The 1971-72 Global
Semester, Day by Day
Friday, August 27, 1971
Departed MSP on a sunny day at
12:30 CDT. Arrived in New York and found it muggy and
cloudy. Jeff Jerde led us all across the airport to the
makeshift and dilapidated Alitalia counter where we checked
in.
Departed Kennedy a little after 9:00 PM. The flight (747)
from New York to Rome was about 3/4 full and about half the
people on it were Italians. The stewardesses were sleazy
looking and sullen but the food was good and the flight was
smooth. We tried to sleep but the seats weren’t very
comfortable and it got light at 1:30 AM (Minneapolis time).
We followed the 53rd parallel across to England and then
turned and flew south over London, France, the Swiss Alps,
and Italy to Rome.
Saturday, August 28, 1971
We arrived to a sunny day in
Rome at 11:30 AM Rome time. The ride from the
airport to Rome was smooth on a cute little new bus. The
weather was mid-70s and humid.
After checking
into the Hotel Adriano, we took a nap and then had a weary
sightseeing trip with our guide Rosie.
Saw forums, catacombs, old Appian Way, old
racetracks (circuses) and the Colosseum.
We
were all tired and grumpy and didn’t appreciate what we
saw. We were hot, sweaty, and thirsty but without any lire
at the time to buy those expensive Coca Colas Rosie always
led us by.
Our hotel, Adriano, looks like
it was built in the middle ages from the outside.
The inside is a little better –
small room with narrow cots but clean and with a sink.
Toilet, bidet, and shower (shared) are across the hall. The
lobby is sort of nice. Supper was OK. Rice and peas then
breaded veal and cooked cucumbers and potatoes and a peach
for dessert. The water tastes like it has chlorine bleach
in it. The tap water is wonderful, however.
Sunday, August 29, 1971
Breakfast was three slices of
bread with butter and jam and water and tea. Then another
shotgun sightseeing tour with Rosie.
Sightseeing: Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Via Vittorio
Veneto, the Pantheon, and the Vatican.
At noon we ate at the Bar Tre
Scalina on the Piazza Navona. Their specialty is the
tartufo, a dark chocolate ice cream rolled in hunks of
chocolate and topped with whipped cream. It was expensive –
coffees were 350 lire each and the tartufos were about 500
lire each (600 lire to the dollar).
Sunday night supper at the
hotel was ravioli, chicken, potatoes, salad, and some kind
of layered cake.
Monday, August 30, 1971
A free day: we walked around the city with Marylou and
Dirk.
Supper at the hotel was
spaghetti, veal, and a sort of scalloped potatoes and a
delicious chocolate swirl ice cream. After supper,
and a dinner lecture by Frank
Sheppard, we went to the Piazza Navona .
Tuesday, August 31, 1971
Left Rome at 2:40 PM and arrived at Athens at 4:30 PM.