Emotionally moving/beautiful scenery

In My Humble Opinion
1

A recent thread in GQ is discussing nature scenes and why and to what extent it is emotionally satisfying.

What are some scenes, places in the world, etc. that have been meaningful for you, or those you know?

For me, while I have seen a fair number of breathtaking scenes, the topper has to be some of the seaside roads of Canada’s Prince Edward Island. Considering that I am very near akin genetically with a lot of the people there (Scottish people - not just boys in skirts and girls whose eyes shimmer incessantly), I wonder how much of what I experienced is genetic, how much is cultural (e.g. prior exposure to Scottish authors, Scottish culture as passed down to me in my childhood, etc.)

As for hyped-up places that just failed to satisfy, I’d have to say Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. It was so meh, Thomas Jefferson’s rave review of the breathtaking scenery there notwithstanding.

2

Victoria Falls, hands down. I grew up seeing pictures of it, and I’d read Blue Nile and White Nile. The reality of walking up to the chasm and seeing the Zambezi thundering over the precipice brought tears to my eyes. I’ve seen the pyramids and sphinx, the herd migrations on the Serengeti, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt Fuji, Denali, the Bandiagara Cliffs of the Dogon people, the headwaters of the Nile, and the major cities of Europe, but that first sight of Victoria Falls was just glorious. Its only equal was the first sight of Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania.