Venice, it's like being in a movie.

What took my breath away? Bob the Navigator scrambling to continue his whoring ways on Fodors. GO AWAY BOB, We're all onto you.

Francesca, your surname really is the Spanish for city ? ( Just asking ). <BR> <BR>Kissit - sigh............ <BR> <BR>What took my breath away ( if you can call it that ) was the Atomic Bomb Museum in Nagasaki. What a moving experience THAT was ! My Wife & I were almost in tears by the time we got to the end. Trivia corner: did anyone know that the 'Bombadier' who actually pressed the button to drop the bomb was <BR>named 'Kermit' ? That green frog will never seem the same again... <BR>

This has been fun reading -- Here's mine: <BR> <BR>1 - Flying in the front seat of a helicopter over Hawaii on my honeymoon. <BR> <BR>2 - Swimming on the back of a sea turtle in the Yucatan waters <BR> <BR>3 - Waking up to fireworks in Positano and spending hours watching them with my husband from our balcony. They danced and twinkled over the mountains illuminating the hillside and ocean. It was magical.

1985--Sitting way up high on a stone window ledge in the Sheldonian Theater in Oxford and looking out the wavy old glass while listening to a performance of Bach's B Minor Mass. <BR> <BR>1980--sitting on the dress circle at a London theater my last night after a 2 1/2 week enchanted England visit watching Yul Brynner and the other actors and actresses dance to Shall We Dance. The huge skirts billowed out and it was lovely. A perfect ending to a perfect trip. <BR> <BR>

This is an interesting thread. I have two <BR>First : 1997 - Getting a free view of a "Sting" concert at the Sultans Pool in Jerusalem. We were watching it while sitting on a wall in the garden of St Andrews Church of Scotland hostel in west Jerusalem. It was night we could hear Sting singing and see the crowds Behind him the beautifully lit golden stones of the Old city wall. <BR>Second : Flying into Helsinki airport and passing over the Finnish archipeligo. The waters around Finland (and eastern Sweden) are full of thousands of tiny islands and beautifully clear blue water. <BR>Angela

Crusing by Stromboli on a clear, dark night with orange "sparks" shooting from the top. Will never forget it. <BR> <BR>Also, fields of sunflowers in Tuscany with their heads all facing the sun. Beautiful.

Great subject! I vote for: <BR>1. Evening outside the Cathedral in Seville during Holy Week - the most moving processions, hundreds of costumed participants, many supporting floats with statues, flowers, candles, velvet draperies, etc. breathtaking. Thousands of well dressed worshippers in the streets - a trip back in time. <BR>2. Cruising on the Danube on a summer night watching the fabulous architecture of Budapest drift by <BR>3. The beautiful colorful gardens of the Allhambra in Granada through countless fountains with the plains below the fortress behind and the "snow capped Sierra Nevada" in the distance. <BR>4. St. Peter's in Rome -blessed myself for the first time in many years. <BR>5. All of Ireland and Switzerland - not to forget Italy. Enjoyed them all and a thread like this gives any traveler the chance to reminisce. Thanks! Helen

I went to Budapest for 10 days this past May. One of my last days there I sat in a cafe on the Pest side (with a view of the Chain Bridge and the Royal Palace) in the afternoon, having a bottle of wine, reading one of my all time favorite books: Love in the Time of Cholera, by Garcia Marquez. People were strolling by. The occasional trolley car rolled by. A gentle breeze that rustled the trees. What I remember most is the sunlight glittering off the Danube all afternoon and feeling so immersed/connected to a place. It's at twilight that the Danube really is blue. I left the cafe in the early evening - after the lights on the Chain Bridge and Royal Palace had turned on.

Glenariff! <BR> <BR>The Waterfall Walk in the Glenariff Forest Park, Glenariff (or Waterfoot) Northern Ireland is magical. As I wrote home, Fairies Live There. A board walk, along a small river, with numerous waterfalls, lots of moisture, ferns, moss and other small plants...diamonds of waterdrops dripping down rock/moss walls....Too beautiful for words.

WOW! What a thread! <BR> <BR>three for me; <BR>- looking out over Toronto from the top of the CN Tower on a cold but blue-skied February day. <BR> <BR>- looking out from the Sorrento Palace Hotel as the sun sets on our honeymon, the day after we were told my new Father inlaw had died just days before <BR> <BR>- the rain bouncing off the pool in Sandals Halcyon in St Lucia; wow, I thought Scotland had rain until I saw this!!

This is one of my favorite posting and I'd like to here some more experiences.

To the top for ML.

It was the French/Italian Riviera for me. <BR> <BR>I was only 16 that year. It was late afternoon when my tour bus started on the journey from Italy. We were travelling along some mountanous road when all of a sudden, there appeared outside my coach window, the most glorious view I've ever seen in my life. It was an unobstructed view of the sea horizon, bathed in golden reddish hue of the sunset. On the other side were lush green mountain slopes dotted by luxurious villas complete with private swimming pools. My sister and I were falling over ourselves trying to take in as much sights as possible. It was a view I have not and will never forget. Glad to say, I'll be revisiting this beautiful place in July again for my honeymoon, this time looking at the lush mountains and exquisite seaside towns from a cruise ship. Can't wait!!

I love this topic! <BR> <BR>First experience: <BR> <BR>First time I was in Paris - was at the Musee D'Orsay. Looked out the window - on my right hand side in the museum was a Renoir, on my left hand side was a Monet - straight out the window was the Eiffel Tower. I started crying - seemed so surreal (OK, I'm a sentimentalist! . <BR> <BR>Second experience - walking into the Sistine Chapel - just blew me away - Michaelangelo was a true and utter genius. Exquisite.

There are so many. <BR>Turning a corner in Venice and suddenly coming face to face with St. Marks with an enormous oil tanker standing behind it. Sitting in a cafe in Maderno on Lake Garda and seeing a thunderstorm travelling around the lake, bouncing off mountains. Seeing my first glacier in Iceland and its icebergs. I hadn't known before that icebergs were blue and beautiful. <BR>Outside Europe, the Grand Canyon at dawn, Autumn in New England and again in New England the sunlight shining through rows of icicles hanging from the trees.

YOU have made me cry! I can "hear" the awe in your postings from the beautiful things you have all seen. I haven't been to a single place mentioned, but in three weeks I will finally visit Europe and see Assisi and visit David. I've always been afraid, since getting on this forum 3 months ago, that I would hear so much about things that I wouldn't feel moved or impressed by David or Tuscany. It sounds like there's no chance of that. Thank you for your wonderful sharing!

Monthly topper.... 2 and a half years and 216 replies later....

my first sight of Venice by water taxi.

1. The city of Toledo in Spain. <BR> <BR>2. Standing in front of John Constable's "The Hay Wain" at the National Gallery in London