Michelangelo’s David. After a day full of art, amid a long trip full of art, David absolutely took my breath away. I felt like I was grokking the word “masterpiece” for the first time. Not just the physical size of the statue, which was much bigger than I expected, but the expression on his face: a blend of determination and fear that shifts as you walk around and see it from different angles… really, truly worth the trip to Florence.
The parking lot at Kent State University. The pylons with their simple plaques moved me to tears.
The Empire State Building AT NIGHT. I had been up to the World Trade Building and it was OK, being from Chicago I was used to big buildings but when I got to see NYC at NIGHT from the Empire State, (which is outside) I was thrilled. I have never experienced anything like that. It was thrilling and beautiful
If you go to NYC GO to the Empire State Building after dark. It’s worth the wait.
I will add the Brooklyn Bridge. I don’t know why I was so impressed with it, maybe 'cause of the movies and TV shows it was in.
On a small scale if you go to the Mall Of America in Minneapolis (or whatever suburb it’s in) they have an aquarium which surrounds you on three sides. It’s so cool and impressive. I went through the thing time and time again. Fun to see fish swim all around you on three sides
Another vote for the Vietnam War Memorial. The day I visited it, the thing that blew me away (in addition to the organic quality that Zsofia already mentioned) was how every single person walked up to the wall and touched it.
And another vote for what WordMan said.
Many archaeological sites - my personal favorite is a lesser-known Mayan site of Kabah near Uxmal - there was a stone mosaic that literally took my breath away.
It is a wall composed of stylized face-masks made of bricks - each one linked to the others like lego. Viewed in person it is mezmerizing, hypnotic.
Here’s a link to my picture of it, which does not IMO do it justice:
wow, I don’t know about that. Its tough to say the Grand Canyon pales in comparison to anything and keep a straight face. Zion is indeed beautiful and very impressive however, you’re right about that.
The main brothel of Pompeii. Cramped little cells, the walls completely covered in obscene graffiti (mostly of a boastful nature), and a dismal half-hidden latrine: it hasn’t been used in two thousand years, but the absolute sketchy seediness and desperation of the place is still palpable.
I live in Utah and have the opportunity to visit Bryce and Zions a couple of times each year. I have also been to the Grand Canyon many times. I have to say that Zions is comparable to the Grand Canyon, but Bryce kick the ass of both of them. There really is no place as breath taking as Bryce.
The Sistine Chapel is gorgeous! I didn’t see it before the restoration, but I have seen the photos. Evidently it did look pretty aged before they cleaned it up.
I also have to go with the Roman Forum. You don’t really expect the impact when you come around the corner (from the top) and look down upon the ruins. It is simply amazing!
Really?
I went to New York once, and I was fully expecting it to be awesome, but it just had a terrible atmosphere of gloom. It was like the embodiment of the phrase “run-down”. There were lots of buildings, even in Times Square under the panels, with chips off of them, and there were all those vents in the ground that stunk, were humid, and were just generally nasty (maybe because I went in midsummer?). I never left Manhattan (well, except to go to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island), but every other street you looked down looked like a place you didn’t want to be at night. Ellis Island was also underwhelming, but I guess someone into genealogy would like it. I did get one of the best pictures of me that I’ve ever taken from that trip, though.
Maybe it’s just me and maybe New York is a nice place to live, but Chicago and D.C. were much better places to visit (and the subway tunnels in D.C. were *massive *and really deep. You could survive a nuclear war down there and never know it!). Oh, and for the thread, the Arc de Triomphe (heh, as I typed “Arc”, Yelle, a French artist, came up on Pandora) in Paris was extremely impressive in person, along with the Effiel Tower. Except for the darned heat; I was totally taken aback by the fact that air-conditioning is not standard there (I stayed with my half-sister, not in a hotel.). Trying to sleep was miserable (and the time zone there is weird, too; it was twilight at 10:00).
Valete,
Vox Imperatoris
ETA: I thought the Korean War Memorial was cooler than the Vietnam War Memorial, although the Vietnam Memorial would have been a lot more personally moving if I had known any of those names.
I will say, though, that the sheer size of the New York metropolitan area blew me away.
This I have to agree with - both of them, and add that the combo of the two - a night landing on a blacked out ship is one of the most amazing things to watch.
Outside of that, a night launch of the Space Shuttle is damn near a religious experience for me…
Well, I would disagree that Bryce is more spectacular than the Grand Canyon (I haven’t been to Zion), but it really is amazing. It is DEFINITELY more amazing than I expected it to be, since I had no idea of what to expect at all. My BF-at-the-time and I pretty much picked it at random (we had time for Zion or Bryce, but not both) and we were totally blown away. I don’t think either of us knew anything about Bryce ahead of time. It’s damned spectacular, though.
As for the Grand Canyon, I don’t know what to say about that. As in, literally, I have no words. I went there and I stared at it and then my brain hurt and I had to leave.
ETA: I once flew over the Grand Canyon, en route from Detroit to Las Vegas. Even from 30,000 feet, it was beyond my comprehension.
Whales. Specifically, gray whales. Back in 1997, a baby gray was rescued and subsequently put on display at SeaWorld in San Diego. As you might imagine, “JJ” became quite the star attraction.
I was unprepared with how impressive this animal was up close. I can only imagine what it would be like to have a close encounter with a full grown adult.
Every year as a child we would take the Going to the Sun Highway through Glacier Park. Familiarity breeds contempt, I guess, as I would be bored well before we were done.
Moving to California, I got a chance to camp in Yosemite. I was thourougly unimpressed with it, and couldn’t figure out why everyone was so enamored of everything.
Going back through Glacier as an adult blew me away. It is the most beautiful place I have ever been, in regards to natural beauty.
Ditto that for almost any Van Gogh painting. Personally I’m not a big fan of Sunflowers, and that’s the first I saw ‘live’ at the Art Institute in Chicago. But when I went to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, I became a fan. A lot of Van Gogh painting are about texture as much, if not more, than color, and you really have to see the painting in person for this to come across.
People are amazed that the *Tour Eiffel *is about the same height as New York’s Chrysler Building. But just as amazing are the intricate ironwork and the elevators that travel through curves.
I have to mention some of the U.S. National Parks in the southwest. Yes, the Grand Canyon (especially experiencing it up from the river), but also Bryce Canyon, Zion and Arches.
And the paintings of Klimt in Vienna. Especially the ones containing gold paint, which just doesn’t reproduce well.
And just about all classical music, especially opera.
I spent about three hours inside and didn’t come close to seeing everything. An incredible place.
The pictures of St. Basil’s don’t do it justice either. It’s in a perfect location, just off Red Square next to the Kremlin.
You wouldn’t think seeing a dead guy in a glass sarcophagus as impressive, but Lenin’s Tomb was exactly that.
Perhaps the most impressive, however, was the Moscow Metro. Clean and beautifully decorated, nothing like the El stations in Chicago. The trip down the escalators seemed to take forever! The Soviets really got that right.
I wouldn’t say ‘paled in comparison’, as the Grand Canyon was hardly a pipsqueak of a sight, but the view from the top of Zion’s Angel’s Landing, looking down the valley and watching condors soar far below you was one of the best views I’ve ever seen in my life. The fact I had to hike all the way up, instead of drive to the canyon rim and look down, made it that much more memorable.
Mt. St. Helens: Driving out of the trees and suddenly finding yourself in a blast zone of fallen timber stretching miles and miles and miles and…you get the picture. And the devastation of the mountain itself (I saw the eastern side) was just awe-inspiring.
the Golden Gate bridge: I though it was very impressive. From seeing the underside in Fort Point, to walking across it. Great view of the city and the bay as well. I did see it when it was partly obscured by fog/cloud, maybe that made it more mysterious and moody or something.
The Palace of Versailles. I didn’t even go inside (got there too late in the day to bother) and my ankle hurt too much to walk the entire grounds (that’s another story). Even still, I was blown away by its vastness.