"Don't You Dare Die Until...."
 

Anyone care to share their dares?
Don't you die until you have seen Paris
Until you have driven in Ireland [Dingle]
Climb to the top of...Eiffel, St. Peter's dome, St. Paul's, Notre Dame, Arc De Triomphe

I have to admit, when sitting in a serene spot on the Grand Canal in Venice one night recently, I told my husband, "Ok...the Lord can take me now." He replied, "Hold on...we still have a few more flights until we make it home." I still felt like I'd "been there" at that moment.

Who else cares to share?

Ooh, my list would be AGES long!! But I'll add to what you have:

- Stand in Red Square
- Climb the Great Wall
- Go inside the Great Pyramid
- Sit in an Italian piazza sipping cappucino
- Explore Angkor
- Take a gondola ride in Venice*
- Explore Tuscany
- See the Amazon rain forest
- Explore Provence
- Attend a Vienna Ball
- Visit Machu Picchu

I haven't done the last couple (and I'm sure I'll add more to my list after this thread), so I still have some things to do!! Kind of like a life insurance plan . . .


* A romantic nighttime ride for two

Statia,

LOL.... I had a similar experience this past July. I was sitting in St Marks Square drinking champagne, listening to the music, and I had a similar thought as yours...and then I stopped myself, I had to fly back home....and I want to see London, Switzerland, Vienna, Australia, etc....

So, I guess mine would be, "Don't you dare die until until you've seen every country in the world" that should take quite a while...

Good point, Lyb. I must have been on the Grand Canal at the same time you were at St. Mark's. Telepathy at it's best.

Yes, my list is quite long, as well, before I plan to go....although if I had to go now I have certainly acheived at least some of my travel dreams.

Who else? Where else?

I was actually lying in a hospital with about 15 tubes running into me, and decided that I'd better get out and ride on the Maid of the Mist boat to the bottom of Niagara Falls.

Which I did, and which was worthwhile.

Better than the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, (but there is a story about a blonde and Pont Neuf...), Arc De Triomphe, and anything I've seen in London.

Never been to Rome.

BAK

I have lived and seen many countries in the world..But they are still quite few places that I want to see, and the list is quite long...So, I hope that the Good Lord watch over me, and grant my wishes..

This is one of those never ending list things, isn't it? :)

So many listed that I'd have my own list.

- Sail down rivers. The Rhine, the Amazon, the Nile, the Yangtze, the Mekong.
- Grab a sandwich and sit at the base of one of the Moai on Easter Island, and try figure out what he's watching for. No rush.
- An open vehicle night safari in Botswana.
- Just a few days of quiet in a himalayan village, some theraputic walks in mountain meadows in Bhutan.
- Being awakened by cow bells in Switzerland or singing in Venice.

There are several places on my list, but this place I know I might be doddering and elderly before I see, so it's on the top! It's the Portuguese island of Madeira. I saw a picture of it in a magazine years ago and I was so entranced with it that I have it in a special travel file. It will take me years to see it because my husband has no desire to see it. He says it's overrun with Brits, and since he used to be one, and still has constant business trips over to the UK, he has no desire to go on vacation with them, too. I know I could go to Madeira without him but the man is a damn good travelling companion...it's going to take decades to wear him down and drag him there, even if it might be kicking and screaming!

dln,
dont wait until one of these days, life is too Fragile...Just go to Madeira and take one of your kids with you... leave the great man home with mama.. he is going to be happy with mama good food..:)

Kismet, it was so sweet of you to say that to me--it is appreciated. @};-

Learn a language
Live in a foreign country
Stay up all night, taking in the sights of Paris.....and if you do not fit Paris in, Do London!
Sleep at Hampton Court Castle
Fine dine, splurge
Stand at the top of a mountain

I thought the same thing in 1999 while in Venice. I can die now. BUT WAIT !! Not yet. I am going to see Venice again in Sept. I cant die until I see those little canals again :)
I cant die until I get to an Asain country. I havent see Spain, Turkey, Greece, or Portugal either. I want to see the Eiffel Tower at night again. I want to go back to southern France. I want to see SO MANY places I havent seen in Italy. God grant me good health and continued employment so I can see some of my dreams come true :)

Life is fragile indeed; what a timely post. Just found out this past Friday that a guy my age I've known for six years discovered, from a biopsy, that he has metasticized melanomas, is in the advanced stages, and has been told there is no cure (and very little hope) at this point.

Fortunately, he just took about a three week trip to Russia around a month ago, which is something he apparently had wanted to do for quite some time and he thoroughly loved it. (He said he discovered a subcutaneous little bump when he was in Siberia, and initially mistook it for a mosquito bite. Now he has more than 30 of these bumps, from his thigh to the top of his scalp.) He also has an amazingly positive attitude, telling those of us who know him that "In my years I've seen more than my share of magical experiences... If you want to mourn someone, mourn an 85 year old that died never having gotten around to experiencing life!"

Like my friend, I feel fortunate to have had many magical experiences in my life so far and feel extremely grateful that, should I receive a death sentence like he just did, I've seen the places in Europe that I've most wanted to see: Venice, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, London, the Amalfi Coast, Cinque Terre, the Berner Oberland area of Switzerland, Tuscany, and Provence.

Capo,

Your friend has a wonderful way of looking at his situation. I'm sure not many of us could do that.

Visit all of the 30,000 McDonalds in 119 diffrent countries ! :)

Capo, what a great lesson for all of us to learn...my goal, to live for at least a month in either Provence or Tuscany. No rushing to see places, just live...although I must admit that watching the way the light hit Pont du Gard and light it up gold at about 9 am was one of those, "Ok, I could die happy now" moments...

"Visit all of the 30,000 McDonalds in 119 diffrent countries!"

Believe me, I think you'll be dead after 200 McDonalds. If you're not, you'll have to buy two airline seats for your overseas adventures.

As for the post:
Live six months in Paris
Live six months in Tuscany
((H))

Capo,
What a beautiful person your friend must be....To have such positive view regarding life and knowing that he does not have too much time left , and is looking toward an uncertain and obscure future.
I hope that he will not suffer too much...

Right now, not including the places that I have been to and would like to go to again, I just need to see India, take one of those cruises on the Ganges...and hopefully soon Angkor Wat, an Amazon Cruise, Machuu Picchu and Tibet...But those are have to's...My full list is too long!!

Ok humor me, a couple more bites?

See the Pieta in St. Peter's
Sat and watched the children play...Place De Vosages...Luxumborg gardens
Plan your own train travel in Europe

Capo:

I'd say what a beautiful person you are to have written about your friend so eloquently.

Thanks for sharing!

True story--not travel. But our son said to his grandmother, "Mama, please don't die before you tell MOM how to make stewed corn."

Okay here's a true one that's only slightly related to travel in that it occurred on an airplane:

My husband has always maintained he wanted to go out doing "it" (use your imagination due to censors). A flight crew has a lot of time together so they get to talking--ergo his fellow medical team members were also aware of his "last wish".

Soooo, one really bad flight things were getting desperate and EVERYONE was scared stiff. My husband happened to meet eyes with his fellow flight nurse on the other side of the patient who then dramatically exclaimed, "No Way Norman, it's not THAT bad". The crew burst out laughing, breaking the tension, and obviously, they made it safely.

boy klondi, i bet your husband was scared "stiff"

>)

ok, i'll play along

don't you dare die until:
you've floated along the canals of Venice
hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Piccu
explored the Galapagos Islands
kayaked through Milford and Doubtful Sounds in New Zealand
flown over Bora Bora or the rock islands of Palau
and walked a portion of the Great Wall of China

>)