I was still a young girl living in Switzerland for a couple of years with my family in the early 70s (Dad was a scientist), and I remember how horrified the Europeans were at the riots and violence, too, but then the terrorists in Europe were horrifying as well. Swissair Flight 330 went down within sight of my school (Palestinian bomb).
The trains were great. You could guess what country a person was from by his or her shoes. Russians gave away themselves away with sideburns and fillings, even if they got the shoes right, though. Basel train station was a hive of Cold War spies. The exchange rate was great all over Europe before Nixon gave us funny money, and that was nice.
I saw my first hippies in real life in Vondelpark and was shocked. I’d only seen them in photos in Time and Newsweek before that. Ah, those were the days ...
but then the terrorists in Europe were horrifying as well
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Yeah I remember them arms locked filling the wide German streets chanting and marching. But they were not as terrifying to me as the old grannies in the 2nd-3rd story windows taking my picture wherever I went - they all worked for the KGB or Stasi.