mcnyc

Hilarious Waldo!

jonbarb709

While in Buda[pest at the Danubius Thermal Hotel I got into the elevator and overhead a couple speaking in English. I asked them where they were from and lo and behold he was from my home town, Middletown, Connecticut and his family lived about two blocks from where my father's family lived.

Erin464

3 come to mind:

1) In June of this year I boarded a train in Aberdeen, Scotland, bound for London. Along the way a couple got on and sat down across the aisle from me. I could see the girl had a coffee mug from the University of British Columbia (a school the next province over from where I live in Canada) but I thought I could hear them speaking another language so I didn't say anything. Then in Edinburgh another girl got on the train and sat down across from the couple. Upon seeing the coffee mug she loudly exclaimed "are you from Canada?!!". The couple responded yes and she asked where in Canada they were from. The boyfriend responded "Alberta" and the girl who had just boarded the train said "me too!". At this point I had to jump in and say "me too!". It turns out that all three of us live within 3 hours of each other back in Canada. The girlfriend was also Canadian but from the East Coast. The seats the couple sat down in weren't even their reserved seats so it was total coincidence that they sat where they did. All of the sudden what had promised to be a long, boring train ride became very interesting, as me and my new friends chatted away!

2) In Munich on the same trip I was in the main train station with my parents. We were leaving the Starbucks when I heard someone calling my name. I ignored it because who am I going to know in Germany? I heard my name again, turned around, and it was a girl I had worked with about 5 years ago! From that point on, we kept running into each other.

3) Not in Europe, but a couple of years ago I was in Maui. When I got to the airport to catch my flight home I was told that there had been a problem with the plane and it had been delayed overnight in Vancouver. We got a free night at an amazing resort, so who's complaining? Anyways, so the next morning we were waiting at the airport for the long overdue plane to arrive. All of the sudden I see my co-worker walk past. I knew he was going to Hawaii but had no idea when or where. Turns out he was getting off of the very same plane I was getting on and he had had to spend the night in Vancouver! I think I got the better deal out of that one

atravelynn

In London Heathrow I saw Jane Goodall. That is amazing in itself, but I was headed to Ngamba, one of her chimp sanctuaries in Uganda. I said her name as we passed and she kindly stopped to acknowledge me. After explaining it was an honor to meet her, I told her I was headed to Ngamba. She responded to give everyone her love. I knew she meant the chimps too.

SeaUrchin

Sometimes on a long flight I get so bored I look at the people sitting around me.

On a flight to Europe from LAX, one seat up from me and across the aisle was a middle aged couple who were fairly interesting to watch. She had made sandwiches and intricate salads and appetisers and desserts for them to eat. The food looked so good I spent some time watching her unwrap each item and I thought it was so cute they way they were so happy with each other's company.

Three weeks later on my return flight, there we were again in the same seating arrangement. In the line for the toilet, the lady and I got to talking and she mentioned their trip. I said oh, yes, three weeks since you left. She looked at me but kept on talking. She said they always bring their own food on the plane. I said yes I know you do. You make sandwiches and salads and they really look so tasty, especially the chocolate cake.

Understandibly this made her nervous, I guess she thought I was assigned to watch her for some reason. I explained that we had been on the same flight but she was too wary to even look at me again on the flight.

Gee, I hope they are on my flight next month too! But that may send her over the edge.

panecott

ROFL! Love that story, Waldo.

atp2007

Back in the early 80s my wife and I and 4 y/o son took a trip to the UK and Italy. After dinner one night in Florence, we were walking down the street and my wife said, "I have a feeling that we are going to meet somebody we know". Within two blocks we were suddenly face to face with the woman who was her Italian teacher from the adult education class back in Philly. Several years later, I met an old friend from law school and it turned out that he and his wife were at DaVinci Airport at the exact same time as we were on that trip. They were leaving Italy to return to Philly while we were arriving in Rome after visiting relatives in the UK.

Last December, we were in the Cotswolds visiting my father-in-law for the holidays and had rented a car at Gatwick. The second day there, we were driving to the Tescos, when I casually mentioned that I wish I had a wallet that could fit in the Pound notes without them sticking out at the top. A few minutes later, my son in the backseat says, "Hey, what is this?" From under the seat he pulls out a purple velvet bag with a Socttish Whiskey logo, and in the bag is a brand new wallet--perfectly sized! The next day I said I was really disappointed that we would be missing a very important Eagles game and told him I wished there was some way to see it. That afternoon my F-I-L called our B and b and asked us if we wanted to watch the game with him as my B-I_l had given him a SKY Direct TV system recently and it had a sports package with NFL games on it, both live and on delayed tape. We saw not only that game but a second on Christmas, althought they were shown very late at night. I then tried my luck by wishing we could win some money in a lottery, but unfortunately that time things didn't happen in threes!

Poohgirl

OK, I'm stretching things here but this is such a fun thread and I don't want to be left out.

Last year I visited Prague. I had made reservations for a driver to take me to my hotel. The driver would be at the airport carrying a sign with my last (sur)name on it. I have a fairly unusual last name of German origin and have never met anyone with that same last name outside of a family reunion. When I got through baggage claim and the works I looked around and saw a man "of a certain age" holding a sign with my last name. I went up to him and told him my name. He asked where my party was, and I told him it was just me. He looked at me funny and asked if I was sure. Yes, of course I was sure. I needed to get some Czech money from the ATM, so I asked if he would mind waiting while I quickly got some money; that was fine. As I was walking back, I noticed another, younger man walking towards me. For some reason I knew he was looking for me. It turns out that he was really my driver, he just had not yet arrived ten minutes before (my flight was slightly early), and the other guy was indeed waiting for a group of people.

I so wanted to stick around and talk to that group, but I didn't think my driver would like that (although he was a very nice guy) so I didn't ask.

obslop

During college I did a study abroad program in Paris. Two years later after graduating from college, I returned to backpack around Europe. I went to the Pompideu(sp?) musuem in Paris and I say my french teacher from the study abroad program I did two years earlier. She was passing thru Paris after having just spent 6 or so months in Germany teaching German.

bigtyke

My sister and I were travelling in Salzburg and met a couple of girls on the Sound of Music tour. A leek later, we ran into them again outside St. Peter's where my sister and one of the girls were barred from the church for having dresses too short.

baccanalia

My husband and I were traveling with another couple in Italy. One night in Lucca, we went to Bucca di Sant'Antonio for dinner. Our Italian waiter asked where in the U.S. we were from and we told him Pennsylvania. "Oh," he said, "my wife is from Pennsylvania. A bit startled, we asked where. "You wouldn't know it," he answered, "it's a tiny town called Clarion." Our friend Jim almost choked on his appetizer, as he had been born and raised in Clarion. It turned out that the waiter's wife had studied music in Lucca, where they met and married. Her mother worked at the high school in Clarion with Jim's mother and they had known each other for years. To this day, when the waiter and his wife visit, they all try to get together.

wildcatzoo

I'm at the bus station in Dublin. I talk to an older American man, we do the "where are you from" routine. Detroit, I say. Him- "Oh, me too, what part?". Me- 8 mile and gratiot. Him - "I grew up near 8 mile and Hoover". Me - me too, I live on Goulburn Street. Turns out he grew up on the same street, a few blocks down.

bobbymckaye

I think I already shared this on another thread but on my first trip to England, 1981 with 3 friends, I was standing gazing up at a beautiful half timbered building when an eldery little lady with a shopping basket spoke to me. Long story short---she had the same last name as one of my traveling companions. She had been married to an American who had a relation who had signed the Declaration of Independence--who my friend was also related to. First day of sightseeing, jetlagged and sleepy--a very surreal experience. BMK

2greeceigo

In June 1999, my friend and I were backpacking around Europe for a month. Sitting in the Munich train station, planning our next move, a friend of hers from high school walks by. Two weeks later we're in Nice and end up having dinner next to two boys our age. We get to talking and it turns out they live in NJ too, about an hour away from us. Fast forward to March 2000, my friend and I are sitting on a beach in the Bahamas... and who walks by but one of the NJ boys from Nice!