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Wow. I got goosebumps reading this thread. To be a good traveler, it apparently helps to have the soul of a poet. Thanks for sharing your memories!
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This was ALONG time ago when I was a child. We were camping in Washington state in 1965 and we were out on a day trip to see Mt. St.Helens. Well it was foggy out and we couldn't see it. We had pulled off on a wide spot in the road to eat a picnic lunch. We finished lunch and my dad started driving and made a turn and lo and behold it was a very beauiful site as the fog had cleared and the mountain was there in all her glory. We got out and took pictures of it. After may years my mother gave me all the 8mm films that she had taken over the years of camping and one day I rented a 8mm projector as that she didn't have anymore but I was watching and all of a sudden there it was again in all her glory. The memories came back it was awesome!
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Third day of our honeymoon...Awaking from a much-needed nap in Positano just after arriving from Carpi in heavy rain...the rain has cleared and we open our balcony doors to see, for the first time, the AMAZING softly lit Positano landscape at dusk. <BR>(ahhh...positano!!)<BR>
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Walking across the bridge in Lucerne with my wife as an Army draftee in 1970 and realizing that I had dodged Viet Nam by a lucky assignment in Germany.<BR><BR>Seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time as we drove into Paris at night.<BR><BR>Cruising out of Venice on July 4th.<BR><BR>Driving into the Alps for the first time and seeing the size of it all after growing up in a flat Texas.<BR><BR>
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Seeing the Matterhorn for the first time from Zermatt. We were looking for our hotel, I looked up, saw the moon and then saw her standing like a regal sentinel.<BR><BR>Seeing another regal sentinel, Half Dome in Yosemite on a misty day. <BR><BR>Hearing the coocoo bird outside our window the first morning in our villa in Tuscany.<BR><BR>Feeling the warmth of the sun on my face as I rode the skilift near Kandersteg, Switzerland.<BR><BR>Eating proscutto and melon for the first time in a little trattoria in Italy with a nice bottle of local wine.<BR><BR>OK, I will add another sense, smelling the dank, erotic smell of wine in kegs stored in a cave under a winery in Tuscany.
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Ah, adding smell to this adds a whole new dimension...<BR><BR>Probably none quite as evocative to me as the tanneries of the souks in Morocco, but there are those smells of spice or earth or flower or food that bring a place to mind. Anyone with some more choice moments in the olfactory sense? (Or other moments to share)<BR><BR>
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1. Wandering out from our hotel and coming on the the Piazzo vecchio in Florence.<BR>2. Florence at sunset from the Piazze Michalangelo<BR>3. Coming to the Hood River Valley from the south with all of the pear and apple trees in bloom with Mt.St. Helens over looking the valley.<BR>4. Coming on the name of a high school classmate in the memorial book in the church of the RAF in London.<BR><BR><BR>
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Sitting on the cliff late at night in the timeless village of Oia on the Greek island of Santorini, watching the August full moon rise behind the distant village of Thira across the caldera, the moon looking so big you think you could reach out and touch it, the skies ablaze with stars, listening to Van Morrison singing: "If I ventured in the slipstream, between the viaducts of your dreams, where immobile steel rims crack and the ditch in the backroads stop, Would you find me, would you kiss-a my eyes, and lay me down in silence easy, to be born again, to be born again."
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Sunset over the Nile while listening to an orchestra play Bach.
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my last evening in rome, on my solo trip<BR>sitting on the roof top terrace at Hotel Campo di Fiori,<BR>with a limoncello in hand, <BR>the noise of the streets below,<BR>gazing at the rooftops of Rome and the setting sun<BR>listening to Simon and Garfunkle tape <BR>(that was one of my favs about 25 yrs ago)<BR>played by a young woman/ stranger<BR> who was also on the terrace, practicing her yoga.<BR><BR>First trip to rome,<BR>walking onto Piazza Navona at 10:30pm.<BR>a 30 piece classical orchestra was playing by the Fontana di Moro and the fountain was all light up behind <BR>them.<BR>So unexpected and so magical.
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It was 8:30am and I was on vacation in St. Martin taking the morning ferry to the island of St. Barts. It was such a beautiful scene with the aquamarine water, I then realized that while everyone was back home fighting the morning rush hour traffic, I was enjoying paradise!
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A year before I met my husband, I was alone on a train from Avignon to Toulouse, France. I shared a compartment with three French gentlemen. Two of them spoke English, and the third, a Peter O'Toole look-alike, merely glanced and smiled at me for the two or so hours of the trip.<BR><BR>When it we reached Toulouse, we all said goodbye and I departed the train. As I was walking past the train in the station, I looked up and saw Peter O'Toole look-alike, walking pas the windows in the train corridor above me. When we both reached the train door at the same time, he stepped down and kissed my hand ...... No words were exchanged. He stepped back on the train and it slowly left the station. I think that that was the most romantic moment of my life. Even my hubby agrees.
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Looking for more of these wonderful images; some more just floated into my mind:
sunlight filtered through the green canopy of leaves hitting the old crosses in the monks' cemetery off Nevsky Prospekt looking down the shadow of Hallgrimskirche in the brilliant Reykjavik sunshine as the bells played right above me Perhaps these sunshine images are coming through as today was the first full day of sunshine for about a month here! |
I haven't been to Europe yet, very soon, so I hope the Caribbean will do
1. I was enjoying wine and cheese standing on the deck of a tall ship harbored at Virgin Gorda, when a downpour started, and all but a half dozen of the passenger scattered. The rain passed quickly, as we consumed all the wine everyone left, and suddenly a double rainbow appeared in the sky. We stood there signing along with Jimmy Buffett. This memory is engraved in my heart! 2. Snorkeling and diving the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Seeing the reef spread out on the surface through the turquoise water from the stern of a small dive boat, getting ready to head out, was truly amazing. 3. Club Med Turks & Caicos, Provo. There were some AMAZING lightening storms, the like of which I've never seen before or since. |
What a fun thread! I have to add a few of my own:
The sculptures in the Borghese Gallery, stunning. The night hike in the Monteverde Cloud forest in Costa Rica, all the critters come out to play. Driving through the fog and rain in Ireland to have the sun come out the moment we reached the Cliffs of Moor, complete with rainbows. Sleeping in my own bed after a long trip and planning the next trip as I drift off to sleep! |
In no particular order:
-Arriving in the USA for the first time, in New York. I was 10 at the time. Wonderful feeling. -Driving around the Monument Valley with virtually no-one else around. I had always wanted to see it with my own eyes and it was just magical. -Seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time, seeing my first sunset on the Grand Canyon, and flying over it on a scenic flight. Breathtaking! -Hiking for a good 45 minutes and then turning around to see Delicate Arch in Arches Nat'l Park, Utah. -Arriving for the first time in California when I was 12, I'll never forget the drive to the hotel and the palm trees on either side of the road. I just thought "this is California!" :) As you can see I have some great memories of the US, but also of other parts of the world... -Arriving in Sydney on my own at age 16 (this was last year), my first time in Australia. When I got out of baggage claim and customs, I'll never forget this breeze that came in every 2 or so minutes from the sliding doors that led to the road. Such fresh, cool air... I don't know how to describe the feeling, it felt so revitalizing. I was just exstatic, I couldn't believe I actually was in Oz! -Skiing in New Zealand along a scenic track, and seeing those amazing snow-covered mountains. Reminded me of the Lord of the Rings actually! Just magic :) -Just walking alone around Auckland (also last year) on my own, doing some shopping, and thinking of my parents and relatives at home, on the other side of the world :D I have a few other "moments", but I think these are my favorites... |
In the U.S.-- driving through the Mojave Desert from L.A. to Utah in a lightning storm at sunset. Beautiful!
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In Granada at night, the view on Alahmbra from the window of our room in the Albaicin.
Arriving in Venice, take the vaporetti on The "Grand Canal" till St Mark Place. Monemvassia Peloponnese,Greece, lunch on a terrace under a pergola looking Egean sea, with about 20 cats quietly waiting some food falling down from the tables.. Walking in Delft at night,along a canal under a very small umbrella with my husband. |
Arriving in Wengen, Switzerland in dreary, foggy weather and wondering "where the heck are the Alps"? Waking the next day to the sound of cow bells clanking; looking out the window, and staring directly at the snow covered Jungfrau! WOW!
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Machu Picchu.
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