Please linit tona maximum of 3. Here are my 3
Swiss Postal bus to Saint Bernard Pass to see the dogs.
Brass rubbing in Cambridge ( at brass rubbing center )
Bell ringing demonstration in Cambridge. Strange activity at the university where the large bells are rung by tugging on ropes, having different combinations of ring patterns without repeating. Can go on for hours
• Walking tour of the hydroelectric control facility inside Liujiaxia Dam, followed by a leisure cruise on the reservoir formed by the dam. This was shortly before it was damaged by very cold weather in 2008.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liujiaxia_Dam
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liujiaxia_Reservoir
• Attending Bach's Mass in B minor Holy Week performance in the Catedral de Tarragona. Awesome, but also very chilly.
https://catedraldetarragona.com/en/
• Salt-print photography workshop in the bowels of the V&A, to understand William Henry Fox Talbot's invention hands-on.
Make your own souvenirs!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Fox_Talbot
Wish I had brought along gloves for all three.
I am looking forward to reading what others have to say. The first three that come to mind for me:
-Batik making (with a lot of help) outside Accra (Ghana)
-Rounding up sheep while on horseback in the Pampas (Argentina)
-Using machines to break things at the Kirkaldy Testing Works in London (UK)- more info here in case others are interested: https://www.testingworks.org.uk/
I don’t think these are particularly unusual, especially after reading the above posts, but here goes
Tour of a silver mine outside of Prague complete with jumpsuit and helmet with light. My sister said never again and wouldn’t recommend it, too narrow and dark.
Flamenco dance class in Seville - Fun with a capital F
Printblock class in Kyoto, the technique they use to make shoji screens.
Climbing out of a kitchen window at 6 am in a pub B&B outside of London to get to my car, because all the doors were locked, no one was there, and I could not find the key.
In Cappadocia, Turkey, my driver for the day invited me to his mother's house for tea. We spent an hour sipping tea, refreshments and talking (with multiple translations from the driver).
At the request of the town genealogist, I was interviewed by a local newspaper in Germany about my search for my ancestors' history in Ostbevern. It was a true test of my German, although I did have some translation help from the genealogist's wife.
Going through Checkpoint Charlie to visit East Berlin. Going east was relatively easy. Returning that evening was a little tense. They took my now husband’s passport to a back room and kept it for several minutes. Once we returned to the west, he noticed that his photo had pinpricks. He was tall and blonde and I guess he looked like he could be German.
Fun topic! Not sure mine count as "unusual" but certainly memorable
Hiring a motorcycle driver to take me around rural Hue, Vietnam. Nothing like being in the middle of the mass of bike traffic in busy city center. The guide spent a lot of time trying to get me to hire him to drive me all over the country (I was on a guided tour so that wasn't an option).
Visiting the mummies in St Michan's Church in Dublin, Ireland. I had to wait until the caretakers were done with tea before they'd let me in the basement. (sad side note, the mummies were recently severely damaged https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdrxr3eyrj4o)
Floating in a rooftop hot springs pool in Banos, Ecuador under a full sky of stars listening to blaring 1980s pop music. I was the only non-local person there. I still have the sporty spandex bathing cap I had to buy in order to go in.
1–Hiking to an actively erupting volcano in Iceland. Normally people go the other direction, but not there. As we got closer you could not stand in one place long because the soles of your boots would melt. I was amazed at how close we could get. We stayed back further than some because if the wind shifted the gasses would get you, never mind there was no sure bet on how the eruption may have suddenly changed.
2-Kayaking between the icebergs in Greenland. The enormity of those cannot be adequately described.
My unusual experiences designed to increase engagement with folks. I strive to do all three on every trip regardless of country and always get away from the tourist zones to accomplish.
1) get a haircut at a barbershop. A great place to listen, regardless of language, to the vibe/energy level occurring amongst all. This experience has never failed to provide dialogue about local events, cost of living or sharing photos of family.
2) stopping at a pawn shop to see similarities, or not, to what is in USA pawn shops. Pawn shop owners are typically engaging and a great source of local information and non-tourist restaurants. I often find a small travel souvenir or a gift within the pawn shop.
3) consignment shopping for second hand clothes. Wife loves to seek scarves and blouses which makes for fun conversations back home with her friends. “This old thing? Found it at a consignment shop in Split, Croatia.” I like belts, colorful shirts and rustic hats.
All of the above build a platform for creating, and recalling, great travel memories.
—An evening with our children and Bill Guarnere and Babe Heffron in a bar in Eindhoven on the 60th Anniversary of Operation Market Garden. Two charming and generous paratroopers with stories to tell.
—Sipping coffee in a a 90 year old 1st class coach behind a 100 year old French steam engine racing toward Paris from Rouen. The French know how to run rail excursions!
We spent two weeks driving around the ring road in Iceland in a campervan. It was the best trip we've ever done! When planning, I realized that there was a music festival in Borgarfjordur Eystri and told my husband we'd have to plan our itinerary to avoid it. He bought tickets for the main show (held in an old herring processing building with no seats) and we had a great time!
An evening with our children and Bill Guarnere and Babe Heffron in a bar in Eindhoven on the 60 Anniversary of Operation Market Garden. Two charming and generous paratroopers with stories to tell.
That's awesome!
Not that I'd consider these unusual -
Trying both horse and whale when I was in Iceland.
Go-karting at an indoor track in London. Did it in 2022, then again this past October. Had to do it again, working on getting past the accident.
13 hour train journey from Prague to Brussels.
Spent a Sunday morning at a café painting my own coffee cup cause I didn't want to buy imported junk.
Not really all that unusual, but....
Making (and later eating) our own pasties in England
Taking a pedicab in Paris to get back to our hotel. A bit scary (the ride - not the hotel).
Finding my old offices and apartments in Europe forty years after leaving.
cindyeb—campervans in Iceland are such a great way to go! At one campground there, they had a band and I think every local from a 20 mile radius at least was there. It was a lot of fun!
Great topic and posts.
What a fun thread!
1. Years ago on a shoestring visit to London with my sister, we visited Dover Castle, where "Lady Jane" was being filmed. (Surely these "Keep Out" signs don't mean us, we said.) We walked into the castle and found our way to an upper story, where we watched the execution scene being filmed in a courtyard below. A film crew guy eventually evicted us.
2. Visiting San Francisco with that same fearless sister before the age of cell phones and stranger danger, we were wandering on the wharf when a nice young guy invited us to go sailing with him and his pals. We didn't know him from Adam but the boat was beautiful and everyone was friendly. We spent a couple of lovely hours sailing out past Golden Gate Bridge under blue skies and fluffy clouds. (My mom asked us if we crazy - they could have dropped us overboard!)
Not unusual but memorable: 3. On a cruise in Mexico years ago, we went four wheeling on dusty paths in the desert. Back on the ship, people kept looking at us funny. We finally looked in the mirror and laughed our heads off because we looked like raccoons from wearing goggles in the dust.
• Walking tour of the hydroelectric control facility inside Liujiaxia Dam, followed by a leisure cruise on the reservoir formed by the dam. This was shortly before it was damaged by very cold weather in 2008.
Our son does a lot of work for his company's hydroelectric division. Dam tour jokes are popular with us:)
Standing almost next to a guy in a wingsuit and watching him climb over the railing and fly down the mountain from Aiguille du Midi. A few weeks later the activity was banned for several years after a flyer crashed into a chalet.
Sliding down the banister at Berchtesgaden Salt Mine.
Lots of geocaching - in Germany we found the oldest, active German cache on my husband's birthday (it's overlooking Burg Eltz). Another cache was at Aiguille du Midi.
Our most unusual activity was in the US when we climbed up Mount Rushmore and sat on the back of George's head.
One of the most unusual things I have ever done while traveling was climbing to the top of a sand dune in the Gobi Desert to watch the sunrise. Then we went sledding back down. The sleds were wooden pallets. Quite fun, but I accidentally inhaled some sand while shrieking with glee on the way down. I couldn’t stop coughing for the rest of the day.
1.Hiking along the coast a few miles to Giant's Causeway, Breathtaking coastal views and amazing to hike down into the causeway rather than arrive by bus.
2.Boat ride to Skeilig Michel and hike to the top. Very rough seas but totally worth it. Thousands of puffins nesting along the hike, amazing ruins of a 6th century monastery, and a Star Wars filming location for those who are fans.
3.Riding bikes a few miles out to the coast at sunset during a Kilauea eruption and seeing the lava flow into the ocean against the dark sky.
Our most unusual activity was in the US when we climbed up Mount Rushmore and sat on the back of George's head.
mnannie, the very thought of that sends quivers down my legs. But I love the idea of it and would love to watch someone else do it, lol!
1.) Not planned but immensely lucky when I went to see the Last Supper. Beside the guard, who was looking at her phone, had the room to myself.
2.) Planned BUT…was seated in section 43, row 21, seat 14 at Candlestick Park for the 1989 baseball World Series game when the earthquake hit. Native Californian so after the rocking ceased a woman in an Oakland A’s cap turned to me and asked “ what was that?” I replied “ an earthquake, welcome to San Francisco.”
3.) Senior year of High School accepted a challenge about finding John Wayne’s house in Newport Beach. With help of a postman seated in the back of his truck eating his lunch, my friend and I won. Met Wayne and wife Pilar in the driveway of their home at 2686 Bayshore Drive. Not a huge mansion, regular sized home
( long torn down). Surprised to discover he was bald. Not surprised by his height or the size of his hands. Nor his confidence when I told him “good luck tomorrow night.” Was talking about the Oscars. He smiled and said, “it’s in the bag if the Liberals don’t vote against me.”
AND
4.) In 2009 standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for Obama’s swearing in.
5.) Standing on the roof of my building watching the Space Shuttle Endeavor being flown into LA. Seeing it being flown over the Griffith Observatory was extremely expressive.
6.) At Stanford University where I volunteered in their TV production facility I mic’d up both Secretary of State George Schultz ( learned he wore leg braces) and Russian President Mikhal Gorbachev. He laughed when I powdered his forehead where his port wine stain birth mark was. He was nice and polite. Schultz was neither.
-- Mike Beebe
Watching veterinarians do pregnancy checks on the bison herd in Custer State Park, South Dakota. They put their whole arm up *there.
Seeing the largest geyser in the world erupt. Steamboat Geyser. Yellowstone.
mnannie, the very thought of that sends quivers down my legs. But I love the idea of it and would love to watch someone else do it, lol!
The only scary part was a short, but narrow ledge between the staircase and his head. We were with a group of law clerks who got in a little trouble from the ranger when they scooted a little too close to the top of his head. The tours started early before many visitors were at the monument. Down below they were setting up for a graduation.
Shenanigans happened in 2009 and that ended the fun for everyone, permanently.
In Massa Maritima, Italy, we visited the Museum of Ancient Organs. Other keyboard instruments were included, harpsichords. forte pianos, etc. It appeared to be a one-man show, not heavily visited. The director was a highly enthusiastic gentleman who spoke Italian and French. We are anglophones, and I have a smattering of high school French. Nonetheless, we felt that we could understand everything he told us.
He inveighed, at some length, about the greedy Church officials who were selling off old instruments. He took us through his workshop, where he did repairs. The highlight of the visit was his performance on several of the instruments. One of my fondest memories of travels in Italy.
Sadly, the museum appears to no longer exist. When trying to find it via google, for a recommendation for a friend, I came up with nothing.
Rosalyn -- I had a similar experience at the Eboard Museum in Klagenfurt, Austria. It's a museum of electric organs and pianos with a very enthusiastic owner who does personal tours for everyone - he was a bit disappointed that I couldn't play keyboard instruments at all and couldn't try the exhibits out.
Walking across the border from China to Hong Kong in 1979. You had to disembark the train and go to a plywood shed for the exit inspection. Men and women were separated and my mother and I were on our way to a cubicle to undress (it was that kind of search) when we were told we could leave. My father had produced the cards of certain government officials with whom he had met.
Rounding up stray cattle who were eating someone’s very nice vegetable field.
Summer skiing in Innsbruck when a snow squall blew through creating white out conditions. I just stopped since I literally couldn’t see anything for about 10 minutes.
I didn't do it, the holy cow did: a headbutt down the steps of a ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi. Fortunately none of the scrapes I received became infected thanks to the application of an unknown substance from concerned onlookers.
Barbara, that is a fun flamenco class in Seville!
My unusual ones aren’t so spectacular, but they make me happy remembering them. The 1st set is all tied to my People-to-People Ambassador experience:
1 a. Standing in the exact spot in several countries in my 60’s where I was when I was 18.
1 b. Coming home with 11 different countries’ coins. I recently gave them to my grandsons who were excited to receive them: Russia, Hungary, Netherlands, Belgium, England, France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria.
1 c. The daughter of my first host home in the Netherlands attended my daughter’s wedding as the guest of honor.
2. All of the countries where I have been able to play the piano & brighten someone’s day.
3. Walking through a small town early in the morning, knowing I am probably the only American staying there.
Standing in the exact spot in several countries in my 60’s where I was when I was 18...
We recently had a visitor at work bringing her family to Williamsburg and hitting the spots where as a pre-teen she posed for photos in the early 1990s. Now 35 years later she wanted to re-create the photos. She visited our museum and showed us the photo. The setting had changed over time, but one of our staff posed in the picture with her, he still worked fir the museum and was only standing yards from her talking to other visitors.
She was so excited to take a picture with my colleague, all these years later. After 43 years at our museum, he retires Tuesday the 31st.
In 2012 on a Christmas markets trip to Germany, I was walking by the Residence palace in Wurzburg shortly after dark. I noticed an open door and saw stairs down to the basement. I don’t know what possessed me, but I decided to go in. I found myself in an enormous old wine cellar where people were setting up for a party. There was a long hallway with little alcoves filled with huge wine barrels. On top of each one was a wine bottle with a lighted candle on top. There were lots of small round bar tables with white tablecloths, ready for guests who had not yet arrived. The staff was bustling around getting everything ready. The obvious thing to do was to leave, but the whole place was so enchanting, I just couldn’t. No one paid any attention to me, so I walked around taking in the atmosphere. The whole experience was oddly thrilling.
Downhill skiing on the Golan Heights. I certainly respected the “out of bounds” signs.
Jillaroo on a sheep station in central Queensland…..until I was run off the station. Ply me with a lot of wine and I might tell you why, but probably not. Never told my Mom.
Hopping on the back of a motorcycle at the airport in Denpasar, Bali. The driver said his parents ran a loseman at Legian Beach. Ended up being perfectly legit, but I never told my Mom this story either.
In 1984 we drove from Ramstein AFB where we were stationed, to Berlin. You had to set up the paperwork in advance, drive on one particular isolated road through East Germany without stopping, to enter West Berlin. To go into East Berlin it was through Checkpoint Charlie, my husband in uniform. We took our then 9 and 11 year old kids so they could have the experience before we went back to the states at the end of our tour in a few months. Never thought that in 5 years the Wall would come down. I’ve never forgotten the contrast between West and East Berlin when East Berlin was supposedly a showplace of the communist state.
While in Venice, I spent parts of two days in a mask maker's workshop while he was creating and constructing masks, a la what's worn during Carnivale. This was solo, one-on-one -- not part of a tour.
We spoke about how he came to be a mask maker and how he came up with ideas. I watched him putting several together.
We talked about the state of mask making these days and how a lot of people unknowingly buy cheap, foreign made masks they think were made in Venice but aren't (usually found in the touristic areas, he told me).
We discussed my further travels beyond Venice - particularly the mosaics in Ravenna.
And we worked together to select the mask I would purchase and take home with me.
I took a photo of him holding the mask and then he signed a note to my family on the inside of the mask.
Besides walking out of Venezia Santa Lucia station the first time and seeing the Grand Canal, this is my greatest memory of Venice.
My top 4:
When at a restaurant in Germany's Black Forest, there was a display of wood figurine carvings. I was given directions to the local hillside woodworker's shop for more examples. He welcomed me in, gave me a shop tour and autographed my Don Quixote wood figurine purchase.
While at a Crown of Thorns Veneration, I sat in an aisle seat. During the procession, when the ordained (holding the COT tube) got just to the right and behind me, he tripped on his robe and the tube almost ended up in my lap. Fortunately, he balanced himself and all proceeded well. I did get a up close and personal view of the COT though.
I attended a Paris sewer tour. Quite an odd attraction, but it was interesting. Reviewers recommended bringing a scented scarf, which I did.
I have gotten haircuts in Paris and Warsaw in the last 18 months. For Warsaw, my stylist emigrated from the now occupied region of Ukraine and shared some of her experiences. During the cut, 2 pigeons flew into the shop. One was humping the other. My stylist freaked out and asked me to get rid of them, which I did by scaring one off. The pigeon on the receiving end appeared to be incapacitated. So, I had to carry it outside.
The joys of travel!
I forgot one, even though the limit is supposed to be 3.
Last year, I did a flint-knapping class at the archeology museum. It was something that I had always wanted to learn. Arriving at the museum, was a bit afraid that it was going to be all kids and I was going to be the only old person. What a surprise! We were all middle aged or seniors. We all had so much fun, and honestly, it is really tough to make a knife out of a stone. Those Neanderthals had some skills! Ended up with huge bruises on my thighs from banging on that flint all day, but it was the most fascinating thing I have done in years. If you see it being offered somewhere, take the class. Ours was 8 hours long, and it didn't seem long enough.
Have told my husband when the apocalypse comes, I will know how to make our knives to survive. He just laughs.
What a wonderful thread!
Here are three that I can think of right now:
Back in the 90s (or so?), hubby and I were hiking in the Cinqueterre. There weren't many people on the trail, and we were very much enjoying walking between fields of vines and all sorts of other vegetation. We came upon some people picking grapes, as I recall, older (though probably the age I am now) and all women. They motioned to ask my husband to help them lift the bins of grapes onto the little "train" that would take the grapes on. I gleefully took pictures, and they paid him with a bunch of grapes.
Our oldest child was and still is very much interested in the American Southwest (we live in Colorado), and was then interested in film-making. To celebrate her high school graduation, we took a trip to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, then down to Monument Valley; then Canyon de Chelly; Mesa Verde; Creede, CO, then home. We spent a memorable night at a hotel in Monument Valley, then decided to drive north for just a bit, to admire the landscape, before heading south to Canyon de Chelly. As we drove, we noticed a helicopter hovering nearby, and thought there might have been an accident. To our delight, we ended up in the middle of a film set for Transformers. We and a couple of other cars ended up in the middle of their filming cars driving south on the road we were on; we were all too happy to pull over (so they could film) and watch. It was an experience of a lifetime for my kid.
Solo walking tour in the Cotwolds, which I planned myself; it's been a daydream of mine for years, and was all that I anticipated (though of course not exactly like my daydreams, some things were better, worse or simply different).
MrsJo--For my husband's birthday last year we went to a forging place and made knives out of horseshoes. They work great and are so unique.
When I lived in Durango a buddy had a small airplane. One day he took me up and out to southern Utah and northern Arizona. When we got to Monument Valley he let me take the stick and do a few banking turns around the sandstone spires. Unforgettable.
Kayaking amongst the whales off the coast of Maui. A few breached within 100 yards but the best part was just sitting there listening to them talk to each other and smelling the rotten fish breath as they exhaled through their blowholes.
Windsurfing off Maui and noticing a group of turtles trailing my board. I slowed down and they followed me for about 200 yards. They look slow, but they can move.
