1.
Backpacking
through Europe in 1984 at age 50 and visiting 8 countries in 21 days.
2.
Meeting
with all my (up to then, unknown) cousins who gathered in a Gasthaus (bar) in
the Village in Germany from which my Great Grandfather emigrated in 1883.
3.
Being
recognized in a bar in Madrid, Spain by a hometown (childhood) neighbor whom I
hadn’t seen in 46 years!
4.
Catching
up with my daughter, Kerry, on the French Riviera on one of my trips while she
was studying in Paris in 1993.
5.
An
end-of-trip spontaneous group party in a village in the Black Forest in Germany
on Easter eve, where we were joined by the villagers in our celebration.
6.
On
our tour bus, singing “We’ll Meet Again” along with Vera Lynn on tape on the
way to Heathrow Airport after a trip to England which included the White Cliffs
of Dover; and singing “Do a Deer” and “Adleweiss” as we visited the Von Trapp
villa in Salzburg, Austria.
7.
Seeing
the last complete Solar Eclipse of the 20th Century on the outskirts
of Vienna, Austria on August 11, 1999 at 12:40 p.m.
8.
Dozens
of occasions when we happened upon an unexpected, unplanned special event
(outdoor concerts, festivals, parades, receptions of royal visitors, etc.).
9.
Attending
the tribute to Edumond Halley in the presence of members of the Royal Family at
a gala in London with my wife and two older children in 1986 and, the following
year, being the American representative at the dedication of a memorial to
Edmond Halley in Westminster Abbey.
10. In 1991, being flown in a
private plane to several Islands in the Bahamas, retracing the various landings
of Christopher Columbus in 1492.