My Years with Ludwig von Mises.pdf - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

morning with the view of the Austrian Alps. With a chairlift we
could go up 300 meters to the Gschwandkogel, a mountain with a
restaurant and a sun terrace. Usually, we walked the way back, and
on some days we went up to the Wildmoosalm, 1300 meters high.
On the wide, green meadows we saw nothing but cows, grazing
and chewing incessantly, watched over by a very young, beautiful
girl who was friendly and talkative and who said she never felt
lonely! Seefeld had so many possibilities that we could make a
different excursion every day. In later years the place became so
crowded and overrun by tourists .that we did not like it any more.
Traffic was so heavy and it became so dangerous crossing the
streets that Lu one day advised me: "Cross the streets only when
you can either follow a woman with a pram or be behind a priest.
In both cases nothing ever will happen to you."
In 1953, after a few weeks in Seefeld, we left Innsbruck for
Rome, by train. The conductor told us that at 9 P.M. we would be in
Verona, remaining there for an hour and fifteen minutes. "That
gives us time," said Lu, "to go into town and see where Romeo and
Juliet lived." I was amazed at this. I never would have daredto do
it; I would have been much too afraid to miss the train.
When we arrived in Verona, the conductor locked our compartment
and, as usual, we took a bus that took us to the center of town.
We not only saw the house of the Capulets, but also the Piazza Bra
("Main Center") and the famous amphitheater. All the coffee
houses were crowded, people sitting in the streets, sipping their
white vermouth or drinking a demitasse of strong, sweet, black
coffee. Crowds came out of a movie house; the streets got more and
more jammed; and I started to get nervous. Lu flagged a taxi, and
we made it in time for our train and our friendly conductor. We
travelled all night, and the next morning we arrived in Rome, blanketed.by
a heavy fog.
We stayed in the Hotel de Ville, one minute away from the
Piazza Trinita dei Monti, its lovely church and the beautiful broad
staircase that leads to the Fontana della Barcaccia on the Piazza di
Spagna. Wherever we looked there were women selling flowers.
Lu was a wonderful guide. He had been in Rome before, and he
showed and explained everything to me. We went to the Pantheon;
we saw the tombs of King Humberto, King Emanuelo II, and
Rafael.
On August 24 Lu saw Einaudi, and in the evening we had dinner
at Carlo's, an elegant place frequented by many well-dressed
people. To my great amusement, I discovered a bidet in the ladies'
restroom!
The next day we made an excursion to the Castle Gandolfo, the
Pope's summer residence, and we passed the Anzio beachhead.
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