We've had wonderful threads about memorable sights and unforgetable meals - sight and taste. What about the other three - sound, smell and touch? <BR> <BR>My submissions: <BR> <BR>Sound: children's choir in Notre Dame <BR> <BR>Smell: the rosemary plant outside a house in St Paul de Vence <BR> <BR>Touch: the mistral on my skin <BR> <BR>

Great idea Elvira! Here's mine: <BR> <BR>Sound: Basque music at a festival in Sare - haunting <BR> <BR>Smell: Any french park - I think it's the smell of the boxwoods <BR> <BR>Touch: Not in Europe - touching the moon rock at the Air and Space Musuem - I must have done that a dozen times during my visit and each time it took my break away!

Uh, that should have been "breath" - guess my "touch" typing needs work!

here it is, Elvira: <BR> <BR>sound: the sound of tundra crunching under foot near Trondheim, Norway <BR> <BR>smell: the musty smell of seriously shop worn merchandise in small towns, Ireland. <BR> <BR>touch: the feel against my skin of the purple polyester hooded dress get-up my mom bought me in london, summer 1970. hello, austin powers!!

Yeah, good one E. <BR> <BR>Sound: The trumpeter in the bell tower of the cathedral on the main square in Krakow. Every hour, I think 24/365, a trumpeter sounds the alarm commemorating the Tartar invasion in 13somethingorother. The trumpet call cuts off prematurely signifying the moment when the original player took an arrow in the neck. “Viktor, your turn to blow the horn is midnight to 6 AM on February 5th. Okay?” <BR> <BR>Smell: Not sure how current now, but the smell of coal smoke in the air in Edinburgh. The single most evocative odor in my memory. <BR> <BR>Touch: The stones in the Western Wall in Jerusalem. <BR>

Thanks Elvira - this is fun! <BR> <BR>Sound: Church bells anywhere in Europe <BR> <BR>Smell: OK - I know this is weird - I love the smell of the Metro in Paris - not the sometimes unsavory smells, but that "hot smell" - maybe it's the brakes??. Sometimes you even smell it from above ground when you walk over a Metro vent. When I smell something similar here in the U.S., I'm immediately back in Paris. <BR> <BR>Touch: Crisp bed linens and lovely linen towels my first time in Milan.

Sound: The carillon and tolls of the Westerkerk in Amsterdam as heard strolling the canals. <BR> <BR>Smell: Chestnuts being roasted by little old men on the streetcorners in Rome during the winter. <BR> <BR>Touch: A down duvet when awakening on a crisp English morn.

Memorable sound: F1 engines echoing in the hills of Francorchamps, venue for the Belgian Grand Prix. <BR>Smell: jet engine exhaust at airports, takes me to my days on the flight deck of the Intrepid where the love of travel was instilled. <BR>Touch: same young sailor on liberty in Villefranche-sur-mer, flight pay in pocket.

Sound -- The sing-song tone of ambulances making their way through the streets of Paris. Every time I hear it in a French movie I get nostalgic for Paris! <BR> <BR>Smell -- Ah, the pungent enticing aromas of the Parisian cheese shops. The scent of lemon groves in the Greek countryside. The smell of leather from the vendors in Florence. <BR> <BR>Touch -- The feel of wind through my hair while riding on a moped on the island of Poros.

The sight: A tie between the sight of the Grand Canal as we stepped out of the Venice stazzione and my wife's expression when she saw it! <BR>The sound: The awe-inspired quietness as we viewed The Pieta in St. Peter's. <BR>The taste: Our afternoon Italian pastries. <BR>The touch: The feel of my Botticelli mouse pad! <BR>

This is great Elvira! <BR> <BR>sound: Niagara Falls, Canadian side - when you are standing right next to it. <BR> <BR>smell: the variety of aromas as you wander rue Cler in Paris - if you don't like one wait for the next; the bouquet of a good bordeaux sitting in a favorite wine bar. <BR> <BR>touch: the soft fur of Mouse, the house cat at the Colonnade Townhouse Hotel in London.

Sound-tie between lying in bed listening to Venice delivery workers on their rounds early in the morning, carts being wheeled down the Calles and Italian voices calling to each other and the constant "tink tink" of bells of cows grazing in the Swiss Alps, studying me with their inquisitive eyes as I hike past. <BR> <BR>Smell: The overpowering smell of the farmer's spreading the manure from those same Swiss cows on their fields with super-powered fireman-like hoses, a sight and smell to behold, I am at once disgusted yet intrigued. <BR> <BR>Touch: feeling the soothing embryonic warmth of the Coral Sea as I snorkeled above the Great Barrier Reef. <BR>

Sound: The chimes of the clock in London after waiting almost 20 years to get back. <BR> <BR>Smell: Waking to the smell of the breakfast coffe being roasted in the hotel kitchen in Addis Ababa. <BR> <BR>Touch: Let's not go there.

Thanks Elvira! <BR> <BR>Sound: The sound of a dozen street vendors saying "bonjour" as they put out their wares for the day in the markets near Montmatre! <BR> <BR>Smell: Peat burning fireplace smoke during chilly months in Ireland <BR> <BR>Touch: The time our host at a B & B in Cornwall (who sadly has since passed away) allowed me to take a letter written by Lady Jane Grey (the Nine Day Queen) while she was in the Tower awaiting execution, OUT of it's protective covering and HOLD IT IN MY SHAKING UNWORTHY HANDS!!!! This particular B &B host was ,once upon a time, caterer to the Queen. Followed in a close second, by the time my husband put his hand on my knee and, upon seeing a castle for the first time, said "God, look at that! It's REAL!"

<BR>Sound: The quiet sing-song Cork accents of old men in my best friend's 'local'. <BR> <BR>Smell: The lilac bushes in full bloom under my windown in Heidelberg last April. <BR> <BR>Touch: Sounds strange - but any human physical contact is wonderful when you're traveling for two weeks on business. When all you're normally allowed is a handshake, a hug from a new friend can be soul saving.

Sound: the splash-splash-splash of just about any paddle-wheeler boat on about any Swiss lake. <BR> <BR>Smell: London diesel buses. <BR> <BR>Touch: the dry, rough, brush-like texture of donkeys' hides as you ride them on Santorini.

Great thread. <BR><BR>Sound: Bleating goats rambling over the ruins near Mt. Olympus, and the whistling wind there <BR><BR>Smell: Lemon blossoms wafting in the hills above Amalfi. <BR><BR>Touch: the fur of a B&B owner's old dog I bonded with in England

Sound: My grandmother falling back into her native German tongue <BR> <BR>Smell: Rome for the first time, a very unique - kinda stinky smell! <BR> <BR>Touch: A wonderfully comfortably bed (with an incredibly fluffy down comforter) in Stuttgart after a long day on the train <BR> <BR>Audrey

Nice question, Elvira: <BR> <BR>Sound: Monks chanting the Gregorian Mass in the basilica at the top of the Aventino in Rome (name escapes me). <BR> <BR>Smell: The bay leaves from the hedges along the Forum. I always pick one and crush it in my hand--it's the smell of Rome for me. <BR> <BR>Touch: Trying to walk on the still rough lava on the island of Ustica, north of Palermo

Hmmmm, this is tough. <BR> <BR>Sound: There are so many, but the one that keeps coming back is the tinkle of goat bells from a herd of goats that an old farmer walked by the window of our personal "farmhouse" every afternoon in an small inn near Montesaraz, Portugal. <BR> <BR>Smell: My husband says I can smell in parts per trillion, so I have a very senstive smeller and can tell you every country smells like (Japan smells like soy from the moment you get off the plane!), but the most memorable is the mixed smell of wood smoke and copal insense in Chichicastenango, Guatemala, that was everywhere we went. <BR> <BR>Touch: Right here in North Carolina, standing in the ocean, way out on a sandbar, about 11pm, when the wind was just about body temperature and the water was a little cooler, and we felt we could see forever. It was a feeling that is haaard to describe, but I will always remember.