"There's a few more lonesome cities that I'd like to
see,
while the wine of wandering
is still inside of me.”
Rod McKuen
“The Bucket List” was a 2007 movie with
a plot that followed the terminally ill Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as
they traveled with a wish list of things to do before they "kicked the
bucket". As a young widow in the 1970s, I formed my own travel
bucket list and have been scratching it off ever since. My wanderlust
gave me the opportunities that follow. Most of my list you can still do; two
you can’t. I sailed, and flew, two historic legends that no longer
exist. But the memory of those trips will last a lifetime. So hop
on my magic travel carpet, and fly with me as I show you some experiences that
I have already checked off my bucket list. I hope it inspires you to make
your own bucket list.
TAJ MAHAL: You cannot keep your enthusiasm down;
you cannot keep your emotions within bounds when that soaring bubble of marble
breaks upon your view. At that moment, fantasy touched reality. My
dream was no longer a dream. Standing before the reflecting pool in its
idyllic Persian garden, my thoughts flashed to the romantic Mughal Emperor Shah
Jahan who had built this tomb symbolizing the eternal beauty and purity of love
for his wife. I had to see the Taj at sunrise...when the first rays of
dawn distinguished it from the night. I had to see the Taj at
sunset...when the pristine white marble became cool pearl and then warm mauve.
For ever and ever the memory of my first distant glimpse of this divine poem in
white marble will compensate me for traveling half way around the globe to have
that great privilege.”
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| THE TAJ: THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS MONUMENT TO LOVE |
ANTARCTICA: This frozen continent is “The
Greatest Show on Ice”. I really did it! I went to the bottom of the
world…to Antarctica, the most hostile continent on earth. This barren,
white continent, that thrills the imagination and overwhelms the senses, is a
continent of superlatives. While it is the most forbidding, most
inaccessible land on earth, it is also the most majestic and most pristine.
This harshest, most inhospitable land is also the windiest, the highest, the
driest, and the coldest. (Winter temperatures plunge as low as 121-degrees (F)
below zero.) Yet this southern land, that contains 90% of the world's
fresh water and approximately 95% of the world's glacial ice, is the most
eerily beautiful continent on earth. If I were Frank Sinatra, I’d croon
"I Only Have Ice For You.”
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CHILLING OUT ON THE FROZEN CONTINENT |
ORIENT EXPRESS: Riding the rails, from Venice to
London on the VS-O-E, (Venice Simplon-Orient-Express) was an experience--not
just a means of transportation. There are many faster, and less costly,
means of travel but my 30-plus hour ride on the Orient-Express was a romance
with history. It was intrigue, glamour, fantasy, and a byword for luxury
and elegance. The classic continental train, with the navy blue and gold
carriages, was resplendent in all its romantic glory. All Aboard! Each
cabin is ingeniously designed and decorated with oval marquetry (inlaid wood)
flowers. The bases for the traditional silk-pleated lampshades were cast from
the original mold of the 1920s. It is impossible to overdress on the
Orient-Express and it's fun to dress with a suggestion of the Roaring
20’s. Long pearls, and a few strategically placed ostrich plumes, can
give a period look to evening clothes. The VS-O-E is the world's
most famous train. It is the king of trains and the train of
kings. Agatha Christie wrote that it was "Murder ON the Orient
Express”! Agatha Christie was wrong. It's murder getting OFF the
Orient Express!
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| DRESS THE PART ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS |
THE CONCORDE: The Concorde was a supersonic dream
machine! Science, freedom, beauty, adventure…all wrapped up in one. This
ultimate flight of fancy, that shrank oceans and conquered time along the way,
whisked me from London to New York in 3-hours and 18-minutes, and, on a second
flight, from New York to Paris in a mere 3-hours and 45-minutes. This
queen of the sky, that revolutionized the world's concept of aviation, was
likened to a gleaming white monster waterfowl, a giant praying mantis, a big
Canadian goose, an exquisite work of sculpture, a sophisticated sexy lady, and
Superman. It has been said that both Superman and the Concorde drew
"millions of eyes skyward on both sides of the Atlantic. Both traveled
faster than the speed of a bullet; both had immense power." The
Superman/Concorde analogy played out in real time on my first Concorde
flight. Hollywood's gorgeous Superman…the late, great hunk Christopher
Reeve, was sitting across the aisle from me. When I asked Christopher his
opinion of the drop-nosed, sleek- silhouetted time machine in which we were
flying, he replied: "It's great! I hope they don't take it out
of service…” How sad to think that both Superman and the Concorde have
left us forever.
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| CHECKING OUT THE COCKPIT OF THE CONCORDE |
CARNIVAL IN RIO: I went because it was there…and
because I was there. Carnaval (as it is spelled in Portuguese) is an
experience. It can be exciting and fun, but it can also be a noisy,
overcrowded, drunken brawl as 70,000 revelers pile into Rio de Janeiro's
Sambodromo. Carnaval is the one experience I am glad I have had.
But, unlike the others on my bucket list, it is also one experience that I have
no burning desire to repeat.
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| CARNIVAL TIME IS COSTUME TIME IN BRAZIL |
QUEEN ELIZABETH 2: A transatlantic crossing on Queen
Elizabeth 2 was my destination of dreams...a classic confrontation of man
against the sea...an ocean voyage on what was then the only surviving
transatlantic super-liner in a jumbo-jet world. QE2 was a fabulous
floating city complete with landmarks and traditions. Passengers were
likely to inquire: "What time does this place arrive?" She was an
oasis of culture, human comfort, and the grandeur, glitter, and grace of a
bygone era. Far more than a means of crossing the ocean, the QE2 was a destination
unto herself. At the September 20, 1967 launching, using the same
scissors her grandmother had used at the Queen Mary's launching and her mother
had used at the launching of the Queen Elizabeth, Her Majesty The Queen of
England cut the ribbon and said: “I name this ship Queen Elizabeth the Second”.
Today's cruise ships may be folksier or friendlier, longer or
‘lithe-er,’ cheaper or costlier. The QE2 will always be what the others
are not. She will always be a legend. Fortunately, the Queen's
legend lives on today with the Queen Mary 2, the Queen Victoria, and the Queen
Elizabeth.
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| QE2’s LEGEND LIVES ON WITH THE QUEEN MARY 2 |
VIENNA OPERA BALL: I was Cinderella for a night. A
horse-drawn carriage picked me up at the hotel and drove me to the Baroque
Vienna State Opera House where I was helped from the carriage by a liveried
footman. The seats in the opera house had been covered with a temporary
dance floor and the room was magically turned into a cavernous ballroom.
Throughout the night I was surrounded by beauty. There were zillions of
flowers, crystal chandeliers, sparkling candles, and 100-plus white-gowned
debutantes escorted by handsome bachelors in white tie and tails. After
the debutantes and their partners whirled to the tune of a Viennese waltz, the
words "alles walzer" (all waltz) were announced. At that
point I was politely commanded by my Austrian host Michael to rise to the
occasion. “You vill valtz,” Michael strongly suggested. With that
he grabbed me by the hand and took me to the dance floor where the Left Waltz
was the dance of choice. Take it from me, champagne at dinner and a
spinning Left Waltz are not a pleasant combination.
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| FOR ONE MAGICAL NIGHT THE OPERA HOUSE CONVERTS INTO A BALLROOM |
Though I have been checking off my travel bucket list for
four decades, I also keep adding to it. It is one list that I won't allow
to be completed. Without travel life would have a significant void.
Janet Steinberg, winner
of 47-travel writing awards, resides in Cincinnati but calls the world her
home.
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