Book Places 17 - 21

Although I have yet to visit England, I have "armchair traveled" there many times. And one thing that has always fasinated me is the age of the buildings in the "old world" that are still in use by the public. There are taverns and shops happily serving customers in buildings that are 500, 600, even 1000 years old.

Here in my part of the United States there are very few surviving buildings more than 200 years old. The original inhabitants of this area did not build permanent buildings and the Europeans only came into Kentucky in large numbers starting around 1750.

The town square in Bardstown where I visited the Bourbon Trail (Report on this -- My First Success! -- in the next post) has a wonderful collection of buildings built in the early part of the 1800's. But very seldom do you see any much older than this.

When you do see a building built before 1800, it has usually been turned into a museum.

I look forward to having a drink in a tavern that has been serving guests since before my country existed.

Next stop in my armchair travels -- London!



Place #17 - Osbourne House (Page #16)

Place #18 - Canterbury Cathedral (Page #16 and pictured above) - I read the Canterbury Tales by Chaucer as a Senior in high school. This will be an interesting trip.


Place #19 - Leeds Castle (Page #17 and pictured at right)

Place #20 - Sissinghurst Castle Garden (Page #18)

Place #21 - The Lake District (Page #19)



Mark

Book Places 13 - 16

Place #13 - Glyndebourne (Page #12 and pictured to the left)

Place #14 - The Cotswolds (Page #13)

Place #15 - Chewton Glen (Page #14)

Place #16 - Winchester Cathedral (Page #15) - Hey, a Church. Or more to the point -- "Hey, it's not an inn!" Seems like so far all there is to see in England (and in the book) are Inns and Hotels. Hope the rest of the countries are not like this.

Mark

How Do You Eat an Elephant?

The answer to the old joke is, "One bite at a time."

How do you see the 1,000 Places to See Before You Die? The answer: One site at a time!

But how do you actually go about it?

If I were independently wealthy I think maybe I would start at the first entry and work my way through the book, seeing and reading as I go. But being as I am not wealthy, this will not work very well for me. The book starts in England. I not going to be able to pop over to England for quite some time so I better come up with a more workable plan.

It seems to me to be best to just start where ever I am going next. Or better yet start close to home and work my way out. Quick Look Oh, Man! This could not have worked out better. One of the three entries for Kentucky is "The Bourbon Trail" (page 631) just right down the road in Bardstown (about one hour away).

I think I know what my first "Place" will be.

See you there.

Mark

Book Places 8 - 12

Here's another batch of entries I have read about.

I am enjoying this armchair travel very much so far. Patricia's writing style is light, humorous and very informative. I can hardly wait to get started on my actual quest.

Place #8 - Burgh Island Hotel (Page #9)

Place #9 - Gidleigh Park (Page #9 and Pictured Above) - I was right in my previous Book Places Post when I assumed that the book would include many expensive hotels -- This one costs $600 per night!

Place #10 - Arundell Arms (Page #10)

Place #11 - The Rising Sun (Page #11)

Place #12 - The Royal Pavilion (Page #11)


Mark

Book Places 1 - 7

This is the start of my Book Places list. This is a listing of the places as they occur in the book (as I read it) including my numbering.

We will use green for this Book List as I read them and red for the Completed Places List as I see them.



Well, the book starts in Jolly Ol' England!

I started reading the book last night and enjoyed the first 7 entries before sleep took me. Not the book's fault -- I was just tired.

Here is a breakdown of the first 7 entries with my impressions, specific and general, as they occured to me:


Place #1 - Cliveden (Page #3)

Place #2 - Windsor Castle (Page #3 and Pictured Above) - As I read this entry, a thought of "No kidding" came to mind. That someone would visit London and not see Windsor Castle seems absurd. That's like going to NYC and not seeing the Empire State Building. Why would she include such an obvious attraction? But then I realized that obvious attractions are exactly what this book is about. It's not the "1000 Unknown Places" or "1000 Secret Places". It is "1000 Best Places." I need to realign my thinking a bit.

Uhhh...Then I remembered that it is "Windsor Palace" in London not "Windsor Castle". Nevermind.

And THEN I remember that it is "Buckingham Palace" in London and not Windsor at all. Oy!

Place #3 - Chester (Page #4) - Hey, my last name is in there! I didn't say all my thoughts were deep.

Place #4 - Penzance and Land's End (Page #5) - Now this is a place I have always wanted to see. I just love the name, Land's End (and not because of the mail order company, either) It just sounds so lonely and final. Land's End and Patagonia in South America are two lonely places I must go to. Quick Look -- Yes, Patagonia is in the Book (page 834).

Place #5 - St. Ives (Page #6)

Place #6 - Hotel Tresanton and the Seafood Restaurant (Page #7) - A thought occurred to me at this point that this quest is gonna cost a lot of money. Not just the travel, which I expected, but the places. Patricia has expensive tastes. This hotel is $280 a night and dinner is $60. That's not prohibitively expensive but then this is only the 6th entry! If the entries are like this in England what about the more expensive cities of the world? Quick Look -- Hong Kong -- Hotel Intercontinental. Only $574 at night (page 423). Tokyo -- The Park Hyatt Tokyo. $445 a night (page 436). And New York -- No specific prices listed for four Hotels but three are tagged as "Cost:High" (page 681). Better start saving now.

Place #7 - Chatworth House (Page #8)


Okay, that's my thoughts on the first 7 entries.

For those of you expecting a little more discussion on each topic, please do not. When I see and do an entry I will write extensively about everything I do. But when I am just reading Ms. Schultz's words I will not. It is not my intention to reproduce the book on this website.

I encourage you to buy the book, 1000 Places To See Before You Die - Worldwide, read it and set off on you own adventures. I hope that this blog will encourage everyone who reads it to start living.

Please leave comments as often as you can telling me about your adventures

Measuring My Life in Teaspoons

The entries in The 1000 Places to See Before You Die are not numbered.

Nevermind the fact that I don't know if I'm getting my money's worth (what if there are only 998 places to see?!) more importantly I have no way of keeping track.

Okay, so Ms. Schultz...Patricia...probably didn't consider Bloggers when she wrote the book. No problem I will number the sites as I come to them. Oh oh, problem. The fact is I am going to work my way through the book in two different ways.

1. I am going to try and see all of the places in the book.

2. I am going to read the book from front to back. (This seems rather important so that I will know what it is I need to see.)

Obviously these will not happen simultaniously. No matter how slow I read. So it seems to me that I need TWO numbering systems. One for the order of the places in the book and one for the completed places on my list.

So until and unless I come up with something better here is my simple numbering system. I will assign each listing a Book Number to be designated in green and a Completed Number to be designated in red.

That way I can keep track of the entries in the book and also keep track of the Places I have seen.

Yeah, that sounds easy.

Mark

PS - Does anyone know where I got the title from?

So...Can I Do It?

It is no small task I have set out for myself -- to see 1,000 places all over the world.

And, if I have my way, this is just the first of many guidebooks I will use in my new life.

So, can I do it?

Can I complete just this one guide?

Let's see -- I am 43 years old. If I live to the "average" 76 years, I have...33 years to go! Oh my. That doesn't sound like much when you sit down and figure it up, does it?

But nonetheless, if I live another 33 years I will need to average...let's see 1000 divided by 33...30.30 places a year to see them all. Or about 2.5 per month.

Okay, that doesn't sound too difficult. Surely there are many that can be grouped. Quick Look...yeah, see, in Chicago (my favorite city) there are six places listed. The Art Institute, Arum's and Charlie Trotter's Restaurants, The Blue's Scene, the Frank Lloyd Wright Tour and Superdawg. A little planning and you're looking at only two days. Three tops. One day would be pushing it with three restaurants, but two days is doable.

From this Quick Look two things immediately pop out at me though.

1. No Sears tower? Or the more stunning John Hancock building? What's up with that. Quick Look -- Yes the Empire State Building DID make it.
2. There is nothing else in Illinois listed in the book. I always suspected as much.

So yes, it is doable. Very doable. Ms. Schultz... Oh, let's call her by her first name as I plan on getting to know her very well in the coming years...Patricia states in the introduction that it took eight years to write the book so 33 years seems like more than enough.

Let's get started, shall we?

Mark