Pegontheroad

In 2011 I was traveling in Spain with a friend from college for whom traveling wasn't easy because she had trouble walking for than a few hundred yards at a time. I was worried that she wasn't having a good time until we reached Mérida.

We were walking toward the Roman ruins, and when she caught the first glimpse of the Roman theater, she stopped, stunned. She said she had to fight back tears when she saw the theater.

The theater has survived in large part, and has been reconstructed in part. I've seen a lot of ruins, and I myself was pretty impressed. But what really thrilled me was Sandy's reaction.

There have been other places that have thrilled me, of course. I'd been to Italy numerous times but had never visited Venice because I thought it would be overcrowded with tourists. When I did finally visit Venice, I was stunned by the beauty of St. Mark's square and by the sight of the church of St. George, which looked like it was floating on the water.

A lesser thrill, but still a thrill, was standing in front of paintings by Van Gogh in the D'Orsay in Paris. I've always especially loved his painting of the church at Auvers and of his bedroom at Arles, and to think that I was standing right in front of them really impressed me.

colduphere

I am a guy so no. But almost. Stuttgart 2006 World Cup of Soccer with my daughter. Tunisia versus Spain. People from all over the world so darn happy to be there. Everyone talking and singing and laughing.

And then the Spanish guys near us pulled out cigars. I think I did cry then.

annhig

I am a guy so no>>

didn't you know cold? - crying is the new macho thing to do.

Andy Murray does it all the time.

http://www.sbnation.com/tennis/2012/...-roger-federer

minellac

Standing in St Peters square and looking up to see Pope John Paul give his blessing.

tailsock

the first time i walked into St Paul's in London. when a children's choir began to sing i had to fight back hot tears that welled up

livetoroam

Not tears, but stunned into silence and then I just had to giggle it was so surreal- that first sight of the main amphitheater in Bryce Canyon, Utah.

danon

never cried. but landing in Barcelona just as the night was turning into a dawn was memorable :
the sun was not up yet ,the horizon was turning red and gold , the sea - just a band of dark blue.
Then, the plane made a turn from the sea to the city ....there it was - right above the flickering lights of the sleepy town - the biggest and the most beautiful moon I have ever seen.
Another , very different, moving memory:
watching little German kids happily running among the stelae of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.
I don't know if can describe my feelings, but
I know the moment will stay with me for a long time.

walkabout

I didn't cry, but: I arrived in Cairo late evening, jet-lagged, tired, and hungry. Went to the Mena House Hotel, set my bags down, opened the curtains, and the Great Pyramid loomed up in front of me, so close it looked like I could reach out and touch it. It was the most amazing thing, certainly the most amazing hotel view I have ever had.

oh2doula

I really hate to admit this after reading all the amazing places that have made other people cry but it was Disney World for me - as I was leaving with my two kids - in my defense I WAS pregnant with my third at the time (just a couple months). I DID tear up when we landed in London 4 years ago but not the 14 year old Justin Bieber thing!! And I AM a crier

hetismij2

I have never cried because of where I was.
The Grand Canyon was a wow moment yes, but I just don't get emotional about places.

sundriedpachino

The Alhambra, Generalife Gardens: standing at the top of the gardens,at the golden hour of the late afternoon, and hardly a tourist around, it was so easy to imagine how the fleeing Moorish king Boabdil felt as he looked back and wept.
I wanted to stay, too.

maitaitom

I cried the first time I saw what the price was for the train trip from Grindelwald to Jungfraujoch.

My favorite "cry" story is that when Tracy saw the David in Florence for the first time, she joked, "It looks like the one in Vegas."

The next day we climbed Giotto’s Campanile and met a woman at the top. When we asked her about her trip, she replied. "On my first look at David, I fell to my knees and wept."

I turned to Tracy and said, "Don't say anything, or I'll have to kill you."

La_Tour_de_Cause

First trip (age 20), standing in front of Michelangelo's David.
And a few years ago, alone in Limerick, the town my Irish ancestors came from, sitting in a bar on the waterfront listening to traditional Irish music, and an old man singing some beautiful Irish folk song in his quavering voice...oh my!

La_Tour_de_Cause

Ha Maitaitom! Typing my response at the same time you were posting yours, I hadn't seen your comment about David. But that was not me your Tracy spoke to...I've never been to the top of Giotto's Campanile!

sdtravels

annhig: The Scavi tour at the tomb of St. Peter got me and my husband too, and neither of us is that religious either. It was just overwhelming. There must be something to it. That is the only time for me.

maitaitom

"But that was not me your Tracy spoke to...I've never been to the top of Giotto's Campanile!"

Phew!

annhig

sdt - funny it should have got both of us, and your DH. Mine was completely unmoved, BTW.

tom - I cried when I got to the top of the campanile too, but with relief that I'd got there.

and i can't possibly reveal what I thought when I saw David, but my DH wept then!

Aramis

We need more criers!

lrock

I didnt cry but on my first trip ever to Europe, we were in the West of Ireland on the Dingle Peninsula and I thought that there must be a God and he must have created this because the landscape was so stunningly beautiful.

glenmd

As a guy, I am not sure that I meet the specified standards of tears for this thread, but there have been a few moments.

1) The memorial at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

2) Standing in front of Bernini's "Apollo and Daphne" in the Borghese Gallery in Rome. Almost three years have past since then, during which time I passed through a lot of art galleries, but it remains the single piece of art whose beauty has most moved me.

3) Last summer, I got up at early one morning after spending the night at Rifugio Nuvolau in the Dolomites. The Rifugio is perched essentially at the top of a cliff, with spectacular mountains views in every directlion. No else had come outside yet, and I had it all to myself for at least 30 minutes.