Travel To Do List: The Ancient Sites Call Me

Friends read my last post, and said, "be more specific! Where do you REALLY want to go before you can't go anymore?" OK, I agree, my last post was general, but that was the point; I wanted to leave it more open-ended versus the 1,000 places.

But like every other traveler, I, too, have a list. And like most people who really love traveling, it's kind of a long list. Honestly, I really would like to travel until I can't anymore.

I'm kind of a list person anyway; it helps me stay focused. So making a list involving one of my favorite things, travelling, well that's a piece of cake.

So here's my first specific list: the top historic sites of the world that I really would love to see before I kick the bucket, in no particular order:

• Egypt. Yea, I know, that covers a whole country. But there are three countries that to me are historical nirvana and this is A #1. I've been fascinated by Egyptian art and ancient history since I can remember. I'm currently making plans to visit next year. I can't wait. I want to touch a column in Karnak, see the Egyptian sun light up Abu Simbel, marvel at the tomb paintings in the Valley of the Kings. I want to run my fingers through the waters of the Nile. I absolutely can't wait.


• Greece. Country #2 that's history personified. I've been once and I loved everything I saw. I want to go back and see more islands, more ruins, great cities that are no more. And the food's freaking great, too.


• Italy. The last of my ancient site trifecta. I've been to Italy 4 times and that's not enough. I haven't been to Sienna yet! I definitely want to go back to Italy. Besides the historic sites, there's the gelato. Reason enough to go right there.


• Angkor Wat. Cambodia fascinates me and saddens me, and I would love to see this most beautiful and haunting place. As much as I've studied art, Asian art has never captured my heart. But the photos of this spectacular temple take my breath away.


• Machu Picchu. Another place that's excited my imagination forever. My biggest concern? I get altitude sickness. But even if I'm huffing and puffing I'm going to make it to this amazing complex.


• Easter Island. 'Nuff said.

And here's my top ten historic sites that I've been fortunate enough to visit so far:

• Chaco Canyon. By far the most extraordinary Native American site in this country. The enormity of the site blows everything else out of the water. It was built to impress, and boy howdy does it ever. The level of sophistication in engineering and design is startling.


• Teotihuacan. Just like Chaco, it was built to impress, and when it was at its peak it must have been mind-blowing. If I lived in that time I would have entered the site and fallen on my knees. I loved this place. And I loved the fact that when I left the much-trodden path, I found bits of broken pottery in the dirt. Wow.


• The Parthenon. It took me a long time to get there, and I had seen other Greek ruins already that were in better shape. But I just about cried when I topped that hill and saw that building. It's sublime. And at night, well, it makes you want to write bad poetry.


• Herculaneum. Everyone goes to Pompeii, I did too. But a lot of people miss the other town that got buried in ash, and that's a shame, because Herculaneum feels more personal. It was a smaller town than Pompeii, maybe that's part of its appeal, also it was buried a lot longer and the archeology wasn't hashed as much as Pompeii. I liked the quiet, and I loved the Italian guard who showed us around; I don't speak any Italian but somehow picked up enough to understand what he was telling us, and it was so lovely of him to make the effort.


• Bullet Canyon, Utah. You're saying...wha? But really, there's a wonderful ruin in this extremely remote place. The only way to see it is to backpack to it, but if you're strong enough to attempt it, what a treat awaits you...your own private cliff dwelling. Pottery shards were everywhere, so were bones and bits of corn cobs. The midden (ancient garbage heap) was undisturbed. I didn't think sites like this existed anymore.


• San Gimigniano. This is a walled city in Tuscany, as pretty as a picture. The bad news (for the poor inhabitants of San Gimigniano): basically the whole town died during the Plague. The good news (for us tourists): this town was virtually untouched for the next 600 years. This is a time travelling kind of town; the walls seem to speak. And the people are so sweet. And there's a great gelato place smack in the middle of the town square (look, I love gelato, it definitely enhances the historic experience).


• The Tower of London. Sure, it's touristy. But come on, it's The Tower of London. Prisoners carved their names in the walls. Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey got beheaded here. The Crown Jewels are here. The Tower is fabulously awesome. Even better? Go during the day and see the sites, then get tickets and come back for the ceremony at night. You'll feel like the ghosts of the poor Little Princes are watching you.


• Ephesus. Greece does not have the best Greek ruins. Turkey does. In Ephesus you understand just how glorious ancient Athens must have looked because you can still see the mosaics lining the sidewalks, the statues covering the facades. And only a third of it has been excavated. And Marc Anthony lived here. And you can visit a brothel. That should convince you.


• Avesbury. I loved Stonehenge when I first visited it; back then you could walk among the stones and it was a powerful experience. But now you have to be content to view them from afar and it loses some of its punch. Avesbury, however, has no such restrictions (yet). And the site is huge; there's more than just a stone circle there, albeit in worse shape than Stonehenge. Part of the fun is the lack of tourist info; there's not a lot of explaining going on so you're free to interpret it however you want. Some of it looks like an ancient landing strip. It's also in a pretty little English village, and the locals picnic among the stones while sheep graze in the tall grass. I liked that a lot, that integration of the old with the new. Nice sense of continuity.


• Catacombs of Rome. Hard to pick just one place in Rome, it's a city full of wonder. But these catacombs, under the city, they combine the history with the mystery. It was dark and damp and if you're imagination doesn't ignite, well, shame on you.

So that's my first list; ancient sites I love, ancient sites I can't wait to visit. I feel so lucky to have seen what I've seen already. And each of these places has left me with something indelible...the sense of being part of a long human story, I guess.