rj007

I have had several memorable experiences- the fjords of Norway, dinner as the Eiffel Tower lit up, seeing the Trevi Fountain at night for the first time. What are some of yours?

beth23

Walking across the Ponte Vecchio and seeing the sunlight reflected on the Arno. Simply gorgeous.

Statia

My husband and I renewing our vows on a gondola in Venice.

Watching the sunset over Florence from Piazelle Michelangelo.

Coming out of the George V metro station and getting that first glimpse of the Arc de Triumph in Paris.

A lovely private dinner at a chalet in the mountains of Switzerland.

AAFrequentFlyer

Renata, Nicole, Beata, Janna, Paige, Hannah

tcreath

The views of Florence from the Piazza Michaelangelo were incredible.

The scenery of our trainride through the Austrian Alps.

Seeing both the Colliseum and the Tower of London for the first time.

Having a sunset dinner at an outdoor table directly in front of the Pantheon.

And many others!

ChatNoir

Being welcomed to Rome by a friendly band of talkative gpsy women who let me hold thier cute babies while they gave me a lower back massage.

I tried to tip them for the kind gesture but discovered I must have lost my wallet on the train.

dln

- walking through the Forum in Rome late at night, seeing it all so beautifully lit. Nothing like it in the world.

- wandering into Winchester Cathedral in England after dinner just for a quick look, and coming upon the choir practicing. One of the best impromptu concerts we've ever listened to.

- sitting out by the pool at our B&B in Umbria last fall, looking into the night sky and seeing the red planet of Mars in all its brightness. And a shooting star or two as well.

ilovelabs2003

First walk in Paris along the Seine the day we arrived, after taking a nice 4 hour nap. I had to keep pinching myself!

Having a conversation with a friendly man on the street walking his black lab, India, after I had consumed a "bit" of wine. I told him about our yellow lab back home and how they should be pen pals. I always thought I spoke my best French when I was bit tipsy

Having a pizza party (I was 13) on the outskirts of Naples with my grandmother and extended Neopolitan family on a balmy July evening. . . there was a pizza oven built into the side of my cousin's house! Somehow I understood the conversation even though I did not know any Italian.

Leona

Crossing the Pont Alma, my daughter & I were alone on the bridge, when the Eiffel Tower light show fairly EXPLODED!

It was fantastic!

mio

Having dinner at a family restaurant "Marione" in Florence, where they serve green beans with just about every meal. Sitting next to an Italian couple in their 50's and them noticing our interest just PASSED the platter for us to try!! What a country!!

Ryan

I have several memorable moments that I'd classify differently, all memorable but in different ways:

Most poignant - walking through the American Cemetary above Utah Beach in Normandy.

Most impressive - walking among the ruins of the Forum and Colisseum in Rome.

Most humorous - Watching two male friends start spontaneously dancing together as we listened to Gloria Gaynor sing "I will survive" in a concert in the Algarve last summer. (Their wives also found it amusing.)

Overall most enjoyable - watching my then 11 month old son, and first born, get knocked down by the first wave he ever encountered while in Cannes in 2002. The combined look of confusion/joy was memorable.

Byrd

Walking out of St. Lucia station and seeing the Grand Canal and Venice for the first time.

It was an almost through-the-looking-glass experience.

Byrd

Giovanna

Italy: Walking out of the metro in Rome and seeing the colliseum for the first time.

My first glimpse of the Duomo in Florence. Seeing David in Florence.

Our first sight of Tricarico, where my father-in-law was born.

Sitting in Piazza San Marco in Venice one evening, eating gelato while the bands dueled.

"Walking among the saints" on top of the duomo in Milan. Seeing the Last Supper in Milan.

Just being in Sorrento no matter what we are doing.

France: Standing on the Japanese bridge in Giverny, knowing Monet had walked there.

Seeing Pont du Gard through the trees as we walked from the parking area.

The view of Paris from both the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.

Walking on a nature trail in the Camargue.

Spain: Seeing Toledo from the bus we took from the train station.

The Alcazar in Seville.

Walking through the ruins at Italica, knowing Hadrian had walked there, and we had seen his works in England, France, Italy and Turkey.

Our evening of Flamenco in Seville.

Turkey: Ephesus and Patmos.

Greece: My first time in a walled city in old Rhodes.

Seeing the acropolis for the first time and enjoying seeing it from the balcony of our room in Athens.

England: The Roman baths in Bath.

Our first glimpse of Big Ben as we walked along the Thames enroute to the parliament buildings.

Prague: Charles Bridge, walking about and admiring the beautiful architecture, eating the kinds of food my grandmother used to make.

Budapest: Waking up in our room and seeing the Danube, with the chain bridge on one side and the parliament buildings on the other. Viewing the city from the top of St. Stevens.

Much more, but I've taken up too much space already!

BethGL

Venice, April 1990.

I was 14 years old and travelling with my mother and grandmother throughout Europe. I have two vivid memories:

1. Taking the little standing room only gondola across some random canal/ street for 100 lire. My mother is a very, very large woman, and is always looking for somewhere to sit. When we got on the gondola, she saw the ledge on the side of the gondola and thought it was a bench for passengers and started to sit down. As she started moving towards the side to sit down, we began to tip over and the gondolier started yelling at her in italian (I have no idea what he was saying, but he wasn't very happy with her.) and she stood up right away and we regained balance. My grandmother, who was 70 at the time could not stop laughing at her daughter, my mother, for hours - to this day my grandmother still thinks about it at random and begins to laugh at my mother who is still a good sport about it.

2. As my mother, grandmother, and I were ending our Italian part of our trip, we had used up ALL of our Lire and forgot to save a few of those lire to get our luggage/ backpacks out of the lockers in the train station. Instead of cashing some traveller's checks (remember, this was early 1990) my mother and grandmother thought it would be a good idea to send me to the middle of the Venice train station to beg for the random change needed to get into our locker so we could get our belongings. Because my family had been living in Spain and I was going to school in Madrid, I was more like a Spanish teenager than an American/NYC teenager - I had enough lire and then some in no time!

Mary2Go

Attended a large business dinner party with my husband in a beautiful restaurant in Copenhagen. There were probably 100 people in attendance. After champagne in an outer room we were seated by table number. We were in the first group seated and the rest of the attendees were standing in the entry waiting for their table number to be called. As I was sitting there I got the feeling that the legs of my chair were a bit uneven and then realized my chair was collapsing under me and tipping over backwards! As I fell back my champagne glass smacked my husband in the eye blinding him with champagne. It was as if it happened in slow motion. The chair splintered apart and I wound up on my back with my feet in the air! Thank god I was wearing pants! The place went really quiet and then several employees ran over to help me up. It was either laugh or cry and I started to laugh hysterically and continued every time I looked at my husband for the rest of the evening. I remember as I was going over thinking that all these people were watching and thinking I was drunk (I only had one glass of champagne,)or that I was so fat I broke the chair! (I was heavy but not chair breaking heavy!)Of all the wonderful sights and places I have travelled this story still holds a place in my heart.

Underhill

Arriving at a charming hotel not far from Malmaison--outside Paris--to find a big party in full swing. The ownership had changed, and a celebration was marking the occasion. We were invited to join in the festivities and had a marvelous time: champagne, hors d'oeuvre, an accordian band--just the thing after a long, tiring day of driving.

Our stay at the hotel, the Domaine de Verbois, was equally good.

bobthenavigator

Sunset from our room deck at Oia on Santorini--sipping the local vino.

TexasAggie

Going for an early morning run through Venice was an amazing experience.

And on a lighter note, having to illegally dismantle a lock in a hostel... all the hostel locks over the entire month-long trip had required a 2E coin to lock your belongings up. So I didn't even look and stuck in a 2E coin... well the next morning, I discovered my mistake! Our train was leaving to the airport and there was no one at the hostel to get my bag out. So disobeying the stern sign warning about fines and imprisonment for tampering with locks, I dismantled the entire thing with pocketknife tools and rescued my bag! It was a little scary to realize the locks could be removed so easily and quickly (under 5 minutes).

Brahmama

These are wonderful. Some made me laugh. Some made me cry. I may add to this, but how do you choose? How did we all get so lucky to have traveled and seen what we have seen?

pop

I had just driven from Provence for my first visit to Florence arriving at about 9:00pm. Realizing it would be easier to find a room in Fiesole, we drove there and found a room. Starving, we quickly placed our luggage in the room and immediately went to get something to eat. After a great dinner, we returned our exhausted bodies to the hotel and fell asleep within minutes. When I awoke at 7:00am, I opened the eight foot wooden doors to our tiny balcony. There below me a light fog was covering the beautiful city of Florence- except for one small clearing which allowed a morning ray of sun to splash down on the magnificent bright red Duomo. Absolutely stunning! It was as close to a religous experience as I have ever witnessed.

PS: Loved ChatNoir's post. Classic!