Places To Go Bucket List II

Way back in January when this blog was a mere two months old, I wrote one of my most popular blog posts ever: Places To Go Bucket List. The list consisted of ten places, but I only really went into the first few, which I have checked off. Since then, the list has changed a bit, and I figured I’d finish explaining why I’ve chosen these places for my list.

5. Paris, France

I’ll start with Paris. As most of you probably already know, I checked this off my list in May, and have visited again since.

Paris was better than I thought it would be. I expected crowds of tourists and I expected pretty buildings and fashionable people, but the city is so much better than that. It positively hums with excitement, but also a calm sort of contentment. It’s the kind of city that makes you think everything is beautiful and nothing could possibly go wrong.

6. Florence, Italy

I do not consider myself a big fan of many things or public figures. Regardless, I must confess with all honesty that the biggest pull I have to Florence are the artists of the High Renaissance, especially Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci. I’m also interested in the Medicis, and although I could learn all I wanted about those times and that place with documentaries or books, there’s something inspiring about visiting such historic things as David and the Ponte Vecchio in person.

7. Saigon, Vietnam (a.k.a. Ho Chi Minh City)

This is the first and only place on the list to have any personal significance for me. Saigon is the city where my mom was born. It’s the setting for many of the stories I grew up listening to, and it’s the place my mom was forced to leave after the Vietnam war when she was about the age I am now. But I don’t speak Vietnamese. My mom hasn’t been back since she left all those years ago, but maybe one day we could make the trip together.

8. Sydney, Australia

To me, Australia would be an adventure to make me really appreciate Earth for its natural beauty. I get a lot of that already, with the mountains, forests, and prairies where I grew up, but on the other side of the planet things start to look a lot different. Australia always struck me as the sort of place that reminds us how lucky we are to have such a beautiful planet and how we should take better care of it. That, and it’s got some pretty crazy animals.

9. Cape Town, South Africa

Cape Town would be a challenge I’d give to myself. The ultimate adventure. I’d hike to the top of Table Mountain, ride a helicopter, go shark diving, do all the things people only ever think about doing. It’s somewhere I imagine visiting alone, or with one or two other people who I’m close to and who are up for the challenge. I’d pay for the trip myself, too. Mostly, Cape Town would be a celebration of my independence. Someday.

10. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Rio with all of it’s beaches, colours, and lively culture, would be…bliss. It would be a vacation where I could learn some history, do some hiking, or just lie on the sand and let the ocean wash over me.  It would be nice without also being boring.

And that’s it. What do you think? Anything you disagree with? Anyplace I should consider adding to my list? Let me know in the comments below!