COMEX 3      The Summer of '69

This is the story of the Edinburgh contingent extracted from letters to his family from Gordon Bell. Please remember that the views and opinions below are entirely personal but hopefully the adventures described will bring back memories.

We left Dover on schedule on Free Enterprise IV, her maiden voyage. We were given a large lunch then lounged on deck in blistering heat. We arrived in Zeebrugge at 5pm then hit the road for Frankfurt. The journey was all autobahn and three-lane carriageway, but I found driving on the right relatively easy except when wrongly dipping lights and a constantly screaming radio-telephone made life a bit trying. We made the USAF base in Frankfurt by 5am at the start of another scorching day. Everyone was very tired and some got sunburned with the temperature at 92F in the shade.   Back

We had two cloudless days in Frankfurt then made for Salzburg. We had one night there and experienced a terrific thunderstorm but had another glorious day on the run to Zagreb. The Jugoslav roads are terrible and we arrived well behind schedule. We are near the end of our second cloudless day here with the temperature approaching 110F. However there is an open-air pool here and showers.

We have a short sleep tonight then leave for Skopje at 3.40 am. The trip is 500 miles and will take at least 20 hours. The fan that we fitted has been a godsend and some other contingents are madly jealous of our various conversions. We have switched some of the seats around so that we can sing together, play cards and rehearse plays. It also allows more stowage space.   Back

Kavalla Bay, the glorious stop in Greece to which we had all been looking forward, was a bit of a washout despite first-class amenities. It rained every hour or so and a thunderstorm all but flooded us out and almost wrecked the tent!

The first night there we went for a drink to a pavement cafe and suddenly erupted into an eightsome reel to Brian's pipes. Instantly a huge crowd gathered and we really gave them some entertainment. The next night we went down to the same place but this time the boys wore kilts, and the girls wore white dresses and tartan sashes. This really knocked them out and stopped a five star general and his cavalcade. Newspapers were onto us immediately and the reporters took us to a Bouzouki club where they play instruments like elongated mandolins. We bought wine and then put on another Scottish spectacular. Greeks demonstrated their dances, so we joined in and did quite as well. The place was in a riot by then; even the manager finished up with a kilt on ( it was Tony Farquhar's, he wore the manager's suit). When we first arrived we were very content to sit on the balcony under the stars looking over the black Aegean, which lapped softly on the shore, towards a little village of lights on a hill with the moon above. On the water were little scattered lights which marked night fishing boats. With the bouzoukis playing gently behind it was quite wonderful. The Scottish dancing then rather shattered it all. We arrived back at camp at 2.30 a.m., went for a swim in the Aegean, and then slept, quite dead, until 4.30 a.m. when we set off for Istanbul, where we are now. We adopted a cat today. Cats are everywhere and ours sleeps and eats with us. I found twenty three cats and kittens all sleeping in a heap by the ferry this afternoon.

Prices are very low. We, as students, can cross the Bosporus for 35 Kurus - about 2d! Taxis and food are really cheap, as are the colossal tomatoes and melons. We are joining three other contingents in roasting a sheep for a "banquet" tonight!   Back