One moment, set in crystal...
 

It's dreary, the dirty snow is piled high, and I'm supposed to be doing paperwork. It's a perfect time for playing &quot;Great Moments in Travel&quot;. (Yeah, yeah, it's been played before, but hey, let's share.)<BR><BR>Anyway, I'm thinking of those moments when suddenly you just know that you will remember this forever; perhaps the rest of the day was nothing spectacular, perhaps this was one bright spot of many, but this is the picture you retain.<BR><BR>I'll start with a few:<BR><BR>Sitting above a waterfall in Iceland after a long climb up, on a perfect clear sunny day<BR><BR>Riding the Moscow-St. Petersburg train (oh, those white birch trees!) and getting a bag of candy tossed to me by the young vendor <BR><BR>Climbing the crumbling walls of the Moors Castle in Sintra, Portugal with amazing wind blowing<BR><BR>Sitting on the roof of a canal boat on the Mekong River, soaking in the sunshine<BR><BR>Okay, I'll get back to work now! Enough dreaming for the moment.<BR>

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, &quot;oh my God, I'm in a travelogue.&quot; 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.<BR>

<BR>Walking along the Seine in a serious fog, then it cleared just enough to see a bridge across and Notre Dame .<BR> Just sitting in Luxembourg Gardens, watching children play.<BR>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.<BR>Standing in the window of our hotel in Paris, looking over the rooftops and listening to the bells ring in the churches.<BR>So many perfect moments!

Scarlet,<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>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:<BR>1. Stepping out of the railroad station in Venice and seeing the glorious Grand Canal before me.<BR>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.<BR>

This is fun...phooey on the snow for dampening my mood!<BR><BR>Here goes:<BR>First time I saw Ireland from the airplane...that magical misty quilt of forty shades of green.<BR><BR>Bruges, that quaint little medieval town, seen from the canal boats.<BR><BR>Seeing the Sistine Chapel for the first time, practically empty. Same for St. Chappelle in Paris.<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>Reaching the Sun Gate and looking down on Macchu Pichu after doing the 4 day Inca trail.<BR><BR>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...<BR>* That first glance of Venice, right out of the station<BR>* The long climb to the top of the Duomo in Florence, to be rewarded by that view!<BR>* Walking through the forums (fora?) in Rome, feeling the history...like walking in a dream<BR>* Early dinner &amp; sunset, Montmartre<BR>* World's biggest &amp; spookiest tapestries, in the dungeon at Angers<BR>* A rich, soul-warming espresso on a misty October morning in the medieval piazza of Bergamo<BR>* The breathtaking views on the hike from Murren to Grutschalp.<BR><BR>...and the all-time champ...<BR><BR>* 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 &quot;Great Moments&quot; and it brought a smile to my face. Here's mine:<BR>Lazily swinging in a hammock in Provence at a delightful B&amp;B when the owner's father handed me a beautiful rose he had just cut from the garden with a smile &amp; phrase in french. I still have it wrapped in foil &amp; there's a faint fragrance. Whenever I want a reminder of provence I just need to close my eyes &amp; 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.<BR><BR>Wow.<BR><BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>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.<BR>1. A lost chess game played on the patio of a youth hostel in Grindelwald. My opponent had Jungfrau to his back.<BR>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 &quot;home&quot; (villa) outside Nice. 20 of us around the table, I the lone American.....gave me an understanding of the word &quot;hospitality.&quot;<BR>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.<BR>

<BR>I just thought of another one:) Can I add to mine?<BR><BR>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. <BR>Best thunderstorm I ever saw:)<BR>

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

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.<BR><BR>The view of Positano from Praiano -- wow.