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Your favourite travelling memory
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Too many to choose from.But I'll start with an island hopping trip in the Hebrides. Got a CalMac ticket for 17 days, took the tent, two dogs, and camped our way around endless islands and beaches, much of it wild camping. Beautiful weather, returned home and asked if we'd been to the Med we were so brown. Love the Hebrides.
When I a sophomore in high school I had the pleasure of being an exchange student, and attended school in Hamburg, Germany (Gymnasium Hochrad). This was in 1983, so they still had the Berlin Wall and such, height of the Cold War and all that. To this day the best journey of my life, it really opened my eyes to other cultures and taught me a lot.
Oddly enough my most memorable trade experience was a drive from Krakow to Praha. August 23, 1968. The day started in the parking lot of a hotel I was not staying at, when someone did the unimaginable: offered to sell crowns at a discount and he would take spare zloty! My Czech trip, so I thought, was going to be cheap! After a detour to Oswiecim (an absolutely beautiful day - birds chirping and a deluge of flowers on the hills of blood and bone - and a chalk drawing on one of the ceilings of the huts caught my attention - the artist labelled it Konigsgraben) thence to Cieszyn, then I think to Frydek Mistek where i stopped in a square for lunch, having oddly been escorted to the edge of the town by an army officer, who wanted to make sure I knew how to get on to the road to Wien (my stated route for the day). Good Czech beer! Then I noticed a tank on the other side of the square. At first, I thought the Czechs were going to fight. A Czech wanted to put a flag on my car aerial, so I let him. Then it became apparent the tank was Russian. This section of my eastern European trip was just about to get different from any other holiday, as I decided to go to Praha instead. I had a four day visa for Czechoslovakia, but what I did not know was the Russians had imposed an internal travel ban and nobody was supposed to move from where they were the previous night. There were at least two decision-making times when getting its wrong would have meant getting killed or badly injured, and two more where getting it wrong probably would have ended in a Russian prison. That was different from most holidays.
That's a tough question, but I think I'd have to go with my visit to Ypres, Belgium. This city was the on the front lines during World War 1 on three separate occasions and was absolutely devastated by the fighting. It was rebuilt after 1918 and many of its medieval structures are identical to what existed prior. Except the Cloth Museum, which was changed into a WWI museum called the "In Flanders Fields" museum, named after the famous poem by Canadian poet John McCrae. And the eastern gate of the city (which is surrounded by a medieval wall) was rebuilt as a monument. Called Menin Gate, it is covered with the names of all the British and Commonwealth troops who's bodies were never recovered. Every night, they hold a commemorate ceremony. But on the weekends, they do a big one. Essentially, they commemorate Remembrance Day (or Veterans Day or Armistice Day, depending on where you live) every single night!
But aside from its historical awesomeness, its a lovely town with nice people and lots of really awesome establishments. Anywhere you go in the old town, you can grab a seat on one patio or another, order some wonderful Belgian beer, and just chill. And on Market Day (every Saturday), the old town square fills with vendors selling everything imaginable. Baked goods, fresh fruit and vegetables, iivestock, sausage and cured meats, soaps - like I said, everything!
My wife and I said that if we had to move to Belgium, Ypres would be one place we could definitely live in.
Too hard to single out...As a wild entertainment - probably a 7 days-nights long party in Ibiza, Spain as a sort of uni graduation farewell. Although the memories are patchy, they are still unforgettable.
As of exotic - probably a trip to Mombasa, Kenya, befriending people living in huts made of cow excrement, local kids jumping like kangaroos in order to grab some sweets ahead of their mates..
Hmm....probably driving a 1980 Zhiguli 011 from Baku, Azerbaijan to Split, Croatia in 2011. 4000km and 7 countries in 10 days.Each border crossing was an experience in and of itself. We had to push the car across the Turkish-Bulgarian and Bulgarian-Serbian borders. The guards either just laughed at us or assured us that "you're NOT taking that car into the country."
Amazingly, we only had one "breakdown." A busted slave clutch pump had us stranded in Plovdiv, Bulgaria for 6 hours while we scoured the city for an original Soviet-era replacement part.
The highlight may have been stopping for lamb roasted on spits propelled by falling water in Jablonica, BiH.
Kent wrote: "Hmm....probably driving a 1980 Zhiguli 011 from Baku, Azerbaijan to Split, Croatia in 2011. 4000km and 7 countries in 10 days..."Knowing Zhiguli, it sounds like sci-fi to me -:) But well done! Too bad there was no demand for advertising then, otherwise you could've easily had your tour sponsored
Haha...too bad, indeed. I've since heard of a few other epic "Lada" trips that have been sponsored.
I had a big birthday. It's usually cold, wet and miserable here for it in the UK so my (now) hubby and I travelled to Egypt.On the day itself our fellow river cruisers sang me happy birthday and gave me a handmade card.
We explored a temple, where we saw the first recorded star chart. And I went into the catacombs.
That evening I was given a cake by the chef, and the Egyptians gathered and sang a special song whilst banging tambourines.
Afterwards we went up on deck, and Orion was shining brightly directly overhead.
Best birthday ever, best travel memory, and almost best moment of my life <3
T.L. wrote: "Best birthday ever, best travel memory, and almost best moment of my life <3 ..."And all that with no private jet or yacht at the background. Happiness is within arm's reach!
Not a favorite, but definitely most memorable was when I was in New Brunswick Canada on 9/11.
T.L. wrote: "I had a big birthday. It's usually cold, wet and miserable here for it in the UK so my (now) hubby and I travelled to Egypt.On the day itself our fellow river cruisers sang me happy birthday and ..."
You wrote that in a way that I experienced it, too. My favorite travelling memory is a train trip to Virginia. I only bought a seat, so every time the train stopped, new folks would get on and wake me up. I decided not to sleep and went to the bar car, where a softball team was having a good time. I remember watching the sun come up over the tracks in a train yard while one of the guys played Dylan on the harmonica.
I find these "What is your favorite ...?" questions unanswerable. I flew back from Vietnam the first time in 1968. I flew across the US at night. The place was lit up like a Christmas Tree. It was wonderful.In 1971, my wife and I drove out to visit my parents at a small town in the Rockies outside of Denver. On our way back, we camped out in the Rockies, we dug for fossils and she got to meet my relatives from the 19th century - my grandparents and my great aunt. I was so exhausted that it took me all day to drive the last leg from St. Louis to Chicago.
In 2012, my wife (the second one) and I visited Scotland and Ireland. I was searching for my roots. We visited Edinburgh and Glasgow, where my great greats had lived in the 1860s. It had all changed. We drove down to England to check out Hadrian's Wall. That was an adventure in itself. We spent some time in Belfast and discovered what a wonderful place the Titanic Museum is.
I suppose the favorite, if there is such a thing, was the bike ride across Virginia in 2008. I left Bike Virginia in Bristol, Virginia with a friend at the end of June. We rode approximately 500 miles in 9 days. At one point we traveled through three college town in three days - Blacksburg (VPI), Lexington (VMI) and Charlottesville (UVA). We were close to Charllottesville around 4 on a Saturday afternoon. We had already ridden over 60 miles from Lexington but my friend wanted to go to Mass. We discovered that there was a Mass in Charlottesville at 5:15. We rode the last 17 miles in a little over an hour. We walked into church in our cycling outfits, sweat pouring off our bodies. We tried to find a seat where we wouldn't offend too many people. After Mass, everybody was very friendly and asked about our trip etc. It was amazing. But after biking 80 miles on a hot day in a blazing sun all we wanted was to get to a hotel room where we could shower and change clothes before getting some dinner.
So many wonderful memories! Egypt stands out though, because it is so different to anywhere else. In fact I wrote my first book based on that holiday. We love Europe as well as the beautiful scenery in the US and Canada. Croatia and Sicily are also on my bucket list.
When I was young - teenager years (eons ago - lol) I use to travel with my parents in a car from Florida to California and we did that four times from early 70's to early 80's. It was exciting. My mom grew up in California so all her family were there so we would travel to see them quite a bit. I have been to other states since then - three times to North Carolina - twice to Iowa - once to Arkansas and once to South Carolina. Someday I would like to travel to see other states including New York at some point.
As other have said so many - and with Lockdown they are memories not recent. I have photo's on my blog site if people want to see someSitting in a small boat just after dawn surrounded by giant trees watching an Orangutan eating her breakfast a few metres away. Then following that tributary to arrive in a lake. We stopped and were given tea and watched a large spider whilst across the lake a large heron type bird cast its shadow over the water. It was so still for so long. Then it dived in to resurface nearly fifty metres away and take to flight.
More recently, standing on top of Vesuvius looking at Naples bathed in sunshine.
As the anniversary approached, reflecting on standing atop the WTC in August 2001 - we were back in UK before the attack. I haven't posted on my blog pictures from that trip. Perhaps I'll add something.
Lots of other travel memories. Sitting in a cafe in Paris watching the world go by.
Other travel memories from less pleasant occurrences fade thankfully.
One just came to mind - tropical fish buzzing round our legs and feet off Waikiki beach holding my daughters tiny hand as she didn't know whether to be scared or giggle.
Many years ago, I took a train trip to Virginia. I only had a seat and each time we stopped, new passengers would wake me up. So I went to the bar car to get a beer, sat down, and was treated to a guy playing the harmonica as the sun came up.
Talking about trains, as a teen I remember it took 3 full days to travel from Moscow to Altai mountains in South Siberia. An enjoyable trip in a good company to the land of wilderness and exiled convicts :) My aunt and cousin did Moscow - Vladivostok in full 7. Hope to repeat it some day
Philip wrote: "Reflections on New York with some pictureshttps://phenweb.co.uk/reflecting-on-9..."
Nice pic-s and memories and interesting reflections!
I have some memories from when I was a kid of specific places we visited that impressed me when young. My favorite memory is traveling all of Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica in a convertible.Essentially, I am all about road trips.
Lizzie wrote: "I have some memories from when I was a kid of specific places we visited that impressed me when young. My favorite memory is traveling all of Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica in a convertible...."Yeah, long-distance/time road trips are among my favorite too
One of the four items included in a Bucket List created by my late wife and me of things to do after I retired in 2001 included an extended road trip driving throughout the United States with no timeline or specific destination in mind.We hopped in the car and began our odyssey at 6:45 a.m. on Thursday, August 15, 2002. We returned home two months later after having visited 39 of the states and Tijuana, Mexico.
Total miles travelled: 9,422 miles.
Jim wrote: "One of the four items included in a Bucket List created by my late wife and me of things to do after I retired in 2001 included an extended road trip driving throughout the United States with no ti..."Any highlights?
Jim wrote: "One of the four items included in a Bucket List created by my late wife and me of things to do after I retired in 2001 included an extended road trip driving throughout the United States with no ti..."Impressive and must be unforgettable.
Done twice a month long road trip with RV in Europe. Firth time - a northward circle from Budapest - 5,500 km, 16 countries, 6 lakes, & second time - southward - 7,800 km, 12 countries.
Hope to do coast to coast in the States & Canada someday...
J., in response to your comment in message 26 asikng if there were any highligts during my 2-month cross-country road trip, I offer the following:- The Custer Battlefield near the Little Big Horn River in Montana.
- Branding, Montana, home of the annual Testicle Festival (Buffalo testicles, not human.)
- The Wampum-Echoe Petrified Forest and Lava Area located along I-90 West.
- Followed State Route 101 South from the U.S./Canadian border to Tijuana, Mexico. The Pacific Ocean is visible along the entire route. Visited all three Redwood Forests along the route.
- Rode the cable cars and visited Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli Square and China Town while in San Francisco.
- Visited the 20 Mule Team Borax Museums in Boron, California.
- Visited the Grand Canyon. Took a helicopter tour.
- Crossed the entire Mohave Desert.
- Visited the Alamo historic site and Petroleum Museum while in Texas.
- Took a boat tour of the Gator Refuge in New Orleans, Louisiana. Saw several allegators close up and held a small allegator.
- Toured two 19th. century plantations and Fort King George while in Georgia.
- Spent a day in Savannah, Georgia.
- Visited the Magnolia Gardens Plantation near Charleston, South Carolina which included a train, boat, horse and walking tour.
- Toured Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown while in Virgiania.
- Toured Washington, D.C.
The scenery throughout all the states was wonderful.
That sounds like an amazing trip, Jim. This one particularly caught my eye:
Followed State Route 101 South from the U.S./Canadian border to Tiujana, Mexico. The Pacific Ocean is visible along the entire route. Visited all three Redwood Forests along the route.
Incredible.
What were the highlights of your European trips, Nik?
Followed State Route 101 South from the U.S./Canadian border to Tiujana, Mexico. The Pacific Ocean is visible along the entire route. Visited all three Redwood Forests along the route.
Incredible.
What were the highlights of your European trips, Nik?
- Spending time and having breaks from driving with family on Balaton lake in Hungary, with my Polish friend (speaks English, Russian and a bit of Hebrew) and his crew (don't speak anything) on Jeziorak lake in Poland and re-discovering how good vodka is in overcoming linguistic differences, and with international crowd gathering together at my friend's parents villa near Toulouse, BBQ with friends in Belgium.- Gdansk in Poland, Amboise in France - the last residence of Da Vinci - absolutely amazing, Nancy, Prague, Carcassonne Fortress, Pisa & its Leaning Tower, Bordeaux & St. Emilion wineries nearby, Bled lake, Barcelona, sights and fresh air of Swiss alps;
- Being able to park with RV relatively easily in dead center of European capitals and major cities
- Theme parks like Europa park in Germany, Disneyland Paris, Efteling park in Holland, Playmobile park near Nurnberg;
- Amazing caves of Postojna in Slovenia and Predjama castle nearby - something truly mesmerizing, and Peche Merle in France;
- tiny countries like Lichtenstein, San Marino and Andorra with its cheap booze, attracting buyers from neighboring France and Spain;
- Visiting Auschwitz
- Food - from German sausages in Hamburg, through frogs in France, Zurek soup in Poland, Goulash in Hungary and Romania, to Paella in Spain,
- The winds on Copenhagen - Malmo bridge that felt like they were about to blow the van off into the sea;
and much more...
Sounds equally sublime, Nik.
Being able to park with RV relatively easily in dead center of European capitals and major cities.
You didn't visit Britain then? ;)
The country I most want to visit at this moment in time is Croatia. Know a few people who've been there in recent years and they can't say enough good things about it.
Being able to park with RV relatively easily in dead center of European capitals and major cities.
You didn't visit Britain then? ;)
The country I most want to visit at this moment in time is Croatia. Know a few people who've been there in recent years and they can't say enough good things about it.
Beau wrote: " You didn't visit Britain then? ;) .."Not with RV. Would be more worried by left-side driving than where to park :)
Croatia? But we agreed to first have a beer in Minsk! :)
Had a driving trip in Croatia & Slovenia about 20 years ago from Dubrovnik northward and back. Slovenia looked a bit more picturesque then, while Croatia still had some war debris, but it must've been dealt with by now.
Dubrovnik is a pearl, Plitvice lake and waterfalls were nice and if you have time and desire you can take a ferry for a day trip to Venice. Spent also a few days in Opatija on Adriatic's shore
I loved Haiti. And Fiji would be my second choice.
As a kid, my parents would take us each summer to visit grandma. So we drove from NJ to Houston, TX and back home, plus visiting grandma, all in 2 weeks. 4 girls in the back of the station wagon, we were too poor for hotels and restaurants. My folks packed as much food as possible and my dad drove straight through. It was before many of the interstates were availalbe. We would drive on those highways that went through small town America main streets and I so wanted to get out and look in all the windows, eat at the diners, explore the tourist traps. (So, that is why I do it now.) I read a lot on those trips and sometimes I would look out the window and wonder why people would walk across all that land, pick a spot, and just start a farm that eventually became a town and so on. One of the memories of those trips that stuck with me and my next oldest sister was the Gulf Coast, heading that way after Hurricane Camille in 1969 (which name was retired after that because of the amount of destruction). I can still see in my mind's eye a set of stairs fully intact that had gone up the outside of a 2 story building. The only thing left on the lot/block was that set of stairs to nowhere on the west side of the building.
Having moved to Arizona, I have driven across I-10 from the Eastern to the Western Coasts of the USA. I have a sister outside of San Francisco and have driven Pacific Highway 1 in both directions from San Diego to the border of San Francisco. I just love the open road, the sun shining, and the top down.
I also like caves. I have been in most of the "show" caves in MO and the rest of that part of the midwest. I have been in many caves in TX, WI, TN, IL and so on. Most of those were when my children were young or during travels with ex-spouses. I don't even recall all of them. I remember Carlsbad Cavern distinctly because my children weren't old enough to do the "real" tour. I remember a tour with my 2nd husband where someone had just put a sign in their yard, so we went in their cave. Risky, but it was fun. In 2015 I went to Hannibal and finally saw Mark Twain's cave, which I had wondered about since I was a young child reading Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
Lizzie wrote: "...I just love the open road, the sun shining, and the top down...."Me too, apart from the top down - the acoustics are better when everything's closed :)
So many excellent journeys... highlights would include:Amalfi and Cinque Terra in Italy
Venice - staying near the Rialto Bridge and eating in a building from the C15
Fontaine de Vaucluse in Provence - kinda like a natural Venice with so many streams flowing through the town
Carcassonne
Going to the World Cup in Germany after Oz made it to the finals for the first time in 32 years
The Norwegian fjords and the train from Flam
Iceland (we have swum north of Iceland!)
Everything about Britain - London is probably my favourite city (although Sydney is tough to beat)
The burial chamber inside the Great Pyramid and Abu Simbel
The Grand Bazaar and Spice Market in Istanbul (home of the Rolex watch!!!)
Ireland - especially the west coast chatting with locals in the bars while listening to music and sampling craft beers and whiskeys
Staying in mega luxury resorts in Thailand and paying peanuts for the privilege
Alaskan cruise - so many bears and eagles!
New Zealand - especially the South Island - spectacular
Machu Picchu and the Chilean fjords
And just so much in Australia - we are so lucky to live in such a large and diverse country - from the snowy wilderness of Tasmania to the tropical rainforests and reefs of Far North Queensland and all that desert in the middle (And the most beautiful beaches in the world - no exaggeration.) We recently stayed in an underwater room on the reef - one of the very best things we've ever done.
Lots of things we've not done yet - hugely looking forward to doing the US properly (maybe next year); Japan; Eastern Europe and southern Africa. Oh, and Antarctica.
We've been very fortunate. So much still to do and so much to return and do again.
Nik wrote: "Lizzie wrote: "...I just love the open road, the sun shining, and the top down...."Me too, apart from the top down - the acoustics are better when everything's closed :)"
The Engine acoustics are better! Both my M240 and Miata the music volume adjusts automatically when the top goes up and down. The M240 adjusts the actual sound in regards to the bass, mid-reange, etc. The Miata has 7 Bose speakers and the M240 has 12 Harmon Kardon speakers. As long as I can hear the song and sing along, I am good.
I seriously dislike even having to go anywhere when I have to put the top up.
Several years ago I was crossing the Carabelle bridge as the sun was setting in the West and the full moon was rising in the east. A good travelling memory
I was lucky enough to do some decent travelling in the past decade or so, but I would have to say my fondest memory of all is surprisingly quaint.
Catching the overnight train from Krakow (Poland) to Prague (Czech) with my partner and our very close friend holds fantastic memories for me.
Standing at the platform in Krakow in below freezing temperatures at 10pm and jumping on a rickety locomotive that chugged through the Eastern European countryside in the depths of winter is something I'll always remember fondly.
Enjoying a nightcap of Polski Wodka in our sleeper car, gazing out the window as we sped through tiny Polish and Czech villages in winter was quite magical.
I love Eastern (or Central/New Europe as they call it these days). The people, the food, the culture, the hospitality, the history and the architecture make it my favourite place in the world to visit. Growing up in a hot country, I will always appreciate a real winter when I get the chance.