Magic Moments
 

What are some of the magical moments you have had while traveling?

I walked into a typical Florentine restaurant and was seated next to a very handsome guy from California. We started to talk, finished dinner, went out for drinks after dinner and are still in touch! I live in NYC and he in LA, but it's nice to have had that experience. I'm sure it won't be repeated.

for me, most minutes are magical for me while I'm traveling, I'm such a sap about traveling. The occasional troubles or inconveniences are quickly forgotten.<BR><BR>Here are just a few of my extra special moments<BR><BR>first arrival in Venice, stepping out of the train station and finding the view literally breathtaking<BR><BR>Musee Marmottan in Paris<BR>walking into that lower level gallery of Monet's masterpieces and finding myself grinning from ear to ear, with pleasure<BR><BR>seeing Michelangelo's &quot;David&quot; in Florence. I went back twice more before leaving Florence.<BR><BR>Monet's gardens and lily pond at Giverny one June, early in the morning, before the tour buses arrived<BR>Stepping onto that footbridge, which I remember now every time I see one of the paintings<BR><BR>

My wife and I were driving through Scotland and happened upon some local guys working their sheep dogs to work the sheep through the various gates and into the fence. They were getting ready for competition. We just sat in the field with them and watched the fun they had and how smart the dogs were. Great thing that you cannot plan for.<BR><BR>The first time we drove into the Alps and saw those mountains. We grew up in flat country and that first sight still stays with us today.<BR><BR>Cruising out of Venice on the 4th of July.<BR><BR>Meeting a couple in a restaurant in Rudesheim one night and spending the entire next day traveling the Rhine with them. They then went their way and us ours. It was a great day and we exchanged cards for a few years at Christmas.<BR><BR>Opening ceremonies at Nuremburg Christmas Market. We just made it as the lights went out.<BR><BR>Terra Cotta warriors in Xian. Still hard to believe.<BR><BR>Too many more to go. Gotta go travel and make some more.

A few of my magical travel moments would include:<BR><BR> - my first view of Venice, Italy as the boat turned into the corner<BR><BR> - looking out my hotel window and seeing snow fall with Edinburgh Castle as the backdrop<BR><BR> - finishing my hike along an unrestored section of the Great Wall and coming across a farmer with a donkey pulling an old cart in a small village in China. He didn't speak any English (I doubt he had ever seen an American) but offered me some fresh fruit and a cold Chinese beer. (I agree with Bob that the Terra Cotta Warriors are also an amazing site!)

ttt

So many, so many....<BR><BR>The birch trees seen through the train window from Moscow to St. Pete...<BR><BR>Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives at sunset on Tishah b'Av...<BR><BR>Riding atop the canal boat on the Mekong in Vietnam...<BR><BR>June snowball fight while hiking in the Swiss <BR>Alps...<BR><BR>(I could go on for so long on this one, but I'd better stop; fortunately, it's only 8 days until my next trip!)

-finding my hotel in madrid after wandering around lost at night for 8 hours.. <BR>-Dancing and listaning too cumbia's (colombian music) in a bangkok bar...<BR><BR>-waking up early in Damascas Syria and watching the old town open.. the smells of breads and sites of truck loads of persian rugs being unloaded..

The first time I ever walked into St. Peter's Basilica -- the vastness and grandeur and Bernini's 66ft high baldacchino were awesome. What a place!<BR>

The most magical? My husband proposing to me on bended knee while cruising down the Nile under a full moon. Hard to beat.<BR><BR>But, the most magical for both of us? Our first sight of the Taj Mahal - brought us both to tears.<BR>

Kissing my wife on the pont neuf!

<BR>Similar to Doug<BR>Kissing my SO under the eiffel tower.on the champs,on pont neuf and every other major attraction.<BR>It is Paris after all!!!!

Glad to see romantics still abound! <BR><BR>Favorites: Predawn walk with husband along the Seine (thank you jet lag)<BR><BR>Sunset on Mont St. Michel.

<BR><BR>Christmas Eve in the Armory Room of the Kremlin, 5 string group, playing Silent Night with the folks on our right singing in German, in front singing in Celtic, on our left in French, and behind us in Russian. With my bride of one month! . . WOW!<BR><BR>Rich

A group of workers on their dinner break in Cavan Ireland. There was traditional music on and one began to play the spooons, then soon several of them were step dancing whilst in their seats. Just the one song, the spirit moved them.

To be a little more prosaic...on every vacation, my most magical moment is at the very beginning...when I'm waiting to board the plane, or pull up to the (first) hotel...wake up the first morning...you get the idea. I'm on vacation already, yet still have my whole vacation ahead of me! It's the one moment on a vacation that I can enjoy the luxury of time...after that, the vacation gets shorter and time gets more and more precious. So I savor those first few moments, wherever I might be.

When we were in Rome last week, we went to a concert at San Nicola in Carcere. A chorus of ten women sang Christmas songs a capella. When the lead singer, a contralto, sang the beautiful Welsh lullaby Suo Gan, there were tears in the audiences' eyes. It was so lovely. Then after the program, she sang it again for an encore. There was a standing ovation for her.

Standing next to the Thames in Windsor, looking up to see Concorde flying over Windsor Castle. What a contrast! Also attending evensong in the castle and while idly looking about, realized we were seated just above the in-floor grave of Henry VIII. I could hardly breathe.

Another vote here for climbing the Great Wall of China. It was always a dream of mine and it finally came true earlier this year. Awe-inspiring views of China. The history that went with it just was the icing on the cake.

So many come to mind...<BR><BR>Sitting in the sun in Plaza de Espana in Sevilla while a group of musicians were playing &quot;Yesterday&quot; and a woman nearby started singing along in Spanish...<BR><BR>The Taj Mahal by a full moon...<BR><BR>Giverny with the wisteria going wild...<BR><BR>Becoming friends with a samloy driver in Penang, Malaysia...<BR><BR>Being blessed by a woman who appeared out of nowhere while crossing the border between India and Nepal...<BR><BR>The Alhambra...<BR><BR>Getting lost while looking for Grasse but ening up in the village of Gourdon... <BR><BR>Being &quot;rained in&quot; in the Chagall museum...<BR><BR>Walking through the ancient streets of Safed...<BR><BR>The first impressions of Paris and Venice...<BR><BR>What's amazing to me is how so many of these memories seem like just yesterday even though my mind is jumping around through years and years. Travel is really rather magical, isn't it?

ttt...because I want to hear more...

ttt

I have many many magic moments but these are my two favorties...<BR>I was in Avignon (SP) France for Easter and went to a midnight mass. It started outside a 13th centruty cathedral with singing and candles and then we went in for mass. It was amazing. <BR>My other magical moment was a few years ago when I was in Portsmouth Engalnd. My mother and I managed to find the church where my great-great grandmother was buried. To our dismay, the cemetary was HUGE, it was dusk, and we had absolutley no idea where to begin looking for the headstone. Mom took the back and as I started in the front, I prayed and asked my grandpa for a little bit guidance... About 10 minutes later I found the family name and and started yelling for mom (I know, not very dignified in a cemetary). It truely was a magical moment for my mom and I to find that link to our past. <BR>

<BR><BR>Every moment in Venice was magical.

I have never traveled outside of the US, but hopefully, come March, I can partake.<BR><BR>Great stuff!

Keep em coming!

a late spring day, in Budapest, sitting along the Danube, the sunlight glittering off the river, street cars rolling by, people strolling and laughing.<BR><BR>a September afternoon in Dubrovnik, swimming in the Adriatic, the Old Town silhouetted against a clear blue sky, a light rain, sunlight refracted in the raindrops.<BR><BR>a train ride between Budapest and Vienna in December after a snow fall, wide fields and valleys in various shades of white against a grey cloudy sky.<BR><BR>sitting in Letna Park in Prague, below numerous bridges spanning the slivery green Vltava, street cars and people crossing back and forth, moments of sushine casting the city into high contrast.

Paris: taking a turkish bath in the hammans at the Paris mosque, emerging to a misty late afternoon,walking along the river in the 5th across through the Marais and home to the 11th. Dinner that evening at Le Bleu Homme-a small and very good Berber restaurant. <BR><BR>Seeing the Eiffel Tower illuminated.<BR><BR>Italy: (Montepulciano to Chianti by way of Florence)finding our way home in the dark, heavy rains and on the wrong autostrada. Not fighting one minute of that ride but rather joining forces in some calm and certainly intent way.<BR><BR>Mexico:arriving back to our ramshackle beach cottage and finding our travelling Buddha statue surrounded by a huge mass of flowers.<BR><BR><BR><BR>Venice:almost everything.

The Pantheon in Rome late afternoon and heavy rain storm.

A few of my &quot;magic moments&quot;:<BR><BR>The candlelight service at Lourdes<BR><BR>Seeing the pre-historic drawings at the Font du Gaume<BR><BR>Walking the ancient streets of Rome on the Scavi tour<BR><BR>Seeing the Dordogne River and valley from Beynac Castle<BR><BR>Christmas in London and Innsbruck<BR><BR>The first view of Venice from the train station<BR><BR>As others have said, too many to list -- but great topic for bringing back memories and perhaps finding new &quot;magical moments&quot; in future travel.<BR><BR>Happy holidays and travels.<BR><BR>John H.<BR><BR>

More from me:<BR><BR>The Roman Coliesuem at night in 1971 when you could still get in. Beautiful sight.<BR><BR>Being able to walk up to the Pieta in the Vatican in our 1971 visit before the idiot attacked it in 1974 and forced it behind glass forever.<BR><BR>Our first walk to the top of the leaning tower of Pisa.<BR><BR>Great wall of China.

Sorry, but no place in Europe can compare to the &quot;magic&quot; of the Orient!<BR>1)Ta Prohm temple at Angor Wat in the early morning mists before anyone else arrived and clmbing through the spectacular ruins of a vanished civilization gently making our way over slippery roots of the giant trees that now shrouded this once thriving city.<BR>2) The Mogau Caves - an unexpected delight seeing these caves carved into the cliffs along the river by merchants thankful that they had survived the desert crossing on the ancient silk road.<BR>3) The steppes of Central Asia - Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva. All truly magical.<BR>4) Borobudur in Java. We arrived not knowing it was the birthday of Buddha, but delighted in the experience of thousands of worshippers just sitting quietly and meditating.<BR>For Europe I would have to choose the Alpine pastures of the Bernese Oberland, enjoying a picnic lunch with our 4 kids, listening to the cowbells, picking wildflowers and being enveloped by the splendor of the Eiger and Jungfrau.<BR>

Europe, please.

After all the research and planning and enduring the overnight flight and getting yourself to the hotel with your luggage (hooray it's here!) in tow and after checking in, THEN wandering out and being positively THRILLED to just BE there.

Just thought of another 'goosebump' moment: Seeing my father's name in the American Memorial Chapel book at St. Paul's Cathederal in London. He was killed in the 2nd World War when I was a baby so I never knew him. My mother would have liked to see it too so I took a photo for her.

Here's a couple of my weepies:<BR><BR>Eating a Danish in the park that surrounds Rosenburg Slot in Copenhagen.<BR><BR>Eating a pancake in the wonderful town square of Delft, Netherlands.<BR><BR>Drinking a glass of Kolsch beer in Cologne, Germany in a cafe that has a view of the magnificent Dom.<BR><BR>Standing at the tomb of the unknown victims in the freezing rain at the Concentration camp in Dachua.<BR><BR>Seeing an opera in Vienna.<BR><BR>Finding my uncle's grave in a cemetary nere Leige, Belgium.

Having my British uncle walk with me along the stones at Avebury, telling me to close my eyes and literally feeling the presence of the stones at their exact location!<BR><BR>dining in an extroardinary restaraunt near Seggiano, Italy and having the most heavenly homemade truffle pasta ever!<BR><BR>riding the Shinkansen in Japan.<BR>

I'd have to say the first time I ever flew on a plane. I was flying over the U.S. on the way from Ohio to Arizona. <BR><BR>I had never seen mountains before and When I saw the snow-capped desert mountains, it took my breath away.

ddly enough, one of my memorable moments was watching the reaction of a couple sitting in front of me on the upper deck of a Paris tour bus as we turned onto the Champs looking toward the arc de triomphe. I so much enjoyed their quiet awe of seeing that for real, obviously for the 1st time ;it brought back memories of the first time I had seen it and how I felt. We see lots of famous sights via the media but being there for the first time is something one remembers forever. <BR>Kay

Reading through this thread brought tears to my eyes and dozens of images of my many magical moments<BR>BUT<BR>on the lighter side, walking with my sister through the Stones at Avebury, obviously she wasn't getting any &quot;vibes&quot; from the stones as she was so busy looking she stepped fully into a steaming cow pat. After cleaning up she was much more careful about watching where her feet went, so collided with a Stone instead. Still makes me laugh to remember.