What was your single favorite European travel moment for 2007?
Jan 9th, 2008, 05:37 AM
#162
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In answer to Katie H.--the agriturismi we stayed at on our 2007 Italy trip are as follows:
Ca'del Baldo, www.cadelbaldo.com, which is at the foot of Mt. Baldo--7 km. from Lake Garda and 30 km. from Verona. It is on the edge of a village called Caprino Veronese. I searched online for many, many hours/days to find this place. It is run by a young couple, Roberta and Carlo. Roberta speaks 4-5 languages. The apts., pool and grounds are beautiful and we would stay here again. Check out their website for pictures--it looks just like the pictures!
They bought the property 10 years ago and renovated the bldgs. If I remember right, they have only been open for 3 years or so. They are planning on adding a vineyard and olive trees in the future.
There are 4 apts with A/C--2 of them in the former hayloft (1st floor), which is attached at the end of the home that the family lives in and 2 in the former stables (ground). All apts. have private terraces with tables/chairs and the ones in the former hayloft are covered. We loved having this terrace and being able to just step out there with our morning coffee, etc.
The second week we stayed a few km. outside of Assisi at a place called La Fornace, www.lafornace.com. This was also very nice but we were on the 1st floor (I knew this when I booked)and missed not being able to just step outside with our coffee or wine so probably wouldn't stay here again for this reason. There was a nice brick patio with tables below our apt., lovely grounds and pool.
This place was in the Rick Steves' 2007 Italy book and I found out later it is also in Karen Brown's book. It was a great location for exploring many of the Umbrian villages.
We have stayed at agriturismi on previous trips and we really love having our apts. on the ground level. Also, as most people know, you really must have a car if staying at an agriturismo. Let me know if you would like more info.
Ca'del Baldo, www.cadelbaldo.com, which is at the foot of Mt. Baldo--7 km. from Lake Garda and 30 km. from Verona. It is on the edge of a village called Caprino Veronese. I searched online for many, many hours/days to find this place. It is run by a young couple, Roberta and Carlo. Roberta speaks 4-5 languages. The apts., pool and grounds are beautiful and we would stay here again. Check out their website for pictures--it looks just like the pictures!
They bought the property 10 years ago and renovated the bldgs. If I remember right, they have only been open for 3 years or so. They are planning on adding a vineyard and olive trees in the future.
There are 4 apts with A/C--2 of them in the former hayloft (1st floor), which is attached at the end of the home that the family lives in and 2 in the former stables (ground). All apts. have private terraces with tables/chairs and the ones in the former hayloft are covered. We loved having this terrace and being able to just step out there with our morning coffee, etc.
The second week we stayed a few km. outside of Assisi at a place called La Fornace, www.lafornace.com. This was also very nice but we were on the 1st floor (I knew this when I booked)and missed not being able to just step outside with our coffee or wine so probably wouldn't stay here again for this reason. There was a nice brick patio with tables below our apt., lovely grounds and pool.
This place was in the Rick Steves' 2007 Italy book and I found out later it is also in Karen Brown's book. It was a great location for exploring many of the Umbrian villages.
We have stayed at agriturismi on previous trips and we really love having our apts. on the ground level. Also, as most people know, you really must have a car if staying at an agriturismo. Let me know if you would like more info.
Jan 9th, 2008, 06:07 AM
#163
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I love this thread!
Just one moment?!?! 2007 was our final year in Germany and we traveled every chance we could get, so it's tough to single out one experience. I have to go with this one (yes, another Rome story!):
I took my mom to Rome for 4 days in June - my third visit, and her first. The whole trip was wonderful (it was the second time in our lives that the two of us had traveled together without other family) but my favorite moment was when we stumbled on the Teatro di Marcello in the early evening and got to listen to a pianist warming up for a concert. We stood there for a long time watching and listening as strains of Chopin floated up to us, echoing off the arches of the theater, the whole scene bathed in golden light. Absolutely magical!
Just one moment?!?! 2007 was our final year in Germany and we traveled every chance we could get, so it's tough to single out one experience. I have to go with this one (yes, another Rome story!):
I took my mom to Rome for 4 days in June - my third visit, and her first. The whole trip was wonderful (it was the second time in our lives that the two of us had traveled together without other family) but my favorite moment was when we stumbled on the Teatro di Marcello in the early evening and got to listen to a pianist warming up for a concert. We stood there for a long time watching and listening as strains of Chopin floated up to us, echoing off the arches of the theater, the whole scene bathed in golden light. Absolutely magical!
Jan 9th, 2008, 08:10 AM
#164
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I think walking into the Cathedral at Como was probably my favourite holiday moment of 2007. Breathtaking. A wonderful atmosphere. Doubly so, after visiting the much larger, in-your-face gothic Duomo of Milan, even with all its spires and treasures.
Jan 9th, 2008, 09:58 AM
#165
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We went to Venice for a week and the whole trip was magical but I do have two stand out moments.
First, sitting with a nonna on Burano and watching her make lace and talking with us (in Italian) was a magic moment. It felt like I was a little girl again and sitting with my grandmother while she quilted.
Second, on the vaporetto late at night a man ahead of us has a huge bouquet of flowers of lilies, tulips, etc. Giacomo and I have been in the business so we notice these things, and I comment to Giacomo how lovely it is. The gentleman must have overheard and turns around and extracts three tulips and gives them to me. I am astonished and thank him profusely. Only in Italy can a man have the confidence and gentlemanliness to give another Italian man’s wife flowers right in front of him. Another memory to always bring a smile…
First, sitting with a nonna on Burano and watching her make lace and talking with us (in Italian) was a magic moment. It felt like I was a little girl again and sitting with my grandmother while she quilted.
Second, on the vaporetto late at night a man ahead of us has a huge bouquet of flowers of lilies, tulips, etc. Giacomo and I have been in the business so we notice these things, and I comment to Giacomo how lovely it is. The gentleman must have overheard and turns around and extracts three tulips and gives them to me. I am astonished and thank him profusely. Only in Italy can a man have the confidence and gentlemanliness to give another Italian man’s wife flowers right in front of him. Another memory to always bring a smile…
Jan 9th, 2008, 11:33 AM
#166
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Thanks BellaItalia--- just curious for my own personal files. Photos of that first one look beautiful. A potential trip "one day" to Italy with my extended family came up over the holidays and I thought that securing several apartments at an agriturismo might be a good way to go.
Jan 9th, 2008, 04:43 PM
#167
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We entered an uncrowded Retiro park in Madrid on a warm, beautiful day in March. Near the lake, we saw a man with a beret, sitting on the ledge, playing "New York, New York" on an accordion. We sat down on a park bench to savor the moment and realized that it doesn't matter where you go, you can always find a reminder of home.
Jan 10th, 2008, 07:51 AM
#168
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Lunch on the deck of the Windstar in the port of Monte Carlo, nice wine, fresh seafood, sitting in the sun, looking at all the yachts and the harbor,feeling like one of the rich and famous for an hour.
Ditto for lunch of the deck of our canal barge in Burgundy in early November--sunshine, great food and wine and the absolute peace of the beautiful countryside.
Ditto for lunch of the deck of our canal barge in Burgundy in early November--sunshine, great food and wine and the absolute peace of the beautiful countryside.
Jan 13th, 2008, 03:18 PM
#172
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I went to Turkey and Greece last September. My friend and I spent the first three days in Cappadocia before arriving in Istanbul. After dropping off our bags, we went and sat on the benches in front of the Blue Mosque and listened to the call to prayer. We sat there people-watching for the next hour. The next five days were amazing, but there was nothing like that first evening when we tried to soak it all in.
Jan 13th, 2008, 05:05 PM
#173
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This year we went to visit our daughter and son in law in London, and made a five day side trip to Amsterdam. I think the highlight was being at Kukenhoff gardens just at the peak of the tulip blooms, and renting bikes outside of the gardens and going for a nice ride along the tulip fields
Jan 13th, 2008, 06:15 PM
#175
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This will be hard to narrow down to one moment, so I'll pick two....
1) <b>the feeling I got when our train rounded the corner entering Cinque Terre and seeing the Mediterranean Sea for the first time</b>. All the months of planning or photos I've researched couldn't hold a candle to what I was seeing. I couldn't help but put my nose outside the window to smell the sea air. And the look on my husband's face while I did this was priceless.
2) <b>When I realized what a gift it was to be in Vernazza</b>. That moment were I felt I had died and gone to heaven. We fell in love with the town, people, food and energy of such a special town that we only spent 4 days of our life there. Such a special place...aaahhhh.
1) <b>the feeling I got when our train rounded the corner entering Cinque Terre and seeing the Mediterranean Sea for the first time</b>. All the months of planning or photos I've researched couldn't hold a candle to what I was seeing. I couldn't help but put my nose outside the window to smell the sea air. And the look on my husband's face while I did this was priceless.
2) <b>When I realized what a gift it was to be in Vernazza</b>. That moment were I felt I had died and gone to heaven. We fell in love with the town, people, food and energy of such a special town that we only spent 4 days of our life there. Such a special place...aaahhhh.
Jan 14th, 2008, 10:11 AM
#177
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Favorite trip: Taking my Mom to Italy for 15 nights, in May. We visited Varenna (Lake Como) for 3 nights, Venice for 3, Florence for 2, Val d'Orcia for 3, and Rome for 4 nights.
It's so hard to pick a "single favorite moment" because it was all so wonderful, but a few of them were the after-hours tour of the Vatican with Helen Donegan, and the ballooning in the Val d'Orcia. Mom loved the whole trip but the highlight she said was the ballooning (this from a woman with a pronounced fear of heights, and until her daughter started flying, hated flying, full stop.)
Now I don't think I can keep her away from balloons. I expect our next trip will contain a balloon ride somewhere.
It's so hard to pick a "single favorite moment" because it was all so wonderful, but a few of them were the after-hours tour of the Vatican with Helen Donegan, and the ballooning in the Val d'Orcia. Mom loved the whole trip but the highlight she said was the ballooning (this from a woman with a pronounced fear of heights, and until her daughter started flying, hated flying, full stop.)
Now I don't think I can keep her away from balloons. I expect our next trip will contain a balloon ride somewhere.
Jan 14th, 2008, 02:00 PM
#178
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My husband and I were on our way to the Doria Pamphilj gallery in Rome when we were startled by three Jack Russell terriers who had come running up to a wrought iron gate we were passing. Since we were missing our own dog back home we stopped to say hi and then continued around the corner to the gallery. We quickly realized that these dogs actually lived in the house attached to the gallery and throughout our visit we'd hear them barking--we could see them in the courtyard and it was so funny to watch them madly barking and running toward the gate whenever someone walked past. There was a fountain in the middle of the courtyard and at one point all three of the dogs were running around the rim.
The gallery was a real highlight for me--the Velazquez portrait of Pope Innocent was fantastic--but it was the three naughty little dogs that made it my single favorite European travel moment for 2007.
The gallery was a real highlight for me--the Velazquez portrait of Pope Innocent was fantastic--but it was the three naughty little dogs that made it my single favorite European travel moment for 2007.
Jan 15th, 2008, 01:31 PM
#180
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Gotta say, when we were at the Edinburg Tattoo...it was, as always, spectacular. We were spellbound for over 2 hours. Also, we found a marvenous restaurant just a few doors down the Royal Mile..went there before and after the performance, waiting for the crowds to thin out.
