My European Top Ten

I was recently asked about my top-ten things to see or do in Europe. I thought I’d share them with my blog and Facebook friends:

1. Hang out on the cliffs (literally) on the West Coast of Ireland where they say, “Ahh, the next parish over is Boston.”

2. Be all alone in the Pantheon early or late in the day in the building that ‘ more than any other ‘ gives us a feeling for the magnificence of splendor of Rome at its zenith.

3. Play backgammon in a rough-and-tumble Istanbul suburb with handmade dice on a board with softer wood worn below the harder wood, while I’m surrounded by whiskered tea drinkers as curious about me as I am about them.

4. Sit outside the stout walls of Dubrovnik in a rustic bar sipping a local beer while cruise ships sail into the sunset.

5. Be on St. Mark’s Square late in the evening when the orchestra seems to be playing just for fun, and only the locals and hard-core romantics remain.

6. Stand atop the new glass dome of Berlin’s Reichstag and get teary-eyed with Berliners so excited that their city is one again and that Germany is looking, together, into a promising future.

7. Canoe down the Dordogne River in France under imposing castles working up an appetite for foie gras, fine cheese, and full-bodied red wine.

8. Stand atop the Rock of Gibraltar looking out at Morocco and consider the strategic importance of a fort here effectively bottling up the Mediterranean in the old days.

9. Sit on the bench with Daniel Roth, Europe’s greatest living pipe organist, as he plays Europe’s greatest pipe organ in St. Sulpice Cathedral in Paris.

10. Hike on a ridge high in Switzerland’s Alps ‘ literally tight-roping on it for three hours ‘ with lakes on one side stretching all the way to Germany and the ultimate mountain view on the other with the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau cutting like glass into the blue sky as the long legato tones of an alphorn in the distance announce that the helicopter-stocked mountain hut is open, it’s just around the corner…and the coffee schnapps is on.

These little things remind me why I continue to enjoy Europe so much. How about you?

Comments

28 Replies to “My European Top Ten”

  1. Waking up in Venice to the sound of church bells ringing all around you…definately a defining moment.

  2. This post helps to confirm my theory that there are really two things that Rick likes the most. These two things are in almost every television episode. Wine and Churches.

  3. Pretending to be a medieval knight whilst roaming the castle walls at Caernarfon… even though I`m almost 40.

  4. Pretending to be a character in a Dickens novel in York. Waking up in a cottage in the Irish countryside, putting some tea on the stove and watching the sun rise over the hills and farm houses. Watching a soccer match and eating pizza in an Italian pizzeria. Punting on the River Cam. Taking a ferry from Scotland to Northern Ireland and imagining the more treacherous journey that my Scots-Irish ancestors had to take. Getting up early in Venice and spending quiet time in St. Mark`s Square before the tourists hit. As for the United States: Hearing the blues and jazz music belting out of the bars and smelling the cigarette smoke late at night in New Orleans. Waking up in Charleston, South Carolina to the sound of church bells and horse carriages filling the air. The sound of broadway show music and christmas carols in NYC. I could go on and on…….

  5. All this editing seems complicated. All I know is that we saw that show on PBS last week and it came out great. Last year we had bought the book on the area and decided to go to Ireland instead, but after seeing that new show we think we might get serious about going there.

  6. Sitting outdoors in a Parisian cafe, in the morning, with a cafe creme and a freshly baked pain au chocolat.

  7. Sitting at a picnic table under the chestnut trees at a heuriger in the Vienna woods on a balmy summer evening and enjoying the company of family and friends. Wonderful food, and wine with some `gespritz`; really, it doesn`t get any better than that!

  8. going back to ireland every other summer to visit my cousins and check up on the land i will inherite wooooooooo! also waking up next to my girl and convincing here to walk with me to my favorite boulangerie at the break of dawn for fresh hot croissants and baguettes

  9. Waking up to the sounds of cow bells in a small village in Switzerland, meeting my Swiss cousins at a Jodelfest and hearing their Jodelclubs perform, being given radishes straight from the garden by a local because I admired her dog, sitting at a bus stop in a University town in Germany conversing with an elderly woman who insisted I must be a native German because my accent was so good, going to a dog show in a small town in Italy, eating divine Mexican food in a village in Burgundy while a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog puppy gamboled about the restaurant, seeing the magnificent stallions at the Irish National Stud…

  10. Anything Italian, I could go back every year! Also Rick my post of a couples days ago on Dubrovnik just showed up on this post? Something funny going on.

  11. Sit in the heather in the Ullapool Hills hopefully with the sun on my face; Visiting Edinburgh Castle; Sipping whisky and listening to music session in a pub; Doing the Balcony Walk in Chamonix; Developing my cafe sitting skills in Greece; Driving the wee roads of the highlands; walking around Friedrich Strasse S-bahn station in awe of the changes since 1973; Walking around the Ring of Brogdar; Absorbing the history in the Tower of London; Walking with my friends anywhere in Scotland.

  12. Visiting the cemetaries, especially at Normandie and be reminded of the great sacrifice made by so many young men so that I may have the opportunity to travel and experience those things that they never had a chance to enjoy. It brings tears to my eyes every time.

  13. I will add the experience that I give credit to Rick for. I stayed at the Casino Hotel overlooking Omaha beach and had a room that viewed the landing area. I got up before sunrise and as the sun rose tried to imaging the terror felt by those coming in on D – Day. Of course I failed. Nothing else comes close.

  14. Attending mass at the Seville Cathedral. Listening to the arch bishop, the choir, the organ…. It was amazing. Thanks again Rick. !!!!!!

  15. Attending mass at Sacre-Coeur in Monmartre (my favorite church in Paris), and genuflecting. Crashing on the bed at the Sultan Hill Hotel in Sultanahmet on my arrival in Istanbul, just to be jolted by the beautiful prayer call of the muezzin at the last portion of namaz (the hotel is literally right behind the Blue Mosque).

  16. The moment when you step off of the train in a new city with the adrenaline rush of opportunity and not quite knowing what to do next. Or missing a train only to meet a new dinner companion on your way into Rome. The intense high`s of travelling alone. The joy of speaking proper English after two weeks of speaking broken English. I am not sure if it matters where I am: I just want the raw pleasure of serendipity.

  17. Visiting the Holy Steps in Rome and learning by remaining a few more hours I can attend the Papal Corpu Christi mass at St John of Latoraine and the walking candle light procession back to the Vatican.

  18. Paragliding in Interlaken in the middle of a trip on the Golden Pass train line. Gorgeous scenery, from the air and the ground!

  19. I was lucky enough to see an English Orchestra play within the Pantheon this August. The music filled the space in the most beautiful way. One of the members told me they were only there for one week, and that they were playing for the Pope in September!

  20. Waking up early one morning in Venice to the sound of men singing while they were setting up the market.

  21. Paragliding in Interlaken in the middle of a trip on the Golden Pass train line. Gorgeous scenery,

  22. Catching the first bus to arrive at the Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands before they officially open. It was the most beautiful walk I`ve ever taken with the tulips at their best and no one around. Oh to return every spring.

  23. I agree with the Pantheon moment. It is my favourite place in Rome. I was alone once in the Duomo in Siena. I will never forget my first sight of this beautiful church early in the morning with nobody else about. You have to pay to get in now, so I guess it won`t happen again. It is pretty hard to beat being in my own apartment in Bagni di Lucca. I get to spend around 5 months of the ear in Italy – lucky me!

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