SUMMER 1963 p.54

Aug.28: Rode my bike to nearby Theo de Boer -as was Theo Pol, a Grammar Schoolmate (although they were alpha's and I a beta). He was wearing glasses now and had been a student of theology and philosophy for 13 years. We had a fine conversation, coffee, and he introduced me to his charming wife. Later that afternoon I bought licorice at "The Green Lizard", picked up our photographs from Capi (Rose's were best), and made a final visit to my Dad's new school. Cynthia called to invite Rose and me to stay with them in London.

August 29: Nicely in time, I received the papers for my US visa from Virginia Arnold in La Jolla. We walked through the Park and Dad took Rose by car to the "Winkel Centrum". I followed later for us to buy presents and souvs, and we rode home on my bike. That evening, we had some pleasant eating and drinking, talking, arranging picts and packing.

August 30: This was Rose's 19th birthday, and she acted up a lot. We continued packing, and at 10:00 Pa and Ma took us by car to Hoek van Holland where we arrived at 11:15 and boarded the ferry to Harwich, England.

Then goodbye to the World's best parents and ready for the rainy voyage which ended about 20:00. After taking a long time through the customs, aided by free porters, we got on the train to London, till 22:00. We called Cynthia and Charles and got into a taxi queue. This was a marvelous reunion (see here for our Thai adventures), Charles cooked a meal and we ended up in a rickety bed around midnight.

August 31: After some reconciliatory smooching, I went to shave and discovered that in the meantime Charles had run off with Rose. (revenge?)After breakfast and viewing C & C's excellent photographs and articles, we changed partners once again, leaving Rose and Cynthia to relax in bed, while Charles and I went to town to visit a friend of his, look for a present for Rose (a mirror), have a warm beer outside, and called and met my acquaintance Celia, who I now barely remember but who had something to do with the Salvation Army... On the way back home, we bought a bag of Indian Nuts which we all ate for dinner before Rose and I left by taxi. Rose said she had had a marvelous day with Cynthia - not talking about me. We waited interminable hours at Gatwick and finally took off on for Iceland, some two hours after midnight