RANSVESTIA

the desk, registered and got the room key etc. He, like all men, was used to doing this part and to be relegated to the secondary position was new to his male ego which he noted with interest and commented upon.

Next morning we taxied to the Mercedes plant and made arrange- ments to pick up the car I had ordered in the States. Before doing so we took a tour of the plant. I must say it was the best organized and cleanest plant I've ever seen. I learned that, unlike US companies, they manufac- ture no cars just for stock. Every car turned out is made for a specific order and given a code number on a plate which is attached to the top of the radiator. At the end of each assembly operation the car stops under a TV camera which is centered on that plate. Someone at the control cen- ter seeing what is called for on that car then shunts it to one line or another for the appropriate operation. It is a fantastic place.

When the trip was over the car was ready. I was instructed in its spe- cial features, got it gassed up and we took off for downtown Stuttgart. Driving an unfamiliar car thru unfamiliar streets with unfamiliar traffic rules and signs in German was a somewhat hairy experience at the begin- ning but gradually I figured out what things meant and it got easier. Eu- ropean towns being hundreds of years old were not laid out with cars in mind and many of the streets are narrow and twisty so we had an inter- esting visit. In the afternoon we took off for Lake Constance to spend the night.

We found a nice little country "Gasthaus" and spent the night there. Next morning we investigated the old town of Lindau on the lake and then took off for Innsbruck. We crossed and recrossed the German- Austrian border about 10 times and each time had to come up with per- sonal passports and the car's documents. After a beautiful trip thru the mountains we arrived rather late in Innsbruck and walked thru the town and its squares and malls. Very busy and very interesting. That night we were directed to a hotel by a tourist agency which said they had phoned in and made reservations for the 2 of us at 70 shillings apiece. It was a nice, new tourist type hotel up on the side of the hill. The next morning we found ourselves in a hot argument with the man and wife who ran the place who informed us that the price was 90 shillings. We argued and tried to explain in our bastard German but the wife was very impolite and would pay no attention and just walked off. I made a couple of strong remarks to her in English which an Austrian-American whom we had met at breakfast and who was trying to be an intermediary heard. I then picked up the bags and went out to the car. He turned to my friend and said with considerable accent "zat woomin iss wan tuff cookie". Finally

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