Rudolph Quin said:
Feral: Actually, it sounds like you've traveled a lot. So, where is the most beautiful place you have been? This isn't about comparisons or exotic adventures, since both Trygon and I find our own homes/locales to be that number 1 spot and we're just on opposite coasts of the USA. I've been to Italy, Germany, and Canada and still, the green hills and temperate forests of PA is my favorite. So, what is your most beautiful spot?
Hmmm I see your point.
I suppose it comes down to the fact I feel I have not essentially been to any place able to hold my imagination for very long. When I personally think of some place that is 'beautiful' I picture something which appears untouched by time and the influence of people. Or, if it HAS been touched by human influence...nature is taking it back and reclaiming the world.
Rolling hills and green meadows are nice, the misty and dew covering them in the morning is relaxing as the shine begins to rise, steam rising off the creeks...its tranquil but...all too often I find the scene spoiled by reminders of modern day life.
While the places I have traveled to are certainly thought provoking well within their own right...to me they have all felt....lack-luster or 'second verse same as the first.' I know the number of people who have been able to visit the Niagara Falls vs the ones who wish they could see them up close is a major difference fore example. But...for me the experience was ruined by how....commercialized this magnificent wonder of nature was. The constant hussle of people and the boats in and out...the turmoil of everything...it was ultimately lost on me because of the human element.
I would have rather visited the Falls centuries ago and seen the entire area as it originally was before humans developed it. When it was endless forest and mountains, wild and untamed.
Each place I have visited has been nice most certainly...but the experiences I had while there I also take into account with how much of an impact the environment had on me. Sadly nearly every convention I have been to always had some major, dumb ass drama blow up that didn't need to happen, thus took away from the experience as a whole and left me with an ever darkening view on not just the event itself but the area as well. The experience became corrupted for me so to speak and thus corrupted how I actually viewed the physical area around me. Where I might not have originally noticed the flaws while having fun I immediately picked up on and that was all I saw once the drama began. Where a once light and sprawling city was able to take my breath away all I saw was how tight it was, cold, hard, dark, dirty...etc. verses the good side of it.
All in all, I suppose what I am basically saying...is that while I did find the places I have been to be pretty and nice...[[if only for a short while]] none of them hit home to me in such a fashion as to warrant a reaction of "This is the most beautiful place I have ever been."