I have been thinking over what you said since this morning. What we remember best about the first big trip was a number of little things--like how DO you get a room? how do you order? what does Umlietung mean in German--my that town is everywhere! what is the difference between brat wurst and wurst brat?

All these things are passe these days, 30 years later, and yet, we still remember, with great fondness, those first glimpses of another country (besides Canada, and that is another story for me as I was raised on the Canadian border).

Probably the longest lasting memory was the (first) last night in Munich, lingering over a glass of wine at street cafe, thinking We will never be back.

Little did we know, and how blithely we plan a trip to Europe, Asia, Africa, and now the middle East. And we meet friends in Amsterdam or Cologne, or Rome (1972, or return to a favoite spot, not in a neighboring state, but thousands of miles from home!!!!

Are we lucky or what?

Gretchen South Carolina