Chance encounters
 

I've met some wonderful people in some out of the way places. Would you mind sharing some of your stories of meetings and/or encounters? Just G rated please!
My favorite I guess was a wonderful older Bauernhoffrau we met in Austria. We stayed with her twice and the last time we left she was crying, afraid she would never see us again. In part it came true, because my mother passed away before we could return.

I met a sweet Mississippian in Switzerland in a train station. She invited me for fondue. At that time, I had never been to the South but she told me to come visit her if I was ever that way.

I eventually took a trip around the country and went to visit her in the delta area. She showed me the best southern hospitality and we have been pen pals ever since. That was 1977.

I love chance encounters, both meeting new people and running into aquaintances in unlikely locales!

I think the most poignant story for me was when my BF and I met two German sisters who were accompanying an American exchange-student friend on an English language walking tour of Berlin. Even though the girls were much younger than us (8 and 10 years, respectively), we hit it off and spent the afternoon together and exchanged email addresses at the end. They told us a little of what it was like to grow up in East Berlin, and how they distinctly remembered the day the Wall came down from a child's perspective. (The younger said "When we drove through to West Berlin, everyone was handing out bananas. We had only ever gotten bananas once a year at Christmas, and then only if the supplies didn't run out. It was amazing to to see them in such abundance.")

A few months later, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, I received an email from the younger sister. She remembered that we live in NYC and wanted to make sure we were okay.

It's just a reminder of how small the world really is, and how much we can have an affect on one another. :)

"G Rated"?

Rats.

No one ever wants to hear about the Brooklyn Firefighter I met on BA who was flying to London to run the marathon.

Hmm amaclise, was your firefighter like the businessman I met en route to Louisville who later fêted me at the Montréal Jazz Festival? :-$ O:)