In the summer of 1949, my father took a year off from college to travel in Europe. He took the Santa Fe El Capitan Amtrak from Los Angeles to the east coast via Chicago and visited Ottawa, Washington, DC and New York. From New York, he joined his Aunt Mary Wallis on the SS Washington bound for the UK. His Aunt Mary got off at Cobh, Ireland and my father went on to Southampton where he was met by his sister Joyce. After spending a few nights in London, he was off to the continent to meet up with some friends and travel with them through Austria, Switzerland and Paris. It was later on this same trip while in England that he met his wife-to-be, Isabel, and returned back with her to the US in July 1950.
On The Big Trip to Europe in 2018 we attempted to retrace some of the places he visited. Below you will find links with stories, pictures and postcards of some of the places he visited in Europe.