Hi

I think my first real trip was to Paris...sure, I had been to Denmark and Germany on vacation when I was young and I had been to the USA...but coming to Paris was just amazing. A city so full of history, arcitecture, sights...this happened when I came out of university and I got a job. Already before I started my boss asked if I wanted to travel to Paris on a company weekend trip and I said sure...and this was in the middle of my spring exam period But Paris was great (and I passed my exams) and later on I have been back twice to Paris on vacation. The last time was last year...and here is the trip report and some pictures from that trip: http://gardkarlsen.com/Paris_France.htm

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

1956 Naples, Italy. The ship made a few hours stop on the way to Greece. We had made earlier stops but we weren't allowed off the ship so my first steps were in Naples. I don't remember it being a very pretty town.

Joan

Hi,

London 1978, as the initial city in a 9 country tour for 42 days, unforgetable experience. First contact with so many people from different cultures living together.

Naples today where the ships dock is a dirty ugly area - probably not too unlike 1956 - just walked along the docks other in January - garbage and litter everywhere. Broken sidewalks, derelict warehouses, etc.

Eight AM June 17, 1963: PanAm Boeing 707 (a really big deal back then). Drifting down through a high overcast. Picking out little towns and roads and farmhouses in the light rain, and then ... the lights of Aéroport de Paris.

To Invalides on the shuttle, and holy smoke! Everything around here is <i>famous</i>!

Athens, 1983. Loved the Plaka in the early morning and the friendliness of the Greek people. It was also my first experience of crazy European traffic -- motorcycles, mopeds, taxis, spinning by. I would love to go back and see how the city has changed.

Robes reminds me of my first glimpse of Paris - getting off the train from Luxembourg and walking from Gare de l'Est up thru Tuileries and Champs to find the Paris Tourist Office to book a hotel.

Drunk like Robes was by all the famous sights - the phrase from my high-school French class &quot;Le Tour Eiffel, Elle est Belle&quot; rang thru my head.

I've been to Paris dozens of times since but the feeling your first rendez-vous with such a city is always the best experience you will have there IMO

My first European city was Athens in 1995. I can still remember sitting the the Plaka having a drink totally jetlagged with the Parthenon in the background. Magical!

Brussels. I worked in the US Congress for one year before starting my own business and got to travel to Europe a number of times to conferences. After Brussels, Copenhagen, then Frankfurt and Munich.

London, about 20 years ago. I was sooooooo excited, I wanted to kiss the ground! You never quite get that excited again, but I still feel awe when I arrive...

1991 - Frankfurt, Germany was our 1st &quot;landing&quot; from where we immediately took a flight to Hamburg to begin our new temporary life in Stade, Germany for a job assignment of nearly 1 year. Don't remember too much about anything until we landed in Hamburg, where we and our belongings were picked up and driven to our apartment in Stade. I do remember the drive tho, thru lots of farming communities and I'll never forget my first introduction to the scent of &quot;natural fertilizer&quot;. Stade was my first look at Europe and this turned out to be an amazing change of life for us. Since then Germany has become a yearly destination for us, as well as a jumping off point for many visits to Europe.

Our first trip was to Glasgow to visit a niece who was teaching school there on a Fulbright Scholarship. We saw a bit of Scotland (Edinbutgh, St. Andrews, Arbroath) and then flew to Rome.

It was wonderful on our first trip to see two such different countries. We made day trips from Rome to Tivoli (Villa d'Este, Hadrian's Villa) and also drove south to see where my father-in-law was born, Tricarico.

We needed no coaxing to return again and again to visit more countries in Europe, and we've enjoyed every country we've visited, most recently Russia.

Amsterdam, more than 20 years ago, for a trade show in Utrecht.

After 3 days' business in Utrecht, I stayed in AMS for several days (rainy gray November days), went to Van Gogh Museum, the first glance of his &quot;Peach Blossoms&quot; brough tears to my eyes.

August 1969 - Luxembourg. I was so impressed by the deep gorge. There was a bike race that day. I was thrilled with all the excitement.

I had taken the same Icelandic route but considered Luxembourg my first European city. I guess that was the thing to do if you were young those days. I packed my Europe on $10.00 a Day, a eurailpass, small (very small) suitcase and set off for a three-month tour. Ahh, great memories.

Rome in the 60s with my parents.
The only memory of that trip I still have is the visit to Villa D'Este.

Many more visits to Rome and other places in Europe followed yearly.

Paris, February 1997. And who ever would have thought that 2 years later I would be moving to Switzerland and going to Paris to shop the way I used to go to Boston when I lived on Nantucket!

I was in a traffic court once for a minor violation. While waiting my turn
I was astonished that almost all the cases before me involved men charged with lewd behavior in washrooms on the public transit system - mostly subways.
Some had apparently been seen before by the same judge, all had some goofy excuse.
If it goes on in public washrooms at bus stations, why would airports be any different

sorry , wrong post. LOL

Geneva (Vevey) was my first trip, one November to celebrate a significant birthday. I have a friend from the U.S. who moved there a couple decades ago.

Paris - June, 2000. Fell in love with the city immediately. Funny thing though....as we explored the city and neighborhoods, we heard nothing but Salsa music!