Walkerville Collegiate Institute - Blue and White Yearbook (Windsor, Ontario Canada)

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BLUE AND WHITE HWjlfcJ V Ju{ , LITERARY h-tk . ' • — MY TRIP ABROAD By Keith Wilmshurst Four years ago this August I was fortunate in being able to visit England and Western Europe, and in seeing much of the architectural beauty of that part of the world. Much of ths has now been laid waste by war, never again to be rebuilt in its former way. It is because of this I wish to write of what I then saw. My mother and I sailed on the Queen Mary out of New York harbour into the Atlantic ocean. The trip across the ocean took four and a half days. We landed at Southampton and took a train to Lon¬ don. On our tour of London we visited Westminster Abbey, which dates back to 1066 and was finished in 1932. St. Paul’s Cathedral whose dome in three hundred and sixty-five feet high, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. We saw the Tower of London and the old moat surrounding the tower, which used to be filled with water, but is now used for playing soccer. The shimmering crown jewels were in the tower and could be seen for a shilling, but of course they were heavily guarded. One of the most interesting sights was the changing of the guard, which takes place at Buckingham Palace at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day. There are the Grenadier Guards, who have a white plume, the Irish Guards who have a blue plume, and the Coldstream who have a red plume. Their red coats with gold braid and their horses are the most beautiful I have ever seen. They form in squares and the guard who has been on duty rides up in front of all the rest and passes the key over to the guard going on duty. Another interesting place was Mad¬ ame Tussaud’s Wax Works. In this four storey building were wax models of all the people of importance in the world. They were so realistic that at times you would think they were speaking to you. We went to the north of England on the train, which was much different from ours. They looked like toy trains painted in bright colours, and the inter¬ iors were made into separate compart¬ ments. We crossed the English Channel on a boat not any larger than one of the ferries which cross the Detroit river. As we neared France we could see the chalk cliffs at Calais, and very shortly we landed at LeHavre. Paris, to me, was not an impressive city. Its streets are narrow and dirty and most of the build¬ ings of very ancient architecture. One place of importance, the Eiffel Tower, 984 feet high,was built in 1889, and con¬ tains 700 million pieces of steel. The platform holds 800 people at the top of the tower, and it takes forty minutes to go up or down by elevator. The Arc de Triomph is a very wonder¬ ful arch built in the centre of the city, to honour Napoleon. It is wide enough for an aeroplane to fly through; in fact in 1924 an American did fly through, much against the rules of the city, and consequently was prosecuted. From there we went to Switzerland. It is very quaint with the stores built with open fronts. Our hotel was on the edge of Lake Geneva, with the Alps tow¬ ering up in the background. They are so gigantic with their snow topped peaks, it gives one the feeling of awe. We next travelled all day through beautiful country to Venice, a city of Page Nineteen

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BLUE AND WHITE water streets. It is very picturesque, and it is quite a wonderful sight to see the ladies doing their shopping at the market place, coming and going in their gondolas. A church built in 1789 has an Italian mosaic floor laid in designs and each year the tides rise and flood the floors of all the buildings, but this floor¬ ing is still intact, but as you walk on it, it is like a washboard. There are thousands of pigeons in Venice and they are so tame they sit on your hands and eat corn which is sold by the old women to the tourists. Venice is a great glass manufacturing centre, and it is very interesting to see them blowing glass and making glass flowers. Next we went to Rome, which is a very beautiful city. Almost all of the buildings are of white marble, and since Mussolini has been in power great im¬ provements have been made. He has built a wonderful school for boys, called the Mussolini Forum. They teach every¬ thing, including music, and it only costs $80.00 a year (in our money) to attend. If a person cannot afford to pay, he is admitted just the same. They have a firing range nearly a quarter of a mile long, built in a semi-circle, and each morning every boy from six to sixteen is compelled to practice shooting for an hour. We then went to Naples, and a beau¬ tiful sight with the blue waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea and Mount Vesuvius looming up four thousand feet into the sky met our eyes. The tram runs up the mountain and at the summit you get off and descend into the crater. A guide assists you to walk across the lava which is very hard and slippery, and has wide cracks with the smoke curling through. As you reach the centre of the crater the sulphur nearly chokes you, and you can hear the seething of the molten lava which sends up a con¬ tinual roll of smoke. The parks are very beautiful with their palm trees and white marble stat¬ ues arranged in groups around fountains and flowers. We regretted having to leave such a heavenly spot, but the Rex was sailing for New York, so we came to the end of our journey; but still we have our happy memories. On Board S.S. Ormonde Aden, Arabia, June 15, 1938 By Louise Amerding Everything is still. The boat is glid¬ ing along silently, swiftly, like a livng, half-waking thing. The night breeze is warm, yet half mild and free, blowing in my face. Just below me two large awnings have been put up, reminding me of Saladin’s tents, crouched like sleeping birds on the desert sand. At the very front of the boat the crew are sit¬ ting, amidst a veritable forest of tall white funnels with their huge gaping mouths. Near them a sentinel is pacing back and forth, his white suit a vivid contrast with the blackness. The shadows have dispersed a little, and a large distant hulk has become a rocky island, its outlines sharp against a blue-grey sky. It is very high in one part, and then it narrows down into somewhat of a cavern out of which a light is shining; then a smaller piece rises against the sky. Beyond the island there is a nest of lights, like a Scotch farmhouse on a winter night. It is almost one o’clock and the boat has almost ceased to move. A speedboat is coming towards us, but apart from the sound of that, the only sound is an occasional laugh or a scrap of convers¬ ation to break the spel . . . .ADEN. Phantom ships lie all around us, their tiny lights piercing the darkness. One of these, manned by black men, has just come alongside to take some of us to land. It is a queer little boat, like a cov¬ ered wagon, bobbng up and down, wait¬ ing to receive the favoured eight who are to go ashore first. The journey lasts only five minutes, and then we are helped ashore by dirty bla us, Ah yar the dea hal san var ly anc str Mo fac coi ree thi me of gh fit sh coi ro’ ha ar TI an ca ve io al ch he a of be cr bi cl w ri st sc Page Twenty