice too. But it was most exciting to come back home again. If coming home to Münster is exciting after being gone for 9 days, I can hardly imagine coming home home after six months.
It was nice to find the big birthday card from you all -- my living hasn't reached quite that level of graciousness yet. And thanks also to Serena for her much appreciated letter. The bathing suit arrived yesterday and I thank you for such prompt service. I was also glad to get your letter today and hear the latest news. The money is also appreciated although not necessary. At the moment I have 75 DM, $250 travelers checks, $60.75 cash, 12 kopeks (worthless since I won't be going back to Russia for awhile), 40 pfennings from E. Germany, 20 centavos from Portugal (also both worthless), 3 pesetas which I can use in Spain and 21.95 Gilders which I will be using this weekend in Amsterdam. That should be enough to get me quite comfortably back to New Vienna.
Yes, I am glad I got the Eurorail pass. Whenever I am lost, bored, tired, or want to go somewhere I just jump on the train and relax. Ann and I are going down to southern Spain during vacation. You can reach me March 1-10 ℅ Poste Restantes (Gen. Delivery), Malaga, Spain; March 13 the American Express in Paris; March 15 at home here, and from then until March 20 at American Express in London. (I'll send you the address later.) I will probably be flying into New York on the big 747 on Saturday, March 21. It leaves London at 11 AM and hopefully arrives in New York at 12:45. What airlines can I get stand-by to Columbus or are they all ⅔ now? How much will that cost? Could you also please check on bus connections and costs. As usual I will need a dentist appointment sometime that week. School starts on March 30.
Mütti gave me a green sweater with yellow trim for my birthday. It goes well with my brown skirt. Mike sent me some yellow & orange & red beads which he made himself. I'd also like to ask one more favor of you all. I live in constant dread that this pen is going to run out of ink so I think one more would definitely see me through March 22.
Thanks for guiding me the last 21 years!
Love,
Catherine
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