Tuesday, April 16, 2013

If you could go ANYWHERE..........

...............where would it be?   City?  Beach?  Mountains?  Anywhere in the WORLD.............where's the one place you have always wanted to go to?
By the way...if you haven't seen them already, check out my stepdaughter's photos of Easter Island down below this post....it's amazing.  She took them on Sunday. She says Easter Island is one of the most beautiful places she's ever been (and she's been to a LOT of places in her life)...........it truly does look gorgeous............

...............and it's one of the very last places I'd want to go :-)

So............how about you?   Someone just handed you $30,000............where are you going?

Z

28 comments:

Divine Theatre said...

I'd like to go to my natural mother's birthplace in County Cork, Ireland. Though I discovered the name "Norris" is very much like the name "Smith". I don't think I could discover much. *shrug*
I would love to go to Dicken's England, I suppose, or Dostoevsky's Russia.
$30,000? How much does a Time Machine cost?

Andie

Always On Watch said...

I used to say that I'd visit the pyramids in Egypt. That's off the table now, I guess.

So, where would I go?

1. Wales -- family roots and friends there.

2. Monument Valley.

3. Australia. Weeklong stopover in Hawaii!

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

Someone just handed you $30,000............where are you going?

To the bank to pay off my student loans, and then to the market to buy a few packs of Ramen noodles.

FreeThinke said...

I don't want to sound smug, but at this stage of the game I am where I truly want to be -- at home in my personal version of "The Shire."

If someone handed me an extra 30K -- hopefully as a tax-free gift, because I hate sharing anything with that bunch of fiends and foul balls in Washington, DC -- I would probably -- in anticipation of impending Old Age -- bite the bullet and remodel my bathroom to include the highest quality model of one of those walk-in bathtubs.

I'd use the rest of it to buy a decent Minivan for my loyal, wonderfully capable domestic assistant who has been with me for nine years, and is something of a latter-day version of an Old Family Retainer by now. His present vehicle is on its last legs, and he and his young familydeserve better.

If there were anything left after all that, I might replenish some of my fraying wardrobe.

Not very glamorous, is it?

Ducky's here said...

I've been to several but I'd take a tour of the great museums of Europe.

1. Prado

2. Louvre (with a side stop to take in a film at The Cinematheque)

3. Over to London and the British Museum and the National Gallery
(grab a Sam Smith Pale Museum Ale at the pub across the street)

4. Side trip to the Ghent altar

5. All the way up to the Hermitage.

6. Back to Vienna and the Kunsthistorisches

7. Down to Italy, the Uffizi, Pitti Palace and finish at the Vatican.


Head home satisfied.

FreeThinke said...

There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us Lands away
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry –

This Traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of Toll –
How frugal is the Chariot
That bears the Human Soul –


~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

If we understand Miss Emily's words, we may travel anywhere we want -- any time -- through the use of our imagination just as she did.

She rarely-if-ever left her native Amherst, but in truth she was one of the best 'travelled" women the world has ever known.

She brilliantly divined profound Truths of Being by cultivating her capacity for gaining INSIGHT.

FreeThinke said...

Worthy aims, Ducky. There was a time when I too longed to make similar museum tours -- and pilgrimages to Bayreuth and Glyndebourne as well -- but thanks to the wonders of film, television, virtual tours on the internet and many, many, many picture books filled with beautiful reproductions of nearly everything worth seeing I no longer feel the desire -- or the need -- to withstand the rigors of modern day travel, a process I find both onerous and odious.

Fortunately, God gave me the great gifts of empathy and a vivid imagination. They have served me very well.

The Most Interesting Man in the World said...

Obama once again said that he will bring the full force of the US government down on these terrorists, in fact Michelle and Zippo are going to The Hampton's this afternoon to look for them. And in case they don’t find them there, they will proceed directly to Hawaii in search for them!
Just like he did with those guys in Benghazi. Oh wait, they're still on the loose.

The American people are tired of this President’s self-serving promises that NEVER pan out.
Well at least he’s consistent ... one stupid thing after another! Can't blame it on Bush This Time !!!

Silverfiddle said...

Tibet
Samarkand
Tahiti
Poland
Tierra del Fuego

Having said that, like FreeThinke, after a lifetime of traveling and living all over, there's no place like home. If someone told me I could never travel again, I'd be a happy man.

sue hanes said...


Z - I'd go to Paris. I'v been there before but only on a brief tour. I'd like to spend more time there.

Waylon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Waylon said...

Since I haven't subjected myself to the indignity of going through check in for a flight since before 9-11, I'd probably have to hire a private jet to get somewhere. I suppose that would restrict my choices with #30,000.

Where would that get me? Chicago? Boston? New York? Montreal? Winnipeg? Vancouver? Probably be better to spend it locally putting in a sun room or something.

Anonymous said...

I'd go to space.
On Earth I'd go to Antartica, Peru and Ushuaia.

Amazing photos from Easter Island. This place is so fascinating too.

Anonymous said...

I didn't read the budget limitations. I don't think I could go to space for 30k.

Z said...

what great answers.

Divine...I have never been to Ireland and have wanted to go...

Always..same for Wales.
As an aside because you know and love music, our family has friends who are a Welsh Bishop and an Armenian artist/writer wife. They both say that some of the Armenian liturgical music is the same as Welsh melodies sung for years. We've all always found that incredibly interesting.

beamish, you crack me up. Ramen noodles are GOOD :-) (once in a while...)

FT...and Silverfiddle....my passport has expired and I am a VERY HAPPY GIRL, I must admit.

Mr Z made me a traveler (I used to hate flying not because I worried about crashing...I didn't...but I would get a little anxious and claustrophobic on 12 hour flights and had to resort to Halcyon...which I only had to take once because just knowing I had it to take helped that much!..after that I rather enjoyed that time on the planes...imagine? To the point where I'd say, as we landed home from Kuala Lumpur or somewhere "where are we going next time!" Mr Z cracked up "I made a traveler out of you!"

Of course, living in Munich and Paris helped!

I never liked much Asian art, etc., then we traveled on business for Mr. Z to Kuala and Bangkok and Singapore, etc...more than once...and I fell in love with some of it.
This is the difference of actually BEING THERE and imagining one's there. I used to feel the same "Just send me a post card"...but I did see the huge gift of actually being somewhere.
Having said that, I really don't care if I'm anywhere too far again.
Mr Z had SO many frequent flyer miles that we always flew First of Business Class...and I will not fly tourist to Europe. I'm 5'9" tall and those seats are SO tight..plus they've crowded the seats in so much now I'd have to be sedated :-) No more miles, no more travel, probably!
Though my stepkids are eager to get me back to Munich, which I'm not ready for emotionally..without Mr. Z.

Waylon...I swear I've felt the same way "private jet, or no go"..

Ducky, Mr. Z and I had a knack for being in cities on Mondays...and remembering the museums are closed. So, we'd GO EAT :-)
He'd have meetings on Fridays, we'd enjoy the weekend, and then fly out Monday evening or Tuesday. so we didn't see the museums we tried to see..QUITE often.

Sue...you would love a long visit to Paris. It is THE most beautiful city and has SO much history and great food, etc to offer. It's a special ambiance you can't know until you've been there for a while.........living there for four years was the single greatest "tangible" blessing of my life.


Ducky's here said...

Silver, Poland is a gem. Spend some time in Krakow and make sure to see the tapestries .

Z said...

I had hoped not to blog on this, but I'm hearing a correction to a comment I made yesterday re Boston;
the President has not used the word "terror" but the WH clearly has.

I did hear the president say we shouldn't jump to conclusions, which I suppose means "think it's an islamist extremist"... I wish he hadn't jumped so quickly to condemning white cops when his friend the Black Harvard prof had that problem at his home, remember?

FOX reported about the Saudi National 'person in question' , reported last night to Capitol Hill by the Feds. CNN is not mentioning that.

interesting. I guess I feel Americans deserve ALL the news...

Ducky's here said...

@z ...and I will not fly tourist to Europe. I'm 5'9" tall

-----
I hear you. I'm 6' 2" with bad knees.

Took a 17 hour flight from London to Cape Town once. Sheer torture.

L.A. to Sydney was worse.

Z said...

Oops! Now Obama's saying (at this moment) "The FBI is investigating it as an act of TERRORISM"...wow

ya think?, Mr. Obama?

Have other presidents referred to people as "MY Director of HLS" or "MY Head of the CIA"..? I don't remember them continually using "MY" about heads of departments.

Z said...

Ducky, LA to anywhere with bad knees and height are torture, you're right.
This is why I was so grateful for the miles we had and I could get a little room. Mr Z was 6'4" and traveled a LOT more than we did together and always went Business. Actually, we did First for a short while then I said I thought that many more miles/money just to have caviar is NUTS ... I only wanted THE ROOM. You could give me a tuna sandwich, chips and Coke and I'd be happy as long as I had leg room,right?. (though Lufthansa First actually FRIES eggs in a sultan by your side in their First, which I found pretty amazing!)

Anonymous said...

There's a little more room in the A380. It was pretty good to travel in it last time I went to Frogland.

Ducky's here said...

Only flew 1st class once, z. British Airways screwed up my seat assignment and couldn't get me a smoking seat (yeah, back in the day) so they moved me to 1st class(really back in the day).

Would you care for a drink, sir?
Hell yes, got any single malt.

I did enjoy it.

Pris said...

Mr. Pris and I went to Trinidad in 1989, where my Mom was born. We took Mom with us.
She was one year old when my grandparents came to America in 1917. I had loved the stories my Grandmother had told me about that island when I was a little girl, and finally we were able to go there. Oh, and I do love those Calypsos!

That's where my ancestors ended up when they fled Portugal because of the inquisition. Today, I wouldn't go there what with drug lords, and an alqaida branch being there. Kidnappings, and a high crime rate.

There are two other places I'd like to visit. Rome, to see in person the magnificent art work by Michaelangelo, and Da Vinci!

Also New Zealand. For some reason after seeing photos of it, so picturesque, I would like to go there.

Z said...

Ducky, it's spectacular but you get that in Business, too.
NOW I'd be wasting miles on First because one can LIE DOWN. THAT, I never experienced.
I have a Romanian friend who got bumped like you did into First Class and she does the most hilarious 'shtick' on her realizing the whole chair went up and down and back and around..and how she felt...like alittle kid in a candy store. It's a riot.
"So there I am, and they're asking me if I want Brussel sprouts or string beans..are they KIDDING? on a PLANE? NO RUBBER CHICKEN?"
I wish you could see her do the chair button thing.."and then it went ALLL the way down...!"

Pris..I love Calypso music! I'd like to go there.
And yes..ROME is INCREDIBLE..the coliseum takes your breath away...it's everything you thought it would be and more.
EVERYTHING there is. If you survive the taxi drivers :-)

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I've pretty much have had my fill of traveling! I've been to every state except Hawaii...South America...Europe a number of times. South Africa on a ferry trip. Mexico, Canada, Alaska. I've been to most of the hot spots in the West Indies and the Caribbean as well as the Bahamas numerous times.San Juan and all the Virgin Islands too. Bermuda was always a great trip....it's a beautiful place if you haven't been there.

I don't think today I'd want to go back to Paris as my brother tells me it's changed quite a bit and I know what he means.

I would however, like to accompany my daughter this summer on her second trip to China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taipei though.

She and her mother flew business class last year ( I think a total of 19 hours flying including the connection from Chicago ! ) and they had these pods, sleepers that allowed them privacy and comfort for that long of a trip. Plus they were fed well too.

That all depends of course... if she asks me to come along! :-(

Ed Bonderenka said...

I would like to take Scherie to Italy and/or Greece, but don't it's the same as when I lived there.
(our mutual friend Rita is going back to Italy in a month).
I once flew to New York to get a charter to Germany.
I hadn't noticed that the flight had been changed. As soon as I entered the terminal, I heard my flight announced as final boarding.
I ran with my gear through the airport and got to the gate as they closed the door.
They let me in and the plane started taxiing.
I walked through first to get to coach only to see that all the seats were filled.
I panicked and thought I was on the wrong flight!.
Turns out I was bumped to first.
The only way to fly!

Joe said...

I'm going to Wal-Mart. I have had enough travel as the son of an Air Force officer to last a lifetime.

I'll stay home, if you don't mind.