MEMORIES...
It's funny the things that stick in your mind. Twenty one years on and the Top Deck Tour still features as a very memorable event for me. It was my first overseas adventure. As it turned out the first of many these last twenty or so years but it was also an experience of camaraderie that both enhanced and enriched my life. If any of my travelling companions read this page and would like to contribute to the memory box please drop me an email (andrew@acbishop.com) and I will add to the list.
In the meantime:
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Day of departure downstairs at Deckers London Club in Earls Court. I can still feel the excitement of an adventure beginning and lots of new people to get to know. |
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My bunk on the right hand side of the bus the middle bunk of three. |
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The double-decker bus had some ingenious storage designs built in eg. under every seat. I seem to remember these were taken great advantage of along the way to store vital alcoholic supplies especially after shopping for cheap booze in France and Spain. |
| The music system was set into the stairwell casing and consisted of a
cassette player and some reasonably wired speakers. A good supply of
cassettes across all the deckers. And what was being played. The
following come immediately to mind:
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I seem to remember the theme song for the tour was Talking Heads 'Road to Nowhere'.
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The front seat at the front of the bus on the top deck was the ultimate touring location with panoramic views of surrounding countryside, the road ahead, and I especially remember us travelling down the Appian Way in the wrong direction-very entertaining. |
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Matt and myself seeking out the 'real' Germany and ending up in a student keller in Heidelberg, missing the last bus back to the campground and hitching a lift back at midnight. |
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Discos at every campground...a novelty. |
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The highs and lows of classic group dynamics- forming storming and mourning. |