That “Bucket List”

It is rather strange that I only heard the term “bucket list” less than teny years ago. Now that I have heard it muttered by a number of people, I have learned to respect the truths surrounding it. 

It is a habit in Australia to drive around the whole “island” normally starting in the Winter season which makes Queensland and the Northern Territory a little more friendly with regard to climate. 

Listening to two German immigrants talking to one another about their recent travels, I heard them express disappointment that they had missed out a couple of important towns a little inland from the coast road that they had traveled. “I’ll have to do the trip again”, said one to the other. This was a remarkable statement because he could simply have flown to a nearby airport and hired a car. Instead of doing this, he was about to do a “perfect trip” including absolutely all the important places just off the route. 

Yes, there are places we simply must visit before we die. For myself, I definitely do not agree with this. I watch these wonderful BBC documentary films and thank my lucky stars that I now do not have to visit the places which are shown and described so well in those films. 

Rick Steves in Seattle is someone who has created a career for himself doing exactly what he loves to do; travel around Europe. Not only does he make television films and write books about his beloved Europe. He also runs small group tours around Europe where Americans meet the locals in the “bucket list” towns of their choice. I cannot think of a better way of doing this if you want to travel with a group of like-minded folks. He has also visited other places to the east of Western Europe. 

But Rick Steves advises those who visit Oxford, not to bother with visiting Cambridge. They are so similar that you probably would not know which place you were in. This is difficult if your bucket list includes both places. 

I have always loved maps especially the ordinance survey maps which have been changed into tourist maps by colouring in the contours. I can enjoy hill walking even when it is misty and rainy without leaving the house. 

But we now have books full of overhead images which are even more attractive. We can peer into those huge estates which seem so forbidding from the road as we drive past. The BBC even uses drones to give us views on video of large buildings and fortresses around the country. If these places are on your “bucket list”, you will see more of them in a BBC film than you will ever see walking around the perimeter. 

But, even for me, there are exceptions. I had never even dreamed of visiting Jerusalem but, when the opportunity presented itself, I seized it. After all, my motto is “Carpe Diem” and this, in retrospect, should include legendary places. 

To stand where David put together the psalms which are sung every day in the Anglican Church was an amazing experience. Then, not far away, is the place where Zadok the priest and Nathan anointed Solomon. I visited Nazareth where Jesus learned his craft and other places I had read about for many years. These places surely must be visited as well as watching any number of television documentaries about them. If I ever thought of having a “bucket list”, perhaps this should have been on it. 

I remember living in Florence when the tourists began to arrive. I simply escaped as far South as I could go. I first went to South Crete and then to Gavdos, the southernmost place in Europe. Florence is definitely on the tourist “bucket list” but Gavdos is not there yet thank goodness.

Sometimes it is puzzling to know why particular places are on some tourists’ “bucket lists”. In Florence, I lived next door to the Duomo and Giotto’s Bell tower. One morning, I was walking behind a couple of tourists when we came into the square where the Duomo dominates the surroundings. One of the two exclaimed, “What’s that?”. The other said, “I’d better look it up in our guide.”

This seemed to indicate to me that people put places on their “bucket lists” without really knowing why. It is understandable that people certainly do not place Florence on their bucket list because of the Duomo but surely they should be prepared to enjoy all the assets of each place on their list? 

Cambridge seems to be on a number of “bucket lists”. The town has problems with tourists because the roads and pathways are so narrow. The town council has even requested that parties as large a hundred should split into smaller groups. I have never seen a group of a hundred but groups as large as thirty can be annoying if they occupy the whole width of the path. 

How do you assemble a bucket list? If I ever had a list, it would have begun by including all the pleasant coastal towns of Italy and Greece. The democratic problems of Greece was not a deterrent but they seemed to deter me from Spain. 

Later, I would choose places because of their history. This is why I recently chose Florence, Venice, and Vienna as places in which to live and Prague, Leipzig, Siena and similar cities as places to visit. 

Sadly, Siena, where I was a student for a short while, has changed beyond belief. There were hardly any places to stay when I was there. We would watch coaches arrive in the morning, knowing that they would be gone by the evening. It’s now a busy tourist destination on many people’s bucket list. I presume it was in one of those books with a title like “100 PLACES YOU MUST VISIT BEFORE YOU DIE”. 

I’ve noticed an unusually large number of people on our beach near Sarasota recently. Perhaps our beach is in one of those bucket lists. If it is, I suppose we’ll have to move.