TOURING GERMANY

Evening Star, Issue 22458, 1 October 1936, Page 10

TOURING GERMANY

AN INEXPENSIVE HOLIDAY INTERKATIONAL YOUTH TRAMPS OBSERVATIONS OF DUNEDIN TRAVELLER An eight-day tour of Germany, cost* ing £5 10s, and a 16-day holiday spend in Bavaria for £l2 ss, was the inviting prospect that decided Mr George Arras* who has recently returned to Dunedin from the ' Continent, to participate in these two inexpensive, tours under th» jßgis of the International Youth Association, London. As a means of seeing the show' places of the Continent Mg Arras is loud. in his praise of the*# youth tramps, which are arranged wit# the object of bringing into contact small groups of different nationalities* and which provide unique facilities for a delightful holiday, with the opportunity of exchanging ideas. Mind your own business,” was MS Arras’s policy when in Germany, and though he was asked on several occasions by the military authorities his opinion of Germany’s political system* he maintained a strictly non-commit-tal attitude. The ideals of Nazisml were a fetish with the German youth* who regarded Hitler as a god and th«j saviour of their nation. Hitler shops* establishments where military goods could be purchased, were thickly dotted throughout the country, and one of Me Arras’s prized souvenirs is a handsome knife decorated with the swastika and bearing on the blade, “ blut nnd ehre ”• —“ blood and honour.” When he was returning' to New Zealand on the Orford in July, the Spanish civil war had assumed a' grave international aspect* apd the ship' took' 150 refugees from Parma to Gibraltar. Spanish warships were lying at anchor off the Rock preparatory. to shelling Algeciras, and their requests for oil fuel met with no response from the English naval authorities. At Parma two rebel aeroplanes dropped a shower of pamphlets warning the inhabitants to surrender or the town would be bombed. Nearby, H.M.S. Devonshire lay at anchor. Though not palatial hotels, the youth hostels where the tourists stayed during the tramps were clean and comfortable, and the meals simple but wholesome. Certain regulations had to be observed. At the hostel at Cologne, for instance, the party was required to be in bed by 10 o’clock. Violation of this rule cost 20 pfennig. The cost of the tours included all meals, tips, accommodation, and transportation. A host* guide, and a manager were included in the trip to Bavaria. While at Mittenwald the party witnessed a unique celebration of the longest day in Germany, a procession fully 150yds long, composed of youthful Hitlerites, marching through the town headed by a band. Far up in the mountains burned six small bonfires, a similar spectacle being seen on the hillsides of Austria, across the border.