What surpassed your expectations?
 

After that rather unpleasant thread on what people didn't like abroad, what surpassed your expectations? <BR>Personally, although I had seen umpteen reproductions of them I was surprised at the size and sheer beauty of the Primavera and the Birth of Venus. I was also stunned when I suddenly caught sight of St. Mark's in Venice. I was not prepared for its beauty and was surprised to see an oil tanker behind it. <BR>My first sight of Stonehenge was at sunset. The visitor centre was closed but you can see it from the road. It looks ancient and eery in that light, pure Thomas Hardy.

By far...the quality of art in the Louvre. It just blew me away.

Tso beautful <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>The grand canyon of Verdon was the most beautiful drive I have enjoyed in France. We would stop at all the little cafes along the way. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

Duiske Abbey in Graiguenamagh, County Kilkenny Ireland. I've seen a million old churches in Europe. Although fairly simple, I was blown away when I walked in. I guess because it wasn't so ornate. <BR>

What a refreshing change from "bashing"!I was really knocked out recently by the "Scavi", excavations under St Peter's in Rome. Really instructive and very moving. In an earlier adventure,I went to the cemetery for Allied Troops in Ortono, in the Abruzzo out of duty to my Mum who had lost a friend there during WWII. It was gripping looking at those rows of crosses. I think you could substitute any cemetery in Europe where US, Canadians, Australians and Brits died far from home at age 18.How different this forum on European travel might be today if Germany (and company) had won that war...

Seeing Ferdinand and Isabella's coffins - I still can't get over how small they were! <BR> <BR>And the first time I drove around the bend and saw the town of Beynac - thought it was the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen. <BR> <BR>First sighting of Lago Maggiore was pretty impressive, too. <BR> <BR>And the Dolomites....and the Alhambra....and the Parthenon

Rome, Pompeii and Tuscany. I was afraid they'd been over-hyped. Also, the Eiffel Tower and all of Paris!

Here are my top ten: <BR> <BR>1. The Musee D'Orsay...all those impressionists and so little time! <BR> <BR>2. The "Nightwatch" by Rembrandt. Nothing prepared me for the use of light in that painting. <BR> <BR>3. David...my all time favorite. The trip to Europe was worth it just to see that one statue. <BR> <BR>4. Edinburgh Castle....now that's what a real castle should be! <BR> <BR>5. The Tower of London...."it all started in 1066..." <BR> <BR>6. The food in Italy...enough said!!! <BR> <BR>7. Opening day at Octoberfest...what a parade, what a beer bust! <BR> <BR>8. Salzburg...just all of it! <BR> <BR>9. Piazza San Marcos and The Grand Canal <BR> <BR>10. ...and hopefully Provence, where I'm going in September!

I think the Dom in Switzerland caught me by surprise, even though I have seen quite a few mountains and climbed a few fourteeners in Colorado. (For those of you who don't know, the Dom is the highest mountain within Swiss borders.) <BR>We arrived in Saas Grund to find our apartment on a cloudy day, with the Mischabel Range, of which the Dom is a part, somewhat obscured. <BR>The following morning, the sky was mostly blue and when I looked out of my window, there was the Dom towering straight up,and up and up for nearly two vertical miles in one continuous patch of glistening white. Later that day the full immensity of this towering wall of white was made even more awesome. We took one the cable lifts up from Saas Fee. At the top, we seemed no closer to the top of the Dom than when we started. <BR>

All of rome! <BR> the Abbazia at Montecassino, <BR> the building itself, and the views from looking out from it. <BR> The Bapistry in Pisa, <BR>esp. when the guard came in and sang ! <BR> Parts of the Roman Forum. <BR> Piazza Navona at night. <BR> Montagna Spaccato , in Gaeta. <BR> Cappacino and caffe lattes <BR> Fresh Bufulo mozzarella <BR> <BR>The whole trip!

My list... <BR>1. Paris - all of it! <BR>2. The forum in Rome - the history, wow <BR>3. Pompeii - they were geniuses (except for the building near an active volcano part) <BR>4. Westminister Abbey <BR>5. The Duomo in Florence - pictures do no do it justice <BR>6. My first view of the Alps in Innsbruck <BR>7. Giverny-now I understand how Monet got his inspiration <BR>

to TBH: Where is the "Nightwatch" exhibited? I would love to see it.....

I fell in love with Paris on my first visit there. It was beyond what I'd dreamt about. <BR>And...at the Musee d'Orsay, Van Gogh's "L'eglise d'Auvers"...I just stared at it with awe. <BR> <BR>Other things? Seeing one of my favorite Gaugin paintings, "Jacob Wrestling with the Angel" in the National Gallery in Edinborough was wonderful...as was Scotland itself. <BR> <BR>Loved Venice...coming in on the Grand Canal was a mouth-dropping experience for me. Florence...the Duomo, Giotto's Tower, etc. Sigh. And yes, the David, the Primavera, the Fra Angelico frescos at San Marco...all were beyond my expectations. Canterbury Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Stonehenge... <BR> <BR>And the Old Town in Prague... <BR>Okay...guess I just love Europe! <BR> <BR>Lee

The Duomo in Milan from the outside. No other cathedral I' ve seen had the same impact on me. The inside is nothing special. <BR> <BR>Turner artwork at the Tate Gallery in London: there was one of his paintings that simply made me speechless, it was pure sunshine. <BR> <BR>Monet's Japanese garden in Giverny: the most peaceful garden I 've ever seen, although crowded with tourists. <BR> <BR>San Francis Basilica is Assisi, and Assisi itself: both, the upper and lower churches, with a lower ceiling, but so beautiful, peaceful, and meaningful. <BR> <BR>Surlok

Laura, <BR> <BR>The Nightwatch is in Amsterdam at the Rijksmuseum. I was there in March, the size of it was impressive also! <BR>

Venice - I figured it couldn't be anywhere near as pretty as the photos; boy, was I wrong. <BR> <BR>Cooking class at the Ritz-Escoffier - I figured it would be terrifying, intimidating, overwhelming; boy, was I wrong. <BR> <BR>Morocco (all of it, every bit of it, everybody in it) - I figured it would be exotic, different, gob-smacking; boy, did I underestimate.

Paris, Venice, Barcelona, and Rome all exceeded any expectations I had. <BR> <BR>Specific sights that exceeded my expectations in those cities were the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Canal, all of Gaudi's buildings, and St. Peter's Basilica & Square. <BR> <BR>Places & sights elsewhere were the Pont du Gard, the Trophee des Alpes, and the Gorges du Verdon in France; and Cinqueterre, Siena, and the Amalfi Coast in Italy. <BR> <BR>

Even more fun! But there are so many places! <BR> <BR>1. The Nightwatch - much more spectacular in person than in a book, the size alone will take your breath away (and it is in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam). <BR> <BR>2. The Berliner Dom - the organ gave me goosebumps hearing it played. <BR> <BR>3. David in Florence. <BR> <BR>4. The American Cemetary in Lux. <BR> <BR>5. Trier (I haven't been to Rome, but the ruins in this city can rival the ones anywhere in my opinion). <BR> <BR>6. Delphi, Agamemnon's Tomb, the greek isles (away from the tourists though!). <BR> <BR>7. The Spainish Riding School - even my parents the non riders that they are were moved. <BR> <BR>8. The Bodensee - esp on a clear day when the Alps were "out" and it seemed that they were right down on top of the Lake. <BR> <BR>I'm sure that there are more, but those are my favorites.

I am one of those who loves Paris and had always dreamed of going there. I was afraid it would not be able to live up to my high expectations. It did by a long shot. <BR> <BR>The interior of Chartres cathedral. For the most part, I prefer the exterior of Notre-Dame in Paris to the expterior of Chartres, but the interior was truly magical. <BR> <BR>The Rodin Museum in Paris - So easy to see and what great, expressive art. Will always be one of my favorite museums and artists now. <BR> <BR>Gettysburg Battlefield. After almost a week of battlefields, I arrived. It was even more interesting than I had imagined for the thirty years I wanted to visit it. However, Antietam is better in a way because of the lower crowds and commercialism. <BR> <BR>The Mayan ruins in Mexico. Ok, I knew they would be something I had to see, but what started out as just another part of my trip turned into the real highlight and gave me a whole new interest. <BR> <BR>Freiburg Cathedral - love the color and the spire. <BR> <BR>Beijing - caotic, dirty, bureaucratic, but utterly fascinating <BR> <BR>Toronto - one of my favorite cities; lots to do and see <BR> <BR>Charleston - I think it is my favorite city so far in the U.S. So much history, great food, friendly people, good service. <BR> <BR>Backstreet Prague - Away from the crowds in places like Mala Stana and Vysehrad. So glad I decided to add a couple of extra days into that trip to spend more time in Prague. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

oh some of the non-European notes got me thinking again: <BR> <BR>The bioluminescent bay in Vieques, Puerto Rico. It was like swimming in the milky way - and splashing each other was like having a "pixie-dust" fight! <BR> <BR>Also - that unmatched turquoise blue gin-clear water in many Caribbean locations. When you see it from the air it is astounding. Swimming in it washes away innumerable weeks of stress!

View from St. Paul, after climbing all of those steps...even with a migraine it was spectacular and well worth the agony. <BR> <BR>American Cemetery in Cambridge England - Kind caretaker gently rubbed sand (from Normandy) into the the engraving so that my grandmother could take a photo of her brother's grave (sand made the letters show up in photo). <BR> <BR>Venice. <BR> <BR>

I love nature..., but I never thought a picture perfect image of the Matterhorn would stay with me for as long as it has..., been almost 10 years since that first time I saw it on a clear day in July. I can't wait to go home and look at the picture I took!

What a great (upbeat) thread, Sylvia. Thanks for starting it and to all of the interesting contributions (my travel "wish" list continues to grow). <BR> <BR>I have high expectations and every place that I've traveled has still blown me away. So, narrowing it down is difficult ... Munich really surprised me, Venice and Paris were even better than I ever imagined, Salzburg is a favorite, but a real expectation-exceeder for me this year was how much I liked Slovenia. Both Lake Bled and Piran were great, the people were very kind, and the food was terrific. Oh, and the first time to Europe, flying over the Alps with the sun coming up ... I never dreamed that there was simply a "sea" of Alps. It was incredible. Also, both the people and the variety of France's culture and landscape far exceeded what I ever imagined. I can't wait to go back to France (2003?). Lastly, both the beer and chocolate in Belgium were even better than what I had heard! I could use a bit of both today.

No matter how hyped they are... <BR>No matter how jaded you are... <BR>No matter what the weather or time of day... <BR>No matter how much research you've done... <BR>No matter how much advice you've received... <BR>And no matter how high your expectations... <BR>There is nothing in this world that can prepare you for seeing Paris and Venice for the first time. Nothing.

I friendliness of most Paris residents. I had expected the worst given their reputation. <BR> <BR>This may not be a compliment, but, I found them no worse than my fellow New Yorkers. My view is that Parisians (and New Yorkers) tend to get a bad rap from tourists who are not use to city life and environments, in general. <BR> <BR>City dwellers are probably less likely to have the immediate air of (fake?)friendliness that you can see in most parts of the U.S. That may be taken as unfriendliness by people who are more than happy to tell their life story to a stranger on the line at DMV.

Everyone on the other thread was disappointed in the Anne Frank House. I had no expectations but I was overcome with emotion and cried the whole way through. Being taught that story in religious school, having read her story as a young girl, and then walking through the rooms where she and her family lived, seeing the photos she had taped to the walls, seeing the pencil marks where they marked the girls' growth, moved me. <BR> <BR>It was not crowded the day we were there. I am almost certain we were the only Jews because everyone filed through, impassive, almost bored looks on their faces, and I was surprised at how they didn't seem to be affected by the whole thing.

1. Edinburgh--everything about it. I wasn't enthusiastic about going there the first time and absolutely fell in love with the castle, the people, the sooty, brownish Edinburgh stone used on the buildings... <BR>2. The Egyptian area of the British Museum. I didn't really expect the mummies to be so "real" (you know what I mean) <BR>3. The view from the Eiffel Tower at night. <BR>4. All of Italy--the pastel stucco, the shuttered windows, the laundry hanging from building to building, strollers in the evening in Rome, hering water from the fountains, seeing beautiful young couples touching unselfconsciencously, the food, the food, the food... <BR>Thanks for the memories!

traveling ( I was so scared at first) <BR>Paris <BR>food in Paris <BR>Venice <BR>"David" <BR>Giverny <BR>Musee Marmottan <BR>Musee d'Orsay <BR>Paris <BR>Venice

Dana, I guess I didn't see any of those comments in the other thread. I'm not Jewish, but I found that to be a very moving and emotional experience too. It's hard to imagine what it must have been like to hide in terror from people who would quite willingly send you to your death in a concentration camp.

Northern Wales

As far as a place that surpassed my expectations, there are two that came to mind: Tallinn (Estonia) and Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic). <BR> <BR>Tallinn is a beautiful medieval city that is very tourist friendly--low prices, many English speakers, good sights, varied architecture and deep history. I hope that St Petersburg can evolve its tourist industry to this point. <BR> <BR>Karlovy Vary is the old Sudeten German resort of Carlsbad. It has stunning architecture and wonderful spas.

The Old City of Jerusalem. I'd been in big middle eastern cities before but nothing prepared me for this place. Oh, the humanity. <BR> <BR>The Grand Canyon. I'd flown over it umpteen times but never set foot on the rim until I was well past 40. Wonder of the world, and no mistake. <BR> <BR>The Scottish Highlands and Islands. From Glen Lyon in the autumn to Uig in a storm, wow. <BR> <BR>The US Capitol. Hard not to be moved by the whole scene. Ditto the Vietnam memorial, for different reasons.

<BR>"Peach blossoms" in Van Gogh Museum , Amsterdam,the tenderness and live in the painting made my eyes filled.

Now this is a good thread!!! <BR> <BR>TBH

Nice thread Sylvia. <BR>The Netherlands in the spring. <BR>Venice <BR>Rome (Could never have anticipated it) <BR>Hadrians Villa (I was going to <BR>write Villa Adraini but I can't spell it.) <BR>Bavaria <BR>Neuswanstein (even though I had read the biography of Ludwig II.) <BR>Garmish <BR>Oberammergau <BR>Looking back down from high in the Alps after driving those switchbacks in the night. <BR>Looking down to a valley in the Alps, seeing small villages, pastures etc. <BR>Budapest (the moste beautiful city in Europe.) <BR>The Grand Canyan (you can never be prepared for sunrise or sunset.) <BR>Denmark and Sweded (so clean and the women so beautiful in Sweden.) <BR>The most emotional experiances were standing in a grove of giant Redwoods in Northern California, and my first visit into east Berlin. Oposite emotions I might add. <BR>Cheers, <BR>Art <BR>

1)I'm with Elaine on this: traveling ( I too was scared at first). <BR> <BR>2)Wales <BR> <BR>3)Venice -- The first time I went there it was cold and rainy, I didn't speak any Italian and had a lousy map, I was on a rock-bottom budget and not travel-smart, and I didn't enjoy it at all. Years later, I went back for a few days, thinking it deserved a second chance. Total infatuation. Then I went back for a week, then I went back for a few more days.... <BR> <BR>4)The Giotto frescoes in the Capella Scrovegni in Padova. I'd studied them, I'd read about them, I loved them, and I figured they were bound to disappoint. They didn't. <BR> <BR>5)Too many other places to mention.

SO MANY THINGS TO REMEMBER……. <BR> <BR> <BR>1/ MY FIRST VIEW OF VENICE.. STEPPING OUT OF THE TRAIN STATION AND THERE IT WAS,, ALL I HAD EVER SEENED PICTURED BUT NOW I WAS THERE AND IT WAS TOTALLY UNREAL <BR> <BR>2/ A TINY CEMETERY IN FRANCE ON THE SOMME, DEDICATED TO THE DEVONSHIRE REGIMENT, IN THE MIDDLE OF A FARMER’S FIELD, AND THE MONUMENT <BR>“ THE DEVONS HELD THIS TRENCH..THEY HOLD IT STILL” <BR> <BR>3/ AFTER VIEWING WW1 BATTLEFIELDS AND CEMETERIES ALL DAY , ATTENDING “ LAST CALL AT MENIN GATE” IN YPRES <BR> <BR>4/ ALL OF ROME , WENT FOR 3 DAYS AND NEVER LEFT FOR 3 WEEKS AND STILL FELT WE HAD MISSED SOMETHING IMPORTANT <BR> <BR>5/FLYING INTO NEW YORK JUST AS DARKNESS WAS COMING ON AND WATCHING THE LIGHTS APPEAR ONE BY ONE UNTIL THE WHOLE HORIZON WAS A BRIGHT PATCH IN THE SKY <BR> <BR>6/ THE KINDNESS OF TOTAL STRANGERS IN PARIS, SOME MANY MEMORIES OF WONDERFUL ENCOUNTERS <BR> <BR>7/ THE TOTAL PEACE AND CONTENTMENT I FEEL IN STURMINSTER NEWTON,DORSET,UK. IT’S LIKE COMING HOME <BR> <BR>8/ JOHN SINGER SARGENT’S ’GASSED’ AT IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM , THE TRAGEDY OF A WHOLE GENERATION ON A SINGLE CANVAS <BR> <BR>9/ LONDON, ANY TIME ,ANY YEAR, ANY SEASON . I WILL NEVER TIRE OF IT <BR> <BR>10/HAVING A WONDERFUL TRAVEL COMPANION, EVEN AFTER 40 YEARS TOGETHER, THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW TO DELIGHT US AND WE CAN SHARE <BR>

1. Istanbul -- the Galata Bridge at sunset. <BR>2. Auschwitz-Birkenau -- so much waste. <BR>3. San Francisco -- comin' home. <BR>4. The Statue of Liberty -- comin' home. <BR>5. Wrigley Field -- summertime squared. <BR>6. The American Cemetery at Margraten -- where thousands sleep. <BR>7. The Great Wall -- where millions slaved. <BR>8. Hanoi -- how friendly they were to us, the losers. <BR>9. Milford Sound, NZ -- magnificence unbound. <BR>10. The Wilderness Train -- out of Clarkdale, AZ.

Sylvia, <BR> <BR>What a great thread - so many places I want to see now. Heading for Italy next month, so I'll get to see at least a dozen of them. <BR> <BR>The four places so far are: <BR> <BR>1. Ephesus (truly a sight to see) <BR>2. Ellis Island (makes the US seem so young in comparison, but the place I always want to come home to) <BR>3. Vietnam Memorial in DC (it's much smaller than I thought it would be, but much more overwhelming in thought) <BR>4. Eiffel Tower at night

The Cours Mirabeau in Aix - just gorgeous. Sitting in a cafe and having a meal that was so simple and so delectable - eggplant slices with baked goat cheese on top, topped with fresh basil and a little olive oil.