Travel........where is your favorite?

Parent Cafe
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<p>I have been to several European countries and still have so many I want to visit. Oddly, the two that I was underwhelmed by were France and Italy. Paris was the only place I visited and it wasn’t a bad experience per se, but could’ve been more friendly. Italy was my most recent trip and it has always been my dream vacation destination. The only major city I visited was Venice. It was beautiful ( as was Paris ) but dirty and too many Chinese knock off shops . We were on a business trip and also visited San Marino, which was lovely and I was unaware that there was a republic within Italy that was independent . It was pretty clear that there was more wealth there than the surrounding area. We visited Rimini for business. We still had a great time and will definitely be going back , but the nest time, Tuscany is on my list of places to visit.</p>

<p>I went to Germany years ago, and also visited there in the same trip that included Italy. Really loved it this time and want to go back to see Nuremberg area. I was also so impressed with Austria and Switzerland, which is hands down the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life. I’m jonesing to take one of the Viking River Cruises that go thru Nuremberg, Budapest and Vienna . I am drawn to that area for the history, culture , food and landscape </p>

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<p>I love visiting **Roman antiquities. ** Some lesser known winners:</p>

<p>GERMANY is definitely under-rated, and it’s a good value for money. My favorite: drive along the Mosel River (it’s more gemulich than the Rhine) during grape harvest season. Wine, castles, spectacular fall colors, cute gasthaus accommodations. Start or end in Trier. Trier is lovely. Its museum has one of the most impressive collections in the world of ancient Roman mosaics-- the Romans who settled there knew how to live…</p>

<p>Berlin: the Pergamon Museum-- wow <<< low whistle >>… just wow…</p>

<p>SPAIN. Our trip to the interior province of Extremadura was probably THE MOST memorable visit of my life. We visited the Roman ruins at Merida and visited Segovia. When our car rounded the corner and we all simultaneously caught sight of the Segovia aqueduct, our jaws dropped simultaneously, followed by an OMG… We stayed in Trujillo in a beautiful convent which has been converted into a hotel. Trujillo was home town to Francisco Pizarro.</p>

<p>If you’re in Barcelona, it’s worthwhile to condider Tarragona. We usually just skip Barcelona entirely & stay in Tarragona. There is a Roman amphitheater right on the sea, and a beautifully preserved aqueduct. You need to drive and seek out the aqueduct in the woods, but then you have it entirely to yourself. In the hotel parking lot in Tarragona, our rental car was hit by a matador. He was very honorable and paid for the damage </p>

<p>FRANCE: Pont du Gard, Arles & Nimes are already widely known so no need to expand.</p>

<p>ITALY: obviously there are plenty of Roman sites, so I’ll mention the GREEK ones. There are 2 impressively preserved Greek temples in Paestum, near Agripoli. If u are in the area visiting Pompeii & Herculaneum,  then these temples are really worth a day trip. </p>

<p>If u make it to Sicily, there’s the amphitheater at Taormina perched up on a summit overlooking the sea (‘Mighty Aphrodite’ filmed there)-- serious wow… When I get back to Sicily, I want to see the Greek temple at Agrigento.</p>

<p>TURKEY: Ephesus is a world class Roman archeological site. Visited it twice already-- mind blowing. </p>

<p>Here’s my punch list that I’m still working on:
<a href=“List of Roman amphitheatres - Wikipedia”>http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_amphitheatres&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>If things ever settle down there, I would dearly love to visit the ancient sites in northern Africa.</p>

63

<p>Favorite in Germany was Munich, lived there, really loved Bavaria and the nutty Bavarians, all the local fests (though Schwaebisch Hall, in Baden-Württemberg was something. Most definietly off the usual tourist paths.) The train ride through Tyrol into Italy also has some great castles and monasteries perched on the high hills. Agree on Pompeii and Efes. The entire Turkish experience defies simple words. Friend just did 6 weeks in Sicily and came home ready to go back. DH was a historian, focused on Germany and Italy, including Roman history. Lucky me, I got to see lots of relics. But what I love, out of the US, is the moments when you do as the locals do.</p>

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<p>I spent five years in Munich and agree Germany is underrated. Food was wonderful, nothing like American German food - I’ve never had such good salads or fresh fish. Hiking with lunch in a beer garden and afternoon coffee with kuchen is something I still miss and all the funny little towns with amazing churches.</p>

<p>Pompeii is great, but I loved the Roman ruins at Ostia.</p>

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<p>Kuchen Pause. Unser Kini. </p>

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<p>Here’s a club to aspire to while you visit all these great places: **The Travelers Century Club **</p>

<p><a href=“http://travelerscenturyclub.org/”>http://travelerscenturyclub.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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67

<p>If you like antiquties, you will love Plovdiv, which is sunny, cheap, beautiful and has very few tourists because it is in unfashionable Bulgaria. There is an amazing amphitheatre, which is still in use.</p>

<p><a href=“Plovdiv - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plovdiv&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;