Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1910-07-05
IN SWITZERLAND.
Interesting Letter From Well Known
Wausau Gentleman.

W. w. Albers, who with party of
Wausau people is now travelling in
Europe. Itwas written from Lucerne,
or Luzern as the Swiss people spell it.
LUzERN, SWITZERLAND, els, 10.
Dear Gend:
Agreeable to your request to send
you few lines while on my journey,
/ will take this opportunity, because
we are practically stalled here; the
heavy rains have raised havoc and it
is unsafe to travel for the next few
days.
AS you know, we left n Y. on the
steamship Hamburg, Tuesday, May
10th. The voyage was exceedingly
pleasant and we were SO busy doing
nothing, that I did not get time to
read New York paper which l
bought just before sailing On the
voyage, nothing very exciting hap
pened, except that a merry widow,
who sat at my left at the table, tried
to kidnap me and it took several good
sized icebergs to cool her ardor. be-
lieve l would have been in imminent
danger if Mrs. Albers had not been
there to assist and protect me. The
second day out we met sail boat and
a steamer but after that nothing was
seen except sky and water until Mon
| day, the 10th, when we reached the
Il
Azores OF which we had very good
view passing along the coast of one of
| the isles for about two hours. This
was the place where our Teddy fell in
the water and came near drowning.
We were not allowed to follow his ex-
ample because we had neglected to
leave orders for the boat to stop be-
fore leaving New York. Our first
stopping place was Gibralter where
we spent four hours on shore. 1t gave
US good opportunity to view the
town and to correct the erroneous
ideas | had of the place. The harbor
is large semi-circle and is protected
on the outside by the coast of Africa
making it very safe and free from any
danger from storms. l am not Sur
prised that Johnny Bull, who has his
eagle eyes always open, gobbled onto
this strong fortress which holds the
key to Spain. The rock which you
see SO often pictured, faces north and
on the northwest side of this promon-
tory lies the city of Gibralter. 1t is
connected by narrow strip of land
with Spain. We crossed the neutral
zone into Spain and saw an arena
where they hold the bull fights. We
also had glimpse of the poverty of
Spain. About 200 youngsters followed
US, begging for money. We also saw
a Spanish school which was very prim-
tive. Proceeding on our journey we
passed into the Mediterranean sea;
saw the island of Sardonia and on
Sunday forenoon, May p, arrived at |
Naples. Here we were greeted by the |
customs officers, and we will see many
of them before we return. The Gus
toms officers in Naples are the easiest |
l have come in contact with. / did |
not even have to open our trunk. The |
Italians are certainly wise, they make |
the Americans no trouble in getting |
into their country but they take their |
coin after they get there. Naples, |
with its beautiful blue bay on one |
side and smoking Vesuvius on the
other, is busy and very interesting
city. In spite of its filth and beggars,
we liked the city and surrounding
country SO well that we prolonged our |
stay for two or three days. We Wis
tied the Isle of Capri and the Blue
Grotto. This Grotto, or cave, can be |
entered only by boat and you have to
lay down in the boat when you enter,
because the entrance is so small. The
water in there is the prettiest blue /
ever saw. We madea team trip from |
Sorrento to Amalfi and then to Cava,
which was one of the most interest
ing days ever spent. The road leads,
most OF the way, along the beautiful
bay of Salerno on one side and high |
cliffs on the other, with little villages |
perched up on the side of the noun
tains. 1t is very winding and every |
few rods new panorama is presented |
to view. 1t seems like dream never |
to be forgotten.
We also visited the ruins of Pompeii |
and got very good idea of how the
Romans built their houses and |
temples before the Christian era Our |
next stopping place was Rome,
which, from an historical point |
of view, is the most interesting city |
in the world. If you have studied |
history and will draw a little on your
imagination you can see ancient and
modern Rome side by side. Modern |
Rome is the most modern city in
Italy and manyo of the ruins of ancient |
Rome are in a fair state of preserva-
tion especially the Colosseum and the
palaces, ETC., of the Caesars on Pala-
tine hlll. L am glad 10 state thaJ |
while in Rome we did not fall into
any of the difficulties which gave so
much trouble to ex-Pres. Roosevelt |
and ex-V. p. Fairbanks. One sad
circumstance happened however. A
gentleman from Reading, Pa, who
crossed the ocean with us dropped |
dead in St. Peters. From Rome we
went to Florence, the city of Art and |
thru TO Bologna, the University city |
of Italy. 1t is a grand old city and
from the top of hill near by, we had
a view of the surrounding country
which was 50 beautiful that it re-
minded US of the traditions we have
heard of Paradise