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I would like to know about things that happened on your trips and vacations that you did not expect, found unusual, or will never forget about for the rest of your life.
I will start us off with one. I walked into a Subway in Pompano Beach, Florida and was standing in line to place my order when a man walked in with a snake wrapped around his body. Needless to say, we all gave him plenty of room. I think in N. C. he would have been asked to leave and return without the snake if he wanted food.
We were in England early August, 2006. Due to fly out of Heathrow later that month. Then they broke the "liquid bomb" plot, and shut down Heathrow.
At first we were concerned that Heathrow would still be closed, or that the airlines would be so chaotic that we would simply have to fly stand-by. Then we were concerned because they weren't allowing any computers or electronics *at all* on any flight. We absolutely will not send our electronics in checked baggage. Luckily, two days before our flight they lifted the ban on carry-on electronics.
Then the chaos at the airport ... They tell us to arrive at Heathrow no less than four hours before our flight. So we arrive at Heathrow ... only to be kept waiting outside. Waiting ... wall-to-wall people all waiting (remarkably well-behaved! ) ... and then a half hour before flight time they let us inside. Well, it takes more than a half hour for a jet's load of passengers to clear security.
Separate happening. We were not able to fly to England for my MIL's funeral due to the volcano in Iceland whose name will always look to me like the cuss words we uttered when we learned that.
Location: God's Gift to Mankind for flying anything
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Mid 70's. Friend and I are on vacation in Spain. Waiting to get on the train south, we decide to get something to eat and drink on the train. In front of us is a tourist, obviously from somewhere in Texas (?) because he has this big 10 gallon hat and a leather jacket with these dumb looking fringes on the sleeves, and if that is not bad enough, boots with shiny things on the toes ....
He is trying to order stuff, but because of not understanding or speaking Spanish, can not get anywhere. So we help him.
BTW, I am a *brown-face* (originally from Europe) and my friend is an (all American) *white guy* ...
After this *Texan* gets what he wants, he thanks us *in English* and gives us some change in Pesos (tip ???), which in American Money is worth about a nickel .
Then asks us where we learned to speak *such good English*, and we said *we are from Los Angeles* ...
We did not think we looked like locals, but oh well ...
2003. We were driving into NYC (Staten Island) for the day to help move someone into an apartment, and strangely all of the lights were out, including the traffic lights. As it turns out, it was a massive power outage blanketing most of the NE (but somehow the parts of PA and NJ we drove through were untouched). Surprisingly, drivers were cautious and courteous, and the neighborhood we went into was having one huge impromptu block party--beers on the porch, battery-powered radios pumping music...
I have way too many stories that could go here, but I like this one:
2010, my mom and I went on a trip to Germany. First few days, we stayed with some friends outside of Frankfurt (we hosted their son as a foreign exchange student). They wanted to show us how a typical German family lived. So, that day, we went to a Chinese buffet for lunch, and an Italian restaurant for dinner!
I guess silly Europeans really aren't all that different.
We have many crazy and amazing stories, (all mostly 'good'), but my personal fave:
On our last trip to Scotland, after driving 1200+ miles in a rental car from Edinburgh to Oban to Lewis/Harris to the Orkneys, (and ferries), and back down the east coast to Edinburg, we hit the Witchery, a tourist joint on 'the Mile' for a quick dinner.
Exiting the restaurant, we were walking 'downstream' against everyone walking 'up the Mile' to the opening night of The Tattoo. A Edinburgh cop asked why we weren't going to the Tattoo. We said we had not been able to get opening night tix, this was our last night in Scotland, and we would fly home to the States early tomorrow morning. He said he was holding a pair of lost tix, and if we waited nearby until nearly the 'start', and no one came looking for them or claimed them, we could have the tix...
We waited and hung out, and he eventually walked over to us and handed them to us. I tried to slip him a 20 pound Scotland note, (not a Euro), but he refused...we waltzed up to Tattoo into the stadium right next to Edinburgh Castle, walked in, and our pair of seats were on the '50 yard line', 4th row from the 'sideline'. We were not dressed for the cool late night, but we sat there in awe of the Tattoo, for the next few hours. It was serendipity, imo.
My father's mother, a Cochrane, was born in Edinburgh, way back in the 1890s, so it is sort of roots 'home' to me.
Like tourists arriving in a city in the US and having a cop hand them Super Bowl tix, or...
remarkable to us.
GL, mD
One of my favorite memories was on a night train to Lisbon. We were in a sleeping berth, and one of our berth-mates was a gentleman from Brazil. He said that he belonged to a religious sect which believed the world would be ending that year (probably like 25 years ago). So he had sold everything he had and spent it on a trip to Europe, so he could see it before he died.
And then he started unwrapping, and showing us all the souvenirs he had bought.
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
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I was on a shuttle bus from my hotel to Disney World (Animal Kingdom) and the bus was so packed that I found myself standing on the way to the park. Right before we got there, I felt something warm on my feet. I looked up to see this little girl barfing on me Fortunately, she only barfed liquid so there were no stains or nasty smells. By a miracle, I was able to clean up in the restroom and was able to enjoy my day (a miracle) as there wasn't any shuttles heading back to the hotel for a while
On my way into NYC JFK airport, I found myself in the midst of a large Australian tour group ... That was an interesting plane ride
If I think of any other odd experiences, I'll report back
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They tell us to arrive at Heathrow no less than four hours before our flight. So we arrive at Heathrow ... only to be kept waiting outside. Waiting ... wall-to-wall people all waiting (remarkably well-behaved! 
) ... and then a half hour before flight time they let us inside. Well, it takes more than a half hour for a jet's load of passengers to clear security. 
.
