Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Handsome Italians, Cinque Terre and Disco



July 11th, 1986 A lot happened this day. Here is my journal entry " Visited the Air force of La Spezia. Really cute guy was our tour guide--he looked like Tom Cruise. I hope I have a picture. His name is Orazzio. Lots of handsome men in uniform. They were very rude and crude, however. We went aboard the air craft carrier. It was very clean.They gave us a very short tour. We then went to a smaller boat and this is where it gets good-- The boat was small and there was no where for all of us to sit outside.
I wanted the breeze of the sea on my face. Next to the driver of the boat, there was a small window. Alain and I stood there to enjoy the ride. It was very windy. We toured around many small islands. One was like a small fort, the whole island was one building. Finally we stopped at a port. The water was beautiful. It was some of the best water to swim in that I have ever seen. The beach was not good, many large rocks, but the water was even better to swim than the Bahamas. I swam alone for a while. We were only allowed to be there for 1 1/2 hours. I took many pictures on the beach. Alain and I were the first ones back on the boat so we could get a seat outside. It was like heaven....The sea air was fantastic. Later we went to another disco. This one was directly on the beach. It was very large with big seating areas outside. Aernout (Netherlands) was sick in the bus on the way there. Vicki and Cheryl (USA) went off with some Italian boys and were "attacked". At least the boys wanted more than they were willing to give. "

Here is a picture of the seats at the disco and of some of the islands. I thought I had a picture of the ship but I can't find it. I will keep looking.

Only years later did I realize that we were in a port in the Cinque Terre. I don't know which city we were in. Does anyone know the name of the port where we stopped to swim? I think the town was Portovenere, at least that is the city pictured here with the two churches and the ruins of a castle. Does anyone know for sure?

Please post your comments about this day. Don't forget that if you click on a photo, it will enlarge. Especially the one of the disco, you can see more closely who is there. Ciao!
The picture of the cute Italian above was provided by Nikki Cooper. Thanks!

Tine Vestergaard Salling - Denmark


Tine! I can remember her so well. Her beautiful fair hair, so blonde; it was almost white.

She seemed then to be so light -- everything about her. She is one of the 4 girls from Denmark. They were all so outgoing and friendly. When I made the memory book in 1996, she was married and had one child. I have not heard from her again but I will send her a post card. Here is a picture she sent 10 years ago. The other pictures are from the Camp. Please post your stories and memories of Tine. Thanks. Ciao.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

July 10th, 1986 Bruno's son and Luigi's daughter

Here is what I have written in my journal for the 10th of July. "Stayed at camp today. I tried to get a tan for a while. A group of us climbed out the window and were laying on the roof. It was so hot. We had a seminar about "Youth and Peace" and then a very stupid video on women's rights. There was a presentation about Maria Dolens. I went for a walk with Particia and Annie (both from France) and Judith from Switzerland. For dinner we went to the pizza place "Ponte Vecchio" again. I went back to the camp and everyone was doing their own thing. There were a lot of people in the hall outside my room. I borrowed Francesco's guitar and sat on the stage with Alain and we sang a bit. I tried the few songs I knew and he sang some Communards tunes to me. Earlier today we found out that Bruno Grandi's son was getting married to Mr. Luigi's daughter."

Maria Dolens is the name of the bell in Rovereto that we would go visit. I will write more about it when the time comes to talk about that day's events.

Bruno Grandi was the man responsible for our camp. He is a Lion's club member. Mr. Luigi is from Bagnone and also was at camp often. I loved that guy. Mr. Luigi, not Bruno. I will write more about both those men later.

Since I don't have a picture to post of that day, I am adding a group picture from the flag raising ceremony. Lots of faces to find there. I have been slowly finding more people and I hope that you are all re-living the fun we had then. Can you write and tell me what you did on this day? I think they gave us a bit of a rest since the disco had us out late. Plus we had the seminar and films to see. They were preparing us for big finale around the bell later. Let me know what you were doing on July 10th, 1986. Did anyone else write a journal? Sandra, I know you did. What were you up to that night? Let me know. Ciao.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

The girls of Denmark -- Ilse Skovgaard Jensen

Ok, the next four people from our phone book are the girls of Denmark. That sounds like a good title for a song or a film. Marius, you are our film maker. What do you think? Helle, Tine, Ilse and Liselotte. The first in the book is Ilse Skovgaard Jensen. I can remember all 4 girls were very sweet and very blonde. Ilse was so much fun. I don't think I ever saw her frown. She was one of the 4 to reply in 1996 when I created the memory book. She had one daughter then and was expecting another child. I find that amazing. Some of the group started families early, some late. She was living in Northern Denmark when she wrote.
I will try to send a postcard to some of the addresses I have for her and we if we can add her to the found list. I have several photos of her but all are from larger group photos, either from La Spezia or Rovereto. I hope that she will respond. Ciao. You can click the pictures to enlarge them. Ciao! Baci!