1960

After two wonderful months of work and vacation, Burt had to fly home to Memphis and his job, and he got home just before July 4th. But I stayed behind in Bremen a few more days waiting to board the German Lloyd ship, the Kassel, which was also taking our Volkswagen.

Only two other passengers were on the ship when I arrived. One was a German woman, Mrs. Magnus, who was going to the states to visit her son and his family, and I learned later, to try to recapture her husband who had left Germany with another woman.

The other one was a Guatamalian young man, Costello, who was sent to Germany to learn the language, but he got so homesick, he was returning earlier than expected.

In London we picked up a fourth passenger, Miss Levy, a middle aged spinster, who was going to the states to tour with an American friend.

Some of the ship's officers had their wives with them as far as London, and then they all left except the Captain's wife whom we didn't see for several days, but she surfaced in London.

To our surprise the captain and his wife joined us for the first time for dinner, and we were told we were invited to make a tour of London tomorrow afternoon. That was especially welcome then because there was a transportation strike on. The captain was quite interesting. His wife, however, is a very small, very thin, well tanned, but drawn looking woman, and she seemed very shy. I thought it strange for her to be so shy and withdrawn. She hardly said a word above a whisper all during dinner.

We were invited to go out riding this afternoon with the captain's wife, Mrs. Strenge. A chauffeur took us out to Windsor Castle. Young Castillo and I went first into the church, St. George's. The ceiling was carved and buttressed stone, similar but not so beautiful as King Edward's chapel in Westminster Abbey. There were numerous graves, and two statues of a recumbent Queen Mary and King George and of King Edward VII and Queen A1exandra. I'm not sure the bodies are buried here, but I don't think they have burials in Westminster anymore. We also saw a tablet which is above the graves of King Henry VIII, and the unfortunate Queen Jane Seymour, Henry VIII married Jane Seymour on 5 May, 1536. who bore him a son. Edward VI, sixteen months later, on 12 October 1537, but she died twelve days later.

Then we found our driver, had tea at a shop in the town of Windsor. He took us to Hampton Court House, then drove us through much of the most interesting parts of London, around Buckingham Palace, down St. James Street, down Piccadilly to Piccadilly Circus, to the Strand, Fleet street, past St. Paul's Church, the Tower of London, and finally back to the ship.

The captain's wife wasn't shy this afternoon, but talked a blue streak all afternoon. She told of the war years, how they were bombed out and lost everything, and also how she had come to Hull, England, last spring, for the first time. Her husband had asked her to come, but she couldn't speak English. She had often gone to Holland, Belgium, and France, but never to England, and how she had wept when her husband's ship got in. It was all a little strange. If she had traveled so much alone, why was she so terribly worried about England? It fit in the pattern of her shyness last night, but not with her gabbiness this afternoon.

At tea she ate nothing, drank only one cup of tea. The captain and his wife didn't eat supper with us, but joined us later while we were at dessert. The captain ordered drinks for all of us which I hadn't realized (not understanding every word in German) until the steward brought it in. I was distressed a drink was brought for 16 year old Costello, but he drank his and then excused himself. I couldn't finish mine. The captain's wife complained of pain in her back, and a steward brought her a tablet, but by the time she had finished the first cocktail, her pain was gone. I knew by then that she was an alcoholic. The steward brought in two more drinks for the two women, and finally a third for each. I'm sure Mrs.Magnus doesn't normally drink much. But when the captain's wife started on her third, I knew why she seemed so strange, why her personality didn't match. In all this drinking over a period of two hours, the captain actually accused her of drinking too much, and she admitted that she drank before breakfast. She said that she couldn't touch her dinner tonight because of the back ache. She had not eaten anything at tea either, but she had three large cocktails. She doesn't eat properly and that's why she is so terribly thin and drawn

looking. But being the wife of a sea captain must be a very lonesome life.

Incidentally. the captain drank only beer, but he probably wasn't a moderate

ate drinker either.

So ended another interesting day in London.