Quarter-life crisis: CURED?!

Okay, maybe not cured, but definitely on my way. I thumbed through that wonderful book "1,000 Places to See Before You Die" and realized I'm doing pretty darn good.

So, I made a list of all the places in the book that I have already seen so that I can feel good about myself. Impressive, huh? I was really surprised to go through the European countries I have visited only to find that some of the most amazing things (in my opinion) weren't on Patricia Schultz's list. Maybe I should make my own (ahhh that will be my next project...)

ENGLAND
London (highlights: Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London, Westminister Abbey); Bath; Stonehenge
GERMANY
Brandenburg Gate; The Museum Scene in Berlin; The Rhine Valley; Cologne's Cathedral Quarter; Heidelberger Schloss; Weimar
PORTUGAL
Evora; Obidos; Sintra
SPAIN
La Mezquita; Alhambra; Seville; Madrid (highlights: Bullfights, Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Flamenco at Corral de la Moreria, The Prado, Madrid's Plaza Mayor)
DENMARK
Tivoli Gardens; Kronborg Slot; Odense
ICELAND
The Ring Road
NORWAY
Bergen; Vikingskiphuset
MOROCCO
The Great Sahara

I do need to start taking advantage of my backyard and check out more of the beautiful United States. My roommate Caroline (you may remember her as the "bug re-fresher" from an earlier post) has wonderfully agreed to join me on this journey to explore these great 50 states. Caroline and I have decided that if we are going to accept the fact that we really are "grown ups," then we theoretically have money and vacation days to utilize!! It comes with the territory, right? At the very least, we both have cars that get good gas mileage and weekends off!! And who knows, maybe I can convince Dave to get off the tennis courts and join me (**this also serves as a test to see if he reads my blog. No cheating and telling him, Mrs. Weiner!)

Crossed off the US List
- Red Rock Country (Sedona, AZ) **thanks Uncle Bill and Aunt Connie :)
- Monterey Bay (CA)
- The Pacific Coast Highway (CA) **at least parts of it
- California's Wine Country-Sonoma (CA)
- Yosemite National Park (CA)
- Everglades National Park (FL)
- Key West (FL)
- Walt Disney World Resort (FL)
- Niagra Falls (NY)
- New York City (highlights: Central Park; Empire State Building; Rockefeller Center at Christmas; Times Square)
- Duck, the Outer Banks (NC)
- Charleston (SC)
- Pennsylvania Dutch Country
- Monticello (VA)
- Shenandoah Valley (VA)
- Colonial Williamsburg (VA) **heck I even worked there. Do I get extra points?
- Pike Place Market (WA)
- National Mall and its Monuments (Wash DC)
- Smithsonian and Beyond (Wash DC)