ROME---the Piazza Navona, just wandering and hanging out.

FLORENCE---Buying a thin, beautifully made gold bracelet on the Ponte Vecchio(and I'm really not that materialistic). That was in 2001 and I haven't taken it off since.

VENICE---Dreaming of many memorable moments to come as it's on my bucket list.

Venice - eating sarde incinte ("pregnant" sardines) upstairs at Bancogiro. One of those magic moments when you find an intimate little space amid the hubbub. (Bancogiro is right by the Rialto fish market; the sardines were little bites of perfection.)

Florence - my first full day in Italy, having lunch with my parents at a restaurant near Piazzale Michelangelo. We had a view of the whole city spread out before us, with the Duomo towering above the other rooftops like a great red hen presiding over her brood. (Parents: take your kids to Italy and they'll remember it for a lifetime.)

Rome - wandering the streets on our last night before returning home, trying to find the right place to propose to my girlfriend. My original plan, the Trevi Fountain, had been utter foolishness -- we could hardly exchange a word over the din of the crowd. I took her by Largo Argentina because she loves cats -- but they proved to be too much competition for her attention! (Also, odor was not great.) We wind our way over to the Tiber, and we take the steps by the Ponte Sisto down to the river's edge. Suddenly, while the world's greatest city pulsed above us, we were alone with the moon and the stars. And she said yes.

I'll cheat a little and say that I have wonderful memories of many pieces of art and architecture in all of those cities, so I won't use ANY of those as my fondest memory. The best in the art category, though, is visiting the Borghese Gallery for the first time, quite a few years ago. We were wandering from room to room, admiring the statues, when I came upon the statue of Apollo and Daphne - I recognied it at once as the statue that I loved the most during an art and mythology course that I had taken in college, and forgotten all about, until that moment.

Now, for the non-art and architecture moments:

1) Rome: The little trattoria that we stumbled on during that same first visit to Rome. It signaled availability of fresh porcini mushrooms with a full basket in the front window. On our last trip to Rome, we ate here again, and enjoyed it as much as before. The highlight this time was the padrone (godfather) of the restaurant, who mostly wandered around, occasionally helping the younger folks run the place. He shaved a huge amount of white truffles on our pasta for us, and explained in detail (in Italian, which I only partly understood) what puntarella is.

2) Florence: Hmmm. I'm detecting a trend here. Wandering into several different casual pizzerias, at lunch, and discovering we could buy one piece of delicious zucchini-topped pizza, then go back for a eggplant pizza, and so on.

3) Venice: Walking in the depths of the Canneregio, following a walking tour out of J. Links "Venice for Pleasure." We stopped at a bar/cafe on a side canal, for a mid-morning coffee at one of their 2-3 canalside tables. We were the only non-locals, and the only people there who were drinking coffee - the rest were drinking wine and liquor(at 10 am).

Oh - another cheat. I'm a runner, and I LOVE running while on vacation. Running through the streets in the quiet of the morning allows me to see people and sights that I don't see the same way during the day. So I have many fond memories of runs in these cities.

Florence - seeing "The David" and just feeling the awe of what I was actually being able to experience.

Venice - walking to the water taxi with DH on our last morning and turning around a couple times to see Francesco from our hotel still watching us and waving good-bye. We had become quite friendly with him having nice chats usually more than once a day. I was already feeling emotional about leaving the magical city, and then realizing Francesco was in the doorway till we were out of sight, caused me to choke up even more. I was hoping so badly we would return to Venice and thankfully we did.

Rome - haven't been there yet, but it's on the list.

Rome: Arriving in Rome, alone, walk to St. Peter's for Mass at 6.30 and wandering around after Mass as they slowly turned lights off in church. Amazing.

Florence: Last year, a hike up to San Miniato, amazing church and graveyard and a stunning view of Florence. Also, Santa Croce....and years ago, staying at Hotel Quisisana and watching track and field on TV with two very old Italian ladies and trying to communicate with them. That was the hotel where "A Room with a View" was partially shot.

Venice: Late '80s, traveling from Budapest to Austria, booked five days in the Alps but got a hankering for Italian food and drove to Venice. Never in my life have I had a feeling like I had coming on the vaporetto down the Grand Canal!

Matt, your story brought a lump to my throat. You're a lucky couple!

Rome - eating pizza and drinking a glass of wine at a cafe near the top of the Spanish Steps. It was our first ever meal in Italy and I just kept pinching myself to make sure it was real.

Florence - walking across the Ponte Vecchio; what a view!

Venice - cruising into Venice at dawn as the fog was lifting. It was so overwhelming, I just cried (out of happiness.)

Rome: Sitting on the rooftop terrace of the Sofitel with a group of 8 friends, eating fresh figs, proscuitto, cheeses, olives all washed with a few bottles of Chianti we had purchased at a vineyard that day, enjoying fabulous views and the feeling of pure happiness in the moment.

Florence: Winding up a three hour dinner at my friend's trattoria with a songfest between our table of friends and a group of about 20 Italian Carabinieri who were there attending a soocer match.

Venice: Arriving in the very early morning via private water taxi and watching the city appear out the mist, as if by majic.

Rome: The early March skies were cloudy and dark as we walked somewhere between Piazza Navona and the Pantheon. All of a sudden we stopped, looked, and there was snow falling!

Even the Romans seemed delighted and people came out of the shops to admire the phenomenon.

We later heard that this was the first snowfall in many years--some said 15 years, some said 20. Whatever, it was wonderful!

Florence: On the recommendation of some local residents met earlier in the day, we (four couples) went to dinner at a little restaurant on the Piazza Santo Spirito. We sat at picnic-style tables, and were soon joined by our new friends.

The wine and the food were good, and a little band wandered in. There was much singing, more drinking, and a wonderful memory was made.

Venice: We wanted to take an early train for Siena, so we left our hotel before sunrise.

Heavy fog filled the little streets, and the only noises were out footsteps and the little click-click-clisk of our suitcase wheels on the cobblestones. There were no other people out, but we were observed by the curious cats perched in windows and stoops.

We felt as if we were in some old black and whit movie.

We made it to the vaporetta stop, where we waited for a long time, and worried that the fog had stoped the boats, but a Number One finally showed up and we just barely made our train.

We've been back to Venice many times since, and have had so many remarkable experiences there, but neither of us will forget that hauntingly beautiful foggy morning.

(But there was that evening last fall when we finally had "Singing Gondolieres"...)

Byrd

Rome - Walking the city early on our first morning to take pictures. Not sure where exactly we were, we turned a corner to find the Pantheon, in all its beauty, right before us. We were the only ones in the piazza and it was magical. By far, my favorite spot in Rome.

Florence - (haven't been there, but using Siena as did another poster.) Sitting at a cafe in the campo drinking bellinis while the sun set.

Venice - Watching the sunrise on the Grand Canal while taking a vaporetto to St. Marks Square for pictures.

Byrd...I have a snow story, too! Were you there in winter 2006?
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VENICE: Just as the sun set it began to snow. But this wasn't plain ole vanilla white snow. As you know, in Venice the little streets are lined with shop windows full of colored glass and light fixtures. The snow was reflecting all those colors, falling in soft yellows, greens and pinks. It was like confetti!

When we returned to our hotel they were sponsoring a "soiree". There we sat, sipping champagne and nibbling canapes, as we watched the snow fall on the Grand Canal. Doesn't get much better than that!

ROME: A cold misty afternoon, sister and I are the only patrons at a little sidewalk cafe. The proprietor delivers our cappuccinos and his tray almost makes me cry! The foam on top of each cup has been formed into a<I> perfect little heart</i>...speared with a whole cinnamon clove! As if that weren't enough, he also included some tiny purple flowers and a few pretty sweets from his shop. The smile on his face was simply glorious. Perfetto!

FLORENCE: Walking alone as it was getting dark one winter afternoon. I was somewhat lost and traversing the tiny "alley-like" streets. I rounded a corner and came upon a notch in the wall with a little blue Madonna in it. I was just thinking how I loved the way Italy can surprise us like that when the air filled with angelic music. Someone nearby was playing Puccini. Sigh.

Hmmmmmm.......Rome? With my wife our first time out (my second personally)? Dinner at Alfredo e Ada. Thought nobody spoke a word that the other understood though a wonderful time was had. That and the Galleria Borghesse. Florence? Omero for dinner on an evening not to be forgotten combined with a day at the Ufizzi. Venice? Osteria Al Bacareto by virtue of helpful staff and good food. Beyond that, Venice was mostly forgettable.

JeanneB,

No, our "snow story" was March 2 or 3, 2004.

Your Venice snow sounds heavenly! We love Venice, rain, shine, or fog, so I know a snowy day would be wonderful.

Some time after our snowy day in Rome, I was reading a little book named City Secrete-Rome, and found:

"If it ever is snowing when one is in Rome, head directly and as quickly as possible to the Pantheon. Seeing a white column of snow drifting down the middle of the Pantheon is a once in a lifetime experience."--William Wyer

And I am so sorry I missed my chance to see that sight!

Byrd

1) Rome - being left behind by our school group and finding our way to the Catacombs and home on our own on our first full day in Italy!

2) Florence - daily colazione lovingly prepared by my homestay mom and wonderful dinners and conversation with my homestay family. If I didn't love my own family so much, I would've asked them to adopt me. :)

3) Venice - getting hit on by a local who tried to 'lure' me by saying, "You know what Venetians are famous for - we looooove like Casanova." UH-HUH!...and no, I did not fall for it.

OOPS! I just re-read the title...THAT was not my FONDEST memory of Venice - just the funniest. Let me do this again:

3) Venice - Like most people, it has to be the first time I saw Venice. It is simply breathtaking. A close second (sorry, I'm breaking the rules!) is walking on makeshift walkways due to acqua alta - I must have been one of the few people actually loving the experience!

Rome - observing a priest talk animatedly to his friend at the edge of the crowd right through the middle of the Easter Sunday mass at the St Peter's Square, totally ignoring the Pope.

Florence - suddenly coming upon a finger in a glass jar in the Science Museum; think it once was attached to Gallileo.

Venice - arriving after dark on the vaporetto from the airport to see St Mark's Square swathed in fog.

Rome: After a wonderful dinner with friends who treated us as our wedding gift, we all wandered by Trevi Fountain and then over to the Colosseum. We were so enjoying our time together and the monuments at night that we didn't even realize it was 1:30 in the morning.

Venice: Despite my grumbling, my husband dragged me out of bed and over to St. Marks as the sun was coming up. It was so wonderful to see the square so quiet and only having to share it with the pigeons.

Since we've finally been to Rome!! Yay! Here's mine:
Just had lunch at Casina Valadier..so beautiful, the terrace, the weather, the food, the stunning building...went for a stroll in the adjoining park to walk off the lunch, and the music (softly) playing in their outdoor lounge was Tony Bennett "The Best Is Yet To Come." After we finished our walk, we passed by the restaurant again on our way back to the hotel .. and heard Mr. Sinatra singing "The Good Life."
A perfect soundtrack to a perfect trip.

Only the other day, watching sunset over ROme, it was Sunday Sep 27, at the cafeteria of the Palatine Museum, which that night was to be opened till late at night.
I have left my trip companions, my daughter and grandson in Florence and had come alone to Rome to catch my early next morning American flight to New York, what a perfect finish for a lovely trip.
I loved being alone enjoying so much beauty, I guess sometimes is good to be alone to search inside.

Not that it makes any difference but it was Saturday, Sep 26. I do not know if they open late on Sundays.