Nice thread. <BR> <BR>Smell: the smell of the harbor in Den Haag when they pull up the catch of the day. <BR> <BR>Sound: Any language except english (and the corresponding terror that comes when you realize that you can't lapse into english to cover your lapses in vocabulary). <BR> <BR>Touch: The feel of misty rain all over me as I walked through la grande place for the first time. <BR> <BR>Jen

Sound: At 5:00 a.m. within the old walls of Jerusalem, hearing the combination of roosters crowing, church bells pealing, and the Muezzin calling the Islamic faithful to prayer. Also, the prayers offered in rhythmic cadence at the Western (Wailing) Wall. <BR> <BR>Touch: The feel of the rock of Calvary, underneath the altar in Holy Sepulcre Church. Touching the star marking the spot of Christ's birth in Bethlehem. Touching the Wailing Wall. Feeling the graffiti dating back to B.C. Running my hands along the heiroglyphics on the tombs in Egypt. The Dead Sea. When noone was looking, caressing the foot of "The David" in the Florence Museum. <BR> <BR>Smell: Inside the pyramids. Under the catacombs in Rome. Within the walled city of Jerusalem. The Nile.

Sound: camels waking in Jordan's Wadi Rhum at sunrise <BR> <BR>Smell: the sickly-sweet odor of jasmine plants mixed with last night's lamb dinner thrown over the wall of a villa in Jeddah in the early 1980s <BR> <BR>Touch: wadding up a delicious, moist and sticky bite of rice and meat in one's right hand at a desert feast outside Riyadh

I cannot believe this stopped at 42!!<BR><BR>Elvira, you are the goddess of great thought provoking senses! I never did tell you my Venice/Florence journal relied heavily on this suggestion of yours...<BR><BR>HRH

Sound:the bells ringing at the Church at St Germain des Pres in the evening.<BR><BR>Smell: lilacs growing over a wall in a small neighborhood near Montmarte<BR><BR>Touch: my husband kissing me on our anniversary on the Pont Neuf

Waking from a late afternoon nap in Florence to the sound of the nuns in the convent next door singing...a sound I will never forget.

sound: the murmurring bubbling sounds of conversations in the Rudas baths in Budapest; Spanish guitar players warming up in the early morning around the Barri Gothic district in Barcelona;<BR><BR>smells: the rich fertile scent of produce in the air at the Central Market in Budapest and La Boqueria in Barcelona;<BR><BR>touch: the cool, oh-so -smooth, solid feel of the marble columns in any church or cathedral I've walked into;

Sound: the silence when I arrived at the Terezin fortress and ghetto, when all I could hear in my mind was screaming.<BR><BR>Smell: the mix of lit candles, ashes, and antiseptics in the crematorium at the Terezin ghetto.<BR><BR>Touch: touching the monument of the Star of David at the cemetery in Terezin, and placing a stone nearby in memory of my paternal great grandparents that lost their lives there.<BR><BR>

smell- early evening in Greece, the smell of jasmine<BR><BR>touch- snakes in the snake temple in Penang! took a lot of courage for me!<BR><BR>sound- a gospel choir in Barbados.Brilliamt!

Sounds-I can't limit this to one<BR>The clank of the metal on the mast of a yacht -very gently - all through the night.Takes me to the Youth Hostel where we stayed in Elsinor Denmark whilst on Inter-rail in 1975.It was so hot we slept with all the windows and doors open and even though since then I've worked in Caernarfon for many many years where you hear this sound as you walk under the castle, it still takes me back to that holiday.<BR>Also the sound of tree toads in the Caribbean-we don't have these at home.<BR>Thirdly the first time I hear someone speak Finnish when we are on the way to visit very dear friends in that country-means we are almost there!<BR>As for smells,lemon soap.Why?We went camping in Greece and the soap we had was lemon.We were meant to have been there the previous year on our honeymoon but my husband had been taken ill and we never got there.This smell then always reminds me of the campsite in Corfu and our adjourned honeymoon!<BR>Like the poster above there is also a particular smell in shops which are stacked with goods which haven't moved from the shelves for years.I assiciate this particularly with a shop in Panaji Goa where the dust was so thick on some of the items you couldn't see what they were.<BR>Touch-my daughters tiny hand in mine as we waited to cross the road and the sudden realisation of how small and vulnerable she was and how large was the world which I was showing her.

A trumpeter playing the aria "E lucevan le stelle" from Tosca in a barbershop in Verona.<BR><BR>Incense burning in a temple courtyard in Beijing - contrasting with the bitter smells of urine and sharp cooking oils in the streets outside.<BR><BR>The sandpaper-like scraping of a rough massage mitt in a hamam in Selcuk, Turkey.<BR><BR>

I'm new at touring Europe, I've only been twice, so my list won't be anywhere close to the wonderful posts we have already had. There are so many to list but here are my submissions:<BR><BR>Sound: The sound of the choir singing on Sunday morning in Weiskirche in Germany. Pure heaven on earth. Also the sound of a mid-day prayer service at Salsbury Cathedral in England. Just thinking about the people that have worshiped in these churches over the years is awe inspiring to me. Seeing the family pews that have been in the family for generations, European generations, not American generations, what a difference!<BR><BR>Smell: Vacation air!!! There is a different "smell" in the air when you're on vacation!! But to get specific, the wonderful smell of the Rhine, the pungent odor of pot coming from the coffeeshops in Amsterdam, you don't have to patronize the shops, just walk by, it's part of Amsterdam. Closer to home, the smell of the Mississippi from the Moonwalk in New Orleans or the sulphur water at Disney World! Both of these smells tell me that I am truly on vacation.<BR><BR>Touch: Has to be the feel of the stones in Europe. Be it a castle or the the stones in Avebury (haven't touched the ones in Stonehenge). It's almost like you can feel the history vibrating through the stones. It's very awe inspiring when you stop to think of the things the stones could tell us if they could only talk!!!<BR><BR>Sight: Europe. The Rhine, as I was taking the cruise from Bacharach to St. Goar I just kept looking at the beautiful countryside & thinking about the soldiers during WWII & how it must have been for them to fight there. Was it still as beautiful as it is now with all the destruction going on around them? Sometimes, especially in the older parts, I still have to remind myself that this isn't Disney World, people have actually lived here, loved here, died here. What I'm seeing is real, beautiful & it is a large part of what draws me to Europe.<BR><BR>Mind boggling isn't it. These all sound juvenile compared to the truly wonderful replys ya'll have shared but they are mine & I am just grateful that I have had the chance to experience them & hope I get to again. Most of all I hope I get to share them one day with my daughter.<BR><BR>

Some of these truly brought tears to my eyes. I will be sure to have all 5 sences piqued when i go to Holland in the next few weeks...thanks to all for an entertaining tea break!

grande elvira!<BR><BR>sound: hearing all the bells from the churches in firenze at a saturday evening. the sea smashing towards the rocks in sardegna when there's a mistral.<BR><BR>smell: my first cheese-fondue when going back to bern in winter. smelling the wild peppermint when walking through my garden here in chianti. my mum's choccolat cake made for me when i go back to bern and visit her.<BR><BR>touch: the fur of my dogs. water on my skin, particulary the first time when jumping into the sea in sardegna.<BR><BR>tanti saluti da christina. i go to bern/switzerland tomorrow for several weeks.

topping for Joanne

<BR>topping

Sounds - how 'bout the thwack thwack thwack of the blades of a windmill.<BR><BR>Smell - I agree with the poster above, the scent of the coffeeshops, but I did go inside!<BR><BR>Touch - my wife's hand in mine as we toured Europe.

Sound: The total quiet! watching from the balcony of the Brera gallery in Milan as cottonball snow fell straight down.<BR>Smell: Driving (lost) through the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, the smell of the earth overpowering. Very easy to imagine early humans living there.<BR>Touch: My hand on the doorknob of my house as I return home.

Topping this wonderfully sensual thread for all you who've joined since registration, and as a tribute to elvira!

YAY!! jen, Thanks so much!
Elvira, I miss you!