# What places in the world have brought tears to your eyes? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 10, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153 "2011-08-10T01:53:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/21 "2011-08-10T14:16:57Z")
nm have to re-edit ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/22 "2011-08-10T14:17:15Z")
I don’t cry, but I do tear up a bit when I’m driving up Rt. 81 from Pennsylvania into New York State, over rolling green hills, and the road passing between those steep cliffs (hills they blew up to enable the road to pass through). Much of a muchness. And all of a sudden, usually at sunset, there are the bright lights and tall buildings of Syracuse, NY, just appearing out of nowhere. I’m HOME again. This, spotting the lights of the city where you live, as from an airplane, is pretty common. When I was about 20, we went to Cape Cod for a weekend, got there at night. The next day we went to the beach, climbed up a steep sand dune, and there, before me, was revealed an enormous beach and the biggest, greenest, sparkliest waves rolling in. It was so awesome a sight to a flatlander like me, who never saw the ocean, that I actually did cry. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/23 "2011-08-10T14:42:04Z")
[This one](http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff71/Drummerboy49/MainAltar01.jpg) And [this one](http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff71/Drummerboy49/JacobsAltar04-1.jpg) As a youth in my hometown (Rothenburg ob der Tauber) I saw this altar many times, but didn’t appreciate it until I went back home for the first time as an adult. I was so overwhelmed with the artistry and everything it represented, that I had to sit down and compose myself. You can read more about this magnificent altar [here](http://www.scrapbookpages.com/Rothenburg/Tour/JacobsChurchInterior.html) Thanks Quasi ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/24 "2011-08-10T14:48:58Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > When I was about 20, we went to Cape Cod for a weekend, got there at night. The next day we went to the beach, climbed up a steep sand dune, and there, before me, was revealed an enormous beach and the biggest, greenest, sparkliest waves rolling in. It was so awesome a sight to a flatlander like me, who never saw the ocean, that I actually did cry. I was 11 when we first went. I had no idea what to expect, as I didn’t know from oceans. Shortly after we arrived we packed up for the beach, walked down the sandy road, and climbed the dune. My first thought was “Why in the hell would anyone want to live anywhere else?” That thought hasn’t left me. I’m a lifer. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/25 "2011-08-10T14:50:28Z")
[This one](http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff71/Drummerboy49/MainAltar01.jpg) And [this one](http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff71/Drummerboy49/JacobsAltar04-1.jpg) As a youth in my hometown of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, I saw this beautiful altar many times, but did not appreciate its meaning and the artistry until I went back home as an adult. I had to sit down and compose myself I was so overwhelmed. You can read more [here](http://www.scrapbookpages.com/Rothenburg/Tour/JacobsChurchInterior.html) Thanks Quasi ---
**Author:** ![smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smoke)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/26 "2011-08-10T14:55:29Z")
I’ve gotten choked up in the past driving up to Vermont. There’s a spot on Rt.89 where all at once, you just get this beautiful scenic vista. It had more to do with the stress in my life at the time, coupled with finally getting back to North country. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/27 "2011-08-10T15:05:54Z")
The live all-nude lesbian group sex show in Suzie Wong Bar in our Soi Cowboy red-light area. Just bee-yootifal, man. 😉 But I’ve never understood why most places would move people to cry. While attending a conference one time in Yogyakarta, on the Indonesian island of Java, all of us participants were taken out to visit another\*\*"]Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in the world. A Filipino participant – male, not even Buddhist, but rather Catholic – told me later that he cried at the sight. Um, okay. It was pretty impressive, but I didn’t feel like crying. If I were, say, a Vietnam War vet, I might could see crying at the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington. The wife did cry a bit at the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, and I can understand that. But most places, I’m baffled why people would cry, heartless bastard that I be. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/28 "2011-08-10T15:10:36Z")
New Albany, Indiana. Had to sit on a very long, very traumatizing jury trial for a multiple murder case in the area, a decade or so ago. I wasn’t from southern Indiana; I, like the other jurors, had been called from central Indiana, because we could be more impartial than local citizens. We weren’t prepared for how horrible the case was; to this day, folks from the area who argue about how our jury came to our decision show that they have no clue about what kinds of evidence we got to see, what kinds of arguments we had in in deliberation. I swear that most of the arguments against our verdict come from people who only know the facts from the episodes of _48 Hours_ that covered the case. Not once have I seen an armchair juror bring up the evidence that we actually ended up relying upon in rendering our verdict. I’ve read that jurors in traumatizing cases show signs of PTSD. I wouldn’t disagree. The last time I ended up in the New Albany/Louisville area, I was with a group of friends who wanted to drive through the residential areas, and we ended up passing some of the crime scenes. I had flashbacks to parts of the trial, and ended up breaking down, freaking out and crying. Most of the folks on this road trip had no idea about the trial, and had no clue why I was having that reaction. Embarrassing. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/29 "2011-08-10T15:45:01Z")
Watching TV Jan. 20, 2009 certainly choked me up and maybe even brought tears to my eyes. We had such high hopes 2 1/2 years ago. Little did we imagine how they would be dashed. Spectacular sights do not bring tears to my eyes, however, just exclamations of joy. For natural sights, drive through Quebec or Vermont in early October. I think the most spectacular man-made sight I have ever seen was a Buddhist temple in Kyoto. IIRC it was called Chion-In. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/30 "2011-08-10T16:00:49Z")
the arizona memorial. bawled like a baby. and i wasn’t the only one. the vietnam memorial. back in the day, i talked to returning vets at a phoneline crisis center while i was in college in the mid-70s. the tales these guys told because they needed to tell \*someone \*would curl your hair. not all of the vietnam dead are in the ground. the instant i saw the memorial i just sat down and started crying, thinking about those guys and all the others who came home in a cardboard box - or didn’t come home at all. ☹ 'scuse me. needa tissue. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/31 "2011-08-10T16:32:59Z")
Macchu Pichu. Often when we are on Highway 1 just coming in to the Rocky Mountains I get a little teary. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/32 "2011-08-10T17:43:36Z")
Ground Zero. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/33 "2011-08-10T17:47:42Z")
The Canadian Rockies. We drove from Vancouver to Banff on our honeymoon, and every time you thought you’d seen the most beautiful thing on earth, you’d turn a corner and there was more of it. Overwhelming. I did literally start to cry, and that’s very unlike me. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/34 "2011-08-10T17:48:52Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > Macchu Pichu. That’s awesome. What was it like climbing to the top? ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/35 "2011-08-10T17:59:32Z")
The Genocide Memorial in Kigali, Rwanda… 800,000 people killed in 100 days. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/36 "2011-08-10T18:09:17Z")
Several Holocaust memorials, and one place I think would be a great monument. About 10 years ago in the former Yugoslavia a friend showed me the room in the barn where their family had hid Jews during WWII. ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/37 "2011-08-10T18:14:15Z")
My hometown… It explains why I dont want to go there anymore. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/38 "2011-08-10T20:11:11Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > That’s awesome. What was it like climbing to the top? Tiring. We did the Salkantay treck rather then the Inca trail so came up the stairs rather then through the Sun Gate. We got to the top just as the sun was coming up and the sky was all blues and purples and pinks. It’s much grander in person then on pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/39 "2011-08-10T20:46:08Z")
Last time I was home, after my dad had been in the bathroom for thirty minutes. Jebus. ---
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153/40 "2011-08-10T20:48:18Z")
Hey those Rockies, they get people. Glad it’s not just me. The first time I crossed the country (America that is) and flew over the Rockies I cried (getting a little teary right now). Wow, just wow. I could hardly believe they were really there just like I’d always heard. I’ve only made the trip three times and each time I cried. But I’ve never actually visited ☹ I’ll get there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-places-in-the-world-have-brought-tears-to-your-eyes/592153.md?page=3)