What was your single favorite European travel moment for 2007?
 

This year we had fun family trips to Barcelona, New York, Boston, Maine and Disneyworld. As I reflect on the year, my mind and heart return to Barcelona. It's hard to pin down one favorite moment in Barcelona, but I think it was the first lunch we had there...even before the food arrived...drinking cava sangria and eating the best olives I've had in my life...I knew we were going to like the city!

What was your favorite European travel moment of the year?

Being a Eucharistic minister at mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome was certainly right up there!

Great topic!

It's really tough to choose, but I think my favorite moment was when we sailed up the fjord into Kotor at sunrise in October. I had aboslutely no idea how stunning the scenery would be ... it literally took my breath away.

Close second was in Paris - it was our first time there - had arrived by train from Venice on a rainy afternoon, and finally after settling in at our apartment in the Montmartre, we were starving. We wandered our neighborhood in the dark, completely intimidated by the French on the chalkboard menus outside the numerous cafes. Hunger forced us into a small cafe, where we stumbled through the items available until a young waitress took pity on us and in a very friendly manner helped us each decide on a pork loin plate. The dinner was delicious with a sauce to die for, and the wine she brought to our table warmed us.

The icing on the cake, so to speak, was when she had a free minute to spare from her waitressing duties, and she came over to our table and drew us a small map on a napkin, pointing the way to some of the out-of-the-way places to see in the immediate neighborhood. What an amazing welcome to Paris!

One most memorable..Istanbul,first day in city, standing outside Blue Moseque when the call to prayer came out over loudspeakers and was echoed by other mosques. It was a cultural moment I haven't forgotten.

Watching my son propose to his girlfriend at the Eiffel Tour.

Having traveled to France many times, our favorite moment of 2007 was arriving at our room at the "Chateau Perreux " just outside Amboise. Stunning---simply stunning!

What a great topic can't wait to read all of the responses.

www.ballet.org.uk/video/versailles_01.htm


"This summer (26 – 28 July) English National Ballet performs Swan Lake in truly romantic surroundings. See the world’s best-loved ballet performed on a floating stage on the Bassin de Neptune in the glorious gardens of the Palace of Versailles. As the sun sets behind the magnificent Chateau, watch the beauty and elegance of English National Ballet’s 64 dancers in this unique and magical setting."

This has to be the highlight of our vacation. It was a most magical evening in a most magical place.

I always love the moment when the plane is just about to touch down (in Europe!)The trip is planned and the anticipation at maximum level.

This year we went to see the tulips in Holland - fantastic. One day in the formal gardens and one day riding thru the tulip fields - now besides all the places I have yet to go, I have added this trip to my list to do again!

Seeing the Ballet Nacional de Cuba perform Don Quixote in the Grand Palais in Paris, last summer -- and then Alicia Alonso herself coming out on stage.

The view from the "top" in Anacapri. Just beautiful.

visited London,Bath, Aix, Nice ( and other places on the Cote) ,Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo, Granada.
Many great moments. One I did not expect:

getting out of the cab and seeing Park Guell - felt a jolt of pure childlike joy .

An entire year without having to go to, through, near, or from Heathrow Airport.

Scavi tour followed at a close second by every morsel I ate while in Italy.

Difficult decision! I would have to say being at the Open in Carnoustie, literally inches from players such as Tiger, Sergio, etc. and watching the playoff hole. Weir said hi to us!

Second was coming over the crest of a hill and then - BAM - Bamburgh Castle (England) in all its glory looming in the distance perched high on a cliff. I have been to over 150 castles in Europe, all special in their way, and this castle's dramatic location literally left me breathless.

Visiting the Rodin Museum for the fourth or so time but this time with a special exhibition of Rodin's own collection of Japanese art.

A cheese sandwich shared with my wife on the shore of Lake Lucerne with the cheese and bread chosen by the shopgirl.

Falling in love in Dubrovnik.

First trip to Italy in October...

Coming out of the train station at Termini Rome. My brain was instantly in overload!

But the best was walking down the stairs where Trajan's Column is and seeing in one eyeful the Forum, the Colosseum, Trajan's Market. I will never, ever forget that image!

I cannot wait to go back! :) Merry Christmas, my Fodor friends and Happy Travels in 2008!

Paula

My first trip to Europe in 17 years--where did the time go?

My favorite moment is drinking prosecco and eating the appetizers prior to our dinner at La Giostra in Firenze on my wife's birthday, with the gelato at Vivoli's and Grom a close second.

Meeting with Barb in Mostar and again in Dubrovnik... and no, it wasn't me she fell in love with!!!

Seriously, it was Mostar. I was swept away by its beauty, which surpassed anything I saw in Croatia or Montenegro.

More a series of moments....Taking a transatlantic cruise on the QM2, the Eurostar from London to Paris, picking up my car in Paris, and showing my in-laws Paris, Normandy, and Holland. Along the way, guiding them around the Normandy battlefields, visiting the American cemetery and the Bayeux Tapestry, and celebrating my wife's birthday at a Michelin-starred restaurant in the Norman countryside. We then drove back to our home in Germany, stopping in Cologne for lunch on a Sunday afternoon. We sat in a sidewalk beer garden with a view of the cathedral and that delicious Frueh Beer in the small glasses. I am a proud American, but I LOVE Europe!