Europe (my first time)

Went to Courchevel France on school ski trip, the driver lost control of the coach trying to put chains on the rear and we slid down a road, he put the coach into a slide and we ground into the bank leaving the rear wheels dug into the snow drift literally hanging over the edge of a very steep drop, wasn't quite italian job but it wasn't nice.

One of my first trips on my own to Europe was 'Ibeefa'! We were 17 i think and i remember getting there and heading out the first night about 8pm and wondering where everyone was :rolleyes: didn't realise the place didn't really kick off till 11ish or so! What a baptism that was, 2 weeks of absolute debauchery omfg.
 
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festive said:
heading out the first night about 8pm and wondering where everyone was :rolleyes: didn't realise the place didn't really kick off till 11ish or so! What a baptism that was, 2 weeks of absolute debauchery omfg.
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Rofl....yes..noticed that about the late night starts..I did not do much of the 18-30 club type stuff with mates .weekends away were bad enough.....Don't think i would have survived..
 
School trips to Leysin Switzerland ( ski lessons ), Caslano Switzerland, Genoa Italy and Barcelona Spain.

The first solo trip was in 1967 A ten week training course ( electronic office equipment ) in Sommerda Germany
 
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I nearly went on a school trip to the 1972 Munich Olympics but my parents put the block on it because they judged that the staff to pupil ratio was too little which meant that some kids would have had to go off to events unsupervised. Grr. I was really into swimming then, I used to swim for West Ham, and all I wanted to see was the swimming. Missed Mark Spitz getting a shed load of medals. My first trip abroad was to be to South Africa in the early eighties where I accepted a job for a VW/Audi/Porsche dealership in Cape Town but just before that when I had my passport, I thought I'd try it out and me and my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) drove to Paris in my old Mk3 Cortina 1600. In December, in the snow and with no heater! My mates said it wouldn't make it so I had to get a picture of it with the Eiffel Tower in the background. That was in the days when you could practically park anywhere in the centre of Paris. I remember stopping off in Abbeyville on the way there and back and guzzling champagne (my first taste of it) with our meals. When we got to Paris late at night, we were hungry so I left the g/f in the hotel and went out looking for food. I found a late night supermarket open and returned with Champagne, smoked salmon and caviar. Nothing else! We got back on Christmas eve and went straight to our local pub before even going home. Paris was nice then, it's a dangerous rat-infested ****hole now unfortunately.
 
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Rome, 1971/2 ish, Church pilgrimage! No really! Spare seats filled with three poor boys from the parish. We had a great time. 1300 Lira to the £! Flew on a B707 from Cardiff, Captain Brennan at the helm! Remember the cardboard passports?
 
Motman said:
I nearly went on a school trip to the 1972 Munich Olympics but my parents put the block on it because they judged that the staff to pupil ratio was too little which meant that some kids would have had to go off to events unsupervised. Grr. I was really into swimming then, I used to swim for West Ham, and all I wanted to see was the swimming. Missed Mark Spitz getting a shed load of medals. My first trip abroad was to be to South Africa in the early eighties where I accepted a job for a VW/Audi/Porsche dealership in Cape Town but just before that when I had my passport, I thought I'd try it out and me and my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) drove to Paris in my old Mk3 Cortina 1600. In December, in the snow and with no heater! My mates said it wouldn't make it so I had to get a picture of it with the Eiffel Tower in the background. That was in the days when you could practically park anywhere in the centre of Paris. I remember stopping off in Abbeyville on the way there and back and guzzling champagne (my first taste of it) with our meals. When we got to Paris late at night, we were hungry so I left the g/f in the hotel and went out looking for food. I found a late night supermarket open and returned with Champagne, smoked salmon and caviar. Nothing else! We got back on Christmas eve and went straight to our local pub before even going home. Paris was nice then, it's a dangerous rat-infested ****hole now unfortunately.
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Oh to be young,carefree and fearless again!..Living it large..
 
Motman said:
I nearly went on a school trip to the 1972 Munich Olympics but my parents put the block on it because they judged that the staff to pupil ratio was too little which meant that some kids would have had to go off to events unsupervised. Grr. I was really into swimming then, I used to swim for West Ham, and all I wanted to see was the swimming. Missed Mark Spitz getting a shed load of medals. My first trip abroad was to be to South Africa in the early eighties where I accepted a job for a VW/Audi/Porsche dealership in Cape Town but just before that when I had my passport, I thought I'd try it out and me and my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) drove to Paris in my old Mk3 Cortina 1600. In December, in the snow and with no heater! My mates said it wouldn't make it so I had to get a picture of it with the Eiffel Tower in the background. That was in the days when you could practically park anywhere in the centre of Paris. I remember stopping off in Abbeyville on the way there and back and guzzling champagne (my first taste of it) with our meals. When we got to Paris late at night, we were hungry so I left the g/f in the hotel and went out looking for food. I found a late night supermarket open and returned with Champagne, smoked salmon and caviar. Nothing else! We got back on Christmas eve and went straight to our local pub before even going home. Paris was nice then, it's a dangerous rat-infested ****hole now unfortunately.
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Swinging doors moments....What would your life be like now if you had moved to Cape Town.
 
durhamplumber said:
Swinging doors moments....What would your life be like now if you had moved to Cape Town.
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Well, my wife works with a white South African lady who is married to an Englishman. They spend part of the year over here and part over there - she goes back for 5 months next week actually. They own a house in one of the suburbs of Cape Town, quite near to where we lived (Bellville). She says it is just too dangerous to go out, even in a car, in many areas after dark. She lives in a gated community with bars on her windows and doors. Her friend has invited her up to Joburg for a few weeks but she won't go as she says its just to dangerous up there. I couldn't live like that.
 
durhamplumber said:
Lol...yes...valid for a year?
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Some people on our bus had an incident with those at the Yugoslavia / Italy border, the Yugoslavian border guard took away the visitor passports and our guide could be seen having a heated debate with him, eventually they were returned
 
Motman said:
Well, my wife works with a white South African lady who is married to an Englishman. They spend part of the year over here and part over there - she goes back for 5 months next week actually. They own a house in one of the suburbs of Cape Town, quite near to where we lived (Bellville). She says it is just too dangerous to go out, even in a car, in many areas after dark. She lives in a gated community with bars on her windows and doors. Her friend has invited her up to Joburg for a few weeks but she won't go as she says its just to dangerous up there. I couldn't live like that.
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I considered moving to Brazil, but after seeing the nice places were all like this too, decided against it. The idea that you can't walk to a bar in the evening without high risk of being mugged just did not seem the dream home it appeared at first.
 
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Friends went to Buenos Aires, when the group went out for a meal the hotel provided an armed guard
 
charliegolf said:
Remember the cardboard passports?
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Oh yes, had those a couple of times. Well handy!

My first trip, not including traveling with parents as a child, was when my mate and I got the overnight boat to Amsterdam, aged 17. Took a bit of effort to convince my mates mum that we were going for the art when of course, we went for the coffee bars. Loved it, esp when discovered chips and mayo for the first time. Perfect munchies food! We were even strip searched on the way home by customs, just to end a perfect few days, thanks to my mate being sarcastic and rude to the officers :LOL:

Seems to long ago now, would love to be 17 again.
 
crystal ball said:
Friends went to Buenos Aires, when the group went out for a meal the hotel provided an armed guard
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Only been to America once, went to Florida when I was 10. We stayed in Miami for a couple of nights, and my dad decided that we'd go to Pier 66. Naturally, we walked from the hotel. An armed police officer stopped us, and pretty much told us we were crazy and he called a cab for us. At the time I could not understand what could be dangerous about walking to a restaurant, and my parents were surprised too! That was a weird holiday - 9 days cruising across the Atlantic (on SS Canberra) then 4 days in Florida (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando/Disney World, Everglades). Mad parents!
 
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