The "Aha" Moments of Travel

I am going in a little different direction today, in that, technically, I am not writing about either exercise or pie. I was thinking about some of my travel experiences this week, and thought about what made some places so special to me. These special times in travel are what I refer to as"aha" moments. It is as if I am in another world or time. The first such travel memory happened when I was ten years old, and my Dad took our family for our first trip to the Western US. I had never been anywhere west of Kentucky prior to that camping trip. The Rocky Mountains and the Badlands were fascinating, and so different from the tree covered Appalachians that I was used to. But the truly magical place in my memories was Yellowstone National Park. We stayed four days, and each day brought a new treat to behold. I remember the walks through the park, with turquoise colored geysers that smelled like boiled eggs! The beautiful colors of the Grand Canyon of he Yellowstone are still vivid to me, and the numerous bears at every road crossing will never be forgotten. Yellowstone Park gave me my first aha moments of travel!

This trip inspired me to go back to the Western US and to discover new places that I had never seen. I have been to the Western states many times, mostly in the winter to ski, and enjoyed the awesome snow covered Rockies and Sierra Nevadas. The first time I was at Heavenly Ski area in California, and stood at the top of the mountain, with the snow covered peaks on one side, Lake Tahoe, and the desert of Nevada on the other side was a true aha moment. Certainly, many of the gardens around the world have amazed me, particularly Monet's garden in Giverny, and my video proves that I indeed experienced an aha moment there. My reminiscing on this topic has encouraged me to compile a list of my top five aha moments of travel. So, here they are!

5. The first day in Oahu Hawaii- It was 1994 and I remember arriving on this gorgeous island and sitting with my new husband at a place called Duke's, that is named after a famous Hawaiian surfer and is also my maiden name. I had a mile high macadamia nut ice cream sundae and thought that I was in heaven on earth!

4. Clarke Quay in Singapore- This is the only place where the aha moment is an aroma. Or, more precisely, a variety of succulent, sweet, spicy, peppery, mouth-watering fragrances that I still have etched in my sense of smell. Walking in this area was a celebration of the smells of Chinese, Indonesian, Thai, Indian, and any food that you could imagine. It has never left me, nor has the fantastic flavors of the multitude of dishes.This was a food paradise indeed!

3.The night lights in Hong Kong- The night lights are what truly beckons me to visit this city again and again. Skycrapers lit up every night in Central district, lights across the bay in Kowloon, lights for celebrating both the Chinese new year and Christmas. All colors of light are used in every creative way to make this city alive and energetic. It really is like being in another world when these all come together at night. The ongoing light show in Hong Kong is a continuous aha moment for me.

2. Seeing Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip at Buckingham Palace on our first day in London.
We had arrived in London earlier in the day. Tired, but unable to check into our hotel, we wandered around the city, and eventually came to Buckingham Palace. We were enjoying the palace guard show. Suddenly we saw a man running around rather frantically, shouting "the queen is coming, the queen is coming".  My first thought was this guy was either crazy, or had a few too many at the local pub. But a crowd began to gather, and we decided to see if perhaps the queen was passing through. Then we saw the horse drawn carriage with the queen in her green suit and matching hat, with Prince Phillip by her side. My breath literally left me for a moment. Whether or not you believe in the monarchy, it is indescribable to see someone in person whom you have read about from the days of your childhood. Adding to our good fortune was the fact that we were in a spot to snap a pretty good picture with our new camera! Aha - Queen Elizabeth is passing through!

1. Hearing Mozart Requiem at Notre Dame in Paris-This was my first trip outside of the US, other than the Bahamas and Canada.  Rich and I had been dating less than a year, when one day he said "how would you like to go to Paris?" I was excited about the idea of Paris, although it had never been the place in the world that I most wanted to visit. (I thought Rome or London). Our first day caught us walking around and catching the sights of Paris which I realized, even after a few short hours, was the most romantic city I could imagine. We saw a group of sidewalk artists and right there in front of me was Notre Dame Cathedral! I had seen the movie "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" many times, but never dreamed that I would actually see Notre Dame itself. How awe inspiring it was from the outside! But the aha moment occurred when we walked in and a choir was performing the Mozart Requiem. I had been exposed to Mozart's requiem in D Minor when I was a member of my college choir. Hearing the melodious instruments and singing in this epic place really was the most thrilling aha moment of a lifetime. I fell in love with the city and the man!

These are my top five ahas, but of course there are many more in my travel memories, and hopefully many more to come. I realize that I left out one very important aha moment, however. Almost 15 years ago, Rich and I traveled to Asheville for a weekend getaway. We marveled at the beauty of the mountains, the cool people, and the hip downtown. On a Sunday afternoon, before heading back to Atlanta, we walked along Pack Square, with the sun shining and the bright blue sky above us. I remarked, with tears in my eyes "this is absolutely perfect!" And the rest of this aha moment is history!