09-09 Europe 1984

It was the year the International Small Business Congress was held in Amsterdam, and Bob and Stacy Morrow accompanied Mary and me for a two-week tour of Italy, Switzerland, France and Holland.
We started in Milano. What a beautiful city for shopping! We all bought gloves for Xmas gifts. Bob and I can be seen in one of their many great marketplaces.
And, do you ever get sick of visiting Venice? We were there outside the typical tourist season and St. Mark's Square was flooded with people, walking about on boards spread over concrete blocks. But from the photo, the beautiful canals are as magical as ever. How interesting to take a water taxi right to the door of your hotel.
No one goes to Venice and misses the Rialto Bridge and the photo has Mary and Stacy with the Bridge in the background. So much fun going into all the shops.
Rome was an amazing experience with Vatican City, the Coliseum and all the sites. But to us, the moment to remember was going to the famous Alfredo alla Scrofa restaurant in Rome where we had their “Fettucine Alfredo”. It seemed there was a signed photograph of every US President and General on the wall, going back 50 years.
There have been a lot of wonderful experiences that Mary and I have witnessed visiting nations around the world. But nothing compared to seeing the David statue in Florence. I got a pretty good shot without using a flash (which was not allowed). We were breathless witnessing such overwhelming beauty.
Love the photo of Bob holding the cowbell in Switzerland. There were different sized bells, and apparently farmers could identify their cows by the sound of their bells. We learned that the distinctive flavour of Swiss cheese was linked to a herb that grows amongst the grasses. Loved Switzerland, but all the cheese and potatoes were a little binding, to put it mildly.
And if you want to convince your friends that you are seriously cultured, you have to visit the Louvre in Paris. You would have to visit that place ten times to really see all the paintings and statues.
We also visited the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The picture shows the famous Rembrandt painting, the Nightwatch. It was in a gallery by itself with two guards in the room to protect this valuable asset.
I gave a keynote address at the Congress and laid out a policy agenda for governments to follow if they want to build and strengthen their SME sectors. It was the best received of any of my talks over the years.
And after the Congress, when Mary and I were at a local restaurant, a couple came over and asked us if we were Canadians. We said yes, of course, and they said "well you are not buying your own meal and will sit with us". I was amazed at how good their English was. What an evening. And that Bols liqueur that they drank was beautiful but deadly.
All four of them were people liberated by Canadians at the end of WW2 and fed by Canadians when they were literally starving. I danced with the two wives who were both about five foot ten inches in height and big, big women. But what memories and what wonderful people.