# I have ....



## sospiro

As a companion to Jeremy Marchant's excellent 'I've never ...' some of the things we've done. I have

stood with my feet either side of the Equator
boiled eggs in a hot stream in New Zealand
tipped a pint of beer over Denis Waterman
seen Lionel Messi score at FC Barca


----------



## Klavierspieler

Hiked to the top of Mt. Whitney.
Got lost in the woods.

I will soon be going to ITALY!


----------



## Polednice

I don't think I've done anything interesting with my life yet.


----------



## kv466

Too many of these to list,...hung out and jammed with many famous rockers, played parties at celebrity's homes, freaked out when I stood right next to Andre the Giant, been to major cities all over the world,...really, if I go one by one it could turn out to be my longest post...one foot on the north and one on the south, though,...that's something I've gotta do! That and watch an entire night spin round while standing at either pole.


----------



## Fsharpmajor

I have climbed an active volcano (Mount Etna, in Sicily, height 3329 m / 10,922 ft). Matthew Parris, a columnist for the Times, once wrote that you haven't lived until you've peered into the crater of an active volcano, and he's right.


----------



## Moira

Stood with my feet on either side of both the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn (not at the same time, though). 
Stood at the point at which one can see two oceans, the Indian to one's left and the Atlantic to one's right.
Stood at the bottom most tip of Africa. 
Seen a total eclipse of the sun (near the Tropic of Capricorn). 
Picnicked in the dark while watching a total eclipse of the moon. 
Climbed, inter alia, the highest mountain in South Africa (Mont Aux Sources).
Visited the very centre of South Africa.
Shaken the hand of Nelson Mandela.
Received Holy Communion from Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Been good friends with a princess royal from the Zulu nation.
Met the Swazi king.
Had lunch in the park with a street (homeless) person (my treat).
Visited the Victoria Falls.
Visited the Kruger National Park.
Visited lots of other interesting and significant places in southern and central Africa.
Climbed (not the cable car, although I have also ridden that) Table Mountain.
Stood in the cells which held Nelson Mandela in both Johannesburg and on Robben Island. The one in Johannesburg also held Mahatma Gandhi. (South Africa has a 'proud' record of imprisoning great people).
Watched Shakespearean plays in four different languages.
Been abseiling, bridge jumping, cable riding, swimming, horseriding and 4x4ing around some of the most beautiful parts of Southern Africa. 
Worked in the biggest hospital in Africa and the biggest hospital in the Southern Hemisphere. 
Been in a gold mine, albeit a disused one.
Had dinner in the oldest building in South Africa, the Castle at the Cape of Good Hope. 


I am old and have experienced many things.


----------



## sospiro

Moira said:


> Stood with my feet on either side of both the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn (not at the same time, though).
> Stood at the point at which one can see two oceans, the Indian to one's left and the Atlantic to one's right.
> Stood at the bottom most tip of Africa.
> Seen a total eclipse of the sun (near the Tropic of Capricorn).
> Picnicked in the dark while watching a total eclipse of the moon.
> Climbed, inter alia, the highest mountain in South Africa (Mont Aux Sources).
> Visited the very centre of South Africa.
> Shaken the hand of Nelson Mandela.
> Received Holy Communion from Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
> Been good friends with a princess royal from the Zulu nation.
> Met the Swazi king.
> Had lunch in the park with a street (homeless) person (my treat).
> Visited the Victoria Falls.
> Visited the Kruger National Park.
> Visited lots of other interesting and significant places in southern and central Africa.
> Climbed (not the cable car, although I have also ridden that) Table Mountain.
> Stood in the cells which held Nelson Mandela in both Johannesburg and on Robben Island. The one in Johannesburg also held Mahatma Gandhi. (South Africa has a 'proud' record of imprisoning great people).
> Watched Shakespearean plays in four different languages.
> Been abseiling, bridge jumping, cable riding, swimming, horseriding and 4x4ing around some of the most beautiful parts of Southern Africa.
> Worked in the biggest hospital in Africa and the biggest hospital in the Southern Hemisphere.
> Been in a gold mine, albeit a disused one.
> Had dinner in the oldest building in South Africa, the Castle at the Cape of Good Hope.
> 
> I am old and have experienced many things.


:clap:

Wow! Fantastic!

Which country were you in when you stood on the Equator? I lived in Uganda as a child & we often used to visit the sign. It didn't have the clockwise/anti-clockwise water device when I was there though!


----------



## Moira

Kenya. 

I was totally blown away by Kenya and wish I could afford to go back for another holiday.


----------



## Fsharpmajor

Moira said:


> Seen a total eclipse of the sun


I've also done that. And I've stood with one foot on each side of the Prime Meridian (in Greenwich, England, as you will probably have guessed).

I have worked with antimatter (specifically, done research using a positron-emitting radioisotope as a tracer).


----------



## Argus

I have shat myself.


----------



## Moira

Kenya. 

I was totally blown away by Kenya and wish I could afford to go back for another holiday. 

This is a great thread by the way.


----------



## Kopachris

I think the only interesting/inspiring thing I've done in my short years is standing at the edge of a cliff, eye-level with an airplane cruising at 6,000 ft msl.


----------



## Moira

Kopachris said:


> I think the only interesting/inspiring thing I've done in my short years is standing at the edge of a cliff, eye-level with an airplane cruising at 6,000 ft msl.


Where was that? I live in Johannesburg which is at 6000 feet, but of course planes have to fly higher.


----------



## Fsharpmajor

Moira said:


> Climbed (not the cable car, although I have also ridden that) Table Mountain.


Visiting Cape Town is one thing I definitely plan to do before I die.

I've done something which, tragically, nobody can do any more--been to the top of the World Trade Center.


----------



## hawk

I have:
been chased by a bear
snuck up on by a moose
breathed the exhaled breath of humpback whales
worked the deck of an aircraft carrier
stood in an inactive volcano in Italy
composed music for native flute and orchestra
played above piece with London Mozart Players
been the dad to two remarkable children now young women
kept a fish living in an aquarium for (at least) 8 years
given the toll person a sand dollar instead of a dollar bill and she accepted it
overcome my fear of bee's (as an adult)
learned to make flutes without a teacher or instruction
learned I will never get on a motorcycle again


I'll save some for later.....


----------



## sospiro

Fsharpmajor said:


> I've done something which, tragically, nobody can do any more--been to the top of the World Trade Center.


I expect it affected you quite differently from how it affected those who hadn't been there


----------



## Moira

hawk said:


> I have:
> been chased by a bear
> snuck up on by a moose
> breathed the exhaled breath of humpback whales
> worked the deck of an aircraft carrier
> stood in an inactive volcano in Italy
> composed music for native flute and orchestra
> played above piece with London Mozart Players
> been the dad to two remarkable children now young women
> kept a fish living in an aquarium for (at least) 8 years
> given the toll person a sand dollar instead of a dollar bill and she accepted it
> overcome my fear of bee's (as an adult)
> learned to make flutes without a teacher or instruction
> learned I will never get on a motorcycle again
> 
> I'll save some for later.....


Oh wow! Some of those things remind me of other things I've done, and some make me sad. I have one for the "I never ..." thread. Up to now I've avoided that thread because I could not think of anything that 'normal' people have done that I have not done that I would have liked to have done. But now you have reminded me in your comments about your two remarkable daughters.


----------



## sospiro

Fsharpmajor said:


> And I've stood with one foot on each side of the Prime Meridian (in Greenwich, England, as you will probably have guessed).


I've done that - I love Greenwich 



Fsharpmajor said:


> I have worked with antimatter (specifically, done research using a positron-emitting radioisotope as a tracer).


 I thought antimatter only existed in Star Trek

Talking of which I've met William Shatner & George Takei. They opened the monorail at Alton Towers.


----------



## Meaghan

I have:
swum at the foot of a waterfall
kissed someone the day after meeting him
had a (brief) conversation with one of my musical idols
almost died from a fever
syringe-fed and administered antibiotics to a sick guinea pig
played the lobby concert before an Oregon Symphony concert


----------



## sospiro

Meaghan said:


> I have:
> swum at the foot of a waterfall
> kissed someone the day after meeting him
> had a (brief) conversation with one of my musical idols
> almost died from a fever
> syringe-fed and administered antibiotics to a sick guinea pig
> played the lobby concert before an Oregon Symphony concert


A fascinating list for someone so young 

What was the fever?
Did the guinea-pig survive?

(Did the kiss lead to anything else?  )


----------



## Kopachris

Moira said:


> Where was that? I live in Johannesburg which is at 6000 feet, but of course planes have to fly higher.


Okay, it was actually closer to 6,150 feet. I was standing at approximately 42°01'38.36" N 114°37'21.75" W. The plane, a small puddlejumper, had just taken off from the local airstrip (elevation 5,200 ft msl), most likely en route to the slightly larger regional airport (elevation 3,600 ft msl) about half an hour north. No need to climb much higher than that for such a short trip.


----------



## sospiro

Kopachris said:


> Okay, it was actually closer to 6,150 feet. I was standing at *approximately 42°01'38.36" N 114°37'21.75" W*. The plane, a small puddlejumper, had just taken off from the local airstrip (elevation 5,200 ft msl), most likely en route to the slightly larger regional airport (elevation 3,600 ft msl) about half an hour north. No need to climb much higher than that for such a short trip.


Couldn't you be just a bit more specific?


----------



## Moira

Kopachris said:


> approximately 42°01'38.36" N 114°37'21.75" W.


And where might this be?


----------



## science

I have - 

- met the Patriarch of Constantinople
- been kicked out of a monastery by police
- been locked inside a Buddhist temple, where Mountain Dew had been offered to the Buddha 
- experienced love at first site three times 
- been one acquainted with the night
- received credit wrongfully for the invention of my college's official cheer
- branded cattle
- been knocked out


----------



## Moira

science said:


> I have -
> 
> - met the Patriarch of Constantinople
> - been kicked out of a monastery by police
> - been locked inside a Buddhist temple, where Mountain Dew had been offered to the Buddha
> - experienced love at first site three times
> - been one acquainted with the night
> - received credit wrongfully for the invention of my college's official cheer
> - branded cattle
> - been knocked out


Are you an Orthodox Christian, Science? Not that one would have to be to meet the Patriarch of Constantinople. 
And what on earth did you do in a monastery that the police removed you?
How did you get knocked out?


----------



## Meaghan

sospiro said:


> What was the fever?


106. The handy Fahrenheit to Celsius converter I just googled says that's about 41.1. I was four years old.



sospiro said:


> Did the guinea-pig survive?


Yes, she recovered.



sospiro said:


> (Did the kiss lead to anything else?  )


a bit...
(And then his family moved to Denver the next week.)


----------



## science

Moira said:


> Are you an Orthodox Christian, Science? Not that one would have to be to meet the Patriarch of Constantinople.
> And what on earth did you do in a monastery that the police removed you?
> How did you get knocked out?


I was in the process of converting to Orthodoxy when I met him, but I never completed my conversion. The meeting should've exaggerated - I just kissed his hand, he gave me a tiny little cross and a tiny little icon card, and then he went on to the next person in line.

I got kicked out of a monastery on a misunderstanding (I swear). They thought I was trying to rob them. I'd planned to stay there, but I'd arrived many hours late, it was about 3 AM, freezing cold, and I was just walking around the grounds in the moonlight, waiting for them to wake up for matins and let me in. At one chapel I saw candles, so I knocked on the door. But the monks called the police, who forced me to to leave. Sounded better without the explanation, right? The good part is, the Bishop of Detroit was there for a retreat, and a few weeks later he told my priest the story of how the monastery was almost robbed while he was there.


----------



## Moira

science said:


> I got kicked out of a monastery on a misunderstanding (I swear). They thought I was trying to rob them. I'd planned to stay there, but I'd arrived many hours late, it was about 3 AM, freezing cold, and I was just walking around the grounds in the moonlight, waiting for them to wake up for matins and let me in. At one chapel I saw candles, so I knocked on the door. But the monks called the police, who forced me to to leave. Sounded better without the explanation, right? The good part is, the Bishop of Detroit was there for a retreat, and a few weeks later he told my priest the story of how the monastery was almost robbed while he was there.


I love stories like this.  The happy (or unhappy) little coincidences of life.


----------



## science

Moira said:


> I love stories like this.  The happy (or unhappy) little coincidences of life.


Satan was at work, because without any place to stay... I drove to an ex-girlfriend's house a few hours away...!


----------



## Manxfeeder

I’ve stood on a mountain in Hawaii in wind so strong that I couldn’t fall forward. 
I’ve played at a house party full of millionaires hosted by an old movie star.
I’ve played next to musicians from big bands in the ‘40s and ‘50s like Glenn Miller’s and Stan Kenton’s. 
I’ve sat in the pilot seat of a B-17 bomber.
I hung out backstage with Sonny Rollins. 
I was invited to a country music star’s house and, upon arrival, asked if I knew how to cook a duck.


----------



## sospiro

Manxfeeder said:


> I've stood on a mountain in Hawaii in wind so strong that I couldn't fall forward.
> I've played at a house party full of millionaires hosted by an old movie star.
> I've played next to musicians from big bands in the '40s and '50s like Glenn Miller's and Stan Kenton's.
> I've sat in the pilot seat of a B-17 bomber.
> I hung out backstage with Sonny Rollins.
> *I was invited to a country music star's house and, upon arrival, asked if I knew how to cook a duck.*


:lol: you couldn't make it up


----------



## Kopachris

sospiro said:


> Couldn't you be just a bit more specific?


Those are the coordinates I picked out on Google Earth. The exact spot I was standing in was probably plus-or-minus 1".



Moira said:


> And where might this be?


Southern Idaho, almost on the border with Nevada. Google search "Jackpot, NV" and look 41 degrees NE about 3.9 mi from where Google Maps puts you.

It wasn't so much about the "where" (since it's only a few miles from home, and an easy hike) as it is about the "what."


----------



## Moira

Kopachris said:


> Those are the coordinates I picked out on Google Earth. The exact spot I was standing in was probably plus-or-minus 1".
> 
> Southern Idaho, almost on the border with Nevada. Google search "Jackpot, NV" and look 41 degrees NE about 3.9 mi from where Google Maps puts you.
> 
> It wasn't so much about the "where" (since it's only a few miles from home, and an easy hike) as it is about the "what."


Nevada is home to you, but a faraway and exotic destination for me.


----------



## Fsharpmajor

I've been overtaken and caught up by a tornado, while (as a ten year old kid in Saskatchewan), trying to figure out how to get away from the fcuking thing. It was approaching much too fast for me to escape. Fortunately, it wasn't a very powerful twister. I abandoned my bike, flattened myself in the ditch at the side of the road, and waited for it to pass over.


----------



## mamascarlatti

I’ve:

ridden a camel through Wadi Rum, a donkey in the valley of the Kings and a horse round the pyramids.
swum with dolphins and snorkelled with a shark.
dipped sheep.
flown hawks.
had my breakfast eaten by a possum in the middle of the night in the NZ bush.
kept a snake.
sat next to a a group of mountain gorillas in their natural habitat.
lived in five countries.
eaten wildebeest, zebra, crocodile, snails, frog’s legs, kangaroo, ostrich, sheep’s brains and pig’s ear (the latter was definitely the most repulsive). I also narrowly escaped eating an eye that had rolled on the table next to some grapes.
escaped rape in a truly disgusting train station loo in a city called Drama.


----------



## Moira

mamascarlatti said:


> I've:
> 
> ridden a camel through Wadi Rum, a donkey in the valley of the Kings and a horse round the pyramids.
> swum with dolphins and snorkelled with a shark.
> dipped sheep.
> flown hawks.
> had my breakfast eaten by a possum in the middle of the night in the NZ bush.
> kept a snake.
> sat next to a a group of mountain gorillas in their natural habitat.
> lived in five countries.
> eaten wildebeest, zebra, crocodile, snails, frog's legs, kangaroo, ostrich, sheep's brains and pig's ear (the latter was definitely the most repulsive). I also narrowly escaped eating an eye that had rolled on the table next to some grapes.
> escaped rape in a truly disgusting train station loo in a city called Drama.


Sounds like a lot of interesting stories there.


----------



## violadude

I have....

Sat in the orchestra pit for a rehearsal of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet.
punched a hole through a wall
had a piece of music written by me played by a professional group
spent half my life so far on the internet

I have kissed a girl and liked it (you're not the only one Katy Perry)


----------



## starthrower

violadude said:


> I have kissed a girl and liked it (you're not the only one Katy Perry)


On what part of her body? C'mon, give it up! :devil:


----------



## aleazk

My life is pretty boring in the sense of "adventures", or the things that others are saying in this thread. I have not done anything remarkable in that sense (in fact, I have not done anything remarkable in many senses ).

edit: if this counts, I have seen Martha Argerich live in concert playing the Schumann concerto. But since she is from Argentina, that's not very remarkable, she comes often to the country to give concerts.


----------



## mmsbls

aleazk said:


> My life is pretty boring in the sense of "adventures", or the things that others are saying in this thread. I have not done anything remarkable in that sense (in fact, I have not done anything remarkable in many senses ).


I disagree. You have understood the beauty and power of General Relativity. I personally would place that set of experiences as more remarkable and exciting than anything else listed in this thread.


----------



## violadude

starthrower said:


> On what part of her body? C'mon, give it up! :devil:


Read the "Violadude's and Dodecaplex's fetish thread" that might give you a few clues. 

but really when I typed that I just had the lips in mind


----------



## starthrower

Big butts... Uhuh!  smelly feet  uh... you're on your own there pal! :lol:


----------



## violadude

starthrower said:


> Big butts... Uhuh!  smelly feet  uh... you're on your own there pal! :lol:


Yup, I'm on my own on quite a lot of things lol


----------



## Lunasong

I was at the Daytona 500 in 1998 the year Dale Earnhardt finally won the damned thing.



violadude said:


> had a piece of music written by me played by a professional group


Not sure if this tops you, but I was standing behind the professional orchestra on the chorus risers last year when they played my son's composition and I could see the music with the title and his name on all their stands while they played it. It was an excellent mom moment.


----------



## mamascarlatti

sospiro said:


> tipped a pint of beer over Denis Waterman


Was this intentional? What did he do?


----------



## samurai

Please excuse my ignorance, but who exactly is *Denis Waterman *anyway?


----------



## Cnote11

British actor.


----------



## samurai

Thanx, CNote.


----------



## samurai

I have had to take geometry and Army basic training twice: the first due to stupidity and the second to illness {pneumonia}.


----------



## sospiro

mamascarlatti said:


> Was this intentional? What did he do?


Actually it was two pints & it was quite accidental.

I was with a friend at an England v Australia Test Match at Trent Bridge & it was my turn to get the beer. It was sold in large plastic glasses which weren't easy to get your hands around & as the beer got slopped they also became slippery.

I'd just been served & there was the huge roar. We were fielding so I knew the roar meant we'd got a wicket & I whipped round to see who was 'out' & beer + glasses went flying all over Denis. He just didn't seem to notice that he was covered in beer & stood shouting "Who's out? ... Who's out?" while absently brushing his shirt. After we'd ascertained who it was & what this meant for the match, I started apologising & offered to get towels etc but he just laughed & walked off.


----------



## sospiro

mamascarlatti said:


> I've:
> 
> ridden a camel through Wadi Rum, a donkey in the valley of the Kings and a horse round the pyramids.
> swum with dolphins and snorkelled with a shark.
> dipped sheep.
> flown hawks.
> had my breakfast eaten by a possum in the middle of the night in the NZ bush.
> kept a snake.
> sat next to a a group of mountain gorillas in their natural habitat.
> lived in five countries.
> eaten wildebeest, zebra, crocodile, snails, frog's legs, kangaroo, ostrich, sheep's brains and pig's ear (the latter was definitely the most repulsive). I also narrowly escaped eating an eye that had rolled on the table next to some grapes.
> escaped rape in a truly disgusting train station loo in a city called Drama.


:tiphat:

You should write a book. Going to have to ask you about each one of these!


----------



## sospiro

samurai said:


> Please excuse my ignorance, but who exactly is *Denis Waterman *anyway?


Google is your friend


----------



## samurai

@ Sospiro, Right you are, but I have gotten lazy in my old age.


----------



## Kopachris

Lunasong said:


> I was at the Daytona 500 in 1998 the year Dale Earnhardt finally won the damned thing.


That was a moment for watery eyes.  The same race three years later was another moment for watery eyes.


----------



## mamascarlatti

sospiro said:


> :tiphat:
> 
> You should write a book. Going to have to ask you about each one of these!


You'd like this one Annie: I've shaken hands with Ayrton Senna. I think the honour was rather lost on me!


----------



## science

In terms of celebrities, besides Hilary Hahn I've - 

- seen Weird Al eating at a Thai restaurant
- seen Danny Devito standing next to a limo that was almost as tall as he was
- seen Chris Farley in the coffee shop where I hung out in high school, trying to bum a pizza from the girls who worked there (much taller in person than on TV)
- taught a variety of Korean celebrities (a movie star, a K-pop star, a fashion designer, an owner of a Chaebol - unfortunately I can't remember any of their names because to me they were just people)
- met Claire Danes when she was drunk, shaking a fence trying to open the gate that was about a meter away from her, which I opened for her as she spun away cooing "the glories of inebriation"
- stood beside Pete Rose in a hotel lobby, another guy much larger than he looked on TV
- met Joe Lieberman on several occasions


----------



## Lunasong

I was a bikini model in a parade for over 10 years (my husband and father-in-law owned a boating supply store and this promo'ed their shop).









I have performed in public on eight different instruments (not all at the same time!).


----------



## Moira

science said:


> In terms of celebrities, besides Hilary Hahn I've -
> 
> - taught a variety of Korean celebrities (a movie star, a K-pop star, a fashion designer, an owner of a Chaebol - unfortunately I can't remember any of their names because to me they were just people)


I love this. It is true that those of us who meet celebrities, major or minor, as part of our work quickly find out that they are 'just people'.

It is amusing that people who are celebrities in one sphere are completely unknown in another (this will make a good thread I think). I went to interview an unknown performer (favour to a publicist friend) and discovered that he is a major sports commentator in South Africa, with whole rows of awards. I had never heard of him. I don't follow sport. Seems he is one of those multi-talented people because he impressed me with his show as well.


----------



## jurianbai

ha, I wonder where you guys who sit on both side of Equator at the same time. I think I've done that several times, in Indonesia equator line, Pontianak city (see google...)

weird things I have...
- play a simul chess game with several GMs , the score is something like 0-31.
- seminar with deconstruction architect Zaha Hadid while in Dubai
- almost whole lifetime do a journey into the deepest forest of Borneo, Java and Sumatra
while I am in indonesia:
- see the exotic and rare orchid of Bulbophyllum species in the heart of Borneo rainforest 
- drink a 10 years buried "arak" or fermented rice wine with raw meat of pork with the Dayak tribe
- snorkling in Mollucas beaches
when in singapore
- experience the 13,402 passengers per Mass rapid transit (MRT) every day
- photographed and greet and meet with several world violinist , mostly when they tour to singapore, Cho Liang Lin, Sarah Chang, Midori, etc.
- when in Queensland, snorkling in the Great Barrier
- architectural pilgrimage to the vernacular clusture of Aborigin tribe at Cairns

- visiting that real (and commercialized) Shaolin monastery in Henan province
- staying in Hakka circular dwelling in Guangzhou province
- open air swim at several riverside in china, some of only few seconds because the temperature are too cold.


----------



## sospiro

mamascarlatti said:


> You'd like this one Annie: I've shaken hands with Ayrton Senna. I think the honour was rather lost on me!


RIP Ayrton. It was his death which got me started actually going to races. I'd been an F1 fan for years but had never gone & I thought what if Michael got killed & I'd never seen him race so off I went to the Belgian GP at Spa that same year (1994)


----------



## Praeludium

God, how can you find the time to do all those things ?

I've fought many times with my teachers when I was a little kid (I've even hit quite hard a monitor in the back without real reason haha)
Read Narnia in a few evenings when I was 12
Killed a spider (a few month ago) of a specie I hate - they run so fast. Ok, they're small. But sill.
Spent more time sleeping than listening in middle and high school.


That's pretty much all about me q: I was about to put what I'm doing in music but this is far from an achievement.

edit : I have been to cinema alone in what was supposed to be my first date ! haha


----------



## emiellucifuge

Im finally in a wifi area, and this thread is so cool that I feel like I have to take some time to join. All your lists are quite amazing.

Only last night, I (night) dove to a shipwreck and a 1m turtle, likely 80 years old, collided with my head in the dark.
Ive camped in the desert for two weeks, with only the water in the tank, looking for elephants.
Ive been chased by a Hippo, in a canoe.
Ive been charged by an angry Elephant.
Ive been hissed at and intimidated by a group of Cheetahs, startled some Hyenas and chanced upon a sleeping rhino while walking.
Ive had 5 flat tyres in one day and been forced to walk home in the African bush, at night without lights.

- All in the last year!


----------



## sospiro

Emiel - what a fabulous adventure you must have had in Africa. And where are you now?


----------



## classitone

What a great post, I've just spent half hour distracting myself to make a list... I needed to cheer myself up! I've read some amazing lists here and there are quite a few more things on my things I've never list too. Here's mine, or at least the stuff I think I can share without too many raised eyebrows!

Floated in the Dead Sea
Rode around the Sphinx on a camel
Also straddled the Greenwich Meridian line... I grew up there!
Set fire to the brakes of an RV not nearly far enough of the way down a mountain.
Fell asleep standing up in the woods... in the middle of a lecture given by an SAS Staff Seargent
Watched Richard Branson chase a young lady half his age across the central beam of a marquee 20 feet up... I cried with laughter as a rather plummy member of his PR team shouted 'Richard, Richard, get her down... we're not insured!!'
Been down the Thames at speed in a power boat.
Had sex in Green Park (not 200 metres from Buckingham Palace).
Been held at gun point by a group Gendarmes while running down the streets of Paris looking for somewhere to pee! I think it was mistaken identity, when I told them what I was doing they pointed at the wall next to me and drove off in a hurry... it almost didn't matter anymore ;-)
Sat on the roof of the Royal Festival Hall at 2am while tripping on LSD.
Sat in the 'jump seat' of an Airbus landing at Nice Cote d'Azur.
Been to a rave in a disused underground station in the City of London
Swam with turtles in the Caribbean.


----------



## science

emiellucifuge said:


> Im finally in a wifi area, and this thread is so cool that I feel like I have to take some time to join. All your lists are quite amazing.
> 
> Only last night, I (night) dove to a shipwreck and a 1m turtle, likely 80 years old, collided with my head in the dark.
> Ive camped in the desert for two weeks, with only the water in the tank, looking for elephants.
> Ive been chased by a Hippo, in a canoe.
> Ive been charged by an angry Elephant.
> Ive been hissed at and intimidated by a group of Cheetahs, startled some Hyenas and chanced upon a sleeping rhino while walking.
> Ive had 5 flat tyres in one day and been forced to walk home in the African bush, at night without lights.
> 
> - All in the last year!


We should hang out.


----------



## Mesa

Seen a Lion take down a Zebra in Kenya.
Eaten a kilo of stilton in a day.
Had a drink in forty bars in a day (the last 10 or so admittedly were weak American lagers and aqua)
Watched every Coen brothers film in 2 days without sleeping.
Been voluntarily winded by a boxer.
Stayed awake for three days at a music festival.
Seen the Houston space station.
Had three tracks on Radio 1.

Must obtain more hours in day.


----------



## emiellucifuge

sospiro said:


> Emiel - what a fabulous adventure you must have had in Africa. And where are you now?


Indeed! Currently im on the Caribbean island of St Martin, just a stopover, but the diving was on St Eustatius. A tiny island, population 3000, no tourist infrastructure and the most beautiful coral reefs in the area.

- I have 'lived' in Colombia for three months. We snuck into the favela to meet a community my parent support financially, the taxi driver kept watch and we were out of there within an hour. Somedays we had armed bodyguards assigned to us. The FARC still loomed large in those days.

(One must remember that the worth of these experiences is entirely relative, and that there are people who live in continuous, and comparable, danger.)


----------



## sospiro

classitone said:


> What a great post, I've just spent half hour distracting myself to make a list... I needed to cheer myself up! I've read some amazing lists here and there are quite a few more things on my things I've never list too. Here's mine, or at least the stuff I think I can share without too many raised eyebrows!
> 
> Floated in the Dead Sea
> Rode around the Sphinx on a camel
> Also straddled the Greenwich Meridian line... I grew up there!
> Set fire to the brakes of an RV not nearly far enough of the way down a mountain.
> Fell asleep standing up in the woods... in the middle of a lecture given by an SAS Staff Seargent
> Watched Richard Branson chase a young lady half his age across the central beam of a marquee 20 feet up... I cried with laughter as a rather plummy member of his PR team shouted 'Richard, Richard, get her down... we're not insured!!'
> Been down the Thames at speed in a power boat.
> Had sex in Green Park (not 200 metres from Buckingham Palace).
> Been held at gun point by a group Gendarmes while running down the streets of Paris looking for somewhere to pee! I think it was mistaken identity, when I told them what I was doing they pointed at the wall next to me and drove off in a hurry... it almost didn't matter anymore ;-)
> Sat on the roof of the Royal Festival Hall at 2am while tripping on LSD.
> Sat in the 'jump seat' of an Airbus landing at Nice Cote d'Azur.
> Been to a rave in a disused underground station in the City of London
> Swam with turtles in the Caribbean.


 :tiphat:

Fabulous!!! What an interesting life you've led & I'd loved to have seen Branson.

(reading your list reminds me I've done other stuff; details of which are not for general release )


----------



## science

sospiro said:


> :tiphat:
> 
> Fabulous!!! What an interesting life you've led & I'd loved to have seen Branson.
> 
> (reading your list reminds me I've done other stuff; details of which are not for general release )


Yeah, I decided to omit my amorous adventures, largely because I feared that, furious with envy, my fellow forum participants would put me on their "ignore" lists.


----------



## classitone

sospiro said:


> Fabulous!!! What an interesting life you've led & I'd loved to have seen Branson.


Funny how you take things for granted... reading it back, it seems so much more interesting than experiencing it! Branson is a very (was going to say down to earth, but that's not quite accurate!) approachable chap. His attention was very much with the female company in the room when I met him though, so we didn't speak much!

It seems quite tame reading Emiel's post. You wouldn't happen to know Clive Cussler would you emiele? 



sospiro said:


> (reading your list reminds me I've done other stuff; details of which are not for general release )


Hehe, there is another topic about that in this very forum


----------



## emiellucifuge

classitone said:


> It seems quite tame reading Emiel's post. You wouldn't happen to know Clive Cussler would you emiele?


Its all relative! I met quite a few people who survived in the desert following the desert rhinos with very limited rations for a living as government monitors, as well as people who feared to come across elephants on their way to work everyday.
Luckily for me the experiences aren't often shared in my circles.


----------



## TxllxT

I have..................tasted the world's best beer, the world's best brandy, the world's best fish (we do have the best fish restaurants in the North of Holland). I have daily joy from the world's best cooking (from my wife). No elephants, crocodiles, extreme desert-, underwater- or jungle experiences can match that, nor does the thought of 'having' to undergo such experiences ever cross my mind. :cheers: :kiss:
By the way, a question for all those deserters, divers & junglers: how big is your CO2 footprint?


----------



## emiellucifuge

My CO2 footprint? I dont know exactly but I imagine relatively small. Flying would be the only major thing that contributes. I cycle everywhere, and my house is solarpowered.

Of course that doesnt include indirect stuff that I consume.

What is the world's best beer?


----------



## sospiro

TxllxT said:


> I have..................tasted the world's best beer, the world's best brandy, the world's best fish (we do have the best fish restaurants in the North of Holland). I have daily joy from the world's best cooking (from my wife). No elephants, crocodiles, extreme desert-, underwater- or jungle experiences can match that, nor does the thought of 'having' to undergo such experiences ever cross my mind. :cheers: :kiss:
> By the way, a question for all those deserters, divers & junglers: how big is your CO2 footprint?


Emoticon for *hangs head in shame*


----------



## classitone

emiellucifuge said:


> Its all relative!


It is that. Now I may step out of my back door tomorrow and trip over one of the local cats. Difference is that, when it runs off, it won't be carrying bits of me with it 

Relativity considered, my environment is comparitively tame, which is probably why us (ex) city dwellers do other wierd stuff that puts our lives in jeopardy from time to time!

Road cyclist, mountain biker, tourer or commuter emiel?

TxllxT, I'm not sure the point here is of 'having' to go through anything. I find that the experiences in life are what makes it rich, varied and quite memorable. I also think you need to try more fish restaurants


----------



## emiellucifuge

I commute to and from work, to the shops, everywhere I need to go on my bike. Im lucky that this town is designed for it.


----------



## Cnote11

Every place should be designed for that, in my opinion.


----------



## classitone

I am lucky because it is rural here and I can cycle for miles at the weekend without using busy roads, but it would be great to have both the infrastructure and the tolerance for cyclists in the city that you have over there and on the rest of the continent.

It is getting better, but there is still a long way to go.


----------



## TxllxT

emiellucifuge said:


> I commute to and from work, to the shops, everywhere I need to go on my bike. Im lucky that this town is designed for it.


It's OK with me, wherever people go, I'm not an activist leftie nor a one issue moralist. But you don't go on bike to Africa's deserts, do you? Nor do you go by rowingboat to St Eustatius, do you? So indeed, your CO2 footprint is being left deeply impressed on earth. ... Face it. That fact you cannot mend by biking around in Amsterdam.


----------



## emiellucifuge

I do accept that, and other than pay for carbon offset and support conservation, I do leave a big impact. In other areas I've minimised my impact greatly (see my two previous posts) , so that flying is about my only direct expense.

And cycling to the desert sounds great.


----------



## SiegendesLicht

I have gotten up in the middle of the night (sometime around 4) because I heard Parsifal playing in my brain and I wanted to hear more. I know, this sounds like a mental illness...


----------



## EddieRUKiddingVarese

I have never told a lie


----------



## Capeditiea

I have probably eaten about 20,000 hamburgers in my life.


----------



## Klassik

Capeditiea said:


> I have probably eaten about 20,000 hamburgers in my life.


You stopped at White Castle tonight, didn't you?


----------



## EddieRUKiddingVarese

How many times have you heard 4'33"


----------



## SixFootScowl

I have hiked to the highest point in Colorado--Mt. Elbert--twice. Nice thing is no special skills required, just a bit of stamina.

Wikipedia:


> Mount Elbert is the highest summit of the Rocky Mountains of North America and the highest point in the U.S. state of Colorado and the entire Mississippi River drainage basin. The ultra-prominent 14,440-foot (4401.2 m) fourteener is the highest peak in the Sawatch Range and the second-highest summit in the contiguous United States after Mount Whitney.


----------



## Capeditiea

Klassik said:


> You stopped at White Castle tonight, didn't you?


you know that movie... you know how it took them quite some time to get to white castle which was simply about a few blocks away... well for me it would take the same amount of time... but that would be sober, and traveling about 2-3 days to get there... how ever ever since that film came out there are these frozen white castle burgers that you can get at walmart... probably not as good... but still...


----------



## Capeditiea

Capeditiea liked the three posts inbetween their own. :3


----------



## Klassik

Capeditiea said:


> how ever ever since that film came out there are these frozen white castle burgers that you can get at walmart... probably not as good... but still...


How could they possibly be worse than real White Castle burgers? :lol:


----------



## Guest

Capeditiea said:


> I have probably eaten about 20,000 hamburgers in my life.


You are what you eat.


----------



## Klassik

Capeditiea? :lol: Or is he Mayor McCheese?


----------



## Ingélou

I have never been abroad.

I have seen George Harrison with Patti Boyd leaving the Royal Albert Hall.

I have shaken the hand of the man who shook the hand of Buffalo Bill. (My grandfather, aged four, was called on stage at one of the Wild West Shows when it was visiting Scotland at the turn of the twentieth century.) 

I have read War and Peace twice, but never read Vanity Fair. 

I have been taught by the English teacher who inspired Margaret Drabble to write novels. 

I have the kindest husband in the UK, and possibly the world.

I have walked barefoot in London streets, singing, in the hippy 1970s, albeit sans flowers in my hair. 

I have come to my senses since.


----------



## Guest

if it is not an impertinent question, why have you never been abroad Ingelou?


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund

I have played the electric organ
seen the animals in Masai Mara, Amboseli and Tsavo
played at the beach in Mombasa
been lost in Manila
met a guy from India in San Francisco who remembered me from Manila
and ended up in a small town in Norway...


----------



## Guest

Tulse said:


> if it is not an impertinent question, why have you never been abroad Ingelou?


It's the Norfolk border guards


----------



## SixFootScowl

Once, many years ago, I got stopped and questioned by the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation). The guy was big, ugly, and flashed his ID so fast I could not have determined if he were for real or not. It was when I was parking in the morning before work. He asked me where I work, if I do surveillance as part of my job, and if I had been in Dearborn (a Detroit suburb) observing this man's house (as he pointed to someone in his car, which was not marked). After I told him I do not work in surveillance, he handed me a card and said that if I find out I do surveillance to call him (which I thought was rather strange). I told my company's security person and they called the FBI agent and then told me they apologized and said it was a case of mistaken identity.


----------



## Capeditiea

Klassik said:


> Capeditiea? :lol: Or is he Mayor McCheese?


:O you have me? how did you obtain this rare item?


----------



## Klassik

Capeditiea said:


> :O you have me? how did you obtain this rare item?


I stole it from the Hamburglar. Kind of ironic, huh?


----------



## Capeditiea

*nervious look, will you eat me?


----------



## Ingélou

Tulse said:


> if it is not an impertinent question, why have you never been abroad Ingelou?


Not impertinent at all - nice of you to ask. :tiphat:

When I was a student & it would have been fairly easy, I had nobody to go with. Then when I was first married we were too poor - scraping by in a London bedsit. Then we got some pet animals & I couldn't bear to leave them. 
But I think also the fear of going abroad, particularly of flying, just built up and it became something I'd never do.

Of recent years, I had to arrange for siblings to stay with Mum while I was away, as she had dementia. Now, sadly, my mother has died, and we have more time and fewer obligations as a result.

*So* - I do intend to make a psychological effort and finally go abroad in the next few years.

Readers (if there are any) - where would you go first?


----------



## Merl

I have nearly had a fight with Mick Hucknall (he bottled it).


----------



## Guest

Ingélou said:


> Not impertinent at all - nice of you to ask. :tiphat:
> 
> When I was a student & it would have been fairly easy, I had nobody to go with. Then when I was first married we were too poor - scraping by in a London bedsit. Then we got some pet animals & I couldn't bear to leave them.
> But I think also the fear of going abroad, particularly of flying, just built up and it became something I'd never do.
> 
> Of recent years, I had to arrange for siblings to stay with Mum while I was away, as she had dementia. Now, sadly, my mother has died, and we have more time and fewer obligations as a result.
> 
> *So* - I do intend to make a psychological effort and finally go abroad in the next few years.
> 
> Readers (if there are any) - where would you go first?


If you fear flying (as I do) what about the Eurotunnel?


----------



## Art Rock

I have visited about 40 countries, lived (and worked) in 3.


----------



## Ingélou

dogen said:


> If you fear flying (as I do) what about the Eurotunnel?


I'm a bit claustrophobic too! I think maybe boats are the answer, and just take a seasickness pill.


----------



## Guest

Bruges is nice. And (knowing you as little as I do) I think you would like it.

https://www.visitbruges.be/en


----------



## Ingélou

dogen said:


> Bruges is nice. And (knowing you as little as I do) I think you would like it.
> 
> https://www.visitbruges.be/en


Thank you - looks good. 
You must be telepathic. Bruges was in my mind as I typed the bit asking people where they'd recommend!


----------



## Guest

I do indeed have that power.


----------



## hpowders

Klassik said:


> How could they possibly be worse than real White Castle burgers? :lol:


The wife recently brought home some frozen White Castle cheeseburgers-each one like popping an aspirin pill! Not bad tasting though.

I regret that I have....but one life to give for my country.


----------



## Capeditiea

hpowders said:


> The wife recently brought home some frozen White Castle cheeseburgers-each one like popping an aspirin pill! Not bad tasting though.
> 
> I regret that I have....but one life to give for my country.


:O did you eat the full box in one sitting as well?


----------



## hpowders

Capeditiea said:


> :O did you eat the full box in one sitting as well?


No. One bite. Tasted okay.


----------



## Guest

Ingélou said:


> Not impertinent at all - nice of you to ask. :tiphat:
> 
> When I was a student & it would have been fairly easy, I had nobody to go with. Then when I was first married we were too poor - scraping by in a London bedsit. Then we got some pet animals & I couldn't bear to leave them.
> But I think also the fear of going abroad, particularly of flying, just built up and it became something I'd never do.
> 
> Of recent years, I had to arrange for siblings to stay with Mum while I was away, as she had dementia. Now, sadly, my mother has died, and we have more time and fewer obligations as a result.
> 
> *So* - I do intend to make a psychological effort and finally go abroad in the next few years.
> 
> Readers (if there are any) - where would you go first?


How exciting to be going abroad for the first time! I'm well travelled, but will always remember my first trip; hitch-hiking to the south of France. Myself and a school-friend had very little money so we lived on bread and lemonade and slept in railway stations. I was wide-eyed the whole time, noticing every difference between England and France. (The eye thing might also have been due to vitamin deficiency )

I would have suggested the same as Dogen. Bruges has lovely buildings and you can take a horse and cart ride around the town. Whilst in the area you could also visit Ghent and Brussels which are close by too.

Further afield, Annecy in France would be a good first trip. It is a tourist friendly town, sited by a lake that you can walk around, and at the base of the Alps.

Mostly, I would advise to follow an interest rather than just generally tour about, ie to have a purpose and endpoint, however vague. For example, in the aforementioned French trip our theme was Nostradamus who had been mentioned in an album we were currently listening too, so we went to his house, museum. university etc.

For crossing La Manche for the first time, I'd recommend the ferry, because the feeling of leaving the white cliffs of Dover behind is real, even when it is not for the first time. The Tunnel is efficient and fast. If you can cope with London Underground you should be fine on Eurotunnel.

It will be good if you report back if you decide to take the plunge.


----------

