The World Makes Me Wonder...
Ben Wright has a cool post over at Occasionally Wright: Do I Wonder? Apparently Not, based on Howard Hillman’s list of 100 Wonders of the World.
So, in the continuing search for cheap-‘n’-easy content here at BTN, I bring you my scorecard.
- I was pretty disappointed with my empty slate through the first column, but then I hit the second column and chalked up #43 The Louvre. Without Rick Steves, I’d have been unable to appreciate much of the art, as the facility itself doesn’t offer much in the way of explanation. But the building has its own attraction, both with the modern entry plaza and in the museum itself, a former palace turned into a museum during the French Revolution.
- #73 New York Skyline — yep, got that. I can’t claim the other two NYC features, though: I’ve walked past the Metropolitan Museum of Art but haven’t gone in, and I haven’t made it to the Statue of Liberty.
- #89 Stonehenge I found more exciting as a story than as an actual visit. We get the legends and mysteries pounded into our heads for years, and that tends to develop expectations that just aren’t matched by the tourist trap this place has now become. Once you could wander among the stones; now there are ropes on the site’s perimeter, a gift shop at the entry/exit point, and a parking lot full of busses on the other side of the A303. Bill Bryson has written about the paradox of modern mass tourism, that it obliterates the true character of the places it infests; I can think of no better example of this than Stonehenge.
- On the other hand, #94 the British Museum really is all it’s cracked up to be. I’ve spent about two days total there so far; I could use another week or so and still not properly appreciate all its treasures.
- Finally, #100 the Eiffel Tower is worth your time as well. I seem to have more tolerance for mass tourism at a location built specifically for that purpose than at somewhere like Stonehenge — maybe that’s why one of my favorite stories from Europe ‘03 is standing on the first level of la Tour Eiffel at 11 AM Thursday morning, translating the sign on the door of the post office from French into English for a Japanese couple: ”We’re sorry, we are closed due to a computer problem.”
So my final score is 5. What’s yours?
21 May 2004 / 3 Comments / Tags: travel