Sound: church bells ringing in Venice, sound of gondola passing by our hotel in Venice, children choir in Arles' forum <BR>Smell: lemon groves in Amalfi and Ravello, Rue de Cler in Paris (mixture of fruits, flowers and pastries) <BR>Touch: touching the tomb of St. Anthony in Padua <BR>AAAAAhhhhh! the thrills of travel

Sound: Being awakened by church bells chiming the hour (4:00 a.m.) in Leysin, Switzerland. <BR>Touch: The feel of the cool air when I stepped out onto the balcony in the moonlight to look for the church. <BR>Smell: The aroma when you step through the door of pastry shops in Austria or France. <BR>What am I doing here at my desk?

Sound: My son asking for 'un coppa ciocolato e limone, per favore' <BR>Smell: Truffles just before lunchtime in Orvieto; nosegay of roses on my bedside table in Heidelberg; diesel fumes (always reminds me of European train stations) <BR>Touch: Cold air on my face, warm down comforter as the scent of above roses woke me in Heidelberg; my son's little hand as we made our way through crowds in Rome

This is a lovely posting! <BR>I will have to get back to this one. <BR>Just wanted to bring it to the top. <BR>Nancy

Sound: 2 things - the Glockenspeil(SP) at the Marienplatz in Munich. & also the distinctive sounds of the European trains as they take me from my current favorite place in Europe to me new favorite place. <BR>Smell: The smell of a bakery in Paris, as I go into it in the early morning to get some French bread. <BR>Touch: Touching the walls inside the various towers in the Tower of London, while reading the many inscriptions made by the prisonners. Chilling.

Sound - the chicken sound vendors make on their chicken-shaped toys that they are trying to sell in Old Town Square, Prague, before they hush so we can all hear the Astronomical Clock do its special chimes on the hour, every hour. <BR> <BR>Smell - fresh roasted strong coffee brought to my Wuertzberg hotel room my very first morning in Germany, as I gazed out my window at the fortress across the river <BR> <BR>Touch - the softness of the cashmere sweater I watched Rod Stewart buy at Harrod's in London <BR> <BR>This is no doubt the most poetic thread I've ever seen on fodors. Leave it to Elvira!

<BR>Sound: Churchbells in Hungary- Every noon every church, and even the radio. My mom always turned on the radio when cooking and when we heard the bells from every direction, it was time for lunch. <BR>sound 2: A train going past when you are standing very close to it <BR>sound 3: birds singing from 2am all the way into morning when I sleep with an open window here in Canada. I smile in my sleep. <BR>Sound 4: The complete silence deep within the Hajnoczi cave. Every once in a while you can hear a drop of water falling from the ceiling onto a stalagmite. (or stalagtite??) It's a strange feeling to know that you are "4 hours into a mountain". <BR> <BR>Smell: lilac bushes in Europe <BR>The smell of German magazines. They smell different than anywhere else! <BR>The smell of langos in Hungary. (It's a fried pastry, and it's often made at markets and pools.) <BR> <BR>Touch: Going down to the beach in Greece at 5 am for a swim. We were alone, there was a slight mist above the water, and it's surface was smooth like a mirror. <BR>The touch of a stranger as he was saving me from drowning when I was seven.

Smell: In Beijing, the strong smell of what I think was garlic amost everywhere, even the elevators <BR> <BR>Sounds: Cow bells in the Swiss Alps; approaching a waterfall while hiking in the NC mountains; hearing "prepare for arrival" over the intercom when going on vacation <BR> <BR>Touch: the names on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington; the feel of my shutter button when I am about to take what I know will be a special photo; the feel of the fresh, brisk morning air as we stepped out that first morning in Interlaken

On the "down" side of our use of the senses, I have two nominations; both Parisian. One is the smell of the Metro tunnels and platforms -- like they had a breath of fresh air 50 years ago. A second is the smell of the air in Paris. It is the odor of engine exhaust. <BR> <BR>On the positive side there is the sense of feel I get when sleet in the Alps is pelting me in the face. It is invigorating. Then there is the sense of cold when I go sliding along a snow bank. And there is the feel of hard, granular snow that packs into icefields that are at times hard as bricks late in the summer. To gain traction on those formations I have had to stab my hiking pole into the surface as hard as I could thrust. <BR> <BR>And the sounds of Switzerland: bells everwhere - cows, sheep, goats, and churches. In Saas Grund our apartment was within 150 yards of the church. <BR>It had a most melodious bell that clanged regularly. The church bell in Lauterbrunnen is equally soothing. <BR>Then there are the lovely fragrances associated with high alpine pastures and forests. And, of course, the sound of water flowing off the mountain faces and rushing past you in streams. <BR>And, of course, there are the water falls such as Trummelbach, which has a roar like no other, and then there is Staubach Falls with its cascade that strikes the rocks with considerable velocity. But there is no sound to rival that of a giant serac toppling over and crashing to the ice below. <BR> <BR>Swiss farms have a different fragrance, that of cheese being made, along with that of the barnyard animals. <BR>

What fun to remember! <BR> <BR>Sound: Organ music in various churches and cathedrals. I have stumbled on impromptu concerts many times. <BR> <BR>Smell: Lavender soap from Provence, a smell you can bring home with you! <BR> <BR>Touch: Okay, it's weird and smelly, but that warm air that blows up from the Metro or the Underground as you walk by a grate on the street. It is so evocative for me of Europe. It probably happens in New York too, but I don't live there!

I can't resist any longer. I agree with an earlier poster, this thread is so poetic. And Dan Woodlief, wow, you nailed two of mine I would never have thought of: hitting the shutter with the exhilarating feeling, "this is it," and the Vietnam memorial. <BR> <BR>Here go my others, although heavily edited, there are so many. <BR> <BR>Sound: My first morning in Italy almost 20 years ago, somewhere beyond Brindisi, after coming over from a ferry from Greece. At the bar, where we are getting morning caffe, the barista--unabashedly, unselfconsciously--breaks into beautiful baritone, singing along with the opera going full blast on his portable radio. This was the exact moment I fell irrevocably in love with this country. <BR> <BR>Smell:The earthy, musty smell of fresh porcini and truffles in the fall in the open market, at the bottom of the stairs of my apartment. If you have little boys, it is the same smell they have after playing all afternoon outdoors. <BR> <BR>Touch: (And I believe others have mentioned this), the rough feel of a <BR>Roman wall or bridge or a Lombard column, centuries old and still enduring. Or, alternatively, scuffing my foot along the oxen tracks at Pompei. <BR> <BR>On a somber note, I have a friend who is dying of cancer. Please remember those special times and how lucky we are to be able to experience them.

!!

Came on and saw this thread, it is interesting. For me <BR> <BR>Sound -: I was in the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany (not a pleasant place to be) In the crematorium there was a group of Israelis beautifully singing the Israeli National Anthem "The Hope". It was so moving and a very special moment. <BR> <BR>Smell -: Chocolate shops in Belguim, the wonderful smells in L'occitane shops in France. Freshly made croissants and cafe au lait. <BR> <BR>Touch -: This is difficult, I am tempted here to agree with the stones on the Western Wall there is definately something about touching history. Also my own bed after I have come home from a wonderful holiday. <BR>Angela

Sound: Our late-night footsteps on Venice cobblestones as the mist swirls and a cat crosses the bridge ahead of us. <BR> <BR>Touch: the feel of the mistral blowing through the open balcony door of our room in Auberge du Noves outside Avignon as we watched the dark shadows of the olive trees dancing. <BR> <BR>Smell: early morning coffee in Salzburg. <BR>Runner-up: hamburgers grilling outside an on-mountain restaurant at almost any Colorado ski resort. <BR> <BR> <BR>

.. and people wonder why we love having Elvira on this forum ... <BR> <BR>I'll put all three sense experiences together in one wondrous morning in Venice: <BR> <BR>We were in a room rented from a couple who ran a bakery downstairs. It was very early morning, which is when funerals in Venice must take place in order to keep the canals open during the day. <BR> <BR>I'm lying in bed in very soft sheets, with my hand on my sleeping husband's. The bakers downstairs have their day's goods in the ovens and we are surrounded and immersed in the smell of baking bread. The sun has just risen and is reflecting off the water below, up through the colored-glass windows in pastel rainbows rippling across the ceiling and walls of the room. A church bell is tolling and some mourners are singing in the funeral procession gondolas as they pass below. <BR> <BR>I probably won't go to heaven when I die, but at least I have an idea of what it could be like.

Great thoughts and memeories rushing back reading this.... <BR>Sound-Street musicians in Galway...some of the best I had ever heard <BR>Smell-fresh baked bread and scones after a long chilly walk in Ennis <BR>Touch-The hug and kiss I got from Jerry the Dublin Cab Driver...We found out he knew someone in NYC that worked with me (Really is a small world)

topping!

Sound - a tie between rain falling on my roof and the total silence on a bright crisp morning in the Alps. <BR>Smell - Night Jasmine blooming outside my front door in the spring. <BR>Touch - Holding hands with a loved one anywhere in the world. <BR>

Fragrance of wild herbs in the countryside in Provence and Greece <BR> <BR>The feel of smooth cool marble inside an Italian church after a hot walk <BR> <BR>Sound of neck bells on the goats returning home in sicily and Crete <BR>

Sound: the cockle-doodle doo of chickens waking you up in any destination...I know I am not at home. The sound of tree frogs croaking in costa rica at night. The sound of children laughing at my attempt to read them a story in their native danish. Water lapping on the side of our chartered mediterranian yacht. <BR> <BR>Smells: the pungent smell of danish cheese on fresh baked bread for breakfast. The green grass in ireland (also a good "touch" memory). The smell of dankness and death in the dungeon of Warwick castle, england. <BR> <BR>Touch: The tiny sticky feet of tree frogs in the rain forest as they hop on your arm. The prickly thorns on a puffer fish. The various types of hands of people I have had the pleasure to shake on my travels. The soft leather shoes I bought in amsterdam that never gave me blisters!