Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Where is your "magic place"?

Fodor's Travel Talk Forums (https://www.fodors.com/community/)

- Europe (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/)

- - Where is your "magic place"? (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/where-is-your-magic-place-36226/)

I'll start with one... it's hard to choose! A short walk from the center of Ohrid in Macedonia is an old monastery church named Sveti Jovan Kaneo [St. John the Theologian I think]. It isn't as large or as intricate as some of the other Macedonian Orthodox churches, but its simplicity and its location make it magic. You can sit on the stones overlooking beautiful Lake Ohrid or look back at the church itself. The second time I visited the church's "guardian", an older woman, remembered me and offered us some rakija, a Macedonian drink of some potency. So there we sat, drinking rakija [at 10:30am!], enjoying the interplay between nature and human creation... Here's a picture! [because words are failing me] http://www.ntsource.com/~dhfsbf19/europe98/kaneo.jpg

I too have several "magic places", all for different reasons. 1. Amsterdam canals at night - the bridges are lit up like fairyland. It is so atmospheric. 2. The Amalfi coast. You can just FEEL the history, the mythology. The terrace restaurant of the Villa Maria hotel in Ravello takes some beating as does the Villa Cimbrone with its magnificent view. 3. Wiltshire, England. It's where I'm from so I'm biased but it's just breathtakingly beautiful--and steeped in ancient history and folklore. 4. Cobblers Cove Hotel, Barbados. Tropical paradise--excellent service, discreet sophisticated elegance and a truly amazing beach!

No particular order: 1. An outdoor restaurant in Sorrento with a view of Capri in the distance and a cruise ship all lit up with hundreds of white lights. 2. The spectacular trails at Cinque Terre. 3. Emerald Bay, South Lake Tahoe 4. The fruit & vegetable stands in Paris. I'm with Monica. Travelling is the best!!

What fun it is reading everyone else's favorite places and thinking of my own! Here's my thoughts: 1) Boboli Gardens in Florence, Italy 2) Hawksnest Beach in Caneel Bay on St. John, US Virgin Islands 3) Sunset dinner at Cafe Hanalei in the Princeville Resort, Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii 4) Atop a hill oustide Cambridge, England in the springtime with a wine and cheese picnic I also experienced a wonderful moment on Keuka Lake in New York - my husband proposed to me one wintry night at the Snug Harbor Restaunt, and its just beautiful in the winter - the lake was frozen, with a light snow fall and absolutely no one was around. We had the entire top floor of the restaunt and were seated in front of a roaring fire. Its heavenly!

Three magic places: 3. Assisi, Italy 2. The Hermitage in St. Petersburg 1. Lower Kimball Pond in Chatham, NH

Great subject Eva: 1. Taking a horse drawn carraige up to Neuschwanstein Castle when it was snowing. 2. Walking the cobblestone street and alleys in Lindau, Germany. 3. Fishing in Yellowstone.

The Military Tatoo at the festival in Edinburgh. At sundown the towers of the castle light up, white smoke billows from the guns, and the skirl of the bagpipes preceeds the formations of Scotland's regimental bands. You don't have to be Celtic to feel this, but it helps!

Very hard to select only three, but... 1) the view over the bay in Kalkan, Turkey, a tiny fishing village growing much too rapidly http://caroledunn.com/kalkan 2) Mirepoix in southern France, a tiny and delightful town that no one knows, not even many French ... also Cassis 3) Orvieto or Spoleto in Italy

Thanks to all for your answer. I have been to some places you mentioned and now remember them with similar feelings. Like for Monica and Linda travelling is my love too. Some of you wrote about the places I haven`t visited yet, but I hope I will be able too see at least a few of them soon and maybe I will find the same "spirit" in them. Maira, L inda, Dan -you wrote about the Charles Bridge in Prague. I will have to visit it, as it is the nearest of all the places you mentioned. Eva

In random order: Assisi, Italy - The view from Hotel Giotto overlooking the valley below is amazing, breathtaking and soul moving The interior of any Gothic cathedral - I get goosebumps every time I enter one. I can FEEL the presence of God within them. I've never been able to feel that way in any other type of church. I love York Minster, Chiesa di Santa Chiara and San Francesco Basilica in Assisi, Duomo in Siena and the Duomo in Milan. My next trip will be to France so I can visit ALL the major Gothic cathedrals there. The Lake District, England - nature at its best Grand Palace Hotel in Varese, Italy - Situated atop a small hill overlooking the nearby Lake Como, the classy and charming hotel was the best surprise of my trip to Italy last year. The hotel was surrounded by nothing but tall, green pine trees, the sound of birds chirping and the wind cascading down tree branches ... ah, how wonderful!

What an interesting role "topper" plays in this ecosystem - - bringing up these tasty morsels from the bottom of the pond and putting them back into circulation: An obvious theme is how the "magic" intensifies at night for some places - - playing in and around the fountains at the Palais Chaillot with the lights of TE twinkling above... or just lie, literally right on the ground, in the grass in front of la Sagrada Familia at midnight in June, and look at one man's quest to reach uo with mortar and stone to the heavens ditto for the already-mentioned illuminated bridges and canals of Amsterdam... and another "second the motion" for the unbelievable sound and moonlit vision of falls at Yosemite in April when the snowmelt is at its peak and the crowds are still delightfully less crushing... a late-night gondola ride, in search of all of Cananova's haunts and conquests... or the pageantry and phenomenal horesmanship at the bloodless bullfights in Lisbon - - a good reason to be sure you hit this city on a Thursday night! A different kind of magic awaits at the end of the night, when sunrise brings a new day, and you can have the world all to yourself, out strolling as the world wakes up... in Temple Bar, where last night's empty kegs await pick-up and replacement by their refilled cousins in the town square of Ulm, right in front of the giant Munster, when the market springs to life every Wednesday morning in hundreds of little bakeries throughout Italy, with just a little sign over the door - - il forno - - where flour, water, salt, oil and yeast are transformed into "le pizze" del giorno, and just about everybody in town drops by to pick up their daily sustenance and even in midtown Manhattan, where there never really is a quiet hour before the dawn, but 4 a.m.'s shuffle gradually gives rise to the everyday hustle and bustle of another day in Gotham Still, magic can be found in broad daylight too... especially in castles... and wanna-be castle-like dreams built by Hearst, Coty and others, like at San Simeon, California Asheville, North Carolina Burg Eltz, Germany Schloss Linderhof, Germany What's unbelievable is how many wonderful places are actually open for you to put a roof over your head, like at: Chateau d'Artigny, France Parkhotel Wasserburg-Anholt, Germany L'Abbaye at Talloires, France Pleasant Hill, Kentucky Thanks, "topper" for letting me share...

My favorite 3 places: 1) Vernazza and the cinque terre. The people, mediterranean sea, and beautifully colored houses and umbrellas make you forget all about work. 2) Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria. 3) Ile St Louis in Paris

Some of my favorite "magic" places around the world: -a walkway overlooking the roaring power and bouncing rainbows at the very brink of Iquazu Falls in Argentina -overlooking the lush Arung River gorge in the center of Bali; the view from my hotel room -Gaudi's bench at the park in Barcelona -the Ganges, in a slow-moving boat at Banares, after a rosy dawn visit to the Taj Majal -the View of Infinity in a Ravello garden -the tiny, water-colored fishermaen's island of Procida in the Bay of Naples -Vermont village commons on a crisp fall day -the nature preserve--the river walk-- by my house

Here is one that you haven't heard of or at least I don't think you have. Flying in a float plane on the south shore of Hudson Bay looking for Polar Bear and Beluga Whales. I would be most interested if anyone has

Floating down the Colorado River through Canyonlands National Park on a raft

Only 3? Hmmm.. 1)The magnificence of Torres del Paine in Southern Chile with its beauty and diversity, 2)The Monasteries at Meteora at sunset..or sunrise..or anytime during the day! 6 Monasteries perched thousands of feet high on giant rocks in Northern Greece, 3)A walk through the jungle to spend sunrise at one of the ancient Mayan temples at Tikal in Guatemala.

For the sake of a typical topper topic let me add another I missed earlier. Has anyone ever seen a sunset at Cape St. Vincent near Sagres Portugal. The ancients considered this the end of the world. Consider staying at the lovely Pousada nearby--a view to kill for.

I have a bias for Prague and I saw the most amazing sunset the other day. To solve world peace and other little problems, I go sit on the benches just next to the Rudolfinum, overlooking the Vltava River. The sky was partly cloudy, red, streaked with the colors of the sunset, the Prague Castle perfectly framed in brilliant colors. Wow. There's some magic in this city, no doubt about it.

Eva, your question made us all remember special places. These are my best: - the ruins of Coba, in Yucatan-Mexico (sitting at the top of Nohoch Mul, an old piramid in the middle of the green forest; or looking at the sunset at Lake Macanxoc) - unforgettable; - the sunset at Land`s End, Cornwall, England; - Corcovado-Rio de Janeiro (this is where I live !) early in a cloudy morning, when the clouds suddenly disappear and disclose the Christ against the blue sky - breathtaking.