1. Visiting the American Cemetery above Omaha Beach, meeting an American survivor of D-Day, and the entire Normandy experience. An overwhelming sense of gratitude at what has been given in the name of freedom.

2. Spending three weeks in Oxford as a "visiting scholar" and pinching ourselves every single day for the privilege of living among the "dreaming spires".

3. First time in Paris, walking toward the sparkling Eiffel Tower with crepes in hand, oh my!

4. Coming around the bend on the train to Hallstatt and catching our first glimpse of the town and then walking down the trail to the boat "Stephanie" to make our way across the lake and into this lovely town.

5. Falling in love with London: the accents, the buses, the monuments, museums, and palaces. Loved everything there except for the exchange rate (which is now SO much better!).

Sorry, two more:

6. Running on the beach at St. Andrews like in the movie "Chariots of Fire".

7. Our sons experiencing Duone Castle where "Monty Python" was filmed. Lots of laughter!

Taking my 70+ year old parents to Europe for the first time. Holding my Mom's hand as we walk into Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice, she turns and says (with teary eyes) "I never knew anything this beautiful existed in the world".

That moment is what it's all about.

dandi2, don't know how Maitai handled it but in our case, the whole issue was made worse by having done it on a Sunday when practically nothing was open. My sister and I left DH with the car on a sunny hill in Chianti after hailing a car who called the local Auto association. We jumped into a nice cool Mercedes with a nice older couple who drove us back to Castellina where we got solace and wine from the lovely Scottish lass who tends the front desk at Squagiallupi hotel there while we waited to get word from DH about how things were going. While enduring much laughter from the guys from the auto club who picked him and the car up and towed it to Siena where they drained the inappropriate gas and replaced it with diesel (I understand that doing things the other way around results in making the car totally inoperable, so it could have been worse)DH finally got the thing going and picked us up in Castellina. Meantime sister was offered a ride to Siena by a nice American who was bored and standing in the same sandwich line as she at a local shop--but didn't take it because we had agreed to meet back at the Squagiallupi (we weren't staying there, just knew of it because friends had).

All of this happened in the morning and by shortly after lunch we had navigated out way back to Siena for afternoon sightseeing. It's amazing how, after you do something really stupid, you can gather your wits and work things out, especially when you can rely on the kindness of strangers.

Very memorable. And pretty instructive. We pay close attention to the rental car agreements and the signs on the gas caps now.

1. The Scottish Highlands
2. The Pieta/ David
3. Evensong at Westminster-
4. Making woopy on a cliff overlooking the sea at sunset in Greece. ( I was 21)
5. Swiss Alps.

Oh, gosh, reading all this makes me want to add and add to the list I gave earlier. Thanks to all for reminding me about things like:

- exiting the tube, heading up the steps next to the Thames and seeing Big Ben.

- The Pieta at St. Peter's

- Dancing alone on a Paris street.

1) we were at the grand marina in sorrento and the kids were playing on the beach and we were watching the fisherman working on their boats. One older fisherman was working on scraping the bottom of his boat and called the kids over (ages 4 and 5 at the time). He gave them little shells that get stuck like barnacles on the bottom of the boats and told them they make them into earrings and call them Santa Lucia eyes.

2) Just 5 weeks ago we were in Prague at the Christmas markets in the old town square. It was night time and the kids (now ages 6 and 8) were watching the blacksmith. He asked if they wanted a turn and called my daughter in first and helped her hammer. Then my son. Then he bent the piece in half and presented us with the tiny horseshoe that the kids had helped him make.

1. Seeing the Last Supper in person. I never imagined it was so big!

2. Seeing the sunset on the Adriatic in Piran. I imagine it was much like Venice was 600 years ago.

3. After a long and tiring driving day,(with an argument or two with DH), seeing the most beautiful rainbow over Bratislava.

4. Seing Mont St. Michel for the first time, after promising myself in high school that one day I'd visit it.

5. Putting the rental car in neutral to push it back at a rest station because we couldn't find out how to use reverse (and, to compound the issue, we did it AGAIN 3 years later!) Of course, the manual was written in German, which we cannot read.

In the same vein as filling your car with gas instead of diesel, one of my most enduring memories is of the time I was doing the laundry at a Paris laundromat and it didn't seem to be sudsing. So I added another box of detergent. HUGE MISTAKE-- the suds starting pouring out of the top of the machine, down the front and onto the floor (think "I Love Lucy&quot. I grabbed every absorbent piece of paper I could find to mop it all up before someone might arrive and see what the stupid American who can't read French had done!

Viewing the Panama Canal from the bridge of a Navy destroyer.

The first time I saw Paris.

Being at the 50th D-Day anniverary ceremony at Normandie.

Celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary in Brantome, France 2000.

Returning to Norfolk after a seven month around the world cruise that included Korean War operations. We were greeted by tug and fire boats shooting streams of water into the air. And then having the Navy band, friends and relatives waiting for us to tie up at the C & E piers.

OMG, SF... you made me think of something else too!

When my best friend and I were in Berlin, we tried to do laundry at a laundromat. We couldn't read the instructions in German about where to pay or how to operate the machines, nor could we figure out where the soap went, so this nice German man finally took notice of our troubles and helped us out.

We figured everything was fine and we'd head out for a drink and come back for the clothes later. As we were leaving, in runs the man with a stack of English homework. He was hoping we could tutor him! We couldn't say no, so we did it and have laughed about it ever since.

Definitely more than 5, but here goes.

1. Our first bittersweet trip to France. Sad because we were there on 9/11 when our country was attacked, but overwhelmed by the reactions of the French people who hugged us in the street and gave us condolences wherever we went.

2. Two different birthday dinners, 1 at "Al Veluu" overlooking Lake Como. Just one of my best experiences ever. The view was spectacular. And the other at "Le Train Bleu" in Paris--enough said.

3. Sailing into Portofino---WOW!

4. Our first drive around the French Riviera and the hill town of Eze.

5. Paris, Paris, Paris! I've never felt more at home in any other place. Every time we're in the cab and turn that corner on to the street along the Seine, I get chills.

Sorry I have to add 1 more, and of course it takes place in Paris.

6. Dancing on the I'lle St. Louis bridge at midnight to "I Wish You Love" played by "Tim" the sax man from London.

ttt

More:
Getting lost in Normandy near Villers Bocage and finally finding a barkeep with a phonebook where we could find the name of our B&B's proprietor, whom the bartender called to come rescue us.

Picnics of baguette and fromage.

Doing the chicken dance (and regretting it) at a winery in Assmanshausen, Germany.

Visiting the Serbian Orthodox church in present-day Croatia where my husband's grandfather was baptised in the 1800s before he emigrated to the U.S.

1. We arrived in Athens (minus my hb's luggage) totally shellshocked after 30 hours of travelling (Sydney, London, Athens). We unpacked and went for a walk. At one point I lifted my head and there was the Parthenon in all it's glory. I will never forget that first glimpse - it was heart stopping.

2. Emerging from the Paris metro with four close girlfriends (on a long planned trip), to find ourselves in the middle of the 6th and surrounded by that divine French architecture. A dream come true.

3. Strolling through Florence on a summer evening - the light changes and the city is so peaceful compared to the hustle and bustle of the day.

4. Piazza Navone, Rome.

5. Mass at Notre Dame. By very happy circumstance we chanced upon Friday afternoon mass. We sat for a while and enjoyed the beautiful sound of the nuns singing hymns and the responses. It was a very surreal moment.

Lovely post Dandj2, hope it keeps going.

i hope it keeps going too.
i love reading these so much.

I'm sure I can't pin it down to 5, but here goes, in no particular order:

1) Meeting some Spaniards at a winery in Jerez, and finding out that we had friends in common.

2) Showing up at the Olympic Pool in Edinburgh without towels, and a lovely woman offered me hers (for my kids) and just told me to bring it to her whenever we were done.

3) Playing croquet on the lawn at Amboise.

4) Happening to show up in Cambridge on Graduation Day.

5) My kids faces on seeing the yachts in the harbor at Monaco and St. Tropez!

6) Coming out of the train station and seeing the Grand Canal for the first time.

7) On a funny note, looking through the Brandenburg Gate and seeing Starbucks.

There are just so many, I could go on and on. In fact, I think I better start writing these down for posterity!

Walking around Venice at 3:00 AM, having the city completely to ourselves.
Snow at mid-night on New Year’s Eve at San Marco.
Seeing “The Feast at the House of Levi” at the Academie in Venice.
A barman in Venice asking “The usual?”
Feeling like a local.
Seeing the monument to Canova at the Frari in Venice (Yep, I know that some find it tacky. I love it.)