I'm writing stories for the kids in the rising generation. They won't sit with me underneath a sycamore tree in the heat of the afternoon, listening to my tales. In fact, I'm not sure that my tales will be edifying to them.
So, it's time to discuss the Alps, and Aunt Mairie.
I was due to depart Arabia in October, and I sent word to Jade that I would pay all her expenses if she would join me for a European Tour. So far, so good. But then Marie insisted to join the tour. I didn't know what to do about that. Jade and I didn't want her tagging along, but she could dog our steps in any case. So, Jade and Sis were due to fly to Venice to meet me. Sis's flight got cancelled, and Jade flew to Rome alone - her connecting flight to Venezia was delayed. Meanwhile, I was waiting at the airport in Venice. Several hours paassed. Jade showed up. So, we took a water-taxi to our hotel, and had a nice dinner. Sometime around nine pm, Sis showed up. Boy, was she pissed off.
That was the start of a very tense week. Marie was a wonderful woman, but a bit bossy. I could handle that. It even amused me. Unluckily for Jade, every time I rebuked Sis, Jade got the blame. I'm not sure why that was, but so it was. By the second day of the tour, Marie and Jade weren't friends. I have photos to prove it. I would ask them to pose for a photo in front of some landmark, and they would be facing different directions, not smililng. I was totally oblivious to this, to tell the truth. I was just happy to be out of Arabia.
Jade and I wanted to stay in Venice for another two days, but Marie put her foot down. Nein! Ve musten goen aus Salzburg! Achtung!
Salzburg is a dreary place. Some may like it, but Mozart didn't. The food is dreadful. They filmed "The Sound of Music" there, which was Sis's favorite play and musical.
Upon arriving in Salzburg after a trip over the Alps (I drove, and Sis was in the backseat, slugging white wine straight from the bottle), a big dust-up occured. Suffice to say, Jade and I were making hotel reservations at the tourist center. Marie kept wandering in from the car, criticising our efforts. I finally told her to shut up and go back to the car. She never forgave Jade for that.
So, anyway, the dollar being strong back then, we booked rooms at the Ostheriechstischerhoff. This might cost thousands of dollars per night, these days. Below the first floor was a piano bar, with an accomplished pianist. Sis got drunk, and kept insisting that I tip the pianist to play selections from "The Sound of Music." He grimaced every time I approached him. So, Jade and I got Sis drunk, delivered her to her room, and returned to the bar. The pianist really knew his stuff - he loved Gershwin.
We were drinking Black Russians.
I may mention at this point that I had carried a cold virus from India, via Arabia. The next day, Jade woke up very ill. I ordered scrambled eggs for her from the room-service menu. Big mistake. To Austrians, scrambled eggs means a disgusting soup. Jade nearlly fainted when she saw the dish. I should have oredered the continental breakfast. So, Sis and I went on a tour, while Jade remained in bed. It's really true that southern Germans are very rude. That was my impression. I was shooting a photo of a mountain, and a local upbraided me that I had my f-stop wrong. At least I didn't buy a cukoo-clock.
Well, by the next day, Sis had to fly back. Whew. Jade and I had recovered from our colds. Now it was time to have some serious fun. Marie and Jade later made up, and were BFFs.
Still I write on. This is true story of when I left Arabia, I still haven't mentioned the motel scandal in the Italian
Alps, on the way to Salzburg. Maybe I'll write about it later. It involves smoking dope and playing gin, and waking up the other guests by our laughter. Also, we flooded the
bathroom. You wouldn't think that I would have been
able to smuggle dope from Arabia to Italy, but I did.
To be continued.