August 12, 1878 Monday – The men left Baden Baden by rail and arrived at Lucerne, Switzerland where they joined Livy, the children and the rest of the party who had been there a few days.
August 15 Thursday – The entire Clemens party took a two-day excursion to the Rigi-Kulm. They spent the night in a hotel on the Rigi to watch the sunset and sunrise.
August 21. 1878 The group traveled to Interlaken and from August 23 to the 31st Sam and Twichell went to see the Matterhorn.
Compared to the university town, Baden-Baden was a disappointment. Still engrossed in furnishing the Hartford house, Livy spent much of her time in the shops.
The Clemens party took rooms at the Hotel Schloss in Heidelberg from May 6 to July 23 of 1878.
From Chapter 2 of A Tramp Abroad: At Heidelberg
The family stayed five days at the Hotel Kronprinz, near the Elbe River docks and the main Hamburg train station, where they booked a room for Rosa and the children, a single room for Clara Spaulding, and a suite with parlor and alcove for Sam and Livy. “What a paradise this land is!” Sam wrote Howells. “What clean clothes, what good faces, what tranquil contentment, what prosperity, what genuine freedom, what superb government! And I am so happy, for I am responsible for none of it. I am only here to enjoy.
The Clemens party, including Livy, Susy, Clara, Clara Spaulding and Rosina Hay, the nursemaid, sailed for Hamburg on the S.S. Holsatia on 11 April 1878. They arrived in Hamburg 25 April 1878.
At 2 PM on a dismal day with frequent downpours, William Dean Howells saw the Clemens family off from New York, bound for Europe on the steamship Holsatia commanded by Captain C.L.Brandt. The Times article also mentioned Dan Slote was in the send-off party. It was a two-week voyage. Susy, six, and Clara, going on four, were accompanied by their German nursemaid, Rosa Hay. Also along was George, who would handle baggage and valet duties. Clara Spaulding, who went with the family five years before was also in the group, which occupied two staterooms.
From page 16-7 The Life of Mark Twain - The Middle Years 1871-1891:
After pausing a week at the St. Nicholas to allow Livy to rest, they at last reached their new home in Hartford on October 3.
“We are selling our dwelling & everything here & are going to spend the summer in Elmira while we build a house in Hartford. Eight months sickness & death in one place is enough for Yrs Truly” [MTL 4: 347].
August 15 Sunday – Sam officially became a writing editor of the Express, offering sketches and editorials. This began a period of eighteen months in Buffalo that marked a transition from sometime journalist to celebrated author. (DBD)