Nlingenfel

Yesterday at Geneva Airport my neighbor for 32 years in a small town in Central Pa (3000 persons) sat down beside me and was on my flight. We lived approximately 25 feet from each other. We could sit in our kitchen and look into her kitchen, when we were eating meals. I moved 15 years ago, but not too far away. And sure enough there was her 2 daughters, and 1 son in law. She celebrated her 85th birthday in Switzerland and I celebrated by 67th. Small world. I have met acquaintances twice before, but going to other places.

pauljagman

My family did a Euro Trip several years ago. First day at the Louvre we unexpectedly bumped into my wife's boss. Several days later we were in Giverny. Sure enough... guess who we met? Totally not planned either. Her raises were never very good after that. I guess he figured she made too much to be traveling like he did.

persimmondeb

When I was small, we ran into some neighbors from our medium sized town in NJ (their daughter attended the same nursery school I did) on the street in Copenhagen. We also ran into them on the street in South Hampton (NY) some years later, and moved to another town in New Jersey about a year before they did. Clearly running on a parallell there.

hamlet

This question reminded me of a post from Neal Sanders (who reappeared here several month back) meeting his neighbor. I will take the liberty of reposting it (cut and paste, if you will)

Neal Sanders on Aug 25, 98 at 08:29 AM

Here's a "small world" story of a different sort...

Some years ago, my wife and I moved from Boston to Stamford, Connecticut. After a long search, we found exactly the house we were looking for on Shippan Point, a pleasant spit of land jutting out into Long Island Sound. The moving van came and left, we cleaned and unpacked, then pronounced ourselves exhausted and ready for some R&R. We decided on a getaway to the Caribbean and booked a room at a small, 40 room resort on the island of Antigua. We found a flight and two days later we were splashing around in a warm sea, far from a New England winter.

On our second day, we were on the beach, chatting with the couple under the next umbrella, who had been at the resort for a week. They asked us where we were from. We explained we had just moved from Massachusetts to Connecticut. "Oh, where in Connecticut?" they asked. We told them. "Oh, us too," they said. "Where in Stamford?" We told them. Suddenly, they were leaning forward in their chairs. "Where on Shippan Point?" We gave them the address. They laughed.

And that is how we came to meet the people who lived directly across the street from us.
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This is from this earlier "small world" thread, of which there have been many...

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-after-all.cfm

joannyc

Last year in Austria, I was on a SOM tour where we stopped for the luge ride. Speaking with another American, I asked where she was from to which she replied NJ. I asked where in NJ... Trenton, she replied. I said I was born in St. Francis' Hospital there, she was too. I asked where she lived in Trenton, she said Mercerville. I lived in Mercerville for 30 years (before moving to NY over 20 years ago)!

Later during the day, I was speaking to her son and daughter-in-law. I asked where they lived, Bordentown they replied. I was born in Bordentown. Where do your children go to school? St. Mary's. I was baptized in St. Mary's. Where in Bordentown did you live they asked me. On Holloway Lane, I replied. Their house backs up onto Holloway Lane!

Tis a very small world!

Palenque

Walking thru the Tuileries Garden in Paris i ran into a good friend who i did not even know was in Europe

and later in San Francisco i ran into the same friend and then did not know he was in San Fran either

i guess it helped that he was 6 foot 8 and stood out in a crowd

cigalechanta

I was strolling on a street in Paris and was lost. Stopped to ask a person for directions. That person turned out to be an art dealer whose gallery was below my apartment in Boston.

Kay_P

Last year I was telling a friend I would be in Rome the middle of April. She says oh did you know D and K would also be in Rome during that time maybe you will run into them. Not likely I thought. But at the airport waiting for the flight home I heard some one say they lived in Ann Arbor. I looked up and of course it was D and K. To top it off they sat right in front of us on the connecting flight to Detroit. I bet they used the same credit card points we did to book the flights.

dutyfree

Just ran into my neighbor's daughter from up the street that I have not seen in over 9 years-in Cape Town South Africa airport. I am looking at her thinking that she looks like someone I know,spoke her name and she screams back mine! She had just gotten engaged and was dying to show me her ring. I took pics and had them to her mom the next day. Small world!

TPAYT

We were having dinner at Bofinger in Paris when a young couple sat next to us. In chatting we said we were from Chicago. Actually we are 2 hrs, north of Chicago in Wisconsin but nobody has ever heard of Oconomowoc, Wi.

When they said they were from Wi of course we got down to details. It turned out they lived 20 min. from us and she was a bridesmaid in one of our friends sons wedding which we attended a short time before. No wonder she looked familiar! Small world, indeed!

TimS

Many years ago my wife's sister went to Europe with some college friends. While they were sitting in a cafe in a small town in Germany, another group of American students walked in. Naturally, the two groups started talking to each other. After my sister-in-law and a woman in the other group learned they were both from Minnesota, the conversation went something like this: "I'm from Moorhead." "I'm from Minneapolis." "My brother-in-law grew up in Minneapolis." "What's his name?" "His name is Tim Solberg." "Really? I had a good friend in grade school named Mary and she has a brother named Tim." "Really? The name of my brother-in-law's sister is Mary."

jetsetj

i unexpectedly saw a co-worker at the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam a few years ago. small world for sure

scatcat

I have had several chance meetings with friends while in Europe, but the weirdest thing happened about 4 years ago. My sister and I had been in Paris and had just boarded our flight back home. I got up to go to the bathroom before take off and while walking down the aisle someone reached out and grabbed my arm-my sister's husband. None of us knew he would be there. He had just finished a job in Africa and connected through CDG. The funny thing was my sister had thought about not telling him that we were going to Paris again. She knew he was in Africa and thought he would be staying much longer. We were traveling a lot back then. Good thing she decided to tell him.