Introduction. We had been stationed in Italy for nearly a year when we decided to drive up to Munich to have our 1953 Pontiac station wagon serviced at the Post Exchange service garage. The transmission had started malfunctioning, and I had written weeks before to make an appointment. We thought we may as well try to see a little of Munich while we were there. We felt comfortable with leaving our four young boys with Rosa, our wonderful maid/nanny, who had been with us about five months by this time. Tuesday, August 2. We left Verona about 0900 after saying good-bye to Bob and Ginny McCloskey, who had stayed with us overnight. Bob had been in Darrell's Basic Class when they both entered the Army in 1955.
We drove from Verona to Munich on the winding
two-lane highway through the Brenner Pass, stopping for
lunch at a rustic trattoria between Bolzano and Brenner.
Although the waitress had greeted us in German, we did
not realize at first that the she gave us menus in
German. We asked for English menus, but she replied (in
Geman) that they did not have any. When we then asked
for Italian menus, she said that they only had German
menus. By now it was clear that she only spoke German.
Surprised, Darrell asked "Isn't this Italy?" She assured
us that it was but repeated that they only had German
menus.
Finally we woke up and remembered having read that this area, Sud Tyrol, had been part of Austria until 1919 and that most of the residents still considered themselves Austrians. We were embarrassed for having displayed our ignorance, especially since we had no problem with the German menu anyway. (Just a few months later, extremists bombed the main train station in Verona to protest the Italian annexation of the Alto Adige/Sud Tyrol.)
The autobahn took us into the city on the opposite
side from the Columbia Hotel, the military hotel where
we were staying. Fortunately, a young student whom
we asked for directions offered to guide us across the
city for a small fee. The center of town was closed off
due to the 37th International Eucharistic Congress being
held in Municht that week. Traffic was comparable to
downtown Chicago in the rush hour. We never would have
found our way without the guide. We unpacked and had
dinner in the hotel dining room and went to bed right
after eating. |
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