> > > Think about it. What are the most beautiful places you have ever been?
> >
> > 1. The Pulgas Water Temple in the SF Bay Area. It has an ugly name (pulgas means 'fleas' in Spanish) but it really is an amazing place. Someone (the city it's in, I guess) decided to build a very large Greek-looking temple that looks out to the Santa Cruz mountains. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere, and very unexpected if you come upon it, which adds to the beauty.
> >
> > 2. The Grand Canyon. The pictures on TV and in books definitely don't do it justice. It looks so boring until you actually see it in person. I was amazed.
> >
> > 3. Pretty much anywhere in the Santa Cruz Mountains
> >
> > I haven't travelled too many places, but since I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, I don't mind so much.
>
> And where would that be? :)
>
I live in South San Jose, which is actually not too great, but I'm, just a few mile from the Santa Cruz Mountains, which, as I mentioned, are quite beautiful. It's just so lush and green, with a crystal clear blue sky and the smell of the ocean in the air, not too hot and not too cold. When it's foggy, the fog clings to the trees and it's kind of magical. I think I like them so much because it's never not beautiful there.

>
> You know what truth? You sound like someone who shares my ideals of pure, majestic and solitary beauty in both nature and architecture. You probably would like the mysterious, mist-shrouded Guilin Mountains along the Li River in China. You probably would feel weak seeing the Taj Mahal glow like dying embers in the setting sun of Agra. The type of beauty I'm thinking of is the one that pierces you to the heart; it makes you hold your breath when you see it.

I'm holding my breath just reading your descriptions. When I eventually do have some money to travel, those will be the first places I visit.

> What does anyone know of places in the world that are so utterly stunning, they could freeze your entire being into the one perfect moment?
>
> Wolfie

Honestly, that's the way I feel every time I'm in the SC Mtns or even see them from a distance, although I wouldn't think to describe it the way you so eloquently did. You have an amazing way with words, and I'm a little jealos :)

Truth