1) Trondheim, Norway with -15 degrees celsius experiencing Northern Light. Magic!! <BR> <BR>2) Eipirus, Northern Greece. The most beautiful traditional villages with great scenery, nature and service from the locals. (Greece has more than islands!!) <BR> <BR> <BR>3) X-caret in the Yukatan peninsula, Mexico. Swimming with dolphins, snorkeling in underwater rivers etc... <BR>This is of cource not a place in Europe but is worth mentioning. At least I had the greatest 3 days of my life in this unforgettable place.

Dan's post reminded me of another...While shopping along the Kartnerstrasse in Vienna, a friend (who knows how I love music) came into the shop and said "You've got to come hear this!" He pulled me along through the shopping crowds to the tiny St Johann chapel, tucked among the elegant stores. A small group, no doubt in town for the Schubert festival, took advantage of the superb acoustics in the little gem of a chapel and was standing in the aisle singing Mozart's Allelulia - sounded like angels in heaven! <BR>

Being an ancient history buff, the sights that took my breath away were: my first sight of the acropolis from the taxi on my way in from the airport; (though not in Europe) my first sight of the pyramids in the distance from my balcony at the Ramses Hilton in Cairo; and my first sight of an ancient monument on my way in to Rome for the very first time - the Theatre of Marcellus. Also, though also not in Europe, the I-Ro-Ha hairpin bend road near Nikko, Japan.

Just returned from my 2nd ever trip to Europe. France this time. My two greatest impressions: Falling under the spell of Monet's Water Lilies. No one every told me how big they were! The incredible beauty of the architectural lines of the interior of Notre Dame. Truly awesome.... <BR>

WE WERE IN GREECE, THE GREEK ISLES AND TURKEY IN SEPT, 1998. STANDING ON THE ACROPOLIS BETWEEN THE PARTHENON AND THE CARYATIDS MADE ME CRY. IT WAS AWESOME! I FELT SOME KIND OF MAGNETISM. TO BE THERE AFTER DREAMING ABOUT OUR TRIP FOR 30 YEARS JUST WAS INCREDIBLE. SANTORINI HAS GOT TO BE ONE OF THE MOST PHOTOGAPHICALLY BEAUTIFUL AND MOST MAGNIFICANT SPOTS IN THE WORLD. ALTHOUGH I HAVE A FEAR OF HEIGHTS AND CABLE CARS, THE TRIP TO THE TOP WAS WELL WORTH THE REWARD I RECEIVED. WHEN I SAW THE VIEW, IT TOOK MY BREATH AWAY. EPHESUS IN KUSADASI TURKEY IS PROBABLY MY SECOND CHOICE. TO BE WALKING ON STREETS 3500 YEARS OLD AND TO GO INTO THE LIBRARY OF CELSUS AND SEE THE ORNATE MARBLE CARVINGS IN THAT CITY ARE INCREDIBLE AND NOT TO BE MISSED. PEOPLE WERE POSSIBLY SMARTER THEN, THAN WE ARE TODAY. OUR GUIDE SHOWED US THE CLAY PIPES THEY USED BECAUSE EVEN THEN THEY WERE AWARE OF LEAD POISONING, THEY HAD PUBLIC RESTROOMS AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS AND CLEANED THE STREETS SEVERAL TIMES A DAY FWOM THE FOUNTAINS. UNBELIEVABLE. SAILING INTO ISTANBUL AT 5 AM AND SEEING THE SILHOUETTES OF THE MOSQUES, THE TWINKLING LIGHTS AND MINARETS, I THOUGHT I WAS WATCHING A MOVIE, BUT IT WAS REAL SO I HAD TO WAKEUP MY HUSBAND. THIS WHOLE TRIP TOOK MY BREATH AWAY! <BR>GREAT TOPIC. <BR>

A traveller I think lives for these kinds of experiences. Here's my list: coming upon the David for the first time; seeing the humanity in Giotto's frescos in Assisi; the Tuscan landscape; wandering alone through the utterly and marvelously exquisite Alcazar and its gardens, pools and fountains on a beautiful spring day in Seville; visiting the Fra Angelico museum in Florence early in the morning and seeing each frescoed monk's cell in the serenity it deserved; Sainte Chappelle, Notre Dame and Chartres--the light! The Light!; I, too, was moved to tears by my first sight of Venice and the Grand Canal from a vaporetto; Azay-le-Rideau in the Loire valley, suspended over its lake; St. Peters--its incredible piazza and interior; the Raphael stanze and the Sistine Chapel; the renaissance statues in the Bargello; the Bernini fountains and sculpture in Rome; the Pinterucchio paintings in the Siena Duomo and the Vatican Museum. As you can probably tell, this is a partial list--but believe it or not, each experience literally took my breath away. Thanks to Mr. Fowler for giving me the opportunity to relive them.

A traveller I think lives for these kinds of experiences. Here's my list: coming upon the David for the first time; seeing the humanity in Giotto's frescos in Assisi; the Tuscan landscape; wandering alone through the utterly and marvelously exquisite Alcazar and its gardens, pools and fountains on a beautiful spring day in Seville; visiting the Fra Angelico museum in Florence early in the morning and seeing each frescoed monk's cell in the serenity it deserved; Sainte Chappelle, Notre Dame and Chartres--the light! The Light!; I, too, was moved to tears by my first sight of Venice and the Grand Canal from a vaporetto; Azay-le-Rideau in the Loire valley, suspended over its lake; St. Peters--its incredible piazza and interior; the Raphael stanze and the Sistine Chapel; the renaissance statues in the Bargello; the Bernini fountains and sculpture in Rome; the Pinterucchio paintings in the Siena Duomo and the Vatican Museum. As you can probably tell, this is a partial list--but believe it or not, each experience literally took my breath away. Thanks to Mr. Fowler for giving me the opportunity to relive them.

A traveller I think lives for these kinds of experiences. Here's my list: coming upon the David for the first time; seeing the humanity in Giotto's frescos in Assisi; the Tuscan landscape; wandering alone through the utterly and marvelously exquisite Alcazar and its gardens, pools and fountains on a beautiful spring day in Seville; visiting the Fra Angelico museum in Florence early in the morning and seeing each frescoed monk's cell in the serenity it deserved; Sainte Chappelle, Notre Dame and Chartres--the light! The Light!; I, too, was moved to tears by my first sight of Venice and the Grand Canal from a vaporetto; Azay-le-Rideau in the Loire valley, suspended over its lake; St. Peters--its incredible piazza and interior; the Raphael stanze and the Sistine Chapel; the renaissance statues in the Bargello; the Bernini fountains and sculpture in Rome; the Pinterucchio paintings in the Siena Duomo and the Vatican Museum. As you can probably tell, this is a partial list--but believe it or not, each experience literally took my breath away. Thanks to Mr. Fowler for giving me the opportunity to relive them.

Christmas Day, 1994: I was working in Trento, Italy, and we couldn't afford to return to the US to see family. My mother was living with me and badly wanted to see snow. We walked down to the train station about 6:00 PM and took a Regionale (milk run) train north to the Austrian border. As we travelled north the snowcapped mountains grew ever whiter. Finally we saw snow on the ground. Later, with dusk falling we saw snow coming down thicker and thicker. <BR> <BR>At Brennero (the border town) we had a snowball fight in the streets as night fell. After an hour there we took the same train home. Breathtaking.

Let's see if this will keep going <BR>

When I was in England this summer I was astounded at the raw, rugged beauty of Tintagel Castle. <BR> The way the castle is positioned on it's sheer cliffs is truly breathtalking

Bergen Norway took my breath away. As a 12 year old we took the overnight ship from Newcastle to Bergen. The North Sea was very rough throughout the night (my grandmother was sick all night!!) but I have a vivid memory of coming through the islands into Bergen harbour on a beautifull September morning, not a cloud in the sky. Passengers were standing on the deck, but everybody was quiet, just looking at the beauty. I remembered that feeling for many years..even started to doubt it...but have since been back with my wife (16 years later) and was right..it was as beautiful as I'd remembered. Restores faith in the human memory. <BR>

I posed this question to a friend of mine. What she had to say brought tears to my eyes. She was visiting Italy for the first time and had to see, of course, the statue David. As she was admiring it's beauty, an old man,who had to have been in his ninties, approached the statue. He looked at my friend and said, "I have been waiting for this moment all my life". He then went down on knees.

Flying into Paris for the first time since I was a high school student and seeing the Eiffel Tower from the airplane, like a piece on a Monopoly board.

<BR>The Greek island of Santorini, especially Oia. No need to elaborate. The name says it all.

In no particular order: <BR>Crossing Carrick-a-rede rope bridge in Northern Ireland; Giant's Causeway closeby. <BR> <BR>After visiting dozens of spectacular cathedrals throughout Europe - the stained glass in Ste Chapelle in Paris made me stare open-mouthed. <BR> <BR>The Pieta - I saw it before it had to be encased in bullet-proof glass. I could have sworn I saw her hand move... <BR> <BR>The view from the ONLY road around the northern coast of Naxos <BR> <BR>The view from Montserrat Abbey outside Barcelona. <BR> <BR>The entire Picasso Museum in Paris and ditto in Barcelona. <BR> <BR>Pointe du Hoc at Omaha Beach; Omaha Beach; Gold Beach; Juno Beach; the American Cemetery at Normandy. There are no words.... <BR> <BR>In Morocco, the Dades Valley and its gorges: looking down, or looking up. <BR> <BR>Skimming the water in an Olympia prop plane from Athens to Naxos <BR> <BR>In the medina in Fez, looking down on the vats of dye while men (really boys) stomped around in them to get the leather hides completely colored. <BR> <BR>The Roman ruins in Volubilis: in better condition than most of those in Italy; unguarded, unguided...we walked around among the partial houses and baths and shops, able to imagine life as it would have been thousands of years ago. <BR> <BR>The Sistine Chapel: even years ago, under the dirt and grime it was awe-inspiring. It should be a barn-burner after the restoration. <BR> <BR>The flowers on Edith Piaf's grave...all the time, every day <BR> <BR>The first time I saw the Mediterranean from a penthouse located on the third corniche in Nice. <BR> <BR>Entering the Chunnel...and the miracle of coming out the other side. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

Two (of many) memories from Provence: <BR>First, the view of Mt. Ste. Victoire from our apartment window...over our two-week stay it never appeared the same way twice--Cezanne felt compelled to paint it over 60 times due to the changing colors and we certainly could see why! Second - coming around a curve in the road and being met with a seemingly-unending field of sunflowers (or "sun-followers" if one translates from the French) all turned in the same direction against a brilliant blue sky. All of us in the car gasped! <BR> <BR>In another part of the world - Looking at a massive white cloud (above the rugged mountains) in the Alaska sky and then realizing it wasn't a cloud, it was Mt. McKinley.

In all my travels only one thing ever truely took my breath away. Stumbling out of the Cologne train station (after a 9 hour flight to Frankfurt followed by a 3 hour scenic train trip to Cologne), seeing the full magnificence of the Kolner Dom. A spectacular and possibly never to be equalled travel experience for me.

You know you've really seen something special when, even after seeing picture after picture or reading numerous description...... the sight still seems too unreal. I've been reading postings for a while and now here's my list... <BR>the Grand Canyon, the statue of David, Cape Sounion, 40 shades of green in Ireland, the Amalfi Coast, the Eiffel Tower, the view of the Roman Forum from Piazza Campidoglio, the NYC skyline, Santorini, Capri, the library at Ephesus........May we all be forutnate enough to have our lists keep growing and growing! <BR>

I love pictures. When I go away I take rolls and rolls. My theory is the more I take the more likely I am to get some really wonderful ones. But pictures never do those really awe inspiring sights justice do they? It's just not the same as being there. But I will keep taking them because it reminds me of how I felt when I saw it. <BR>