maitaitom

I agree with Ryan that it was looking at the rows of crosses and Stars of David at the American Cemetary in Normandy. It was the day before Memorial Day in 1998, and what I remember the most was a recently written letter (by a sister of the fallen soldier) laying in front of one of the crosses that said "we still think of you every day and love you."

gaegrand

Oh, what a wonderful thread. I am enjoying these stories.

I have had three experiences where I went into another state of being,completely happy, and feeling I was where I was meant to be.

1. Driving down the east side of the St Lawrence Seaway from Quebec to Montreal and seeing Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome. the US pavillion, at the 1967 World's Fair.

2. Coming out of the subway station and seeing Big Ben in London. I couldn't believe I was finally there.

3. Driving across the river into Omaha, Nebraska, and, high on a hill, seeing Rosenblatt Stadium where my college team would be playing in the College World Series.

Next week I go to Venice with my two grown daughters. My first trip without my wonderful late husband.

joegri

Arriving at Eger in Hungary and looking up at the castle (Egri Varo) while absorbing the fact that this is where my family name was born.

carolyn

erinb, try abebooks.com to look for the Gabaldon book. They can provide almost anything and do currency conversions if needed.

I have posted some magic momemts on other threads, but one of mine was seeing the Grand Platz in Brussels at night when they turned off all the lights and then relit the buildings one by one around the square. Another was seeing the Edinburgh castle at night when it appeared to be floating on its black rock under an almost full moon.

playlad

Good one JandaO!
Two experiences - where my mind seemed to stop the rant and take a mental snap-shot of the surroundings - even now the flashbacks are clearer than a digital image.. a strange phenomena - Eckhard Tolle would call it 'The Now'


1) We skied from Italy into Switzerland/Zermatt.Crisp mountain air of the Matterhorn - no-one else around but my friends and fir tress laden with fresh snow. We meandered down the mountainside, a few more huts appeared and then we were in Zermatt. Great feeling! to cross the boarders on skis too

2) living in Roma I finally decided to get a vespa -when friends and family arrived I had put them on the back. I constantly went to the colloseum - Boca de la Verita - circus maximus the palantine hills - idling along the small streets of trastevere at night.

I could see more - take in the smells/aroma and hear more - and never get tired.
loved the experience - dang it now I want to go back!!

rickmav

What a great question.

- Finding out where Winston Churchill was buried and taking my mother there (Bladon Church) while we were visiting the Cotswolds. She was very moved.

- Getting remarried at Stourhead Gardens in Wiltshire on our 25th wedding anniv.

- Visiting the Holocaust Exhibit at the Imperial War Museum in London.

capo

Coming out of the train station and seeing the Grand Canal right in front of me on my first visit to Venice is also one of my favorite travel moments. It seemed surreal, magical, like I had just stumbled into some fantastic aquatic mirage.

Another moment that really stays with me is seeing the gorgeously verdant Lauterbrunnen Valley, with all of its waterfalls.

playlad

here are some amazing 'panaoramic' shots of VENICE for those whith 'withdrawl'

click 'enlarge'

http://italy.explore.it/venice_welcome.html

jor

A hostel near the beach in the Algarve in Portugal. Total Bliss.

Dottie

On a trip to Austrailia we took a day trip out of Sydney to the Blue mountains.At the end of the day on the way back to Sydney we were traveling though the mountains. The bus stopped at a clearing of trees and the mountains around,we left the bus and walked over a hill. The clearing was covered with more Cockatoo then I had seen in my life,on the ground feeding. Among the sea of white birds were a herd of Kangaroo. There was a small group of 12 on that day. One couple was from France and didn't speak Engish,and we spoke no French. But our eyes met and no words were needed. We were at that momment in heaven.

TracyB

I've had so many, but standing on the Great Wall of China, definately brought shivers, listening to the chimes in the temple's of Bali, the look on my foster child's face when I visited her in Thailand...and there are many more, but those one's first come to mind..

LindaW

Seeing the David in Florence still awes me--not just the statue, which is powerful enough, but the lighting also.

Seeing the identification pictures and luggage at Auschwitz and the rows of barrack chimneys at Birkenau, knowing that each represented people who were suffering so much.

Standing at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in D.C. after the changing of the guards and the setting sun shone on the tomb and it was so quiet.

Standing on the Charles Bridge at night in Prague is so romantic.

conquistador

When I arrived in Bucharest ,Romania in early 1990 the Dictator Caucesceu(sp) had just been assassinated. The plate glass windows at the airport were riddled with bullet holes. I checked in to the Intercontinental Hotel and when I pulled back the curtains and stepped out on the balcony I was greeted by the sight of tens of thousands of celebrating Romanians Chanting "NO COMINISTU". I was witness to people being FREED!

hcoltman

My girlfriend and I went to Italy and visited Rome, Florence and Venice. In Rome we were at the Vatican and accidently happened to be in time for a mass, after lighting candles for both of our mothers who had recently died. To take communion at the Vatican is everlasting. In Florence to walk along the Arno at daybreak. In Venice to arrive from the train station, as others have mentioned, and take your first trip on a vaporetto and see the Square, to experience the Bridge of Sighs, the trip to Murano and watching the glassblowers. The charm of Italian men!!

ed

The first time I was in London I went into the church of the RAF in the Strand.

There was a book listing the names of the members of the Eighth Air Force who had been killed.
It was open to the page the page listing the name of my my neighbor.

ThinGorjus

Shivers quite doesn't describe the feeling of standing on the Great Wall of China. It is more like a feeling of awe and wonderment at the scope of such a structure that is 3000 miles long and was built by human hands and sweat. When I stood on the Great Wall 3 years ago, I was alone with two of my friends. We were the only ones around for about 2 miles, except for the ladies who sell Coke and souvenirs from their painted carts. The sky was the colour of smoke that day and you could hear nothing but the wind rustle the leaves of the trees below. I truely felt like I was standing atop the world, ony a few feet from heaven. When the corona of the afternoon sun broke through the clouds for a few minutes, I thought of the poem, The Magi, by Yeats:

Now as at all times I can see in the mind's eye,
In their stiff, painted clothes, the pale unsatisfied ones
Appear and disappear in the blue depth of the sky
With all their ancient faces like rain-beaten stones,
And all their helms of silver hovering side by side,
And all their eyes still fixed, hoping to find once more,
Being by Calvary's turbulence unsatified,
The uncontrollable mystery on the bestial floor.

StCirq

Winter of 1974 - Bergamo, Italy. Singing on a stage in an airplane hangar, with a snowstorm raging outside, for a regiment of the Italian Army (was a participant on a USO Tour). 500 Italian soldiers in full uniform, each of them holding a blood-red rose. At the end of the performance they threw the roses on the stage and escorted us back to our chalets, where we slept through one of those impeccably quiet snowy nights under mountains of goose down, with their roses strewn around our rooms.

tondalaya

That was very touching, Thinboy. Did you feel the same way about the terra cotta soldiers? I know that my dear brother found them to be something awesome.

jmw

I know there are many other places that provide the same experience, so mine is not unique; but it's those twinkling lights of Brissago just after sundown against the blue-violet hills and sky of Lago Maggiore. J.

GreenDragon

Standing on the Hill of Tara in Ireland on my trip in August (1997). It was around 9am, chilly, and utterly alone. I could see for miles around the countryside, and I felt as if I was alone in the land. It felt as if I could see the whole country from where I stood. I felt the power and the magic of Ireland swelling through the hills and into me, a focus of thousands of years of kings and queens, gods and goddesses. It was probably the most spiritually charged sight I've ever seen.