Jaw Dropping Site
 

In my travels, only twice has my jaw literally dropped when I first gazed upon some site. Once was when I walked out of the train station in Venice and saw the Grand Canal. The other was when I first saw the Pyramids at Giza, just outside of Cairo. <BR> <BR>I was wondering if others has the same experience, and if so, where did it occur?

Not Europe, but it has happened to me once - when I stood on top of Borobudur in Java. Strangely, it wasn't when I first saw the temple that it hit me - you don't get that good a view of it from the ground. Standing on top, looking down on the rest of it, and at the view all around, was what was really breathtaking.

Howard, good one. <BR> <BR>No matter what your imagination conjures up beforehand, it doesn't seem to prepare you for the actual site itself. <BR> <BR>As a kid, I remember standing outside on the 86th(?) floor of the Empire State building, looking all around and being mesmerized. As an adult, there are some that just stay with me. I remember emerging from the Paris Metro at Bir Hakeim and walking around the corner to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night and being stunned at the beauty and the size of it. Two years ago, we emerged from the cable car at the top of the Zugspitze on a beautiful day in June to see lots of snow and the most breathtaking landscape I could remember. More than once, driving along the road to Neuschwanstein and having to pull over and stop just to look at that beautiful castle perched on that hillside. Walking into Keukenhof Gardens on a beautiful Sunday last May to see (and smell) the most incredible array of flowers that you can imagine. <BR> <BR>I could go on, just bringing back memories...

This Howard definitely agrees with the original-posting Howard about the reaction to the first sight of the Grand Canal when emerging from the Venice station. Even being told in advance to expect that reaction didn't diminish the thrill. <BR>My other jaw-dropping experience occurred when we drove to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We parked the car, entered the main building of the North Rim Lodge and there before us in all of its magnificence was the Canyon...equally as thrilking.

My first look at the Bay of Naples, from the road south from Rome. We were up on a hill, on a sunny day, and the blue of the sea and the sky was so intense that I was seized by the desire to dive in right then!

Yes, natural beauty is amazing but the thing man created that has caused me to gape was---Wies church in Bavaria--It was so rococco/baroque/gilded/colorfully incredibe- I have seen many palaces and castles(France,Italy)that were more extravagant and more valued but I guess it was the size of the room with the bright lighting and color that imprssed me.Maybe it was that the site and exterior that was deceptively simple!It was a surprise!

Thanks which station is closer to the ramblas? Garcia or sants----do you have to take a subway or taxi??

<BR>Oh - *Jaw*-dropping! <BR> <BR>When my eyes first landed on the topic for this thread, I thought it said *Jew* dropping! <BR> <BR>Oi veh! <BR>

Coming out of the stairwell on the second floor at St. Chappelle in Paris. The stained glass was magnificent.

my first time in Provence, driving at dusk when all of a sudden the Pontde Gard emerged as if from the trees. A sight we were not looking for. Years later, seeing it again with loads of tourists was not the same, but seeing Mt. St. Michel from a long distance is still like being in a fairytale. Going in is a mob scene.

The sight of Venice. Enough said.

Standing on Omaha Beach, looking up at the cliffs and the German bunkers. My sister and I just stood there, saying over and over again "oh my God oh my God" <BR> <BR>The first redwood I ever saw live.

On our first trip to Rome, when we walked out of the metro station and there across the street was the colosseum. <BR> <BR>Walking up a short hill and seeing Waimea Canyon in Kauai for the first time. <BR> <BR>Seeing El Castillo (the biggest pyramid)in Chichen Itza. <BR> <BR>Mimi: Our first view of Pont D'Gard, although we went there intentionally. I imagine your sighting was much more exciting.

Walking out of my hotel in Edinburgh at night and looking up at the castle,with a full moon behind it. Magnificent!

There have been many, some described above, The colosseum, the Grand Canyan at sunrise or dusk, the Grand Canal in Venice, Neuschwanstein, the Zugspitze, the Statue of Liberty, but the most jaw dropping site was standing in the middle of a giant redwood grove. <BR>Cheers, <BR>Art <BR>

My first view of coral-blue water (after just driving out of the airport at Hamilton, Bermuda). <BR> <BR>GK

One thing that really made my jaw drop was the first time I climbed up Mt. St. Helen's and got my first glimpse inside the crater. After everything our county had been through it was amazing to finally see it - to see the devestation and also how nature had begun to reassert itself. I live only about 60 miles from St. Helen's (Washington State)and it erupted in 1980. <BR> <BR>I really hope to get to many of the European jaw-droppers people have described. Good post!

<BR>Rounding a city corner in Rome & having the Trevi Fountain in front of me all lit up. <BR> <BR>Even though I was looking for it -- I was unprepared for its magnificence.

Opening the curtain at the Hotel Eiger and looking out at the amazing vista of the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau on a beautiful, clear day (the night before, it has been foggy and rainy). <BR>

The ceiling in the sisitine chapel in Rome- how did they do that?!

Shakespeare's grave site and Michelangelo's David in Florence.

I'd have to agree with some of the comments above - Coming upstairs from the "lower church" at Ste. Chappelle to see the magnificent stained glass in the upper church!! Seeing Michelangelo's David in the Accademia for the first time. Emerging from the subway stop staircase to the the Colosseum looming large - we literally stopped in our tracks!!

Walking thru the Jewish cemetary in Prague at dusk, just before closing. <BR> <BR>Every turn of every corner in Venice, especially to glimpse St.Mark's for the first time.

Not, strictly speaking, a sight, but anyway - we had tickets waiting for us for the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services at Westminster Abbey. Went to pick them up the day before Christmas Eve. Got them, went into the Abbey (I had never been there before) and there was a service going on. We sat down and the choir began singing "All We Like Sheep" from "Messiah" - my jaw dropped, alright. And my eyes filled. I'll never forget it.

There have been so many, a lot of them already mentioned above. But my favorite was two statues in the Capella Sansevero in Naples, the Veiled Christ and the Veiled Madonna. They still amaze me, and I've seen them many times.

My jaw dropped when I first saw the tourquoise blue of the Carribbean waters, the color of Lake Louise in Banff, and the multitude of fabrics at a Provençal open market. <BR> <BR>Liz

The first time we saw a 7/11 store in Madrid........I couldn't believe they had gotten that far outside the U.S. They DIDN'T have slurpies(sp)though!

When I was twenty years old I spent thirty days traveling around western Europe. The strongest memory I have of that trip is the colosseum. (My memory of Venice was cats!) Forty years later I am returning to Rome and am curious to see if the colosseum will have the same affect on me.

Driving down Princes Street in Edinburgh and looking out and seeing the Castle all lit up at night...breathtaking!

<BR>The gorgeous, green, mountainous Island of Bora Bora surrounded by all that incredible beautiful, clear, agua water.

The unrestored portion of the Great Wall half way through my 7 hour hike. Unbelievable views and an amazing feeling as being part of history.

The sistine Chapel in Vatican City. <BR> <BR>No matter how prepared I was for it my jaw dropped when I actually saw the ceiling and the Last Judgement for the first time. <BR> <BR>Just WOW!

I've travelled to many places over the years and many of hte jaw dropping places have already been mentioned. I'd add these: <BR> <BR>1) Many years ago, I was one of two people invited into the cockpit of a small commercial aircraft and as I looked up, there in front of us was an entire stretch of the Himalays, and right in the middle of our view was the awesome sight of Mt. Everest. <BR> <BR>2) Paris at night. Too many places to mention. <BR> <BR>3) Recently, as our cruise ship left Wrangell Alaska, we were treated to a breathtaking vista of gorgeous mountains. It was indescribable with snow capped mountains bathed in the pink glow of dusk and sunset. Wrangell to me is the most beautiful of all the beautiful ports we visited in Alaska. <BR> <BR>Great thread!

<BR>Black sand highland desert at the foot of thousands acres of glaciers in Iceland.

There are two I can remember. The first was getting of out Air Kenya flight after landing in the Amboseli National Park, turning around and seeing five elephants in the foreground and Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background--simply breathtaking. The second would have to be the mosaic in the church on the island of Torcello in the Venetian lagoon--spellbinding!

I have been lucky enough to have dropped my jaw at the Grand Canyon, (grew up around Niagara Falls and since kids don't drop their jaws, I don't know if that would cause me, as an adult, to do so); the grand canal from the train station; David in Florence...but the longest my jaw dropped was upon seeing the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall. Looking forward to brand new jaw droppings in Paris this fall! <BR>Lucky meeeee

1) My first view across the St. Lawrence of Expo 67 with the Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome. <BR> <BR>2) Coming out of the tube station and seeing Big Ben <BR> <BR>3) Looking up and seeing Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha where my college baseball team would be playing in the College World Series.

Grand Caynon <BR>Rockie Mountains <BR>The view from inside the abbezia at <BR>Montecassino,Italy.

Definitely the Taj Mahal.

1. Auschwitz-Birkenau 2. Hagia Sophia 3. the main cemetery at Verdun 4. the cliffs west of Omaha Beach 5. Mt. Etna in eruption at night 6. A hurricane at sea off Hatteras.