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The Alps are the
highest and most extensive mountain range that is entirely in Europe,
stretching approximately 750 miles across eight Alpine countries (from
west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany,
Austria and Slovenia. Unfortunately, this was not a narrated bus trip,
(and since these pictures were not posted for many years after they
were taken, Karen Duquette is not sure exactly where they were taken). |
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Lee, Karen and
Brian Duquette spent all day Friday, July 27, 1984 traveing by bus.
It was nice though, as they rode through the Swiss and Italian Alps.
This was definitely the most scenic and gorgeous part of the trip. Karen
Duquette did take some nice pictures even though they were taken though
the closed window of a moving bus. The trip was not as hot as the other
bus rides, they took during this European vacation, although they still
did NOT have air conditioning on the bus. However, the outside temperature
made the temperature on the bus okay. |
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Below: Cool postcards |
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Below: The St. Bernard is
a breed of very large working dog from the Western Alps in Italy and
Switzerland. They were originally bred for rescue work by the hospice
of the Great St Bernard Pass on the Italian-Swiss border. The hospice,
built by and named after the Alpine monk Saint Bernard of Menthon, acquired
its first dogs between 1660 and 1670. The breed has become famous through
tales of Alpine rescues, as well as for its large size, and gentle temperament. |
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Below: After crossing from
the Swiss Alps to the Italian Alps the bus made a rest stop for food
and nobody from the bus was ever asked to show their passports. During
that time, one person from the bus had his wallet stolen, and another
person had her purse sliced open. |
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Below: Back on the road again,
past rolling hills and houses built into the hillside. |
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Below: Photos
of the Swiss farm, houses built into the hills, and villages in the
Alps. There was NOT any narration on the bus, so exact location of these
pictures can not be determined. |
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Below: Then they drove through
the Italian Alps |
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Below: Passing by scenery
with no narration from the bus driver. |
Below: Houses in the hillside |
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Below: A DAY
IN MILAN |
Milan is a city in Northern
Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city
in Italy after Rome. Its continuously built-up urban area (whose outer
suburbs extend well beyond the boundaries of the administrative metropolitan
city and even stretch into the nearby country of Switzerland) is the
fourth largest in Europe. Milan is the economic capital of Italy and
is a global financial centre. |
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It was late when the bus arrived
in Milan, Italy. This was just for the one night and the bus left in
the morning for Rome. But while here, most of the people on the bus
took the hotel bus into the railroad center. From there, they had to
take the train about 45 minutes into the center of Milan. At that point,
Brian Duquette got permission from his parents to hang out with two
Italian girls from New York who were in their mid or early twenties.
They spoke Italian.
Karen and Lee Duquette decided that it was time to get a bite to eat.
They were reading menus that were posted outside of various restaurants,
trying to find a menu written in English. Then a waiter came outside
of one of the restaurants and insisted that they eat there. He spoke
English and the menu was in English, so it seemed perfect. It was soon
discovered that restaurants here charged a “service charge” or a “knife
and fork charge”.
Karen and Lee Duquette ordered an Italian Antipasto and only got six
(6) slices of cold cuts on a plate. There was no lettuce and no dressing;
nothing except a few fatty cold cuts. They fast discovered that the
Italian food in Milan was completely different from the Italian food
in the United States. But the food was okay.
After talking to many of the other bus guests, they discovered that
they did a good thing not eating where those guests did because other
places charged very high prices for what they ate. But that was just
the beginning of the expensive prices for everything. Money spent very
quickly in Milan and Rome, Italy compared to the other places that everyone
had visited during this trip.
Meanwhile, Brian Duquette and the Italian girls ate some of everything
in Milan and had a great time.
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FLASHBACKS
