Travel Dreaming: Africa

My goal in life is to just continually travel the globe, so if anyone has any amazing ideas on how to make that a possibility, let me know.

Until then, I'll just keep compiling "dream lists" so that I know where to go when a ton of money falls into my lap.

I've been obsessed with Egypt since I was a small child. I would pour over my mom's old National Geographic magazines and look for anything Egypt related. It's also a dream of mine to come face to face with a lion in the wild. And since it's a dream, the lion would curl up at my feet and pur while I pet its mane.

Look at his face. He wouldn't hurt anyone.

Without further ado, here are the places that I would most like to visit in Africa:

The Pyramids at Giza

Tombs, tunnels, ancient everything. Sign me up.

Victoria Falls

Gorgeous, right? However, I will neverevereverever swim in the pool area on top of the falls. Who was the first person that was like, "hey, let's see if there's a spot on top of this gigantic waterfall where we don't plunge to our death?" How much trouble shooting went into that? "Well, that obviously wasn't the spot..."

Mount Kilimanjaro

Stunning. And how awesome would it be at a mountain that has giraffes around it?

Morocco

The colors. The markets. The architecture.

I just want to spend a month there and soak in everything.

Cape Town

I'd be lying if I said that one of the main reasons I want to visit this city is so that I can go on a Great White shark tour.

Oh, and it's gorgeous.

I'm sure there are countless places in Africa that are incredible and breathtaking, so that is why you should tell me what places I need to add to my list. Have any of you visited Africa?

Travel Dreaming: Europe

I am currently craving a trip to Europe.

Let me rephrase that. I am always craving a trip to Europe.

It has been 5 years since my last trip over there, and while my fear of flying across the Atlantic is OK with me staying in the US, my constant day dreaming about adventure is not.

Until I win the lottery, discover that I have an aunt who is a Vanderbilt (which would make Anderson Cooper a cousin, which would just make all my dreams come true), and/or I inherit loads of money, I will just have to keep daydreaming.

Here are the places to which my mind wanders the most:

Moscow / St. Petersburg

OK. I'm a little obsessed with Russia. Those Russians are just crazy geniuses. Am I right? If you're ever like, "Hey, I am dying to chat about the ups and downs, the highs and the lows, the music lineage, and/or the insane dictators and religious men of Russia," call me. I'm saving a bottle of Stolichnaya for such an occasion.

Salzburg

Yeah. I've already talked about my desire to visit Salzburg at one point on this blog. I now want to visit Salzburg if for no other reason than to get Igor back for dashing my dreams into the Austrian ground.

Berlin

Basically, I want to move to Germany so I can spend time in all areas of the country. I also want to become fluent in German. Wer mochte mit mer lernen?

Paris

It might be a cliche, and if the stories I've heard are correct, the people might be the rudest, but I don't care. I want to walk along the Avenue des Champs-Elysees, and take typical pictures of the Eiffel tower, and stroll across the many bridges, and sit at a cafe and feel smarter than I really am. I can't help it. While I've been in dream-love with Paris since I was a child, I blame the 1995 version of Sabrina for making me long to snap candid photos along the Seine.

London

OK, another cliche place, but honestly, I don't care. I want to go there. And, yeah. I'll probably be one of the stupid American tourists who has to take a picture at platform 9 and 3/4. Again, I don't care. The locals can make fun of me all they want.

Rome

I've heard it's a dirty and smelly city with skeezy dudes that prowl around. I will just have to try my hardest not to focus on any of those things. I'll clutch my street map and walk with purpose. That works, right?

Prague

I'm always surprised that more people don't visit Prague. Maybe they do, and they just aren't impressed with it enough to talk about it. Who has been before? Is it worth it?

What are your favorite places to visit in Europe? What European location are you just dying to visit? Let's start planning a trip.

Who's in?

In Which I Talk About DC

Last week I went to go visit my friend Jenny. She's pretty swell. Sometimes we like to be ridiculous. (OK, all the time)



She's lived in DC for about 3 years, and I've been lucky enough to visit her 3 times! (For any of you who are wondering, DC is a fantastic place to visit. So many beautiful sights, lots of quirky/fun areas, and a wonderful public transportation system). Since one post on DC would be doing the great city an injustice, I decided that my first post would just be about the museums I visited.

Aside from a visit to The Holocaust Museum during my last visit, this was the first trip that I was able to visit the plethora of museums that DC has to offer. (Sorry, Post Office Museum. I'll visit you next time. Or something). Since trying to pick a favorite museum would be pointless, here are some of my favorite items/moments from each of the museums I visited:

Portrait Gallery - The courtyard area is breathtaking. It's the perfect place to give your feet a rest, look at the gorgeous architecture, and update your Facebook status. Also, the Electronic Superhighway. Look it up.

The National Archives - I saw the Declaration of Independence, but I did not see Nicolas Cage trying to steal it.

Natural History Museum - Mummies (!), "guess the spinal deformities (!!)," dinosaurs (!!!). OK, this was one of my favorite museums. I am sad that I missed the Titanoboa exhibit.

American History Museum - The Star-Spangled Banner, and having a conversation with a random guard about Big 12 football and the nation's best BBQ. I mean, why wouldn't that happen at the Smithsonian?

National Gallery of Art - It's fun to watch a bunch of people pretend to be interested in art.

US Botanical Gardens - Unexpectedly delightful.

Air and Space - Luckily, I was able to hear a grown man say (very seriously): "WHAT?! The Russians beat us to space!?!?!"

American Indian Museum - Don't worry. They had an exhibit about the Quileute Tribe. You know, the tribe from Twilight.

National Aquarium - Unless you need to kill 20 minutes and you have $10 burning a hole in your pocket, do not, I repeat, do NOT go to this aquarium. I've seen more aquatic life in Oklahoma on my drive to work.

National Zoo - Giant pandas, a lion pride, a green anaconda, Cuban crocodiles, a giant octopus. What more could a girl want?

There you have it. What is your favorite DC museum?