london--july, 1965.....was bitten by the travel wasp and have been on the go ever since...

Lyon

Amsterdam via Pan Am in July 1971..there were special youth fares then which Pan Am which had the most European coverage from the USA matched from the foreign airlines...from there after a week bopping around Amsterdam it was an overnight ferry to England via Hook of Holland then a train ride to London for a week...the night ferry from Victoria to Paris and then a train to Zurich, a train to Munich a plane to Berlin, a plane to Coppenhagen and back to the USA via Pan Am with a connection at Heathrow on Pan Am...

Boy do I miss Pan Am (incidentally it was a guide book that suggested making Amsterdam my first stopping point...it was the Youth Capital of the world back then sort of and I will never forget the many young people sitting at the monumen at Dam Square)...the big selling point in the book then was everybody speaks English (and you know what, they were right!!)...also to save some money on hotels as noted night trains/ferries between Amsterdam/London, London/Paris and Paris/Zurich....you almost had to fly in and out of Berlin if you didn't want to or were scared to deal with DDR red tape and fares to and from Berlin were kept artificially low. (and because of the political situation the one airline not allowed to fly into or out of Berlin was Lufthansa domestic flights from West Germany to Berlin were provided by Pan Am, British Airways and Air France.

LONDON - 1994 It was my dream city ever since I was a little girl. I am the same age as Prince Charles and I would dream about marrying a prince - no comments please - Camila can have him - but I still love the city and have been back many times. I still remember the thrill I had when I got to the Food Halls in Harrods. Don't ask me why, but Harrods was my first stop, even before Buckingham Palace or Big Ben. I have been traveling ever since.

Paris, January 2006. I was gobsmacked. It was cold, but not nearly as bad as it was in Iowa at that time, and the cold weather didn't hinder us a bit. With the trees all bare, I thought Paris was beautifully atmospheric. It surpassed my expectations, which were already quite high from having wanted to go to Paris for as long as I can recall. I recently re-visited it in June, and while there were many things I liked about it at that time of year, a part of me will always be sentimental about Paris in the wintertime.

After retiring from 34 years as a teacher I took a tour to England, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland. Landed in London,but took a a plane on to Dublin so that would be my first European city.In the last 10 years I have been to 10 European countries-France, Italy(2 times),Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Germany,and Switzerland. Hopefully my next trip is to Spain and Portugal.

Palenque it was Torres Vedras in 1962. It's primarily known by the Lines of Torres Vedras (google it) where Wellington leading the Anglo and Portuguese army stopped the Napoleonic invasion led by Massena (the dear son of Victory) 197 years ago.

I remember how excited i was to go to Europe for the first time. Getting my passport was a milestone. i felt a sweet feeling that i still have to this day. we are all so fortunate to have the chance to go on vacation,

my first trip to Europe was in 1988. I went to Stockholm Sweden to see my friend Ulrika.

it was a learning experience.
it amazing how similiar we are in daily life. when we arrived at her apartment in Nacka, i was pleased to see that she hadnt made her bed that morning and had laundry around. :)

i had a fabulous time with her and her family. we drove into Norway to an old wood city, then picniced by a stream.

looking back now, after having gone to Italy 4 times since, Stockholm seems so formal.

bookmarking cuz these are fun to read while i am watching a 94 year old lady.

Although I was born in London, that doesn't count since I left as an infant.

So the real first time was 1969 in Vienna. I was 16, on a family trip, and still remember how stunned I was by the beauty of that city. Having been back as an adult since, that feeling is re-confirmed!

To add to that stunning first impression, it was on that trip that Armstrong landed on the moon. Everyone in Vienna was dancing around with little American flags and hugging us. It was very exciting and the Austrians were so warm-hearted.

This set the stage for dozens of European trips in the last few decades. I've always loved our travels and been met with the same kinds of warm-hearted people everywhere (including in the States, by the way!)

I'm loving these stories!

LisaG

London, December 1997. I was supposed to be there alone, roaming the city by myself. At least that was my plan. My parents ruined it for me, and my dad ended up coming along. It was tons of fun, and I learned a lot about my dad. It was my dad's first European city as a tourist.

And I'll list my mom's first European city since she's my partner in crime when it comes to travel. Hers was Florence, April 2003. She wasn't supposed to come with me, I was supposed to be staying with friends. But since it was her dream to go, I took her with me. She was worried about cramping our lifestyle, but my friends welcomed her with open arms. It was tons of fun there too, and we've been many places together since.

PalenqueBob - EXACTLY the same as yours. Same impressions too. From Luxembuourg we went on to Paris, Brussels, Geneva, Grindelwald and Lucerne before returning to Paris and then Luxembourg for the flight home on what was probably the last and nicest transatlantic commercial turbo-prop to grace the skys (C-130s don't count).

Shaddup You Face, circa 1980.

My first trip to Europe we landed in Austria and stayed in Vienna for a couple of few days and I had a breakdown of nerves. I hated it, I didn't like all the foreigness and the language or the food. I was miserable.

We took the train to Venice and outside the train station a whole new world opened up. A wonderful world of cheerful people.

I had left my sunglasses on the train so I walked over to a vendor and he turned up his radio which was playing this song and twirled me around in a dance. I was hooked on travel from that minute on.

Listen:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sFacWGBJ_cs

Probably doesn't count, but St. John's, Newfoundland, on a rainy and cold morning in 1951. A troop ship up from Brooklyn. A thousand soldiers, all seasick along The Grand Banks, vomit everywhere, especially on the ladders between decks. Being Navy, we were alone in the mess hall. St. John's, not a painted store or house anywhere, people with rotted teeth, gaunt with half-starved-looking children, gravel roads to Argentia, fog and continued rain. Finally a bomber to Goose Bay, Labrador -- endless pine trees, acres of rusting machinery, frozen roads. A lift to Greenland, darkness and biting winds.

Ah Goose Bay - been there done that

few years ago plane from London said after takeoff that due to extraordinary winds (and chock full luggage bin i suspect) that FAA rules required us to land in Goose Bay for refeuling to the mandated levels.

Well that announcement threw everyone for a loop - luckily they announced it before take off or if over the sea everyone would have though it were an emergency landing instead.

Goose Bay - huge long runways but nothing but a little hut in site. Nothing like USNR said - scrub

Of course after 9-11 many planes were stranded in Goose Bay for a few days and i guess some locals did materialize and treated them very well.

Goose Bay - been there done that and unlike any other place i've been, do NOT wish to return!

Valencia. I went to summer school there when I was in high school. I also visited Madrid and Barcelona on that first European venture.

London in 1960; then true culture shock the following week when landing in Amsterdam and realizing my friend and I only read/spoke English (knowing it and having it staring you in the face are two different things), and we "weren't in Kansas" any more. There was some English spoken by the locals, but it wasn't like it is now. Thank goodness for "now" because I still can only do "pleasantries" in other languages.

London, 1985.

June, 1953, Athens. The destroyer I was on was headed back to Norfolk after operating off the coast of North Korea. We were completing an around the world cruise that started in Norfolk in January. The next ports of call were Naples and the French Riviera. From there I went on a tour to Paris.

I didn't get back to Paris until 1994, but it was well worth the wait.

London in 1981 with my daughter and a friend from work. My company's International VP had arranged for one of our sales reps to take us around the city. It was a Sunday, so we (untraveled innocents) wore dresses and heels. He walked us from Buckingham Palace, down the Mall, past the Horse Guards, through St. James Park, to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the Houses of Parliament. Then we got to SIT DOWN on a boat to the Tower, walked through it, and boated back to Westminster. I know we walked five miles, and I had the sore feet to prove it.

It was a wonderful introduction to what remains my favorite city. My initial impression was of all the chimney pots. My daughter and I will go again in October for what will be my ninth visit.

Madrid 1967.