Her well planned nine-country vacation begins as expected, but is peppered with unexpected trials after she arrives at the railway station in Nuremberg, on the opening day of the annual Nazi Party Rally.  You will enjoy her sense of humor, outgoing personality, and her approach to seeking out the positive aspects of each challenging event.

Adolph Hitler had recently annexed Austria (Anschluss) and was demanding the Sudetenland portion of Czechoslovakia.  What situations might a European tourist encounter during these tense and uncertain weeks leading up to the Munich Conference? People who had read this book say that they felt they were right there with her!

Join Helen on her journey of discovery, where men are handsome, and language barriers are meant to be broken. 
Bon Voyage!

Review #2:  What a beautifully written memoir of such amazing adventures through Europe by a young woman with such a zest for life. Helen's daily diary entries are both colorful and filled with such details that you get the sense you are traveling along with her as she explored her way through every day making friends along the way. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, it was an excellent read and also quite informative as to what was transpiring in Europe at the time of her travels. I would highly recommend this true story!

Review #3:  I was so excited when my husband brought the mail in this afternoon and your book was here!!!  I opened and started reading it immediately and I absolutely COULDN'T put it down!!!  WHAT A BOOK!  it was SOOO exciting!  She wrote in such a way as to make you feel as though you were right with her!  I am going to re-read it!  I enjoyed every minute of it!  She was quite the lady!  Too bad she and Max were never able to continue their relationship! :(  She sure had a way of attracting the opposite sex! I would have been half scared to death to even think of taking such a trip all by myself!

Review #4:  The book provides a good juxtaposition, between revealing how clueless the average citizen was vs what was actually going on in the background, leading up to WWII. It gives the reader an insight into how Hitler was able to get started and get as far as he did.  I enjoyed it very much because it is in the traveler's own words, and I felt like I was right beside her in her adventures, both thrilling and challenging. 

Review #5:  What an incredible adventure for such a brave young woman. To imagine this journey took place at such a trying time in our world's history is beyond belief. Helen's story is captivating and Helen herself is remarkable! Loved every moment! 

Review #6  "I purchased your book last weekend......at a church bazaar ...........just wanted to let you know that I could not put it down!!   I did use my computer as I read, to see how Helen's 1938 Europe looked and felt, during her 2 month trip.  What a gift your Aunt gave you........such adventures for a 30 year old young  lady  and such a significant part of history those 2 months were!!   Great job in writing,  Thanks for sharing your beautiful, historical book."

September 6, 1938 arrival by train at Nuremberg Germany, only to discover that her hotel reservation was gone:

.........The desk clerk informed me that this was the beginning of the annual Nazi Party Rally.  I just stood there aghast, hoping that somehow he would take pity on me and try to help.  He picked up the phone and made a sincere effort to find a room in town, to no avail.  When I felt I was about to collapse, he smiled slyly, pointed his finger upward, and said that he had a tiny room in the attic that was seldom used, but I could have it.  I was so relieved!  All I wanted at that point was a bed and a roof over my head!

The drab little attic room was freezing cold and had no running water - just a bowl and some ice-cold water in a pitcher!  There was one window, which measured about one foot by two feet.  It felt like I was imprisoned in one of those castle dungeons we had toured.  However, I did have a roof over my head and I was not about to make any complaints to the desk.  Instead of my hoped-for park bench, there was a bed, so I proceeded to flop down on it, and have a good cry.  Thereupon, I felt much better!  Isn’t that feminine psychology for you?  It appears that every time I get into a jam, somehow the situation turns out to be particularly exciting or interesting.  Little did I know what lay ahead.

After I dried my eyes and powdered my face, I went downstairs to eat in the Bierstube.  Like most places I had seen in Nuremberg, it was filled to the walls with soldiers.  I crept to a small, unoccupied table in a dim corner of the room, and managed to get something to eat.  Glancing cautiously around, I noticed that all of the other tables were occupied.......  As I was about to leave, a couple of Austrian fellows wearing leather shorts, white socks and feathered hats, appeared.  After their very polite “bitte” and my “ja, bitte” they sat down across from me.  The atmosphere of excitement in the city made things seem informal, thus one of the Austrians began to talk to me.  He soon realized that my command of the German language was not very good.  After he had paraded his six or seven words of English, we had to get back to his mother tongue.  The other fellow spoke nothing but German.  Somehow, I got the point across that I could read and write German better than I could speak it, so we resorted to written conversations on napkins and paper scraps.

They were attending the Reich Congress, and proudly displayed their entrance tickets plus various newspaper clippings.  In turn, I amused them with my passport and railway tickets.  They were so easily entertained, and we laughed a lot.  Visiting from their home town of Linz, Austria, they were in Nuremberg for the week.  They seemed like such very nice boys.  Max was the name of the tall light-haired fellow, and the shorter, darker man called himself Kurt.  They wanted to teach me everything about uniforms, and pointed out variations in the room.  I had to take notes on my napkin, or I would not have remembered it all!

It seems that some uniforms are not military, at all.  There are a great many “politische” (political) uniforms, – which is the uniform in khaki - and it resembles our army dress.  Then there are the “SS” who wear a similar uniform only of a dark color and with a different hat.  The SA wear khaki uniforms, but with a different hat and band.  The policemen usually wear dark uniforms with quite fancy hats.  The true “militarische” (military) wear a strange colored grey-blue uniform and they customarily wear swords.  Some fun, we had!

When I decided to leave, they begged me to stay while they finished eating.  Since the idea of returning to that cold little room appealed to me not at all, I stayed on.  After Max and Kurt finished dining, we walked through the streets, laughing, while trying to understand each other.  The overall atmosphere in town was just like a carnival, with such merriment and general fun everywhere!  Max asked if I would like to walk by the Hotel Kaiserjof - where Hitler was staying - and of course, I agreed.  As we grew nearer to the hotel, some military guards called out, and cautioned us to turn back.  We could not get within a block of that building........