Category: Europe

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Ravenna, Italy

Vitalis (VI century) – Empress Theodora with her Court

I went to Ravenna to see the mosaics in 1973 and I bought a lot of postcards because when I returned to school I had to write a paper on them. I thought it would be easier with visuals to remind me.

This Mosaic is in the Basilica of San Vitale. It shows Empress Theodora of Byzantium (b. 490 d. 548) and her offerings to Christ (you can see the Three Kings at the bottom of her skirts). Her two sisters are beside her. She was known for her beauty and here her tiara is dripping in jewels.

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Montedor, Portugal

Ancient Windmill at Motedor

April 2000

Well I took a vacation to Portugal. Turns out should have come in March. It’s rained most of my 10 days. But it’s beautiful. Definitely not the US of A. We are so young aren’t we.

Hope you are well. I thought you would have an email address – not? Sorry it’s taken so long to write. Thanks for the Xmas present.

Love

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London, England

Aerial View of Tower Bridge and the City of LONDON

September 1975

Dear

We got here ok – everyone seems to be visiting London – plane was full, London airport jammed mostly with Americans. We are in a very nice hotel, are pretty much caught up on sleep. Going to the British museum today, just will take it easy, off to Rome at noon tomorrow.

Love

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Vaasa, Finland

Vaasa Church

April, 1996

Hi

We have been having a great time here with Liz. They still have lots of snow but it has been beautiful weather. Went to see Braveheart tonight – it was great!

Love

Here is a photo I took of the neighborhood where we stayed.

And a few others around town.

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Lugano, Switzerland

Lugano-Paradiso. Monte Bre

May 1973

Dear

This is the view from our balcony! Very resort-like! Warm.. flowers everywhere. We went to the top of San Salvatore this morn. on a cog railroad…the view was lovely. Have just finished eating lunch and are waiting to take a boat trip on the lake. Bill has dental app. so he is not going. Kathy and Jane are not going either. Yesterday we left Zurich at 7 am and the ride through the Alps was fantastic! Just unbelievable!! We got here about 10 am and went to Kathy’s school, she showed us around…then came back to hotel with us. We took a walk along the lake after lunch and rested in aft. The hotel has a nice pool. It is so nice to be with people who can help us with language problems, ordering food, etc. So far the kids are getting along fine. Steve even said he was glad he came!

Love

The view from the school in Lugano.

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Notre Dame, Paris

Notre-Dame et le Jardin de l’Archeveche. “Vu du ciel par Alain Perceval”

Den Haag, January, 1983

Isn’t this a good photo? So much nice detail. Our guests left yesterday and we have been sleeping mostly since. I think they had a good time and got a bit “educated”. We hope you had a good trip to California and that you are back with a new lease on life. We missed you on our trip.

Love

(The roof was destroyed by fire in 2019. Restoration is due to begin soon.)

Here I am in front of Notre Dame in 1999.

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Saint-Raphael, France

La Cote d’Azur, La plage et la Terrasse des Bains

June, 1973

You can imagine the beautiful view our room has. It is delightful weather – the Mediterranean is so blue today. Walked across the road and down to the beach this morning – we all got a little sunburned, I’m afraid. Have been resting and washing our clothes this afternoon. We looked through some of the shops and all had delicious pizza later.

Love

Here I am sun bathing in my new French bathing suit on the beach in Saint-Raphael.

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Inner Hebredes, Scotland

Isle of Staffa, Fingel’s Cave

I cruised by Staffa in a boat in 1980 or there abouts. Staffa has been uninhabited since about 1800. We couldn’t stop on this isle but stopped on the nearby isle of Iona, known for its abbey. Population is less than 200. I snapped the photo below.

The Abbey at Iona

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Florence, Italy

Piazza della Signoria

May, 1984

Hi, Does this scene ring a bell (with the David copy)? Palazzo Vecchio on right. It was raining and full of tourists when we were there. But inside we saw a most interesting exhibit of Leonardo’s drawings of horses, anatomical mostly. On loan from a castle in England – Queen’s. I still like Moses in Rome.

Love