Your first encounter with a destination icon

 (Photo: flickr/geoftheref)

RunawayJuno has written an excellent post today about a child's excitement on their first flight. She asks the question "do you remember your first time?"

I don't, but it reminded me of a couple of other travelling firsts. I remember both having a huge impact on me.

1. My first time in America. It was Boston and I remember walking out of the hotel and seeing a police car with all the red & blue lights and the chrome gleaming in the morning light. I grew up seeing American police cars on TV and in films but this just didn't seem real to me. I couldn't get my head around it for a moment. 
2. My first time in Japan. I was walking in the early evening in one of the old parts of Kyoto and stopped in my tracks when I saw a real Geisha in full costume, clattering towards me on those wooden shoes they wear. She was stunning and I was stunned.

I guess the same must happen when people encounter their first London bus,  red pillar box, wild kangaroo, Tibetan monk or Canadian mountie.

Do you remember any first encounters with a destination icon?