FONDEST MEMORY FROM YOUR VACATION(S)
 

Out of all the vacations you've taken <BR>whatis your fondest memory ? <BR> <BR>Mine is from my recent London holiday. My granddaughter and I arrived at the Ritz for tea (the only meal we could afford to have there!)On arrival we found we'd forgotten our camera. The doorman at the Ritz (concierge?) said we could purchase a disposable one close by at Boots the Chemists He insisted on seeing me safely across the road, and waited for my return so that he could perform the same service again. I felt like a queen!. <BR> <BR>What is your fondest memory? <BR> <BR>Muriel

Walking out of the subway station in Rome and seeing the look on my friend's face when she saw the Colliseum for the first time. I am the traveller, she is not. I had forgotten the grandeur and magic of firsts. <BR>A.M.

Dancing barefoot with my boyfriend by firelight under the stars and Milky Way camping in South Africa's Kruger Park after midnight to the sound of faraway unknown animal noises ... I've never known such a loud beautiful silence. <BR> <BR>

Watching my small son play marbles with local boys on the beach in front of our hotel on Lombok, Indonesia. Couldn't speak the same language, but could play the same game. Marbles?? No, little crabs. Their 'marbles' would run off.

An afternoon at a tiny outdoor bar with two good friends in Hallstatt. <BR> <BR>Being anywhere for the first time in a place I thought I'd never see....Grand Canal...Eiffel Tower...High in the Swiss Alps with a cow munching grass.

I think my fondest memory was the first night my girlfriend & I spent in Paris two years ago. I'd been there numerous times before but it was her first time (in Paris, and in Europe). We walked out onto the Pont des Arts, and when she saw the Eiffel Tower in the distance, her eyes widened and she exclaimed "I can't believe I'm actually here, looking at the Eiffel Tower." At that moment, she fell in love with the beautiful City of Light, and I fell in love with it all over again.

To everyone. <BR> <BR>Thanks for sharing your memories. Having been blessed with a vivid imagination,I was able to visualize them. They gave me a great deal of pleasure. <BR>Muriel

I think it has to be the look on my mothers face when we drove around the arc de triophme in paris. sha had never left the us in her life and the absolute joy and amazment made the trip with her something i will hold in my heart forever.

Very nice images and feelings. I can really relate(especially the "I can not believe I am really here") to some of your memories, and Paris always does wonderful things for my psyche. <BR>Judy :-)

Too many special memories to pick just one...our first dinner in Paris, a plat du jour in a small sidewalk cafe after walking walking walking all afternoon. It wasn't a touristy neighborhood, the waiter spoke no English but understood my mangled jet-lagged French. The owner's dog curled up on our feet under the table after we'd fed him the last of the gravy from our veal on crusts of bread. Next memory: a really soft night listening to a jazz quartet at Charela Inn on Negril beach in Jamaica. Most recently, the non-stop scenery driving through Tuscany in the late afternoon when shadows made everything even more magical, then of course, raising a toast with a glass of wine from our window to people passing below in one of those water taxis straight out of an old Cary Grant movie on the Grand Canal at sunset!

My fondest memory has to be the first time my husband and I ever set foot on European soil. Our first trip to Europe was a cruise that sailed from Harwich England to Scandanavia, Russia, Estonia and Copenhagen. I will NEVER forget the feeling I had in St. Petersburg ......ever!! I know this word is overused but there's no other word to describe it other than "awesome". My jaw just hung open for two days while I was carted from one amazing palace to the Hermatage, to the Church on the Spilled Blood, etc. At the end of our cruise we spent 4 days on our own in London. Although it was years ago, I remember the details just as if it were yesterday. <BR> <BR>Great topic! <BR>

Just about the greatest topic ever ..I can remember so many things, the frist sight of venice, coming out of the train station.. the small cemeteries in the Somme valley , the view from the eiffel Tower.. but the most memorable and also the most spectacular... <BR>Even though we had flown into NY more times than I can remember , only once was it at night....from miles out the glow just kept getting bigger and bigger, then it was all spread out before us . i will never forget that sight and long to see it again.

Great thread! Here goes: <BR>England: Warwick Castle...my first real castle. Chatting w/ a local shopkeeper in Cheddar who was too charming for words! And sitting on the bench at Anne Hathaway's cottage that the Bard was sure to have sat on...the guide allowed me to after finding out my love of Shakespeare. <BR> <BR>France: Walking around a corner as the Eiffel Tour appeared magically. Also turning around as we left in the evening...it literally took my breath away to unexpectantly see it lit up so beautifully! Playing cards in the lobby w/ the hotel manager, getting him loaded, answering the switchboard for him in English and learning a new French word...mard! (He lost at cards and sorry if that's not spelled correctly) Having a picnic on the walking bridge near Notre Dame. Seeing tears in the eyes of my teenage sons and husband as we walked through Normandy Beach area. <BR> <BR>Italy: the men...nuff said! And Trevi Fountain at night, a hundred times more beautiful than in the daylight I think. In Serrento taking our mattress to the balcony and sleeping outside with a view of the Med. Sea or the mountains or the grape arbor. <BR> <BR>Those are just the tip of the iceburg in just 3 countries, but it's late, I need to go to sleep, but I think I will have wonderful dreams tonight!! <BR> <BR>

Time to drag this thread back to the top! So many memories...but the old memories are always the best. <BR> <BR>1. My first Europe trip, that agonizing trek up to the top of the Duomo in Florence...heart bursting...kness buckling...(huff huff pant pant)...and then...THE VIEW. <BR> <BR>2. Strolling through the Louvre for the first time, and realizing that even if they took all the pictures and scultures away...it would still be the most impressive and beautiful place in town. And that's a bold statement. <BR> <BR>3. Honeymoon in Maui. Arrived as tired and famished as a 25-year-old can be, late at night. Somehow, we found our condo in Napili in the dark. Asked the night clerk, "where can we get a quick bite to eat close by?" There's a little grill and bar about a quarter mile up the road, he says, can't miss it. It was the Kapalua Grill & Bar...and we had one of the top 10 meals of our lives! <BR> <BR>Plenty more memories where that came from. But I have a trip to plan...

Fondest Memory: <BR>Sitting on a sailboat in the Whitsunday Islands at sunset and seeing the Southern Cross. <BR>Remember the CSN song? "When you see the Southern Cross for the first time, you'll understand now why you came this way...."

"Thanks for the memory" used to be just a song to me. Now, having read the wonderful e-mails you folks have posted, it has much more meaning. <BR> <BR>Your memories have awakened memories I had long since forgotten, and I relived them as I read yours. <BR> <BR>Once again "thanks for the memory!" <BR> <BR>Muriel

What a wonderful topic. I am thankful to the person who started it as it reminded me of the first trip we took after our daughter was born. We went to Quebec City. As a new Mom I had been very nervous about taking her anywhere and barely left the house the first 7 months of her life. When we finally went on a vacation I really needed it. And it was wonderful. Up until then we were eating a lot of frozen pizzas and salads at home. She would happily sit on my lap or in her stroller as we ate long leisurely meals in outdoor cafes. The food was delicious, the weather was perfect, the people were nice and even though we really didn’t do a lot on the trip other than eat and go for walks it was exactly what I needed at the time. Not only is that my fondest memory from any trip, it was also the most romantic vacation I have ever been on. I felt so in love with my husband and our young baby. I hope I never forget that feeling.

On my recent trip to Florence I was allowed to use the only elevator in the Uffizi gallery after Our First Lady (who was standing there waiting for it) said "No please...you first". <BR>I hadn't even known she was standing there! <BR>The secret service inspected my bag and then off I went after shaking her hand and thanking her. <BR>The other may seem more common place and so less dramatic but the tears I felt going down my face upon seeing the Sistine Chapel. I had seen pictures of it all my life but nothing prepares you for it "up close".

Taking a before bed-time stroll in rome, family left back in the apt. <BR>Walking into the P.Navona, for the second time, but the first time at night. <BR>As I walked closer I could hear the sound of beautiful classic music, in the distance. <BR>Finally , I entered the piazza, and there before me, brightly illuminated was the fountain, and behind it, there were approx. 30 classical musicians, dressed for a preformance, and playing a beautiful piece. <BR>the music just filled the air, and with the sound, the lights, the sparkling water, the people, the moon, the smell of rome; <BR>I was speechless. I remember feeling so much in love. <BR> <BR>Being taken for a tour of Gaeta, by my new friends, Bruna and Lelo. <BR>They spoke minimal english, and me, tourist italian. <BR>They came and collected us, on Lelo's one afternoon off, dressed in church clothes. <BR>They drove us to their favorite places in gaeta: <BR>Montagna Spaccato, a few beautiful churches, including the one they married in, 25 yrs ago. <BR> then we walked along the marina, and Lelo bought my children gelati . <BR>Bruna, holding my 10 yr old daughter's hands and her husband, Lelo, keeping track of my son, and calling out <BR>"Roberto,vai adesso", and putting his arm around my son's shoulder. <BR>we felt adopted. <BR>It was a lovely moment. <BR> <BR>Playing frisbee with my family, in Piazza Farnese, 10 pm, children laughing, running, falling down, and watching expressions of those brave enough to join in for a moment. <BR>It could have been anyway, but we were in ROME!!! <BR> <BR>

any more memories you can share?