Deja Vu All Over Again
On the green carpet – I sent this Polaroid snapshot to my mother about 1973 as I was packing for a trip to Europe. On the back I scribbled the details: “The shawl is beige and 100% cotton. Skirt and blouse are pale green.”
I was reading Richard Hicks’ mystery MURDER BY THE NUMBERS when I came across a line that made me put down the book and laugh. In one paragraph, a character packs for a trip from California to Pennsylvania:
“She was going to a farm in Pennsylvania at the end of summer. It was going to be hot, so she needed something simple that would travel well and still be stylish, but not sophisticated. She settled for stretch, non-wrinkle black pants and vest with a jacket no one ever guessed was polyester. It wouldn't breathe but it would look good, and as her mother always said, ‘It hurts to be beautiful.’ She rolled some T-shirts up, threw in a jeans skirt and shorts, sandals and a light summer coat that would serve as a robe if needed.”
Did Hicks read Frommer’s book or was he sitting in the back of the tour bus on my first trip to Europe?
I had read and re-read Frommer’s book. He advised not taking up suitcase room with a bathrobe but letting a light raincoat do double duty. So there I was – in Stockholm, July 1969, with a tour group staying in the Swedish equivalent of a Motel 6. I don’t remember a single thing about it except that I needed a shower.
I put on my shower cap, my raincoat and my fuzzy slippers and headed for the community bathroom. Unfortunately it was located on the other side of the lobby and the lobby was full of Japanese tourists who were just checking in.
Every last one of them turned to look at me and chatter came to a standstill. I felt like a first class fool. Welcome to Europe on a budget.
I never again took a raincoat on a trip anywhere. I took an umbrella.
Labels: Arthur Frommer, Europe On $5 A Day, Europe on a budget, Murder By The Numbers, Richard Hicks









