I’m a big fan of the game show Jeopardy. Recently, the show featured its annual Tournament of Champions, in which they invite back the biggest winners from the previous year for a knockout tournament. One of the most popular champions from last season, Julia Collins, was one of the contestants. During the mid-first round Q&A, she revealed that, with her earlier winnings (of over $400,000), she treated herself to one month in Paris. That struck me as a wonderful idea. I’m not fond of traveling myself, but it’s a completely different concept to rent an apartment for a month and take up short-time residence somewhere.
So for today’s list, I decided to imagine that I had unlimited resources, and would do the Julia Collins plan for one year, renting a monthly apartment in 12 different cities. The idea would be: where would I be entertained sufficiently to spend a whole month, and when would I want to do it? In each location I would be allowed to enjoy the city and the surrounding 50 miles or so of countryside. Here are the results.
January: Sydney, Australia
I’ve never been anywhere near Australia, but I’ve been told they have beautiful beaches there and there can’t be a better time to go than January. I know the Australians speak English, enjoy beer, and have world-class golf courses. I’d bring my clubs. Sydney is famous for its music, sports, and art, and of course there’s the world-famous opera house, which I assume sounds as good as it looks. I’d have to try scuba diving, surfing, and sailing, none of which is a particular interest of mine. But as a Floridian, I’m no stranger to the beach, and I imagine I could while away many days that way.
February: Wellington, New Zealand
Might as well stay in the Western Pacific for my second stop, Wellington, New Zealand. I know less about New Zealand than I do about Australia, but again, finding an English-speaking locale that’s warm in the month of February makes New Zealand sound awfully attractive. Yes, my visions of New Zealand are of a bunch of sheep roaming over some scene of the Shire from Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring, but then that’s the point of my (completely hypothetical) world tour – to get out there and see what it’s really like. Wellington, being on the southern tip of North Island, is more or less centrally-located, giving me the opportunity to explore both islands. As New Zealand’s second largest city, there would be museums, music, and sporting events to take in (perhaps I’d spend a day or two at a cricket match – I’ve heard they can take that long). And of course, more beaches to get the year off right.
March: Tokyo, Japan
I’ve been fascinated with Japan for a long time. At one point I thought I was going to Japan, too, for a scientific meeting in Sapporo. As it happened, though, the meeting was occurring perilously close to the birth of my first child, and so I scrapped those plans. I’ve never had the chance of trying again, so I’ve placed Tokyo on the Pacific leg of my hypothetical world tour. Indeed, I’ve picked the month very carefully – March is apparently the month for the cherry blossoms to bloom. (In fact, I’ve chosen all the cities for the springtime leg of my tour with an eye toward the beauty of the season, although in a way that will create some rough plane rides.) Tokyo would be my first stop in which I’d encounter a completely unfamiliar language, so I’m counting on that world-famous Japanese hospitality. My only worry with Tokyo is that a month will not be enough – I suspect it wouldn’t be enough just for Tokyo itself, to say nothing of required side trips to Kyoto and the countryside. On the itinerary would be a Yomiuri Giants home game – maybe opening day at the end of the month? With any luck I’ll then get out of the Ring of Fire without any earthquakes.
April: Washington, D.C.
The springtime tour continues with Washington, D.C. A side trip to the States after Tokyo makes for a long flight, but with any luck I will hit D.C. during its cherry blossom bloom too. This is the first city on my tour that I’ve actually visited – in fact, I lived just up the road in Crofton, Maryland for several years when I was a post-doc, and long before then I went to kindergarten and first grade in Lakeridge, Virginia. Despite my familiarity, I can’t imagine that D.C. would ever be boring. I’d hit all the monuments, every building of the Smithsonian, the National Zoo, the National Archives, the Arboretum, Great Falls Park, Arlington National Cemetery, Mount Vernon – the list is endless. There’d be day trips to Baltimore, Annapolis, and Richmond. I’d have to take in an Orioles game, and maybe a Nationals game too. And of course the Washington Capitals would still be in-season (though if history is any guide, fading from the playoff picture). It’s one of my favorite cities on the planet, so having a month there of pure leisure would be a treat.
May: Paris, France
What to do with the final month of Spring? Of course – Paris. Paris is the second city on my tour that I’ve been to, but my visit was for four days during a record-setting cold snap in February, 1991. When I visited Versailles, for example, all of its beautiful fountains were shut down, and of course very little was in bloom. Despite the cold, it became apparent to me that Paris, France was indeed the most beautiful city on the planet. I fell in love with the architecture there, and I’d love to have a second chance to, say, walk the streets of Montmarte with the flowers in bloom and the warm sun on my back. I’d love to be able to spend more than 3 hectic hours at the Louvre (practically running down the halls, mind you, eager to see everything). I’d love to return to my favorite museum in the world – the Musee D’Orsay. And, fresh off my Jeopardy winnings (or whatever is funding this hypothetical world tour), I’d love to not be cheap and actually go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, actually take the tour of Versailles, actually eat out at a few reputable French restaurants. I’d like to see if my three years of high school French, dormant for more than two decades, will have a renaissance by my third week. Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur – so much to see just in Paris itself. Also, I hear they have wine.
June: London, England
London is an interesting choice, because London is the only city in the world where I’ve essentially already done this – lived in a city for months without a care in the world. The circumstances were different – I was a student, studying abroad, so I did have some responsibilities – but our classes met only 3 days a week, and I was there not for one month but 3. Now as a college professor I encourage every one of my students who expresses an interest in studying abroad to do it. There will be other times in their lives where they have more money and more maturity, but there won’t be a better time to go, and there won’t be a better time in life for the experience to have the level of impact it has when you’re in college. London – at least the London of 1991 – was a grand city, which so many things to see and do and with such a good system of transportation to get you there. Hyde Park, Parliament, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, the Tate, the British Museum, the Theater District, Wimbledon, the Tower of London, Royal Albert Hall, Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace – and so on and so on and so on. Now they even have a big Ferris Wheel, apparently. It’s an English-speaking city that’s cosmopolitan, so once you get tired of fish and chips there’s any number of other options. And when you can get away, there’s day trips to Bath, and Swansea, and Canterbury, and Dover, and Stonehenge. I was able to see most of those sights the first time around, and it would be effortless to pack an itinerary for every waking moment of June. Also, I hear they have pubs.
July: Edinburgh, Scotland
Edinburgh is another city I visited, for a long weekend during my college days when I was studying abroad in London. I enjoyed the visit very much, though, like with Paris, my visit coincided with ridiculous cold. Paris I would call the most beautiful city I’ve ever been to, London I would call the most stimulating city I’ve ever been to, but Edinburgh probably takes the prize for the city I’d most like to revisit if I struck it rich – for one reason. I’d return there with my golf clubs. Sure, I’d spend time on the Royal Mile, I’d visit the castle and the palace and I’d climb again the hill in Holyrood overlooking the city. I’d visit the museums and the pubs. But my main mission would be to play the Old Course and the other courses of St. Andrews, and I’d have to take day trips to the other world-renowned courses in Scotland. Carnoustie. Muirfield. Royal Troon. Turnberry. For goodness sakes, it’s July. It’s Scotland. There be golf. The wife, I’ll take her to Paris and Sydney and all the other stops on the hypothetical world tour, but for her sanity, I’ll leave her home for the month in Scotland and take Dad, and my brother, and my Uncle Roger, and 4 sets of golf clubs instead. Or maybe I’ll send her and her dad off to find the castle that belongs to their clan, which he tells us is still standing somewhere in the highlands.
August: Stockholm, Sweden
It was a difficult choice for the next stop. August was going to a northern location, and candidates included Oslo, Copenhagen, Reykjavik, and Stockholm. I’ve always been fascinated by distant, rugged geography, so Iceland and Norway (along with Alaska and northern Canada) have a certain appeal. In the end, though, I narrowed it down to Denmark or Sweden, and I really could just flip a coin. I guess, in fact, the difference is that I’ve known several colleagues who have visited – and raved – about Stockholm, but I only know of Copenhagen’s beauty third hand. Stockholm is spread out over 14 islands. It boasts one of the world’s great scientific establishments, the Karolinska Institute, which oversees the scientific Nobel Prize awards each October. As it happens, I have a standing invitation to visit a lab there thanks to some correspondence I had with the author of a scientific paper some months ago. It’s an invitation I frankly never never expect to accept in real life, but I’ll make that visit part of my hypothetical month. The days will be long and warm in August, allowing for some tours of the dramatic Swedish countryside, in between days of museums soaking in the art, history, and culture of Scandanavia.
September: Rome, Italy
Before leaving Europe for good, I’d spend the month of September in Rome, Italy. This was another difficult choice. I was sure that there would be at least one Italian stop on my world tour, but there are still so many locations to choose from. Rome is a bit of a cop out choice, because I have visited the city (during March of 1991). It might be better to try somewhere else, but I know Rome can entertain for a full month. In addition to the marvelous ruins of the Roman Empire – the Colosseum, the Forum, the Pantheon, and Circus Maximus, there are the four Papal Basilicas of Rome including the granddaddy of them all in nearby Vatican City. I would also have to call the Vatican Museums my second-favorite art museum in the world (behind Musee D’Orsay), and that’s just one of many museums worth a leisurely visit. On the other hand, it might have been better to choose Venice or Florence for the month-long stay, as both cities are full of possibilities and each is near some beautiful geography (the Italian Alps and Tuscany). Still another very appealing option would be Messina in Sicily, the closest major city to the village of my great-great grandparents who immigrated to the U.S. in the first years of the 20th Century. I could always pull an audible – if I’m museumed-out by September, rather than Rome, I could go on a month-long search for my roots (and September on a Mediterranean island offers plenty inducement, event without the genealogical research).
October: New York, New York
There are several cities in the United States worthy of a month-long trip, with New York, Chicago, and Boston leading my personal list. I’ve visited all of these cities, but in each case, for only a tantalizingly short period of time. New York is a city worth a visit in any season, but I chose October because I may still have a bit of good weather, and I might catch one of the New York teams in the playoff chase in baseball. It would be a kick to see a game at Yankee Stadium. October would also give me the chance to catch a Rangers game at Madison Square Garden. I’ve seen a couple of the museums in New York – the Hayden Planetarium would get a return visit – but I’d have to see for the first time the Guggenheim and MOMA – if I can take that large a dose of modern art. I would compare Broadway to London. I’d visit Ground Zero and the Freedom Tower. I’d tour the United Nations. Attend something in Central Park. Visit Coney Island. Play a little golf. Play some chess down in Greenwich Village. Check out the Bronx Zoo. Head out to Liberty and Ellis Island. I suspect New York is another one of those cities where the month could be packed full with something new to do every day.
November: Honolulu, Hawaii
Staying in the United States for November, but flying halfway around the world any way – to Honolulu, Hawaii. This is probably the only location I’ve selected exclusively for its geography – that is, to tour natural areas and not just cultural places. I considered other locations like that – Las Vegas as a home-base for the beautiful parks of the American West, Zurich for the Swiss Alps, Nairobi for an African safari. Hawaii offers such a diversity of geography, though, plus the typical tourist trappings of food and luxurious lodging, that I went with Honolulu. Hawaii offers stark volcanic mountains, thick rainforests, towering waterfalls, quiet coves, and crowded beaches. I’ve never been anywhere tropical before, so the chance to see a completely different flora and fauna would be exciting; Hawaii has two national parks along with several other protected natural areas. Then there’s the Honolulu Zoo and Waikiki Aquarium. All in all, probably a relaxing way to spend the month of November.
December: Jerusalem, Israel
Where to spend Christmas? I considered New York City, I considered Honolulu, but in the end I decided there might be something special to spending Christmas in Bethlehem – or thereabouts. Israel is an attractive and fascinating country for a number of reasons, but I’m especially attracted to its deep history and to its stark countryside. One of the pleasures of my first trip to Europe decades ago was to be somewhere where history stretched back – to have seen gothic Cathedrals or the ancient stones at Stonehenge. But there’s nothing more ancient than Israel – possibly mankind’s first civilization grew up there, a history stretching back ten thousand years. Add to this that Israel is a vibrant democracy and a scientific and cultural mecca, and I imagine the year would end with a stimulating month. If I had the guts I might slip across the border to visit Petra in Jordan, as I’ve long been fascinated by those ruins.
Analysis
Clearly, I have a preference for English-speaking locations, as 3 of my destinations are in the United States, 2 in Great Britain, and one each in Australia and New Zealand. Israel is a very English-friendly country, and Tokyo, Paris, Stockholm, and Rome cosmopolitan enough to make getting around relatively easy for a foreigner. I’ve also avoided living a month in any place that could reasonably be considered unsafe. While places like Nairobi, Ankara, Bangkok, Cape Town, Cairo, and Rio have their appeal, I would be nervous visiting those places. I also avoided China despite a long fascination with that country’s history and culture; I suspect a month there with my middle-class Western sensibilities would grow uncomfortable.
Within my “safe zone”, there are a number of places still that I would have enjoyed visiting. Zurich (or somewhere in Switzerland or Austria), Amsterdam, Dublin, Barcelona, Prague, Moscow, Florence, Copenhagen, and Toronto were all options I considered. There’s also the glaring omission of any city in Germany, partly from my own ignorance. It would be great to visit Germany, but I don’t have any clear idea of which city in Germany would give the best experience, and so I chose none.
Again, most of my choices were linked to large cities and not to natural areas. This was because living in a place for a month, I wanted a comfortable home base from which to operate. I didn’t want to pitch a tent somewhere just to see Angel Falls, or Zambezi Falls, or Mt. Denali, or Crater Lake. Perhaps on another day I’ll do a list of “places I’d most like to visit if I could teleport there in the morning and back home again at sunset.”
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