carolyn

I was in London on 9/11 and in Israel when Arrafat died.

logos999

>I was at the 1975 Munich Olympics.
I completely missed that event.

specs

I was in Greece for the moonwalk. We were staying in a suburb of Athens (Napilion?). We had skipped sightseeing that day as my friend was laid low with turista after eating an ill advised souvlaki bought from a street vendor. The housekeeper joined us to watch the giant leap for mankind. We were instructed by the family not to talk to her, because she was Macedonian. We never figured that one out, but it was clear they thought Macedonia was beneath contempt. The moonwalk thrust us toward the future that day, but it was clear that humanity was still divided by the past.

We were in Paris a few days after the U.S. invasion of Iraq. No signs of riots, but a certain tension was present.

I was in Oxford in 2005 when the terrorist bombs went off in the subway. The English resolve to carry on was impressive. A few days later I was at Kenilworth Castle when a minute of silence was observed to honor the dead. The silence, and bowed heads, were quite moving. The quiet was broken only by the sound of birdsong. The ruins of the castle were a poignant reminder of the fickle tides of fortune and power. But I am certain that the song of the little bird was one of hope.

missmissy

We were in Paris, walking in the metro when I noticed the headline of a Paris newspaper......The Queen Mum had died in England. We were leaving Paris the next day for London. We were there for all of the events following her death, the long queues of people waiting to pay their last respects to the Queen Mum; ALL of the press tents everywhere; were able to sign a book for her at St George's Chapel; and when we were returning home at the time of her burial an announcement was made over the PA in the airport to observe one minute of silence in honor of the Queen........everyone and I mean EVERYONE stopped in their tracks and there was pure silence in what is normally a very busy and loud place. The entire experience was surreal.

lincasanova

this happened to a client on a sabbatical here in spain. he and son went skiing. i knew they were coming back in the afternoon. i spoke to them, and then watched some breaking news on TV. I called him back immediately.

the inside of a long tunnel they had driven through four hours earlier had collapsed and of course made front page news for two days.

fortunately and amazingly no one was killed.. but it seemed like a close call to all who know him.

geg5150

I was in Amsterdam in November 2004 when Van Gogh was murdered. The national monument was covered with flowers, notes, candles, etc. It was an amazing outpouring.

On another note, I was also on that trip when W was re-elected.

RM67

Ok, it's not Europe, but I was at Niagara when two people went over the falls in a plastic barrel. Neither were badly hurt, though they had to be rescued from the rapids by the emergancy services. The most astounding sight was a tv crew trying to interview one of the intrepid duo from their stretcher as they were loaded into the ambulance. How do they get there so fast!!!?

Watching the news on our hotel room tv that night we were staggered to find out that 'the barrel people' (as they were affectionately called by the newscaster) HAD DONE IT BEFORE!!!!!

RM67

Oh, and I was at the conference centre at Porte Maillot when someone tried to assassinate the French premier just outside on Bastille day!

Pegontheroad

I was in Chitose, Japan (on the island of Hokkaido) when JFK was assassinated

In Heidelberg, Germany, when RFK and Martin Luther King were assassinated

In Jerusalem when during the first moon landing

In Berchtesgaden, Germany, when Princess Diana died

In England on Sept. 11, 2001

RM67

I thought the idea was to tell people about places you'd visited where something unusual happened while you were there - not recall where you were in the world when events happened elsewhere 8-)

Peteralan

In 1976 I was in Bordeaux when Mao's death was flashed on the screen and was in France again in the lovely village of Uzes when September 11 shook the world. Planning on going back to France next year so fingers crossed!

namaka

I don't know if it made worldwide news, but I'd be surprised if it didn't;

I was just a child of 10yrs old living in Lisbon, Portugal in 1974. Our downstairs neighbors came up one morning and told my parents not to send us girls to school- something bad was happening. Well, sure enough, their was a revolution. To see tanks driving up and down our road was pretty odd and there were posters covering walls everywhere with all the different political parites. We stayed less than a year and headed back to Cali.

Last summer on my first trip back to Lisbon in 30 yrs, there are still signs of that time. We were told that it is kept as a reminder of the revolution.

Pegontheroad

Gosh, RM67, I didn't mean to break your rule.

Clea

I was in Paris 1997, passed a very bad car accident on the way back to our hotel. It was not until we were back in our room that we found out it was Princess Di. Subsequently, we were in London during the funeral.
Paris 2003 - Record heat wave killing several.
Germany - when the "wall came down" in Berlin!

Clea

mcnyc

Come to think of it, I was in Berlin during the 2006 World Cup...

Daneille

And it makes what difference that most of you were on the other side of the world or at least in a different country to where a major event happened? I think the point of this post has been lost. I could say I was in Sydney when Princess Diana died, In Sydney on Sept 11, in Sydney at the time of the Bali Bombings, in Sydney at the time of the London underground attacks or in Sydney for the Madrid disaster - why because I lived there. Of course it would have been different had I been in Paris, or Bali, or London, or New York - then at least my whereabouts may have been interesting to my readers.

JMMushkin

1. In Paris at the Hotel du Champ de Mars when I heard George Harrison died. That was also the same week Enron went bankrupt.
2. In a cave hotel in Goreme (Cappadocia, Turkey) when the tsunami in SE Asia happened around Xmas 2004.
3. And this one was planned -- in Paris on the Pont d'Alma at midnight for the millennium!

Woody

In London when Princess Diana died.

Woody

anaheimwoman

i'm enjoying reading a lot of your interesting replies. question for poster geg5150:

Van Gogh was murdered? i thought he committed suicide sometime around the late 19th century? are you talking about the dutch painter who did a lot of his master piece paintings in france?

beaupeep

In the reverse, one of my friends from over here in Switzerland took a trans-Atlantic cruise with some friends to celebrate her 60th birthday. When the ship arrived in New York Harbor early on Monday, September 10, 2001 she got up especially to take a photo of the Statue of Liberty and then the sun rising between the two World Trade towers - a stunning photo.

Since she and her other friends stayed up late that night drinking champagne and celebrating, they didn't get the early start the next morning, September 11, to visit the World Trade Center as planned....