I do the same thing, ShootingStar. We always visit bike shops when on vacation.
The most interesting was in Siena, Italy. We were going to rent bikes for a day and it was going to be cold in the morning, so DH wanted to buy some toe covers. We went to a shop outside the walled city (not where we rented the bikes). Thankfully our son was with us, as we were there to visit him when he spent a semester there, because he was able to talk to the owner and his wife in Italian. This couple was like 80 years old and took us in the back and showed us pictures of him racing back in the 40s.
Last summer when we were in Seattle, I marveled at the ability of the riders to come to a stop and take off on those 20% grade hills downtown.