Our Dinner Companions

Wednesday September 30, 1992

Our dinner table consists of 2 black couples, very cultured and educated. Fred is 67 and a retired executive from General Dynamics. He has travelled the world but lives in St. Louis, MO with his wife Erma 64.

John seems older as does wife Hester. They have travelled alot also. John worked in city government and is still doing volunteer work. Both couples are very nice and outgoing.

June and Bob are white and from Detroit, MI, about 65 & 67. They have travelled extensively in the 10 years they've been married. They have 9 children and 11 grandchildren. bob retired from a big ad agency in Detroit. One account was GM.

Fred and Erma have 7 kids, Bob and Hester only 2. All couples are very well off financially.

This is Mom's second entry dated September 30, which is very unusual. Perhaps she wrote it after retiring to their cabin or perhaps she was a little confused by losing one day on the flight. At any rate, Mom was always a people person. She got a tremendous amount of very detailed information from all 3 couples in just one dinner sitting. She was never shy and always showed interest in others.

The photo above is one of the few photos I have of Mom and Frank that I didn't take. I imagine that one of her dinner table companions took the photo. After Mom passed away Frank threw away thousands of photographs that Mom had meticulously cataloged over the years. She loved to take photos and always had a camera in her hand starting when she was a teenager with her Brownie camera.

$73 for a Gondola Ride?

Wednesday September 30, 1992 Venice, Italy

We slept in beautifully until 7:45. We needed that. Hurry up and get ready. They stop serving breakfast at 9:30. I feel good. We have a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, bread, fruits, and juices.

At 10:30 we take the launch to Venice. We stay til 2:30 just wandering about. Everything is so expensive. We only buy a gondola ride for $73 and a gelato ice cream for $3. There are street vendors everywhere. It's a sunny day and warm. There were no street vendors when we were here in February 1987 (out of season). There were so many people this time.

We have high tea with desserts on the ship at 4:00. Could serve as lunch, did today. We watch a hot air balloon rise out of the city and later land in the city. Strange.

We dress casual for dinner. It's good. We go to Welcome Aboard show and to bed.

Looks like Mom and Frank are having no trouble adjusting to the time change from California. That is great news!

I cannot believe that in 1992 a gondola ride cost $73. Just for curiosity sake I checked to see what it costs today, 20 years later. A 35 minute gondola ride with others goes for $57 and a private gondola ride with serenade is $223. I don't know if Mom and Frank took a private gondola ride, but if so, the price sounds about right adjusted for inflation. I hope they didn't pay that much to go with a group!

Ugh! It sounds like a big tourist trap, even at the end of September, which would seem to be off-season.

Los Angeles, California to Venice, Italy

Monday September 28/29, 1992 "Long Day"

Up at 7 a.m. to get ready to leave at 9:15 for the fly-away where we catch the 10:00 bus for LAX. At LAX we have a 2 hour wait to fly out at 1 p.m. for Paris, France. The flight is almost 11 hours. They feed us too much too often. We try to sleep, but only rest. We arrive in Paris at 10:10 a.m. (8 hours ahead). At 11:40 we fly Alitalia Airline to Venice, Italy, almost 2 hours. They feed us again.

We're picked up by bus and wisked to our Star Princess cruise ship. Our room is large and lovely. The ship is huge. We nap for 3 hours.

At dinner we are seated with 3 couples in their 60s. They are all outgoing and friendly. Lovely dinner. We take the boat to see Venice at night. It is all lighted up and quite lovely. We retire about 11 exhausted.

I have kept Mom's passport all these many years. It was issued January 5, 1987 for the ski trip to Innsbruck, Austria that I took with Mom and Frank. Surprisingly, the passport does not show a stamp for Austria, but it does have a stamp dated February 15, 1987 when we arrived at Heathrow Airport in London for an extra excursion after our ski trip. The next stamp is dated February 20, 1987 when they returned to Los Angeles.

Page 2 of the passport shows a stamp for Gatwick Airport in London in April 1990 and Page 3 shows they arrived in Venice September 29, 1992, Barcelona on October 11, and back to Los Angeles on October 13. There are 18 blank pages after these entries that should have been filled with exciting ports-of-call visited during her golden years that were stolen from her. Mom loved to travel and I know she would have taken many more trips in the past 20 years.

It cracked me up when Mom complained about being fed too much and too often on their flights. 20 years later, all we get from the airlines is non-alcoholic beverages and a bag of nuts on a flight!

I have only flown to Europe twice in my lifetime, that trip to Austria in 1987 and a 10-week trip to 14 European countries in 1974 when I graduated from college. Both times the exhaustion and jet lag put me in bed sick the first week. Will Mom adjust to the major time zone change? I can't believe she stayed up til 11 p.m. this first night!