I have what I call "snapshot moments". Simply put, they're a place and time that I want to memorialize and remember. So I consciously take in my surroundings and close my eyes as to commit that moment in time to memory. A veritable scrapbook in my personal memory. Strange? Perhaps, but it works for me. Following are a couple of my travel "snapshot moments" combined with other travel experiences...

" Many things are Venice (Venezia) to me, and although I've heard experiences of others that are not so nice, I had a great visit there, and would love to explore it further one day. On my departing evening from Venice, waiting for the night train to Florence (Firenze) ... sitting on the marble steps still warm from the afternoon sun, the moon hung largely in the sky. Gondolas sliced their way through the calm, moonlit waters of the canals, and the deep baritone of the gondoliers' song resonated into the darkness. To me, at that moment, the quintessential Venezia..."

Late Spring in the Alps... staying in the youth hostel, that had the most amazing view of the alps out of the bedroom window.
Having hiked straight up the mountain from the hostel, I sat outside my friend Steve's Hotel Mittaghorn trying to catch up in writing my travel journal while my girlfriend Mandy accompanied Steve on a hike in the surrounding mountains. There I sat, sun streaming down, looking across at the Eiger and Jungfrau thinking... 'I'm in Switzerland!'. The grasses in the surrounding pastures were tall and mingled with jewel-like tones of wild flowers, the air was crisp with the last hint of a passing spring... I could hear the sound of bells in the distance that seemed to clang across the mountain and float out into the valley far below. The clanging got progressively louder, and soon a farmer with staff in hand, guided a group of bell-laden cows past me. At that moment, I fully expected Heidi to come from around the corner of the rustic building...

Later that night we sat in that same hotel, an establishment run by Walter, in a small room filled with his hotel patrons, a handful of locals and a few of us from the hostel down the mountain. Walter serves no food, but there are two options of things to drink; beer or hot chocolate. Walter's hot chocolate is melted swiss chocolate poured into your cup with heated fresh cow's milk... heavenly. The locals began to yodel, their mellifluous voices filling the room.

Sipping my hot chocolate, surrounded by the yodeling and remembering the idyllic scene of earlier that day... THIS is Switzerland...