One moment, set in crystal...

An early morning bike ride along the Damme canal going north out of Brugge. The mist was rising off the canal and suddenly I hit the brakes on the bike, and thought aloud, "oh my God, I'm in a travelogue." It was that beautiful.

Standing alone on the Great Wall in China looking out over the misty hills and hearing two women softly speaking a Chinese dialect nearby.

Coming round a corner into St. Marks Square in Venice and seeing the cathedral with an enormous oil tanker moored behind it.

Walking along the Seine in a serious fog, then it cleared just enough to see a bridge across and Notre Dame .
Just sitting in Luxembourg Gardens, watching children play.
My first trip to London, walking in Hyde Park, hearing a horse?? looking back over my shoulder to see a member of the Queens Guard, exercising his horse..tipped his hat to me as they passed.
Standing in the window of our hotel in Paris, looking over the rooftops and listening to the bells ring in the churches.
So many perfect moments!

Scarlet,

Thanks for the memory of looking out over the rooftops of Pairs and hearing the church bells! That hit a special note with me. Walking through the back streets of Rome and listening to the locals talking through their windows to friends below. Standing in a door way while the warm Italian rain fell down and just enjoying the sound!

Taking the water taxi from the airport into Venice. At first the city is a smudge on the horizon; it gradually grows larger and clearer; then suddenly the driver throttles back and we're in the midst of a world treasure.

Morning in Hohenschwangau. Step onto the balcony of our room in Pension Albrecht and there is Neuschwanstein castle hovering in the morning mist, seemingly directly overhead.

1971--Flying from Seattle to Asia for the first time. Land in Seoul and the drive into another world begins. Chaos, bicycles piled several feet high with who knows what goods, men carrying huge loads with A-frames on their backs, oxen pulling carts jostling for space with smoke spewing buses, taxi cabs, and black limos. Horns honking continuously; new smells and aromas; everyone has black hair; passing the train station where older countryfolk in traditional Korean clothing shove and push along with men in French cut suits and women dressed from the cover of Vogue. A jumble of buildings and doorways and signs for stores and cottage industries. We're not in Kansas any more.

My favorite was in India, turning a corner to see the Taj Mahal off in the distance in front of us. I'll also never forget my first glimpse of Paris, as my taxi made it's way into the city.

Two immediately come to mind:
1. Stepping out of the railroad station in Venice and seeing the glorious Grand Canal before me.
2. Taking the first daylight look out of my Tuscan villa window and seeing a glorious pink and blue sunrise over the rolling Tuscan hills.

This is fun...phooey on the snow for dampening my mood!

Here goes:
First time I saw Ireland from the airplane...that magical misty quilt of forty shades of green.

Bruges, that quaint little medieval town, seen from the canal boats.

Seeing the Sistine Chapel for the first time, practically empty. Same for St. Chappelle in Paris.

I stayed near a church in Paris that rang its bells incessantly at the oddest times of day, but now everytime I hear church bells like that, I immediately think of our stay in the Marais.

All of your reminiscing about Venice is making me excited for next month I will be there...

having a mid morning breakfast of fresh fruit and coffee sitting on the patio of our apartment right on the edge of the caldera in Santorini.

Reaching the Sun Gate and looking down on Macchu Pichu after doing the 4 day Inca trail.

Hanging out a train on a journey from Delhi to the Punjab, just watching India roll by.

Nice thread, Amy. Here are some moments when time stood still. In no particular order...
* That first glance of Venice, right out of the station
* The long climb to the top of the Duomo in Florence, to be rewarded by that view!
* Walking through the forums (fora?) in Rome, feeling the history...like walking in a dream
* Early dinner & sunset, Montmartre
* World's biggest & spookiest tapestries, in the dungeon at Angers
* A rich, soul-warming espresso on a misty October morning in the medieval piazza of Bergamo
* The breathtaking views on the hike from Murren to Grutschalp.

...and the all-time champ...

* Singing and drinking around the piano until the wee hours with an international crowd of bon vivants, at the Hotel Gletschergarten, Grindelwald

I'm new to this but read "Great Moments" and it brought a smile to my face. Here's mine:
Lazily swinging in a hammock in Provence at a delightful B&B when the owner's father handed me a beautiful rose he had just cut from the garden with a smile & phrase in french. I still have it wrapped in foil & there's a faint fragrance. Whenever I want a reminder of provence I just need to close my eyes & smell!

1. In the RijksMuseum in Amsterdam, walking down the long gallery leading to the room housing Rembrandt's Night Watch. You can see the picture from a long way off and there are lot's of beautiful paintings on either side of the gallery but my focus was all on the magnificant painting at the end of the hall.

Wow.


2. Laying on the lush green grass of Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh soaking up the sun and looking up at the castle on a bright warm summer day.

MM

During a trip to the South of France, I was taking the local train from Cannes to Monte Carlo. By chance, I decided to get off at Ville Franche Sur Mer before continuing on. My 'momement' was sitting on a deserted beach near the harbor with small craft docked, facing the sea with the pastel coloured homes to my right, cliffs to my left and a gentle breeze blowing (this was early Nov!).

Getting up at dawn in Paris on our first trip many, many years ago. It was October, the cafes were full of good smells,folks were picking up their brioche and croisssants from the bakery, the citizens were walking their dogs and the quality of the light over a bridge on the Seine was like nothing I've ever felt before or since.

What the heck, it's Friday. Thanks for enouraging the reflection, Amy.
1. A lost chess game played on the patio of a youth hostel in Grindelwald. My opponent had Jungfrau to his back.
2. The first time I tasted cous-cous. I was the tag-along guest of my friend's family, themselves guests in the host's "home" (villa) outside Nice. 20 of us around the table, I the lone American.....gave me an understanding of the word "hospitality."
3. My first steps onto the over-water deck in Bora Bora. It's sell-the-house-and-cars, cash-in-the-investments-and-retirement-plans, buy-a-one-way-ticket gorgeous.

I just thought of another one Can I add to mine?

although it isn't Europe-watching a thunder storm hit Acupulco, from our casita at Las Brisas. The power went out, everything was fairly dark, then we had this incredible lightning show over the entire bay and mountains.
Best thunderstorm I ever saw

Approaching: -Ayers Rock in Australia
- Positano from the Amalfi
way
- Milford Sound in New
Zealand
- the mountain peaks of
Grindelwald, Switzerland
while skiing down the
"pist"
- the spectacular
underwater scene in The
Great Barrier Reef
- Paris from the air

Looking up at the town of Toledo and it's always so amazing that it looks almost exactly the same as when El Greco painted it in the 1500's. It brings tears to my eyes.

The view of Positano from Praiano -- wow.

Had driven from Provence to Florence with no hotel reservations anywhere. Decided to go to Fiesole instead figuring it would be easier to find a hotel. Found a room at the hotel (Aurora, I think) around 9:00pm. I awoke the next morning at about 6:45 and opened the balcony doors. Below me was the city of Florence lightly coated in a morning fog, except for a beam of sunlight splashing down on the huge red Duomo. It was a truly surreal experience.

as soon as you asked, I knew the moment. although we've had some great travel moments, 20 years ago we were in Australia and had taken a boat to the Barrier Reef...we were out about 2 hrs. and stopped on a quay so we could snorkel. Never will I forget the fish, the colours of them as we snorkeled. I couldn't believe I was there in the first place and that I was seeing colours I never knew existed. a magic moment.

Standing on a bridge on a remarkably clear, sunny day in April, overlooking a park in Paris, watching old men play bocci ball and seeing the daffodils begin to bloom. The clouds were literally rolling above in the sunshine - it was beautiful! Whenever I see clouds rolling - I think of that little bridge

couple of my memories:
Spain:
-late night in medieval spanish town in Costa Brava, watching baby bats flying fast in the night;
-Sitting in the balcony overlooking La Rambla that NEVER sleeps..

I am looking forward my next Italian adventure and hope to experience those magical Tuscany dawns..

1. Leaving Paris on the night train and waking up outside Vienna to the glowing, warm early morning sun, the onion domed churches, and bales of hay stacked up in the fields.
2. Tasting fois gras for the first time and the sensation of the tiny slivers vaporizing as they were placed on my warm tongue.
3. The sight of Monet’s enormous panels of waterlillies and having them all to myself in the Orangerie Museum.

Here's a few:

-Crossing back and forth twice over the Charles Bridge in Prague at 2:00 a.m. because I could not get over the simply breathtaking views from both banks.

-Sitting in the Piazza Navona in Rome with close friends from grad school and students and from many other countries sharing wine and stories.

- Hiking Cinque Terre in early April with an old friend. When we got to the end we just sat in a small cafe enjoying the mid-day spring sun on our faces for about three hours.

- Getting up at some ridiculous hour to get a good spot in Pamplona to watch the running of the bulls. The city never went to sleep the whole week we were there.

Opening the shutters of the Parador at the Alhambra on my birthday and seeing roses the size of grapefruit, and the ancient wonder of the Alhambra. Sitting at a crossroads alone in rural China, watching the Water buffalo patiently working, and being greeted by a friendly farmer with the universal 'hand wave', eating a souffle 8 inches high in a little cafe in Austria, and many more.

1) Floating in the crystal clear sea off a perfect beach in front of a small family-run hotel in Negril, Jamaica and saying to my husband bobbing next to me: "I've got at least another week of leave...let's just call in and tell my boss we're staying another week"

2) Sitting at the open floor-to-ceiling window looking over the Grand Canal with a glass of Chianti Classico in my hand and raising it in a toast to couple who waved to me from a packed Vaporetto #1 as the sun set in Venice

Coming out of the train station in Venice and seeing the Grand Canal for the very first time. Rounding a corner and coming upon Piazza San Marco for the first time.

Taking a turkish bath at the Paris Mosque Hammans and emerging into twilight with a light rain falling Walking along the river and crossing into the Marais.

Emerging from a small hut on the Island of Kauai having just had a lomi lomi massage for one hour..massaged by two people simultaneously!

Thank you, thank you, thank you all for sharing. Each one is a tiny mental vacation, and a reminder of how many more places I want to see and experience.
(And, Patrick, I love that about feeling like you're in a travelogue. That's just the idea about moments like these, I think; the ones that make up for being on the plane for all those hours and for blisters on your feet from walking and for freezing or melting instead of being in your climate controlled home or office...Actually, there's a lot more that more than makes up for these, but I have to keep myself positive here, and my next trip is a long way away!)

Hmmm... many of them...

Watching the sun set at 11pm on the Isle of Skye, bands of peach and purple over the islands in the sea...

Seeing the Scottish side of the land from Hadrian's Wall, knowing that Romans sat watch here 1600 years ago...

Canoeing through the Everglades in a native-built canoe, seeing Alligators sunning themselves on rocks, grunting as we pass by, and then leaping up to catch the heron trying to sneak past...

And the best travel moment...

Getting off an airplane safely!!!!!

Seeing beautiful Portofino from the water as our ship approached the harbor.

Waking up on our first day in Spain, looking out at the scenery at the balcony and seeing the Mediterranean Sea and the coast of Africa on the horizon.

Watching my husband stand on the bow of our houseboat as we meandered our way through the thickest fog ever on the River Thames.

Sitting by the window in the dining room at Chateau Lake Louise in August while a huge snowstorm was going on outside.
Walking on top of Hadrian's Wall.
First view of Eiffel Tower.
Hearing a clock chime in London, looking up and realizing, oh my goodness, that's Big Ben.

Watching the sun go down over mont Ventoux from a terrace at Crillon Le brave in provence.

Driving on a road in the French Alps at dusk and hearing a strange noise. Stopping to find many cows with bells in a meadow below the road. Eating shortly after at a great fondue place in the middle of nowhere.

Clearing the last security guard and settling into a British Airways seat leaving Moscow after a somewhat trying trip to the then Soviet Union (circa 1987).

Mine is a food recollection--my first really spectacular european meal. I call it the time I came to gustatory awareness. My husband and I were in our early 30's and on our first european trip. We had started in Vienna, moved on to Salzburg and then to Innsbruck. We had dinner at the Hotel Tyrol, an elegant old Grande Dame of a place. We ordered the Chateaubriand for two. The tuxedoed waiter brought the meat on an enormous silver tray surrounded by a variety of colorful little veggie concoctions like baby carrots glazed in brown sugar and green beans cooked whole and wrapped in chives with bacon specks and lots more. I was overwhelmed both by the look and then the taste of the elegant meal. I instantly took a heightened interest in all food, watching every dish being brought out from the kitchen and even the dirty dishes being returned. I was hooked. I began reading food magazines, cooking not just to eat but to capture some of the magic of that moment, searching out great restaurants and great chefs, trading stories with others interested in eating really well, visiting Michelin 3 star restaurants, planning travel around not just to include great food experiences. This one experience made me what I am today, a portly but very happy and satisfied searcher after the best meal just around the next corner on the next trip. Bon Appetit!

The awesome view from the terrace of the Stalheim Hotel in Norway. We were standing on top of a German bunker from World War II looking down a river valley with clouds swirling about below us, a lush green in the valley divided by the silvery river and on both sides massive stone mountains jewelled with waterfalls and snow. Check this website:
http://www.norgereiser.nl/start.htm?zomer/zoacc00105.html

The impact of walking into a gallery of the Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen and discovering they had one of the three complete series of Degas' bronzes.

Small village in the French Alps named Ste. Andre where NOBODY spoke english. I loved every minute of hearing myself struggle with French and having the locals understand me.

Another tiny village in the alps,Gillette,watching the locals play bocci ball with the sun setting.

Walking into the coordinated garden "rooms" at Sissinghurst Castle Gardens.
Snorkeling with sea turtles in Hanauma Bay, Hawaii.
Snorkeling in Guam.
First glimpse of the turquise water near St Ives, Cornwall.
Walking through quaint villages in the English countryside, admiring the cottages and gardens, stepping aside while a farmer herds his cows down the road, and a milk delivery truck drives by.
Seeing the peak of Mt Rainier over the clouds from the plane.
Seeing the Roman acquaducts in Spain.
Sitting in the backyard garden of a B&B, stroking the owner's cats.
An impromptu tour of London from an elderly Englishwoman I met on a tour.

John, someone mentioned to me that St. Andre was the highest village in France. True? And can you tell us more about it. I may be in that area in September.

Wow. I got goosebumps reading this thread. To be a good traveler, it apparently helps to have the soul of a poet. Thanks for sharing your memories!

This was ALONG time ago when I was a child. We were camping in Washington state in 1965 and we were out on a day trip to see Mt. St.Helens. Well it was foggy out and we couldn't see it. We had pulled off on a wide spot in the road to eat a picnic lunch. We finished lunch and my dad started driving and made a turn and lo and behold it was a very beauiful site as the fog had cleared and the mountain was there in all her glory. We got out and took pictures of it. After may years my mother gave me all the 8mm films that she had taken over the years of camping and one day I rented a 8mm projector as that she didn't have anymore but I was watching and all of a sudden there it was again in all her glory. The memories came back it was awesome!

Third day of our honeymoon...Awaking from a much-needed nap in Positano just after arriving from Carpi in heavy rain...the rain has cleared and we open our balcony doors to see, for the first time, the AMAZING softly lit Positano landscape at dusk.
(ahhh...positano!!)

Walking across the bridge in Lucerne with my wife as an Army draftee in 1970 and realizing that I had dodged Viet Nam by a lucky assignment in Germany.

Seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time as we drove into Paris at night.

Cruising out of Venice on July 4th.

Driving into the Alps for the first time and seeing the size of it all after growing up in a flat Texas.

Seeing the Matterhorn for the first time from Zermatt. We were looking for our hotel, I looked up, saw the moon and then saw her standing like a regal sentinel.

Seeing another regal sentinel, Half Dome in Yosemite on a misty day.

Hearing the coocoo bird outside our window the first morning in our villa in Tuscany.

Feeling the warmth of the sun on my face as I rode the skilift near Kandersteg, Switzerland.

Eating proscutto and melon for the first time in a little trattoria in Italy with a nice bottle of local wine.

OK, I will add another sense, smelling the dank, erotic smell of wine in kegs stored in a cave under a winery in Tuscany.

Ah, adding smell to this adds a whole new dimension...

Probably none quite as evocative to me as the tanneries of the souks in Morocco, but there are those smells of spice or earth or flower or food that bring a place to mind. Anyone with some more choice moments in the olfactory sense? (Or other moments to share)

1. Wandering out from our hotel and coming on the the Piazzo vecchio in Florence.
2. Florence at sunset from the Piazze Michalangelo
3. Coming to the Hood River Valley from the south with all of the pear and apple trees in bloom with Mt.St. Helens over looking the valley.
4. Coming on the name of a high school classmate in the memorial book in the church of the RAF in London.

Sitting on the cliff late at night in the timeless village of Oia on the Greek island of Santorini, watching the August full moon rise behind the distant village of Thira across the caldera, the moon looking so big you think you could reach out and touch it, the skies ablaze with stars, listening to Van Morrison singing: "If I ventured in the slipstream, between the viaducts of your dreams, where immobile steel rims crack and the ditch in the backroads stop, Would you find me, would you kiss-a my eyes, and lay me down in silence easy, to be born again, to be born again."

Sunset over the Nile while listening to an orchestra play Bach.

my last evening in rome, on my solo trip
sitting on the roof top terrace at Hotel Campo di Fiori,
with a limoncello in hand,
the noise of the streets below,
gazing at the rooftops of Rome and the setting sun
listening to Simon and Garfunkle tape
(that was one of my favs about 25 yrs ago)
played by a young woman/ stranger
who was also on the terrace, practicing her yoga.

First trip to rome,
walking onto Piazza Navona at 10:30pm.
a 30 piece classical orchestra was playing by the Fontana di Moro and the fountain was all light up behind
them.
So unexpected and so magical.

It was 8:30am and I was on vacation in St. Martin taking the morning ferry to the island of St. Barts. It was such a beautiful scene with the aquamarine water, I then realized that while everyone was back home fighting the morning rush hour traffic, I was enjoying paradise!

A year before I met my husband, I was alone on a train from Avignon to Toulouse, France. I shared a compartment with three French gentlemen. Two of them spoke English, and the third, a Peter O'Toole look-alike, merely glanced and smiled at me for the two or so hours of the trip.

When it we reached Toulouse, we all said goodbye and I departed the train. As I was walking past the train in the station, I looked up and saw Peter O'Toole look-alike, walking pas the windows in the train corridor above me. When we both reached the train door at the same time, he stepped down and kissed my hand ...... No words were exchanged. He stepped back on the train and it slowly left the station. I think that that was the most romantic moment of my life. Even my hubby agrees.

Looking for more of these wonderful images; some more just floated into my mind:

sunlight filtered through the green canopy of leaves hitting the old crosses in the monks' cemetery off Nevsky Prospekt

looking down the shadow of Hallgrimskirche in the brilliant Reykjavik sunshine as the bells played right above me

Perhaps these sunshine images are coming through as today was the first full day of sunshine for about a month here!

I haven't been to Europe yet, very soon, so I hope the Caribbean will do

1. I was enjoying wine and cheese standing on the deck of a tall ship harbored at Virgin Gorda, when a downpour started, and all but a half dozen of the passenger scattered. The rain passed quickly, as we consumed all the wine everyone left, and suddenly a double rainbow appeared in the sky. We stood there signing along with Jimmy Buffett. This memory is engraved in my heart!

2. Snorkeling and diving the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Seeing the reef spread out on the surface through the turquoise water from the stern of a small dive boat, getting ready to head out, was truly amazing.

3. Club Med Turks & Caicos, Provo. There were some AMAZING lightening storms, the like of which I've never seen before or since.

What a fun thread! I have to add a few of my own:

The sculptures in the Borghese Gallery, stunning.

The night hike in the Monteverde Cloud forest in Costa Rica, all the critters come out to play.

Driving through the fog and rain in Ireland to have the sun come out the moment we reached the Cliffs of Moor, complete with rainbows.

Sleeping in my own bed after a long trip and planning the next trip as I drift off to sleep!

In no particular order:

-Arriving in the USA for the first time, in New York. I was 10 at the time. Wonderful feeling.
-Driving around the Monument Valley with virtually no-one else around. I had always wanted to see it with my own eyes and it was just magical.
-Seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time, seeing my first sunset on the Grand Canyon, and flying over it on a scenic flight. Breathtaking!
-Hiking for a good 45 minutes and then turning around to see Delicate Arch in Arches Nat'l Park, Utah.
-Arriving for the first time in California when I was 12, I'll never forget the drive to the hotel and the palm trees on either side of the road. I just thought "this is California!"

As you can see I have some great memories of the US, but also of other parts of the world...

-Arriving in Sydney on my own at age 16 (this was last year), my first time in Australia. When I got out of baggage claim and customs, I'll never forget this breeze that came in every 2 or so minutes from the sliding doors that led to the road. Such fresh, cool air... I don't know how to describe the feeling, it felt so revitalizing. I was just exstatic, I couldn't believe I actually was in Oz!
-Skiing in New Zealand along a scenic track, and seeing those amazing snow-covered mountains. Reminded me of the Lord of the Rings actually! Just magic
-Just walking alone around Auckland (also last year) on my own, doing some shopping, and thinking of my parents and relatives at home, on the other side of the world

I have a few other "moments", but I think these are my favorites...

In the U.S.-- driving through the Mojave Desert from L.A. to Utah in a lightning storm at sunset. Beautiful!

In Granada at night, the view on Alahmbra from the window of our room in the Albaicin.

Arriving in Venice, take the vaporetti on The "Grand Canal" till St Mark Place.

Monemvassia Peloponnese,Greece, lunch on a terrace under a pergola looking Egean sea, with about 20 cats quietly waiting some food falling down from the tables..

Walking in Delft at night,along a canal under a very small umbrella with my husband.

Arriving in Wengen, Switzerland in dreary, foggy weather and wondering "where the heck are the Alps"? Waking the next day to the sound of cow bells clanking; looking out the window, and staring directly at the snow covered Jungfrau! WOW!

Machu Picchu.

So funny. I read the title and immediately hit "post a reply" to tell about my magical moment along the Damme Canal. But there it was, post number 2. Well, isn't it interesting that almost two years later and two more long trips to Europe, that is still the most magical moment in my memory?

Standing in a nature's silence broken only gently by waterfalls in New Zealand's Doubtful Sound...uncivilized.

The sights, sounds and smells of the annual winter Victorian Ball at Larnach Castle in Dunedin, New Zealand...unreal.

The moment after leaving the 143-foot high platform of the Kawarau River Bridge bungee jump...unstoppable.

Patrick, to have the same thought two years later about a moment "set in crystal" is indeed magical.

There are some moments that are with us forever. And this obviously is yours.
Take good care.

Patrick: I just did the same thing. See 10 posts after yours.

To LoveItaly, actually that magic moment was in 1995. So nine years later and about 18-24 more months in Europe total, it still remains my moment in crystal.

We tried to duplicate it a few years ago with two friends traveling with us, and although it was nice, it just wasn't the same. Those moments can NEVER be repeated or duplicated.

"Moments set in crystal"
What a lovely metaphor. Mine are:
celebrating with my son as he discovered the dinosaurs aat Dinosaur Park in Alberta, Canada,
biking with my daughter in Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada,
walking at dusk on the golf course in Waterton with my husband,
visiting Old Quebec with my father and enjoying the miniature reenactment of the battle on the Plains of Abraham,
visiting Carr House , Victoria, Canada with my daughter who had never heard of this great artist,
behind the barricade on the Mall in London when a convalcade of national leaders rushed by,
eating a gelato while wandering across the Tiber,
smelling the vanilla smell from the douglas fir on North Rim Grand Canyon,
listening to the jazz jamming on the square in New Orleans,
tip toeing up to Lonesome George in Galapagos.

Not as exotic as some, but what a wonderful feeling.

My first day in Rome (or anywhere in Europe, actually) - we had arrived mid afternoon and decided to spend the rest of the day just walking around.

We found the Trevi Fountain just before sunset, and sat with the throngs of people as the sun set and the fountain was lit up, eating gelato.

I recall thinking that I couldn't believe I was actually there - that something I had only observed in books before was right in front of me.

It was the realization that I had finally achieved my lifelong desire to travel to Europe - and all my months of penny pinching to fund the trip was more than worth it.

Walking through a mostly deserted Venice on an icy cold Christmas Eve in a light snow, seeing only the occasional warm glow from a trattoria and hearing the silverware and plates clinking in an otherwise silent night.

Opening the balcony of my hotel overlooking Lake Thun on a beautiful summer evening just as a formally dressed orchestra gathered at the lakeside below and began to play A Little Night Music.

Visiting some Czech friends' dacha outside Prague, roasting sausages over the fire in the woods behind their house, and having them show us the floor board underneath which they hid the radio they listed to the BBC on.

My first view of the Dordogne river at Beynac.

My most recent: three weeks ago standing at Trocodero and seeing a falling star next to the Eiffel Tower. Magical.

I will try to settle for the top ten:
#1: Coming from a side street in Venice through an archway and glimpsing for the first time the Basilca, we then walked into the square while one of the orchestras was playing "Strangers in the Night", we walked to the middle of plaza and DH (a rather proper Swiss gentleman) kissed me rather passionately....I decided at that moment I was keeping him for life.

#2: Immediately after #1 we went into San Marco Basilica and when we came down from the balcony with the horses suddenly the entire church was illuminated and a choir started singing, they were filming a video. The entire ceiling shimmered gold. It was absolutely breathtaking, I broke down in tears.

#3 Watching the sunset while sitting with DH sipping wine in a restaurant over the gorge in one of the Casas Colgantes in Cuenca, Spain

#4 Riding a carrige up to Neuschwanstein on a crisp, cold winter morning. Icicles everywhere, a true winter wonderland.

#5 Watching eight condors hover over the Grand Canyon and catching a glimpse of my 11yr old daughter open-jawed and wonder filled face. She had recently had to write a school paper about the condor preservation program so she really got the significance of the sight

#6 Walking the streets of Pompeii and Herculano

#7 First glimpse of Il Duomo in Santa Maria della Fiori

#8 Snuggling with daugther in the terrace at Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton NP while we waited to see moose

#9 Swinging in a hammock with DH and daughter at night in Jobos Beach (Isabela, PR)surrounded by torches and watching the stars

#10 Looking at the pine trees stretching to reach the sun inside the Navajo trail in Bryce Canyon

Love this! Like others, I also remember my first sighting of Venice via water taxi. Phenomenal!

The other moment I treasure is based more on an interaction than anything else. When I was in college, our chamber choir toured through Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic within a few months of the Wall coming down. We gave a concert in Brno and afterwards were mingling with the town's choir members. We spoke little Czech (though I did master "please" and "thank you") and they spoke slightly more English. We got by in some broken French & German but were clearly frustrated. One of our choir members started singing Rachmaninov's Ave Maria (something like Bogoroditse Devo in Anglicized Russian), and one by one we all joined in. It was a truly magical and moving moment--after the impromptu joint song together, it somehow seemed much easier to communicate with one another.

Because I love reading what everyone had to say in here...and it's time for some more...and, well, we need to move the title that's sorta messing up the column onto the second page...
anyway, to the top again.

One more: the Neolithic ochre swirls in the Hypogeum in Malta. I absolutely got chills.

Standing on the top deck of the Patras ferry just leaving the port of Venice, watching the sunset and hearing the bells of (so it seemed) all churches of the city.

Driving in the US - lost as usual - argueing with my passenger, coming round the corner and unexpectedly seeing Niagara right there in front of me. Jaw-dropping!

Also, lifting the window blind in an overnight rail sleeper and seeing Italy for the first time, in the dawn light. Ochre buildings, red roof tiles and poplar trees - beautiful!

This is an all-time great thread, and I'm glad it's been topped again. I wouldn't add too much to my original reply from 4-1/2 years ago, except...

* Standing in the long shadow of pre-history, admiring 20,000-year-old artwork in the dank caves of the Dordogne.

* Pompeii. No "frozen moment" discussion is complete without a mention of this remarkable place.

* Sunrise and sunset at Uluru (Ayers Rock). There's a certain kind of person who travels 10,000 miles to take a picture of a rock. And to be in the same place at the same time with a couple hundred of them gave me a palpable feeling of kinship...like this forum often does.

In no particular order:

1. Getting out of the train station in Venice - and see the Grand Canal on a bright day in Fall.

2. Arriving for the first time in Assisi on a Sunday morning and church bells are tolling everywhere.

3. Waking up at night at our Hotel in Montalchino and looked through the window at the valley far below with the flickering lights of a small village.

Me and my wife went on that 2CV (you know that old typical French car you see in the movies)car ride and i strongly recommend it to everyone. The driver was an authentic parisian (except he was actually really friendly ahah) who told us random stories about the city and France in general. They stopped in front of every main monument to let us take pictures or sometimes even took the pictures for us and the view was just breahttaking. We could stand up (even though the car is so cosy you don't feel like standing up) to take advantage of the view on the Champs Elysees etc... I mean it was such a great typical experience we actually decided to do it again. So the next time they picked us up from the restaurant and drove us around (Moulin Rouge, at the foot of the Eiffel tower, Notre Dame,...), with all the night enlightments etc..+there was litteraly no traffic,we definitely appreciated that bottle of Champagne they let us took in the car. Finally they drove us around Montmartre in some tiny streets and places only locals know so i WON'T hop on any of those touristy buses ever again.

PS: for the tip the name of their web site is parisauthentic.com but don't trust the web site's bad quality it doesn't reflect the quality of the service

Allow me to echo things already mentioned...

Stepping out of the train station in Venice.

Waking up on our first morning at the villa in Tuscany, taking a walk and watching the sunrise, truly breathtaking.

Seeing the look on my childrens faces when we were strolling in London (lost!) and turned a corner only to find we were in Trafalgar Square.

All 6 adults saying Ooh and Ahh as we realized we had stumbled upon the Leaning Tower (we had stopped to shop at the market stalls we saw from the road).

Watching my son's face as he was singled out to open the exit door after the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London.

I've said this in other threads, but now that I've actually been to Venice, I've come to appreciate the beauty of the Basilica and I am absolutely mesmerized by how it changes color with the natural light. Mornings it's soft pastel pinks and purple. Midday with the sun bearing down it is almost blindingly white. Near sunset, gorgeous oranges and grey-blues. It was here that I finally understood what Monet was all about.

My husband and I were driving back from a long day trip from Venice to Bratislava, were tired and arguing about something inane, when we turned a corner and saw the most incredible rainbow! The colors were so vivid that it just stopped us in our tracks and made us realize how blessed we were.

We arrived in Wengen in the evening as the sun was setting during a steady rain with clouds filling the whole valley. The next morning we woke up to a perfectly clear, sunny day. Our balcony faced toward the Jungrau and it was one of the most stunning views I've ever seen. We sat on our little balcony eating fruit and thinking we were in heaven.

This is not my photo...but it's pretty close to what we saw: http://tinyurl.com/2m9hon

My two friends and I were driving north to Amman, Jordan after a weekend climbing all over Petra (in itself unforgettable, plus the crusader castle ruins we stopped to see along the King's Highway.)

The moment I think of though is when we drove down into a wadi (valley, loosely defined) as barren as the grand canyon, until the narrow dirt road seemed frighteningly destined to drop us off the edge. We climbed down the rest of the way to the bottom, where a tributary of the Jordan trickled along - but also formed a natural bath about the size of a backyard swimming pool, then trickled on its way again. We took a swim (so nice in the desert heat, even late in the day as it was) and looked up at a landscape that might have been on Mars or the moon: rugged, rocky, vertical ...

That trip - especially that weekend - was filled with stellar moments. Swimming on the moon was my favorite.

What a wonderful title!

I have been lucky in my life to have had more than a few such moments, moments that I can pull out of memory and relive.

I agree that riding the vaporetto down the Grand Canal from the station in Venice is one.

My very first trip to Europe more than 40 years ago--waking up (after arriving well after dark and bleary eyed from a long trip), looking out over the valley, and seeing the Hohensalzburg castle floating above the mist over the city.

Watching the sun "go down by Galway Bay"--a spectacular sunset shared with special friends.

Walking along the riverbank and watching the full moon rise over Wawel Castle in Krakow across the river.

Watching puffins on Staffa Island on a crystal clear day.

Arriving in Vernazza to see turquoise water and lots of flowers after flying out of New England in snow flurries.

My first sight of tuulip fields in bloom in Holland.

Mont-St-Michel in the early morning mist with sheep grazing in the foreground pasture.

A climb up into the tower and through the attic of Ely Cathedral and looking at the amazing engineering under the roof.

arriving on the Great Blasket Island.

Seeing a rainbow as Old Faithful spouted off.

Just a few from my travel memories. Have lots close to home, but this is supposed to be travel.

Thanks for giving me an excuse to go down "memory lane".

I was reminded of this by the "One Place" thread, and there's another one to add:

Walking from the deserted bus stop at 3AM in Druskininkai (just off the bus from Poland) with the pines towering above and their scent a positive benediction in the night. There are very few times when I have felt so buoyantly joyful.

What a great thread!

Being invited into the cockpit of a commercial airplane as we flew into Nepal and there before us in all its splendor was the tallest mountain in the world, Mt Everest.

Driving from Calgary westward and sparkling in the cloudless morning sun were the snowy peaks of the Rockies, horizon to horizon, from north to south.

Rafting down the tumbling turquoise waters of the Swat Valley River on inflated pigskins

Sitting on the patio of my friend's penthouse apartment in Paris, nibbling little nothings with French wine, comfortable chatting with old friends and watching a single contrail slowly cross the sky

At the Musee d'Orsay watching a group of very attentive young students sitting on the floor listening to their teacher explain a Monet painting

which reminds me of another group of school kids in Cesky Krumlov, so friendly, so many questions, so many smiles

Crossing the Khyber Pass while the conductor casually twirled his handgun around while asking the passengers for their tickets

So many happy and unique memories! Too many to write them all down!

Thanks for a great thread, Amy!