page_title: World tour of Ulysses S. Grant
section_title: Germany, Switzerland, Italy
hierarchical_section_title: World tour of Ulysses S. Grant / 1877 / Germany, Switzerland, Italy
caption_attribution_description: English: Material and Dimensions: Oil on canvas, 109 x 160 cm
context_page_description: The world tour of Ulysses S. Grant began in May 1877, only a couple of months after Grant's second presidential term had ended. After serving as a general during the Civil War, and as president for two consecutive terms during the turbulent Reconstruction Era, Grant was ready for a vacation from the years of stress that war and politics had brought him. Now in his later fifties, Grant looked forward to the tour with great enthusiasm. With his wife Julia they embarked on a long-anticipated tour, which would develop into an around the world tour, lasting more than two and a half years. The tour was filled with visits to a variety of places and prominent people, including Queen Victoria, Pope Leo XIII, Otto von Bismarck and other such dignitaries around the world. The Grants had a flexible itinerary and their visits to various countries would bring them to Paris three times during their tour. Grant was often received by cheering crowds as "General Grant" the Civil War hero in the various countries along the tour, often with official greetings and huge celebrations.
  During the tour abroad, Grant was encouraged by his successor President Rutherford B.
context_section_description: After celebrating the Fourth of July at the American embassy in London, Grant and his party crossed the English Channel from Folkestone to Ostend, Belgium. Due to political turmoil in Paris, Grant traveled directly to Germany visiting Cologne, traveling down the Rhine to Frankfurt, and then to Heidelberg. Looking forward to visiting Switzerland, Grant arrived in Geneva, the city where he once played a major role during his presidency in settling the Alabama claims with the United Kingdom.
  In August, Grant toured Italy, visiting Lake Maggiore and traveling down the Italian coast. Grant read Homer aloud, tracing the legendary path of Ulysses, the Homeric sojourner whose name he bore.
caption: "Lake Maggiore in the Evening", Ivan Aivazovsky, 1858
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "CanoScan 8600F", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "QuickTime 7.5", "Image DateTime": "2009:05:20 20:17:18", "Image HostComputer": "Mac OS X 10.5.4", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "246", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "414", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3290", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:05:20 19:07:55", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB"}