^And it's not the smell of the sea either... More the smell of something from the sea that crawled op on dry land and died -two weeks ago. The smell of the sea is more like the taste of oysters.
I've never lived more than 17 miles from the sea so, if we're counting seas, I saw the North sea when I was a toddler, if not before. Saw the Irish sea before the age of 10 at a guess. I saw the Atlantic when I flew to America at 17, from the ground a year or so later when on a family holiday to Cornwall. Saw the Mediterranean for the first time a couple of years ago when we went to Tunisia and now I see the Atlantic regularly.
I probably first noticed the smell of the sea in my early teens, long after I'd first smelled and seen it. Yes. And I love both.
Bavaria is a landlocked country. No ocean around us, I'm afraid. If you count the Mediterranean, I first saw the sea when I was about 26 or 27. If you mean a real ocean, I first saw one when I was 41.
I've been on LI in NY for most of my life so I can't remember the first time I actually saw it, I would assume earlier than 1. I first saw the Pacific when I was 25. I saw a better version of the Pacific when I was 29, I moved to Hawai'i for nearly a year.
Bavaria is furthermost to the south and completely surrounded by non-coastal states and countries. The sea is in the north, at just the oposite end of the country. We don't get aroundl much here. Any trip beyond 40 miles is considered a major travel In fact, I have never been to the German coast in my 50 years. When I first saw it. The Mediterranean doesn't have that distinct a scent imo. But the Pacific has this note of iodine, seaweed and ozone. I quite like it. A seemingly endless salty waterbody. And it's special because it's gentle and powerful at the same time and utterly pretty (provided, there's no oil spill, sewage, trash or dead fish in it)
Yes I am aware of what landlocked means, Germany however is not and thus, the Free State of Bavaria, which is, by it's name, a State within the nation state of Germany and part of that greater country, meaning it's not land locked because it has a coast line. Now if you think forty miles is major distance and too far to travel, that's a whole other kettle of fish.
I was 20. I lived in Illinois and didn't see the ocean until my future husband took me to Florida for a vacation. Now we live close to the Atlantic Ocean -- close enough to be getting ready for Hurrican Arthur to visit tonight.
I don't know where you are, but I grew up on Long Island in New York. The water here is practically brown. The Water in Hawai'i is so clear and so blue. I'll post a picture later today.
I'm too young to remember going to my grandparent's house in CT for the first time, but my parents probably took me to Rocky Neck State Park on to my grandparent's beach club. If that doesn't count (you CAN see Long Island, after all) it was probably when I went to Mount Desert Island in Maine when I was 7.