Percy

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I drove down and up the Amalfi Coast once , with white knuckles, praying that an event like you described would not happen .

It didn't.

A sigh of relief at the bottom !!

loncall

One small scene, captured in my memory about thirty years ago, has often replayed in my mind. We were stopped in tourist coach for a comfort break in a small town somewhere between the bridge on the River Kwai and Bangkok. We had experienced an excellent day of sightseeing taking in the vibrancy of floating markets and the extreme poignancy of the the beautifully tended graves of WW2 British soldiers at Kanchanaburi. Looking out of the window a small local market was setting up for business and a Thai family was erecting their stall. A couple of bits of the stall accidentally collapsed and the whole multi generational family collapsed into gales of laughter. We drove on after a few minutes but the image of the fun they had taken from a small and random event has for some reason never left me.

Fra_Diavolo

The old gent at The Lamb in Burford in the Cotswolds. He drove a 1947 Armstrong-Siddley around the villages and regularly stayed in the hotels although he lived only twenty miles away. He and his wife finished dinner with an Eton Mess, and praised them so highly that my wife and I, who rarely eat dessert, split one. It was quite as good as they said. I saw him outside the hotel the next morning, while the birds were incessantly hooting -- maybe you've heard them, "Hoo HOO hoo hoo-hoo" sort of like our mourning doves, but not. I'd wondered what they were for thirty years. "Wood pigeons," he said. "We shoot them 'cause they taste good."

I hope he's there again if we return.

starrs

Well, that leads me to one of my favorite days = using LoveItaly's recommended private driver on the Amalfi coast. He picked us up at the ferry from Capri and delivered us to our hotel in Naples. A glorious day on the coast, but absolutely no worries! One of my favorite travel memories, and it felt like LoveItaly was with us in spirit.

barbrn

I'm glad you were OK tomboy and hope everyone else was too. That could have ended so badly. My mild mannered sister had this happen when she had her kids and my kids in the car, she ended up in the ditch although she could get out of it. After going to the state police station, she was driving home and saw the car that had done this in a driveway. My kids still talk about how their aunt ripped that lady apart. They'd never heard her yell before. The lady's husband was the driver's education instructor at the high school.

MamaMia, that's a great story. I cannot imagine how relieved you were.
I hope that old gent is still there enjoying his pigeon if you return too Fra.
loncall, great story.

Treesa

Flying to Paris, by myself, in my early twenties, courtesy of Freddie Laker.

starrs

I had to google Freddie Laker.
I would have loved to have gone to Paris in my 20s. Kudos to you for making a solo trip so young!

suec1

loncall - oh that is so Thai! my daughter loves living there because the Thai people tend to be so light hearted and fun loving!

zebec

Auto accident on mountain road: Rock fans may recall the accident that Led Zep's singer Robert Plant experienced on Rhodes in '75. His wife was driving, with their daughter and son in the back, seated with their pal, Jimmy Page's daughter. Robert was in the passenger seat. I forget the cause, but they went off the road and nearly everyone was injured, some more seriously than others. The local hospital was not to their liking, so against the emergency doctor's orders, the Plant troupe were secretly evacuated out in the middle of the night by band crew, eventually to be airlifted to London by private jet.

I am done. The whole lotta tire screeching.

starrs

My first thought is always Grace Kelly.

HappyTrvlr

We were on Lake Como in an apartment, my husband’s credit card was taken and we were to receive a new one in the morning, overnight delivery, signature required on arrival. They were given exact directions to our location in a small town, very easy to find. The driver could not find our address and we wonder if he even tried.. He took our delivery back to his rural village. He gave the package to a young girl in his village the next day to take to work which was near where our landlord worked. Finally, our landlord received it and brought it to us. So much for secure, overnight delivery. We wished we could have gone along on this very Italian journey with the “ overnight” FedEx envelope!

TDudette

Sorry to have written something happy...😇

sassy27

Mine are when others are happy.

The first time I took my sister to Paris. It was shortly after the ER episode where Dr Carter was there and rode across the Seine with the Effiel Tower lights twinkling. We were jet lagged so crashed at the hotel and of course woke up at night. Feeling refreshed and being late, I said let's go over to the Effiel Tower. I had no idea we were on the same metro line as Dr Carter and as soon as the train went over the Seine we saw twinkling lights. My sister screamed in delight. It was unplanned but her first look at the tower and exactly what she expected where I had seen it before.

My sister and I took a tour from Rome to Sorrento as I wanted to go to Capri. While on the tour, I befriended an older woman traveling solo while at Pompeii. It was hot and she needed water which I got for her. We ended up staying at the same hotel. She said it was her dream to go to Positano. When we checked in at the hotel, I was given a brochure of tours. When I saw Positano, I told my sister wouldn't it be nice to ask Lois if she would like to go? Well Lois had already booked the private tour and invited us. What a great time we had. She enjoyed sharing the day with us and us with her as I wouldn't have gone if she hadn't mentioned it.

onetwo

Grasmere, England.

Hubby and I were walking from our B&B to the local pub. A full moon was just rising over the mountains. A local man just departing the pub pointed to the moon and serenaded us with the song "When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain".

starrs

A bit of a change of subject - I just noticed the "Likes" have been activated.

Sassy has some "likes" so I followed and they are activated to "like" photos in the photo contest.

Neither here nor there, but just noticed...and there are some pretty photos over there.

tomboy

An unforgettable moment:

We parked in the muni lot of Wurzberg, and walked the half mile uphill to the Marienberg fortress.
After some minutes there, we struck up a conversation with a girl (perhaps 19 years old) who was with her grandparents.
Eventually, she offered us a ride back down the hill to the city center. We must have looked old and tired to her, but it was an exceedingly nice act. We maintained email contact for a couple years thereafter.

sassy27

Kind of appropriate for this thread. Come on over and post some pictures. An email was sent to members but not everyone still knows.

Adelaidean

We had somehow (...my husbands fault) booked a lovely bnb that was not convenient for travelling by public transport.
So dinner turned out to be a long walk down a hill, via the farm paddocks (and goats, horses..) to avoid the narrow winding footpathless road. Which led to the crazy Italian main road with no pedestrian paths where we dodged cars and buses.
Dinner was wonderful, a meal where the son explains what Mama had prepared that day. Toward the end of the meal he asks if we want dessert. I decline, not wanting to try to find our way back on a road with no footpath or street lights.
He says “no problem, I drive you”
So we had espresso and dessert and he drove us home. I offered to pay him and he was offended.

sylvia3

Unforgettable but I'd like to forget: a long slog in Belize to a wonderful site, then by flashlight that night seeing a tick crawl back(wards?) into a tiny hole in my shin. There were others, and I was so freaked I never got to sleep.

natylou

Rushing to Montepulciano so DH could find that guy that does wine tastings in his cellar in the Rick steves video. Well, finally found him...in a crowded room full of middle aged women...he was giving taste tests in thimble sized plastic cups. Very memorable moment because DH finally realized it was a crock 😆