No 34 - December 1937 - Southgate County School

Southgate County School Magazine 49'
Our first day was .taken-easily, everybody going- down to the
Lido in the morning. The way lay down a very steep path and
every day a race ensued both up and down. The water was quite
warm and one could stay in for over an hour. Testimony to the
difficulty of getting sqme of us out will be willingly borne by both
Mr. Fawcett and Mr. Armstrong. After dinner,we walked into
Lugano and were allowed four hours in .which to see the sights.
It. was a very interesting town but foreign attractions were
nullified by the shops selling British newspapers; even at 4d a
lime it was worth while for the cricket results. A light shower
fell during the afternoon but had little effect on our movements
since wide arcades were universal. Our first issue of Swiss
money was made at 4 o'clock. It was then that the group
leaders' troubles began. They were given notes, of large denominations'
to split up int'o smaller amounts for each boy. To get
change,.successive shops had to be canvassed with an eag'er pack
at the leader's heels and heaven help you if some one had already
been to that shop on the same-errand. It- 1 may be rather risky
to say that the Casino was very popular, but this was due to the
fact that there was a good swing band which could be enjoyed
while sitting beside the lake under a'leafy boulevard., I can
vouch, however, that none of us ventured inside. We all gathered
at our rendezvous to pick up the bus to take us home to dinner
and the post. ' " • •
The next day our trips started in earnest and the first was to
Lake Como. The greater part of the route lay' through Italy. It
is interesting to note that we were the first big party of English
schoolboys to visit the country and, therefore, all were on their
best behaviour. The Italians required that we had a collective
passport and special visa and that we each had a signed photograph
of ourselves (all looking like pages from Scotland Yard
criminal records). Nevertheless, the cards were of great importance
and one lost would have held us up for several hours while
the help.of the British consul was sousrht. Consequently none
was lost. Mr. Knowles had a great deal of hard work to do in
order to get the permission to enter Italy and had many anxious
momeiits while the Customs officials or Carabinieri at the Dogana
scrutinised the passes. To him. the best thanks of us all are due.
The usual procedure on approaching' the border was, if from
the Swiss side, firstly to stop at the border, while our driver,
leaning out of the window, had a few words with the officials.
He would then go slowly forward and stop on the Italian side.
Here all passports were required and about 15 minutes later the
order would come " Out of coaches and walk over the border."
Usually there was a small gate at the side of the road, where
Italian officials helped by our guide would read out the names—
with the most fantastic pronunciations—and examine our photographic
passes. The barrier was then raised, the coaches allowed
through and we started off once more. Usually while the passes
were being examined our drivers—real beefy fellows—would