[Sidney Lanier]

Hard to say. So many....

As someone who grew up in New York City, which even as a kid I knew like the back of my hand, I happily became a country boy 30 years ago. In spite of this, one of my favorite places is Hong Kong, highest population density in the world (quarter million people per square mile). Fascinating place, as is Beijing and its history (and the amazing Pearl Market).

My first cousins are scattered around the world (makes Thanksgiving difficult to plan for...), and three more wondrous cities on our own and which included visits with them are London (incredible theater!), Berlin (formerly East Berlin with such a marvelous selection of concerts and other cultural events to pick from every single evening!), and Moscow (so laden with history; as in all the other cities, wondrous architecture; and the challenge of staying and functioning in an all-Russian part of the city close to my cousin for half our visit, meaning far from the tourism areas where we later stayed and where English was common). Also love both Amsterdam and Venice for their uniqueness as cities, and ditto to the earlier posting about Sydney, although Brisbane, much smaller, had a real charm and friendliness about it.

We've been to Alaska many times and are ready to go back in a breath! Those going for the first time need to be reminded that while the cruise through the Inside Passage is pretty awesome, that is only one small piece of this incredible state that hopefully will remain 'the last natural frontier in the U.S.'! Beauty beyond belief!

I love all our travels throughout Latin America, from Mexico all the way south to Chile and Argentina; in terms of cities there, I'd have to say that Santiago, Chile is one of my favorites, with La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires being one of the most unique sites in the entire world! (Andrew Lloyd Webber has turned 'Evita' into a worldwide industry....) The U.S. dollar still has value in Latin America, not decimated as it is through much of the rest of the world. The people are generally warm, heartfelt, and friendly, and so appreciative of my struggling with my high school Spanish which I continue to work on improving (in fact, taking an immersion program at SUNY New Paltz next weekend).

We were in Kenya only once, and what a grand safari adventure it was! We can read about it, we can see pictures of it, we can even see videos of it on television, but when you see sights like the migration of thousands of wildebeests and zebras, herds of elephants walking through the night, a pride of lions munching on the carcass of today's kill, and a hundred thousand flamingos taking off all at once, it just leaves you breathless. In spite of their political problems, people are friendly and, sometimes against our better judgment (our heads can get in the way sometimes...), we felt safe and found out that for sure that we were.

We've done many cruises but did our first European river cruise in April, this one on the Rhone and Soane Rivers in France. Lovely, and looking forward to doing more, including one on the Danube through major cities like Prague, Budapest, and Vienna on into the Black Sea (and maybe see other cousins whom we've seen only in New York before!).

And in September we're tentatively planning a driving trip, after attending trade shows in Orlando, through the Florida Panhandle, Alabama, Mississippi, and into New Orleans. If anyone has suggestions for this route and these places, please post them. Thanks!