Favorite Places

Stunning photos coupled with wonderful memories. Thank you sakhi.


I'm not entirely urban. I spent many summers as a child in the Catskills mountains. And when we had a car, my family would drive upstate every fall to see the foliage. This is how I remember it looking.





The Catskills are not dramatic rocky mountains. They're gentle with lots of trees and lakes.

When I was traveling in Europe many years ago, my friend and I took a train from Rome to Naples. From Naples we tood a rickety old train to Pompeii. When we got off the train, we saw that all the tourists had turned left. My friend and I turned right.

I was a hot day--so hot that the heat made the air shimmer in the distance. As we walked, the only sounds we heard were our own footsteps on the cobbled streets. We entered a home. Just walked in. Saw the mural on the wall and the tiled bathtub. Saw where the people lived and how they lived.

We went from one home to another. Then we encountered the business district. A butcher and a bakery. We kept walking and looking.

I had the uncomfortable feeling that I was somehow intruding. I also felt as if the place was haunted. We saw nothing or heard nothing to give me that impression. It was a feeling. Nothing more.

We ultimately got to the small museum that housed artifacts. There was also the shape of a child frozen in hardened lava. He was in the fetal position--curled up to protect himself from the volcano.

The day was memorable and surreal. Pompeii is one of my favorite places, not because my memory of it was happy but because my memory of it is special and unique.

I was in the countryside of France a few years ago for a wedding- we took a drive one day, and came upon this field of poppies- it was the color red for as far as you can see- amazing....and totally surreal. It was a little like Dorothy in the poppy field....the color red was so intense......they overtook you...I've never seen anything like it.

we took our first cruise in september 1988 .
it was a seven day alaska cruise on the (old) SS ROTTERDAM of the holland-america line .
in those days the ships - who were much smaller than today's superships -
cruised fairly close to the glaciers .
i'll never forget when we entered the fford and the captain brought the ship close to the glaciers - close enough to take some great pictures and hear the rumbling of the glaciers calving .
we have never ben back - but it's still on our list of "things to do AGAIN !" .
hbg

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one of out favourite places is right on our doorstep :

OLD FORT HENRY (foreground)

THE ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE (center)

THE CITY OF KINGSTON (the "limestone capital of canada" - our home for the last 50 years) (in the background)

and we get to see and experience it for free , all we have to do is walk or drive there .
and we can take a free 30 minute ferry ride right from downtown across lake ontario to wolfe island .
hbg

One of my favorite places that is no more...
Marshall Field's & Co. at Christmas

Another favorite...
The beginning of North Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Right at the river. This isn't my favorite angle but, one of my absolute favorite spots.

By the way, Marshall Field's is/was in Chicago as well. Damn that Macy's!!!

that's really a shame ! mrs h and i shopped at marshall field's when we visited chicago a couple of times during the 70's .
we also had BREAKFAST (!) at the playboy club - no bunnies in the morning :wink:
also attended a great jazz-concert by the lake with many of the great bands "blowing a cool horn" .
hbg

Nice thread, Roberta. My favorite spot in all the world? Mount Rainier. Here's a link to a webcam, to see how the mountain is doing right now:
http://www.nps.gov/mora/index.htm

There are loads of websites about "The Mountain" and plenty of photos that show some of its appeal, but to me it is "my" resident mountain -- I can often see it while I'm out and about. Sometimes I think I like it best when there is a mist hiding all the views but the flowers & trees within a twenty-five foot radius; sometimes my favorite spot may be at Sunrise Point late at night while enjoying one of the most magnificent skyviews available. Usually, I like it best when I'm above the treeline on a warm summer day and a slight breeze blows over the glaciers to keep us cool as we hike. This first photo is from Rainier's most famous place, Paradise Park. It is a good dayhike is to that dark green triangle in the distance, just below the summit.


After climbing part of that distance you can turn around, look south and see the crater which is now Mt. St. Helens and "little" Mt. Adams, a mini-Rainier in shape, about 2,000 feet shorter and the second tallest of the Cascade peaks.

From Sunrise Point, elev. 7000 feet, it is said that you can see five Cascade volcanic peaks, each over 10,000 feet high. Mount Adams, shown here, is closely associated with the Yakama Tribe; Mount Hood (I've never seen it from here) is a hundred miles south and in Oregon. Closest summit is Mt. Rainier, about ten miles away. North are two more big peaks, Glacier Peak in the North Cascades National Park and beyond that, Mount Baker, which is very near the Canadian border. Here's Adams...




And here's a view of "The Mountain" that I might see while driving around near home.

Strawberry, Thanks for the field of poppies. I doubt that anyone could read that and not think of the Wizard of Oz.

Hamburger, A fjord in Alaska. Great stuff. I traveled by boat on a fjord in Norway. Also great stuff and breathtakingly beautiful. And thanks for the great photo of Kingston.

eoe, Too bad it's gone. Great shot from overhead. One of my favorite childhood memories is the annual trek to Macy's on 34th Street (yes, the one with the miracle) to see the "real" Santa Claus, as my aunt explained to me. Thanks for the photo of North Michigan Avenue. Looks like my kinda street. Don't remember seeing it or being on it when I was in Chicago. My loss.

Piffka, thanks for the gorgeous shots of the Mountain. Spectacular.

Just want to thank you all for sharing your wonderful descriptions and fascinating pictures!

Instead of constantly focusing on the negatives of this planet, these definitely give us all the incentive to get out and enjoy the wonderful world we live in!

Please carry on!

tomasso, Glad you feel that way. Do you have any favorite places you'd care to share?

I have one more. I used to have to travel a lot for business. Airports, airports, hotels, airports. I grew to hate traveling. But coming home was always good. Whether I was getting back to Manhattan from LaGuardia or Kennedy, there was that one moment on the road in the taxi when I would look to the left and see the skyline of Manhattan. Home! I always felt myself relax when I saw it. So one of my favorite places is somewhere or anywhere along that road (don't know the name of it) when I would feel at home.

A favorite place of mine is the black hole. Black I guess because the water is deep.
Its a swimming hole at one of the rivers near here. A favourite haunt for older teenagers as its out of town and needs a car to get there.
When I was an older teen I used to go there as well. Its a sensory paradise smell sights sounds.....and now memories.

My daughter took this photo

The Black Hole

dadpad, Can't explain when something strikes a chord. The photo of the black hole made me gasp. Can't explain it. Lots of other great photos here, but no gasping. I can picture myself at this place (yes, urban me). I can hear this place. Go figure.

Thanks.

I know that view. It is a magnificent one.

This place became an immediate favorite place when we stayed there last fall. We've vowed to keep our "week" in September there from now until we can no longer drive. It is amazing ...

http://www.yellowpointlodge.com/

"sandbanks provincial park" in prince edward county on lake ontario -
miles of sandy beaches and sandbanks .
it's been one of our favourite spots ever since we settled in kingston 50 years ago . it'a beautiful anytime of the year - even in winter when the ice is piled up several feet high along the shoreline .
hbg