“Travels to a Different Time” : August 3, 1971: Bled, Yugoslavia: Letter from Margaret Mary Stephen to Daughter Barbara and Son Andrew: Woman Obsessed with Upcoming Trip to Munich

Time is getting closer for our German trip. We go by train on August 9^th and it is an 8-hour trip. We leave at 5:30 a.m. and I can’t imagine what shape we will be in when we arrive. Fritz has made reservations for us at a hotel in Munich. I guess I am nuts to go off with him as I only have known him for three days. He will probably rape and murder me and kidnap Robert. The way I feel about him it might be a good way to go. The trip to Munich ought to be something. I will take a loaf of bread, cheese and fruit. Fritz will get an awful shock when he sees me. I will tell him I am his cousin Gertrude from the back 40. After 8 hours on a train I’ll look like one. Bled is picture book town with a castle up in the hills with an island in the middle of the lake. Every night there is a concert. The setting for it is fantastic! I have an incredible tan. Unlike Greece I am not fat. I think I am the only hippie mother in Europe. We ride the local buses, ships and trains with them and they cut bread on their knees. I must be NUTS! We have a room in an Alpine style house. There is only hot water for the taps in the bathroom sink. Years ago there lived a doctor here who was a health nut who built a small trail around the mountain that is supposed to take 15 minutes to walk. Robert has done it a few times in 10 minutes. The food here in Slovenia is just as awful as in the rest of Yugoslavia. I would love a simple hamburger and oh to have some roast beef and a glass of milk! My last birthday here was awful. The motto is NEVER TRAVEL ON YOUR BIRHDAY!