Vatican City 1968

ITA-68 - A backpackers’ trip to Italy, San Marino, Vatican and Switzerland Date of travel: July 25 - Aug 21, 1968 ITINERARY: This trip was done by trains and started in Prague (Czechoslovakia). It continued across Austria and reached ITALY in the afternoon on July 26. We visited: Venice, Verona, Lago di Garda and Rimini. From Rimini by bus for a day (on July 31) to SAN MARINO. After that a train to Rome and VATICAN (on Aug 2). Next came Napoli (with Pompey, Herculaneum and Mt. Vesuvius) and the island of Sicily (with Palermo, Agrigento, Syracuse, Catania, Mt. Etna and Taormina all these between Aug 6 and 13). Back by train to the mainland and Sorento with a boat trip to the island of Capri (Aug 14), then to Florence and Pisa followed by Geneva and Milan (from here an overnight train to Venice and then back to Milan still on Aug 18). Early on Aug 19 the train crossed the border to SWITZERLAND (visiting Geneva and Bern). In the morning on Aug 21, when changing trains in Lucerne, we learned that the Warsaw Pact led by the Soviet Union military occupied Czechoslovakia and the Czechoslovakian borders were closed. That stopped our further travel for a while. Travel office: No travel office used, but a government permission for travel to Western countries had to be obtained, however this year no invitation letter was needed. We traveled by train and slept in a tent. Who took part: I traveled with my childhood friend Frank Z. (Aramis).