This article was published in the November 1970 issue of QST. It contains additions and corrections.

   I have the largest family in the world; the members of my family are spread in almost every country, they belong to every possible religion, every race, and every nation. They speak various languages, mostly unknown to each other, and they have the most different political believes. Some of them are rich, some of them are poor, but all of them are very nice people.
   I like my relatives; I talk with them on the radio, I visit them when I have a chance and I invite them to visit me.
   You can find my family listed in the 2 volumes of the Radio Amateur Callbook.
   This year I have decided to see some of my folks in Western Europe and here are some of my travel notes:

LONDON

   I never had a chance to visit London before. I have seen it on TV, in the movies, I have read about it a lot, and I was very eager to see it. On the air, it is always a pleasure to talk with an Englishman, and especially I like their accent. I don’t always fully understand them and some of them claim that I have an accent. That’s strange.
   I wrote in advance to the R.S.G.B., informing them that I am coming for a short visit. I gave them the date and the time of my arrival, flight number and the hotel where my wife Eva and I had reservations. I said in my letter that I would like very much to meet local amateurs, and to take some photos. I received no reply and during our stay in London we did not receive any messages from them. When I called them up, a girl answered that there is no radio amateur present there and she does not know where and how one could be met.
   In contrast, Sylvia Margolis, whose articles in various radio magazines I read and enjoyed very much, came to see me. I never saw Sylvia before, but we have met like two good friends of many years.
   In London, after the customary sightseeing and shopping tours, I went to see Ben Zion, G5AIY (also 4X4IL) and his charming wife Devora, G5AJS (also 4X4NW). Ben Zion is studying at the Imperial College for his Ph.D. in seismology. We had a nice chat, talking about common friends and eating some real good English chocolate. In one moment I felt a little sorry for myself because I was unable to meet a real English amateur (the G5s followed by 3 letters are foreigners). Exactly in that moment the doorbell rang and entered the room Emmanuel G3ZKX. It was a great evening for me.
   In London I recommend seeing the Westminster Abbey, Silvia Margolis, the British Museum and the House of Parliament.
   I don’t recommend asking directions from the same policeman I did, because his Cockney dialect made me wonder which country I am visiting.

PARIS

   Before we left New York I have received an answer from R.E.F. indicating that I should get in touch with Jacques, F9MR, the president of the radio club of Boulogne, near Paris. I know Paris quite well so I did not waste too much time sightseeing. However under my wife’s psychological pressure, I had to take the shopping tour of the Galeries Lafayette, a kind of French Macy’s, and believe me it was a costly experience. I should have taken her to an art museum, it would have been cheaper and it would have looked better on her resume.
   I called up Jacques; he picked us up at the hotel and took us to the radio club. This club has about 100 members; they have meetings and classes twice a week. The municipality of Boulogne gives them rent-free space, including heating, electricity, etc. The club has a radio station F5KB (F1KB on VHF) and an amateur television transmitter on 432 MHz with Pierre, F2AC, as the licensee.
   At the club we met Andre, F2UM. Later on, we all had dinner at Jacques’s house with his family. No ultra-expensive, luxury restaurant could give us the food and atmosphere we got in F9MR’s home.
   In Paris I recommend a tour of the city, including the museum of Louvre, a nightclub show, a lot of walking and especially visiting a hospitable French amateur.
   I don’t recommend visiting Rue de Pigalle with XYL as I did.

 BRUSSELS

   Brussels is a nice and active city with many beautiful buildings, in Gothic, Renaissance or Baroque styles, and romantic, narrow streets with hundreds of year-old houses and churches.
   Here I tried to meet Rene, ON4VY; I called him up but his wife told me that Rene is in Washington, D.C. She gave me the phone number of Art, ON8VE (also WA8UIC), who invited us over to demonstrate his station. Art is working in Brussels for an American company and he is enjoying the reciprocal operating agreement.
   The Belgian amateur radio association, U.B.A., has an amateur radio hour, which is broadcasted once a month, on the short wave bands. The program is in French, Flemish and English; the announcer for the English program is Art, ON8VE. He is very proud because one of the many letters he received after each broadcast said: “Your amateur radio hour is very interesting and your announcer’s English is quite good.” I wonder - is this a compliment for an American?
   U.B.A. publishes a monthly magazine - opening it at one end the magazine is called “QSO” and is written in French, opening it at the other end, it is called “CQ” and is written in Flemish.
   Getting a temporary license in Belgium (ON8 call) for any licensed amateur is easier and quicker than in most other countries. Since 1964, Belgium made the magnificent unilateral gesture of granting licenses to all hams, whether or not the other countries granted reciprocal facilities, believing that a generous, unilateral gesture might do more good internationally than a strict adhesion to the principle of reciprocity. Write for detailed information to Rene, ON4VY, and include 2 IRCs.
   I recommend the sightseeing tour and meeting Rene, ON4VY.
   I don’t recommend visiting a so-called “lace factory”: this is not a factory but a shady store, where everything costs double than in the established stores, mostly because of the fat commission your guide gets after your purchase.

 AMSTERDAM

   You may know the saying: “God made the world, but the Dutch made Holland.” Or perhaps you don’t know; very few people outside Holland heard of it. That’s OK. In Amsterdam you will understand its meaning. Amsterdam is beautiful. Hundreds of canals and hundreds of bridges. Most of its picturesque windmills are only for decor, for those who want a “photo in the Netherlands,” but some of them are still used for pumping water.
   We crossed the Belgian-Holland border without realizing it; no wasted time with passport and custom inspection. I wish there would be more borders like this one.
   The Dutch amateur radio organization was one of the few who answered my letter. Frits, PA0BEA, came to our hotel and took us to his home. His wife, Bea, is an active amateur, PA0KYL. Frits has used quite a few calls during his travels; he was PX1BE, 2A3CB, PA0BEA/DL, PA0BEA/M1, ON8QQ, etc.
   In Amsterdam I recommend a boat tour on the canals and visiting a PA0 amateur.
   I don’t recommend sitting in the hotel lobby or in the bar for hours as many American tourists do. Get out, walk through the streets, meet local people, eat delicious Dutch and Indonesian food.

FRANKFURT

   Frankfurt is a modern, prosperous city with lots of industries and hard working people. Everything is done precisely, on time, and “by the book.” And fortunately now they have better books than they used to do. English is spoken widely and the people are honest and courteous.
   Here I visited Carl, DL9RE, a very active organizer and DXer. Carl told me that the Frankfurt radio club has about 250 members, and they have weekly meetings. The club issues a very good looking award “Worked all Frankfurt”; details from the club station, DL0FM or the award custodian Joe, DL6QX.
   The German amateurs are planning a new D.A.R.C. headquarters in Baunathal, near Kassel, which will be finished hopefully by the end of 1971. It will be a big building, with lots of rooms, and activities like QSL bureau, club station, conference room, laboratory, etc. The money comes from the German amateurs. Volkswagen has promised a van for the QSL bureau as a gift.
   In Frankfurt I recommend a bus tour of the city and visiting the radio club on a meeting day.
   I don’t recommend walking through a red light even if is 2 o’clock in the morning and there is absolutely no traffic on the road, no people on the street, just a lonely and conscientious “polizei.”

INNSBRUCK

   Innsbruck, in Austria, is a picturesque city situated in a beautiful Alpine setting. It is quite a miracle how the radio signals can get in and out from this place surrounded by very high mountains. When I got to Innsbruck, I realized that I lost the note with the names, addresses and phone numbers of the local amateurs. Since it was on a Sunday I could not even go to a radio store and ask for information. I called up the local broadcasting company “Radio Tirol” and they me the phone number of Gustav OE7GB. This was quite a bit of luck because Gustav is a very active amateur. That evening he came home late, after working in a VHF contest. With two other amateurs, he spent 24 hours on the mountain top called Zugspitze, at more than 9000 feet altitude, making 236 QSOs on the 2-meter band, with stations in ON, OE, DL, I, F, HB9, OK, etc.
   They have VHF contests several times a year and believe me, getting to the location is already a great achievement.
   In Innsbruck I recommend attending a Tirolean folk dance and music show and a trip with the cable car.
   In restaurants I don’t recommend upsetting the waiter, asking him to bring some water, when he is pushing wine or beer; the most you can get is some gravy on your necktie.

ROME

   Rome ‘the eternal city’ has more tourist attractions and warmer, friendlier people than any other city I ever saw. I happened to know Rome because I spent there 6 months before I came to the U.S. So we did not go sightseeing, only shopping and visiting friends.
   The amateur I called up was on vacation in Africa but his mother gave me the phone number of another amateur; a friend of his son. This was the way I got to Tony, I1JX, a student in electronics engineering. Tony speaks excellent English and despite the fact that he started amateur radio only two years ago, he has already an impressive record. There is not too much club activity in Rome; even the A.R.I. headquarters and the QSL bureau are both in Milan. There is a saying in Italy: “In Milano si lavora, in Napoli se canta, in Roma si mangia,” which translate to “In Milan is working, in Naples is singing, in Rome is eating.”
   Taken individually, the amateurs of Rome are very hospitable, and their friendliness compensates any possible language barrier.
   Presently Italy has no reciprocal operating agreement with any country. I strongly recommend a lot of sightseeing and eating local specialties. I don’t recommend buying anything from the “paparazzi”; the local street vendors, who are offering “excellent bargains” but are selling only junks. Remember: you can get only what you paid for.

VATICAN CITY

   The Vatican is more than a State in a State. It is interesting to visit this city located on a tiny territory, with about 500 citizens, and which exercises such a powerful influence on hundreds of millions people.
   You can visit the famous St. Peter’s basilica, spend hours in the extremely interesting and rich museum, but most of all you have to meet Domenico, HV1CN. This is the only one amateur radio station located inside the Vatican.
   Domenico is in charge with a part of the Radio Vatican and is a very nice person indeed. He lives in Rome, outside the City of Vatican and at home his callsign is I1CNS. He let me operate the HV1CN station until the pile-up scared me off.
   His set-up is very unusual; he has a beam on the top of a tower and a quad on the top of another tower. His station however is located in a tall building, higher than either one of his antennas. Everything is on a hill, so the location is excellent and I suspect that the callsign helps also.
   I recommend visiting the museum of Vatican and St. Peter’s basilica.
   I don’t recommend to try to enter the basilica with uncovered knees, the Swiss guards could push you over the Italian border. Be aware that as in every big crowd of people, here too are many pickpockets.

LUCERNE

   Switzerland is not only the land of the cuckoo clocks and secret bank accounts. It is a marvelous country with charming people. It is quadrilingual; German, French, Italian and Romansh are spoken in its various cantons. English is also widely understood.
   Coming from Italy through the St. Gothard pass, the sights are magnificent but frightening. On one side of the roads are high mountains, on the other side very deep valleys, and those worried me more than the mountains.
   In the name of U.S.K.A., the Swiss amateur radio association, I received an answer to my letter from Albert, HB9TU. Albert is an electrical engineer with Philips. He is an active amateur not only from his home town but from his dreamy DX QTH, a 2nd home 20 km from Lucerne, in the wooded mountains, overlooking a beautiful lake, with a panoramic view of the snow covered mountain tops. The house is quite far from the nearest village, it is not even connected to the power lines; Albert has his own power generator. I visited Albert with John, W2DQC, from Pleasantville, NY who was taking the same trip with me. Albert told us about his travels and how he has operated from Fernando Po as EA0TU, and from various European countries as PA9DM, OZ8ZK, HB9TU/SM0, etc.
   In Switzerland I recommend traveling only by car, bus, or train, so you can enjoy the scenery; no planes at all.
   I don’t recommend trying to explain the word “air-pollution”; they just won’t understand it.

 MADRID

   The Spanish music and the proud, dignified and dynamic movements of the Flamenco dancers always fascinated me. I like the Spanish folklore so much that if I would not be Hungarian (born in Romania), I wish I would be Spanish.
   Madrid, the old city, has more flavor than the modern part. I met here a dynasty of radio amateurs; Isidoro, EA4DO, his wife Asuncion, EA4EM, and their son Isi, the second operator of EA4DO. Isi is a student in pharmacology and is the most active amateur of the family.
   I strongly recommend a Flamenco show, a restaurant out of the reach of the noisy mass of tourists, good local food and lots of Spanish music, and perhaps a bullfight.
   Between 1 and 4 P.M., I don’t recommend doing anything else than eating and sleeping; it is the siesta time and it is respected religiously by most everybody, in special by those employed in government offices.

 LISBON

   Lisbon is an interesting city with narrow, winding streets going up and down on the hills, with houses decorated with colorful tiles, and people exuberating a typical Latin friendliness.
   Here I have met Silvio, CT1VE, his friend Fernando, a future amateur, and Silvio’s beautiful wife, Candida. Once I had a QSO with Silvio, I mentioned to him that I will go to Lisbon and he gave me his phone number. Things like that happened to many amateurs, but I was fortunate enough to take the trip, call him up and meet personally the “man behind the mike.” I could not wish for better friends than people I met in Lisbon.
   Silvio, CT1VE, is a film cameraman with RTP, the Portuguese Radio-Television, he lives in Odivelas, just outside Lisbon and he welcomes visiting foreign amateurs.  His station is a modest one by American standards but you have to remember that the average income of a CT1 is well below the income of a W, and the price of a good American station is much cheaper here than in Europe.
   I recommend having a chat with a few CT1 amateurs in a typical Portuguese restaurant, eating freshly grilled sardines, listening to sad songs of Fado, and drinking local wines.
   I don’t recommend tasting too many kinds of wine before your flight to New York because you may board a plane to Brazil or Mozambique.

AT HOME AGAIN

   At the end of the trip, we have returned home exhausted, but happy and satisfied for what we have seen in Europe. I honestly wish I could invite to New York all the wonderful people we met there, showing them the American branch of my family.
   It was a “if is Tuesday, this must be Belgium” type of fast moving trip with a only difference that while we were in Belgium it was a Monday. I guess we were traveling too fast.
   Any foreign radio amateur visiting New York City is invited to contact my welcoming committee and shall do my best to bring him/her together with American amateurs, take him/her sightseeing and if interested, to show them my place of work: CBS Television.
   I hope next time I shall visit my relatives in West Indies.