45 years ago today ...

... I set out for a three month holiday in Canada.

Here's the ticket!

I had been working as a waitress in Switzerland at a couple of hotels during the previous year and had the time and money to spare.

I had no job, nor any idea what work I might do once I was back home from Switzerland.

So on 27th June, I flew to Montreal, with the intention to catch the train out west later that day to see my aunt, uncle and cousins in Alberta.

But, it all fell apart when I realised that although I was there, my luggage was not.

I had checked in in plenty of time at the BOAC terminal in Victoria, and caught an airport bus out to Heathrow.

Arriving in Montreal to find it 90 F (35 C) and extremely humid, and with airport staff refusing to speak to me in English was horrible.

I had only just about adjusted back to speaking English, rather than German, and could not remember any useful 'O'  level French. 

Many thanks are due to a London based Canadian who had given me a Montreal based relative's phone number the day before I left.

This lady, once contacted and she'd sorted out her children, swooped down and took me to her home.

She fed me and took all my clothing and laundered it for me, lending me some of her clothes.

The following day, having sorted out Air Canada's luggage people, I was put on the train with clothes and food to sustain me for the three day (2 night) journey.

I ended up staying very nearly five years in Canada, but that's another story.