Not in any particular order, they’re all amazing experiences and too difficult to rank!
1. Cinque Terre, Italy
- Hiking the paths between the five tiny villages (okay so we only made it between two, but we felt accomplished since we survived a hail storm!
- Savouring Zabaglione in Monterosso, Cinque Terre
My husband Joe is of Italian descent and ever since I met him I fell in love with everything Italian. In 1998, I convinced him to take a three week vacation to Italy. This vacation was our first trip across the pond to Europe.
We made the mistake of trying to see the entire country in 21 days. We were backpacking (as adults!), not staying in any one place for more than a couple of days and traveling from place to place via train.
We had some amazing experiences along the way even if we were constantly on the move with very heavy backpacks. One of our favourite memories was the tiny fishing villages of Cinque Terre.
The five little villages are linked by a hiking path. It is a hilly, narrow, winding path that takes you through terraced vineyards with incredible views of the seaside. Joe and I decided to walk from our home base of Monterosso to the next village. Little did we know that we would be caught halfway between the villages in a hail storm. There was no shelter and the hail was pretty much the size of golf balls. We huddled close to the face of the hillside and waited for the storm to subside. By the time we made it to the next village, you could ring us out. We looked like drowned rats. At the time we didn’t find it too funny but now we laugh about it all the time.
One of our other favourite encounters in Cinque Terre was in the village of Monterosso. On the weekends, this little village comes alive with street vendors, music and festivities. While walking on the main street, we saw two young Italian girls selling fresh made Zabaglione from a street cart. We decided to take a taste and my god, I cannot tell you how amazing the flavour of the Zabaglione was! We still talk about it today!
That’s what makes a great travel experience – the lasting memory!
2. Flying in Canada
- Helicopter over the Canadian Rockies
- Seaplane Northern Ontario in the fall
Okay, so these are really two favourite experiences, but I really wanted to include both of them and they are both flying experiences, so, I’m going with it!
Helicopter over the Canadian Rockies – Banff, Alberta, Canada
If you ever find yourself in Banff or Canmore, Alberta do not miss the opportunity of taking a helicopter ride over the Rockies. And do it soon while we still have glaciers!
Flying over the Rockies was one of the most exhilarating and beautiful travel experiences of my life. Hovering over a glacier then dropping down the other side of the mountain, was a bigger rush than the scariest rollercoaster. Unbelievable and a must do at least once in your life.
Seaplane ride in Northern Ontario, Canada
Ontario is blessed with natural beauty and in the fall when all the leaves from the deciduous trees change from green to bright yellow, fire red and brilliant orange, its beauty is on full display.
On a whim, Joe and I decided to take a drive north for the day. While driving though Parry Sound, we noticed a sign for Seaplane flights. Given that the leaves were in full colour, we thought we’d check the possibility and cost of a short flight. To our amazement there was a flight available and the cost was more than reasonable.
With our little Yorkie, Coco at our side we boarded the plane for a 30 minute flight over Georgian Bay and the beautiful landscape of colour below. Truly spectacular.
3. Dinner at Raphael in Paris, France
The historic Raphael Hotel in Paris, has the best roof top garden restaurant in the city. While any roof top garden restaurant in Paris is a wonderful pleasure, they are often small with the tables cramped together. The Raphael roof top is spacious and elegant.
While I have only dined at the Raphael with a business associate, it is truly best experienced with a loved one. It is one of the most romantic settings. You have close to a 360 degree view of Paris. And with the Raphael situated nicely between the Tour de Eiffel and the Arc de Triophe, the view of these two monuments is incomparable.
Imagine the view of the city of lights while dining on fine French cuisine with impeccable service. The only thing that could top it was one occasion while dining on the roof top garden when the lights went out for a brief few minutes. During those minutes my breath was completely taken away by the beauty of the city from a pitch black garden. The Tour and the Arc were even more spectacular with only the light emitting from them. Wow, once in a lifetime!
Even if you are unlikely to have the lights go out while you dine at the Raphael, do go as the experience is exceptional on any occasion.
4. Gordes, France
Called le plus beau village de France and there are a lot of beautiful towns in France, this one is definitely not to be missed.
As you approach the village, which is atop a hill you’re likely to gasp in amazement. The entire village is build out of rock on the side of a hill. Words cannot describe it. It must be seen to understand. See some of the pictures I took from the road approaching the village.
5. Bordeaux Grand Cru Classé Gala Dinner at the Prague Castle (Prazský Hrad), Czech Republic
On a business trip to Prague, I had the privilege to be invited to the president’s castle for the release of the 2002 Bordeaux Grand Cru Classé wines. The dinner was attended by many dignitaries and was held in the castle’s ballroom. Each course was wonderfully matched with a Bordeaux wine.
Prague is a magical city and while the dinner was a once in a life time experience, walking back to my hotel seeing the cobble stone streets and the river dimly lit by lanterns is the reason this city is in my top 10 favourite cities in the world.
While not everyone will have the opportunity to dine in the castle, you can certainly visit it (albeit not all of the castle) and walking the streets of Prague discovering the magic of the city is not to be missed, especially at night when there are few tourists out wandering (at least not in Feb).
6. Horseback riding through the Canadian Rockies with my dad
I grew up in the rural countryside and was riding horses pretty much before I could walk. I have pictures of myself in diapers sitting on a horse with my grandfather holding onto me. I spent most of my youth, going to equestrian events on summer weekends. My dad was always the one taking me to riding lessons and events.
For as long as I remember my father had always dreamed of riding through the Canadian Rockies on horseback. Every year he would receive the brochures and think maybe another year.
A few years ago for father’s day, I surprised my dad with a trip to Banff to ride through the Rockies.
It rained and rained, then rained some more and we were all chilled to the bone but the views were stunning and nothing could warm my heart more than the feeling of making a dream come true for my dad.
7. Red Square, Moscow
Standing in Red Square in Moscow has to be one of the most surreal experiences of my life. It is really impossible to describe.
While overall, I did not fall in love with Moscow (to be fair I was there in the middle of February!), Red Square was one of those experiences that will stay with me for the rest of my life and that’s gives it a top 10 position.
8. Concerto in a Chiesa, Venice, Italy
As part of the 21 day Italy vacation with my husband, Joe, we visited Venice. Venice was our last stop on our three week vacation. After three weeks spending 24/7 together, running to trains and lugging backpacks around we were pretty much on each other’s nerves.
Despite easily irritating each other, regularly having some part of us poked by hordes of umbrella touting tourists and the damp rain getting under our skin, Venice was still one of our favourite cities in all of Italy.
The city’s architecture is stunning and wandering around the streets or taking the vaporetti (water taxis) past San Marco square regardless of the weather and number of tourists is an exceptional way to spend a day.
While in Venice, one of our other favourite discoveries was attending a concerto in a chiesa (a concert in a church). The combination of the beauty of the historic church and the music make this a memory we share with anyone who is planning a trip to Venice. If you are in Venice, make a point of going to one of these concerts. It’s magical.
9. Christmas in Vienna, Austria
A couple of years ago while I was living in Paris, Joe, and I decided it would be fun to visit Vienna for Christmas. I had heard so much about the wonderful Christmas markets and we both love the 1900’s Viennese artists, especially Klimt and Schiele. In fact we loved it so much we spent this past Christmas there again!
Our first stop, the Christmas market at city hall, known as the Christkindlmarkt at Rathausplatz was a short walk down the street from our hotel. What better way to start a vacation than having a mug of Glϋhwein and some roasted chestnuts? Here’s how it works, you go to a Glϋhwein market stall, order your hot mulled wine pay for it along with a Euro deposit on the mug and walk around the market sipping hot mulled wine. If you want another cup, and who wouldn’t, go to the next stall and have it filled up again, you pay only for the refill not the mug. When you are done, return the mug to any of the market stalls for your Euro back. I wanted a token to remember the experience so we kept ours, for a Euro you can’t do better than that! While wandering the markets, don’t forget to buy some roasted chestnuts or gingerbread pastries, yum!
After a chilling day walking around the city, which has beautiful architecture (since it’s relatively small and compact, it’s easy to get around), enjoy a bowl of Goulash (Wiener Saftgulasch). On Christmas day don’t forget to enjoy the Christmas cake called Stollen /(Wiener Weihnachtsstollen), heck enjoy it every day that you are in Vienna, it’s delightful.
On Christmas day we attended the Nutcracker Ballet (Der Nussknacker) at the Staatsoper Theatre/Opera House. What could be a more quintessentially Christmas day than that?
10. Watching an Olympic Hockey Game in Torino, Italy (Canada vs Switzerland – Men’s team)
First let me state for the record that while I am a small town Canadian girl and did spend far too much time at the hockey arena growing up (I think it had more to do with the social scene than hockey anyway), I am not what you would call a hockey fan.
Long gone are the days of watching the Leafs games with my grandfather (truth be told, I was just waiting to see Peter Puck). For me the only reason to go to a professional sports game is the social scene in the box, did someone say complimentary wine? No box, I’m not going!
Context firmly in place and despite the Canadians loosing badly to the Swiss, watching this game was exhilarating! I could not believe how exciting it was. My bum wasn’t on the seat for the entire game.
Walter Gretzky and some other NHLers were sitting a few rows behind us. We took pictures but since I was wearing an extra large Roots Canada Sweatshirt over a turtleneck and other items for warmth, I look like I weigh about 400 lbs so there’s no way I’m posting that one!
I was so desperate to catch the first Canadian goal against the Swiss, I must have taken 400 pictures, see some of them here. BTW the Canadian team never scored a signal goal, but a Canadian playing for Switzerland scored for the Swiss team, so we won anyway, no?
I have to say too that the Swiss were very gracious winners. Take a look at some of them swinging these gigantic cow bells after the victory.
