' Who could read the programme for the excursion without longing to make one of the party?' So Mark Twain acclaims his voyage from New York City to Europe & the Holy Land in June 1867 His adventures produced The Innocents Abroad a book so funny & provocative it made him an international star for the rest of his life He was making his first responses to the Old World
- to Paris Milan Florence Venice Pompeii Constantinople Sebastopol Balaklava Damascus Jerusalem Nazareth & Bethlehem For the first time he was seeing the great paintings & sculptures of the ' Old Masters' He responded with wonder & amazement but also with exasperation irritation disbelief Above all he displayed the great energy of his humour more explosive for us now than for his beguiled contemporaries