REMEMBERING PRETEND TRIP TO GENEVA #3

My mind is flooded now with memories of the pretend trip Ben and I made to Geneva last February. I remember far too much to write here; I will savor it all, myself. And I am delighted my theory is correct. I do remember this pretend trip the same way I remember my thousands of miles of "in the flesh" trips. I am writing exclusively from my memory and not from the blog I wrote before. I realize I don't have total recall the same way I don't remember everything about my "real trips."
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The night our guests arrived from Memphis
 was a wonderful evening for us all.  Some of the spouses I had never met before; but we all bonded quickly and didn't go to bed until around 2 am...This morning we slept late. Policemen brought in a huge, wonderful, American style breakfast for all of us.


Then came the fun of trying on the identical white  costumes. Once they put on the wigs and the glasses, the disguise was amazing.vvvv V Now, tell me the truth; can you pick out Ben?


The so called wedding  was scheduled  for noon. 


Then at two we all started singing LOVE ME TENDER as we boarded the private elevator and went down to the lobby. 


Believe me, all the hotel guests who saw us were making pictures and applauding these guys. Ben was having so much fun.


There was a wonderful wedding feast waiting for us at the restaurant. I admit I have forgotten its name; but I do remember exactly how it looked...and the wonderful wedding cake.


However, Ben and I didn't get to enjoy the reception long, because we were whisked away from the festivities.  We changed clothes  and were driven to a new hiding place. 


The Humes friends partied all night and went all over town catching attention from tourists who waved and applauded. 

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In the van we had no idea where we were going? The driver and lookout did not say a single word to each other or to us in French or in English?! 


We arrived in Lucerne and went to a room in just the kind of hotel we had wished for in Geneva...warm, cozy, so Swiss like. I can't remember the name. But we were only in Lucerne for a few hours. 
 
We were told not to unpack but wait for instructions in the dining room downstairs.


 We recognized two CIA agents we had met at President Wilson Hotel. They were posing as doorman and desk clerk.   They pretended not to know us. But their being there was definitely to protect us, and we felt safe. Finally one of the agents whispered that a ride was waiting for us. 

When we got in the car the driver and only person in the small Renault was none other than Larry!! I was actually SO HAPPY to see him, someone from home. We had been friends sixty years. 

Larry had retrieved our luggage from President Wilson Hotel; and to Ben's delight, Larry had the Elvis impersonator costume, wig, and glasses Ben wore that day!! THAT'S ALL RIGHT SWEET BEN, ANY WAY YOU DO....!!!


When we began driving out of this gorgeous city, Larry told us what happened after we left Geneva.


 A gunman was in the hotel lobby and became so confused about whom to shoot that he was easily discovered and arrested by the police and agents. No one was hurt. And the Humes friends? They are still partying, with nothing stronger than coca cola.
                                  


Larry said, "In tomorrow's news papers in Geneva and in Memphis  your picture and the entire story about what happened in Geneva will be out there for all to know: that you are Dr. Brewer, retired college professor and artist who was only vacationing with your wife in Geneva and could have been killed because of mistaken identity."


 So the danger was over. Whew!


"Where are we going now, Larry?" I asked. "Surely now we can have our little trip."


Larry answered that we were going to Zurich where we would stay one day and then fly home to Memphis. Dudn't that beat all?!!!
It is interesting about pretend travel, that my memory of Zurich is not so clear. I think it is because the story was over, and the story is what makes pretend travel stick, not the travelogue type of information. 
So I am very pleased with the experiment. I could and did remember the pretend trip I wrote last February and relished spending time with Ben. I want to do it again...and I will.
Perhaps you, dear Blog Friends, will make up a pretend trip of your own. If you do, tell me about it. FYI: all the characters in this story except Ben and me are fiction. Yet they seem so very real and I won't forget them...!
old7lady9blogger80@gmail.com
Love, annie in memphis
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