Rome in Piazza Navona with my fiance on her first visit to Italy, watching her eyes light up when she had her first taste of real pasta carbonara.

Venice with my now wife having dessert and vin santo in St Marks while the dueling bands played for us all evening.

Florence at lunch in the piazza, with a nice bottle of wine. My wife said how much she enjoyed the singing of the two young musicians and she asked if the had a CD of their music. They didn't understand her, and I told her she needed to ask them for a "che day". When she did, and they looked at her like she was from Mars, she didn't understand until I started laughing out loud.

I'd always avoided Venice because I thought it would be overrun with tourists. Imagine my surprise and joy when I first walked on to St. Mark's Square and saw the water with the beautiful white church of San Giorgio apparently floating on it. It was stunning.

1) Rome: Watching the 'centurions' outside the Pantheon coming on to the cute American tourists.

2) Firenze: Strolling back to our hotel after visiting Palazzo Pitti and stumbling across Trattoria dei Quattro Leoni.

3) Ordering two large beers (one for my wife, one for me) at Pizzeria Ristorante Al Faciani in Piazza San Marco and my wife being embarrassed to be confronted with a litre stein which she quickly disposed of lest any passer-by think her a lush. :D

Rome: standing by the ARch of Titus looking over the Roman Forum. Picturing it in the time of the Caesars--then looking at the carving of the temple treasures being paraded in triumph--despite the crowds, I felt as if I had wandered into a time machine.

Florence: the Botticellis in the Uffizi

Venice: pick one?--I swear I walked around with an idiot grin the whole time! Ok, wandering east from St. Mark's on the first evening, "finding" the Arsenale, then coming out onto St. Mark's basin at sunset.

For the purpose of this thread I am expanding the civic boundary of Rome to include Napoli. Which will allow me to say my favourite memory was observing the pickpockets on the Circumvensia train between Napoli and Sorrento. I had read so much about them, when I finally got to see them at work, I felt like introducing myself and saying hi from everyone at Fodors.

Rome - Piazza Navona in the evening during twilight. Soft rain was falling and a young traveller was playing Stairway to Heaven on his guitar, while another older man thoughtfully held an umbrella over his head. Makes me cry again thinking about it.

Florence - at the Piezza Della Signoria one evening stumbing across a wonderful folk singer performing a free concert. Again it was in the evening when the light is soft. I love Florence in the evenings in summer, it has to be one of the most romantic cities in the world?

Rome: watching the sunset from the rooftop bar at the Albergo del Senato, and looking at the TOP of the Pantheon.

Florence: following a crowd entering San Marco church after dinner in that square, and enjoying a free delightful choral choir concert

Venice: taking as many vaporettos as possible, including a "round trip" every evening down the Grand Canal and around Dorsoduro. Best people watching in the world.

ttt

Rome -- Seeing the Forum for the first time.

From the air, as the flight approached FCO early in the morning, the Forum was bathed in the reddish glow of the rising sun.


Florence -- Looking out the window, seeing the Piazza della Signoria in the afternoon sun. Horse-drawn carriage on one side, the outdoor statue of David near the Bargello.


Venice -- Realizing there was a little canal at the end of what I thought was a dead-end street on which the accommodation was located when a gondola passed by.

We have only been to Rome once...just a few weeks ago. On our first night we walked thru Rome. We were walking down a street and came upon a piazza and to our amazement, there was the Pantheon. We were astounded! We just looked at each other and couldn't believe were finally in Rome. (Sigh)

Rome - Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Florence - David

Venice - Praying inside a small Catholic church that's been an active parish since 400AD

Rome: Falling in love with everything Bernini; walking into Santa Maria della Vittoria; an empty Piazza Navona one morning; sharing cookies and wine with an Italian diner who had gone to school in US; Jesuit church with faux dome; returning to Rome and feeling like coming home; the mad waiter who said "you won't like it" when DH asked about a rocket salad...

Florence: David; Bargello; our very first gelato; the size of the duomo; lunch where we just said "feed us" and we got proscuitto and cheese, artichokes and cheese and peas and cheese sandwiches; a waiter teaching us to say "Possiamo avere il conto per favore"; my DH ordering two biscuits to Rome at the train station...

Venice: First trip down the grand canal-went through a roll of film before we were even half way; the church with the green marble that looked like fabric; the scuola with the amazing ceiling/decor; our hotel manager packing a breakfast for our early flight; making the gondoliere angry so he took us over everybody's wake (I thought I said "how do you keep from getting lost" he thought I said "are you lost or what?"; seeing a painting of people mending fishing nets under sun-kissed trees by Sorello (name's wrong) in one of the palaces turned museum...

Every time I try to stop, I think of something else. Oh and do ask about Pisa!

Rome - Sitting in an outdoor cafe in Campo di Fiori and watching locals pull up on scooters, stacking box after box of fruits and vegetables precariously onto the back of their bikes.

Florence - Having overdosed on art, crossing the river and enjoying the peace of the Oltrarno while walking up to Piazza Michelangelo, noting things like a building where Tchaikovsky stayed.

Venice - Our family's first day in a European country: The view when arriving from the airport by Alilaguna, eating our first gelato, listening to the bands in Piazza San Marco at night.

We arrived in Rome the morning of our 25th wedding anniversary. We wandered around to get our bearings and had dinner at Bromante, near Piazza Navona. Perfecto. Thinking it best to head home so we'd be fresh for the next day, we lingered in Piazza della Rotondo, for one more glass of wine. A guitar player began to play, and we started talking with a group of travelers who were enjoying their last night before returning home. They were from everywhere! Australia, Ireland, England, New Zealand and 2 guys from Boston in Rome for a wedding. We were all instant friends! The polizia asked us, several times, to call it a night, but finally gave up and left us to enjoy another hour or two of pure bliss in front of our beloved Pantheon. My husband played the guitar, everyone sang, the waiters kept bringing wine and limoncello and they finally sat down and joined us. It was well after 2 am before we pulled ourselves away. By that time, we'd been awake for almost 40 hours. It was the most perfect night in the most perfect piazza and I'll never forget it. Bella Roma xo