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MAIER'S BEEN THERE, DONE THAT!

MAIER'S

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THE GLOBE TROTTERS

Five Dollars A Day In Europe

Greece:

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We went to Athen, Greece in 1971. Teddy, our oldest son was 10 months
old.  We were young and wanted to travel economically. When we got off
the airplane, we got on the airport bus to get to the bus terminal in 
downtown Athens.  In front of the bus terminal we didn't know how to 
get to our $5.00 a day hotel, so we just stood there and debated of what 
to do next.   A taxi stopped by and offered to take us. He sort of 
pointed to his taxi metres.  Fair enough we thought, and we hopped
in.  He took off and we went in to the Athen's afternoon traffic. It 
was April, so the weather was nice and we enjoyed our ride.  10 minutes
later I noticed that we passed by the spot where we got in.  I promptly
told Ted and he immediately stated that it looked the same but it
wasn't the same place.  5 minutes later we went around the corner and he 
stoped in front of our hotel.  We got off and paid the taxi cab.  Later 
on I looked down the street and there it was, the bus terminal, one block
away!  LOL! 

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We took a tour of the city with Teddy on the baby pack on Ted's back. Everywhere we went the old ladies would stopped and played with him. One of our highlight of the tour was to go and climbed the Acropolis, just like the rest of the tourists. When we climbed up the mountain, a man kept following us around and took our pictures. I kept saying No, No, No thank you. By the time we were done with the tour and walked back down to the bottom, our pictures were ready to be inspected. I took a look and bought the whole package for $30.00!
Spain:
We got off the plan in Madrid and took a taxi to another $5.00 
a day hotel which was on our itenerary.  When we got out of the taxi,
we looked at the building of the hotel we had reservation.  Ted went
upstair on the elevator to take a look at the hotel room.  He came 
down and told me to go take a look.  I went up to the third floor 
of the building and followed the manager around as he opened the door
to show me the little room.  It was supposed to be a room with the
private bath.  I asked him where was the private bathroom and he 
asked me to step inside so he could close the door. Then he promptly
showed me the little toilet and a sink behind the door!

Off we went with the taxi to the Plaza Hotel which, luckily for us was
available.  The beautiful room was on the 15th floor and had a view 
over the Plaza park across the street.  From our window we could see
the Palace in the distance.  The room cost about $15.00 plus $5.00
for the baby bed, and it was worth it.

(The Plaza de Armas, in front of the Royal Palace, is one of Madrid's
many great public squares. - Compton)

In Madrid, we went to Antigva Casa Sobrino De BOTIN for Paella. (This restaurant is established in 1725! They are famous for suckling pig and various Spanish dishes). We went shopping and sightseeing. Madrid is a great place for sightseeing. When you go there you have to plan ahead for the Spanish timing. They have siesta from 12:00pm to 3:00pm and everyting shut down. People go home to take a nap and then they all go back to work at 3:00pm till 7:00pm. Dinner are served from 9:00pm and the bars are open til early morning. I wanted to go the Plada de Museio but Mr. Shopping wanted to go shopping instead. So off we went shopping in Madrid.

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Germany: 
We went to Koln, Dusseldolf and Bonn, Germany in August 1969 for 10 days. Ted was on a business trip and I tagged along. It was our late honeymoon, we got married in January 1969 and never really had a honeymoon. While Ted was at the office, I went windows shopping and met a nice Thai doctor. So one day, the doctor and me took a River Boat Cruise fron Koln to Koblenz. When we got to Koblenz we walked around sightseeing and then took the train back to Koln. One Saturday Ted's co-worker took Ted and me to a castle up in the mountain in Bonn for teas. We went to Dusseldorf on Sunday and had a very pleasant time. Dusseldorf was and probably still is, a college town. We saw many students and beatniks (hippies?). Ted's business took him back to Germany many times (Beer Fest in Munich, business meeting in Franfurt and sightseeing with co-worker in Hamburg). You wonder what kind of business? Well I'll tell you one day.

Switzerland:



We went to Switzerland in 1973 while we were on our way to skiing vacation in Austria. Zurich was (and is) a very beautiful city. People were friendly and spoke very good English. They are all well-dressed and polite.

Austria:

From Zurich, we took a train over Switzerland countryside and then we went through The Arlberg Pass to Austria. We skiied St. Anton for 3 weeks. We stayed at a very friendly bed and breakfast place. During the day we took day trips to St. Christophe, Zur and Lech and decided that we could not afford to ski at any of those resorts. We met a very nice German family while we were in St. Christophe. They have a son about the same age and as our oldest son, Teddy who was 3 years and 4 months at the time.

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Created in October, 1996 Jieranai T. Maier © JTM Associates


Modified May 5, 2003.

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