Ha, a lot of Mainers would envy you!
On a houseboat on Lake Powell.
Strikingly beautiful: Santorini, also a forest in the north of Scotland, with craggy trees illuminated by the afternoon sun
Every ten feet there is some staggering building or artifact: Rome
Exceptional beauty and cultural importance, despite unappealing urban environment: Athens
Life will find a way: Cancun–because it seems that the jungle is taking it back
Some people really like wind: Chicago
Beautiful, welcoming, but “now leave and do not take any natural items with you”: Hawaii. I would like to go to Maui and Kauai nevertheless.
Best museum: The British Museum. Hands down. QMP: “Is that the real Rosetta Stone?”
City I just discovered this year: Santander, Spain
Place I really like and hardly anyone understands this: Disney World
Bucket list: I really want to see the aurora. Isle of Skye. I also want to return to distant places that were very meaningful to me earlier in my life.
“Best museum: The British Museum. Hands down. QMP: “Is that the real Rosetta Stone?””
It is an amazing collection but it’s hard to view it without thinking of all the history, colonialism, and pilfering behind it.
@doschicos --When we were in Athens it seemed a LOT had been “acquired” by the British Museum. But in some instances these days I’m simultaneously grateful that some antiquities have been taken and safeguarded rather than being destroyed despite the history of how it was first obtained.
Stunningly beautiful: Nepal, Vietnam, San Francisco Bay Area, the coast of Maine
Fascinating culturally: India
Let’s party: These are places I avoid
Major disappointments: Not “major” but I was underwhelmed by Sri Lanka and Malaysia
Bucket list: Turkey. Israel. Morocco. Norway. Portugal. Back to India
My favorite museum, so far, is the Uffizi in Florence, mainly because of the Botticellis. I haven’t been to Madrid though, so the Prado is on my bucket list; I’d love to see Las Meninas by Velazquez.
A show I am reluctant to name aloud has been in Croatia and it looks awesome!
I loved seeing Las Meninas by Velasquez. Then in Barcelona, the Picasso museum has a large room devoted to his re-interpretations of Las Meninas.
Yeah, @TempeMom, Croatia. Looks gorgeous.
The Picasso is fascinating, to see his very young talent.
doschicos, you have a valid point about the British Museum. I would like to see the “Elgin” marbles returned to Athens now. Athens has a new and very beautiful Parthenon Museum where they could be displayed. I believe that they could be safely preserved there now.
It would have been better for humanity if the Bamiyan Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban had been “looted” by Western Europeans and repatriated later, when they were safe. I agree with gouf78 that the situation is not utterly clear-cut and it depends on circumstances at the time.
Favorite cities: Paris, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Munich, Montreal, New Orleans
Most beautiful: Grand Tetons, Central California coast, Canadian Rockies, Amalfi Coast, Rio de Janiero
Favorite National Parks: Yosemite, Zion, Everglades
Most awe-inspiring: Giant Sequoias (some are 3,000 years old), Humpback and Blue Whales
Some favorites off the beaten path: Okracoke, NC; coastal Maine; Upper Peninsula of Michigan, highlands of Ecuador
Disappointing: Disneyland/Disneyworld, Cancun, Dublin, Beijing, Sydney, Atlanta, San Diego
Bucket list: Budapest, Istanbul, Swiss Alps, the Algarve (Portugal)
A friend of mine has been an expat for the past six years and has traveled the heck out of Europe. I save her trip posts on FB to give shape to some of my bucket list items. Another FB friend is point-to-point hiking in Scotland and I am beyond envious at the scenery and the ability to hike that much each day. Makes me want to return! QuantMech: Isle of Skye. Definitely.
@TempeMom : we took a GoT tour in Dubrovnik and while a bit cheesy, it was also So. Much. Fun. And so much history and cultural info snuck in there, too!
I want to add Barcelona and Kyoto to my bucket list.
Right now, my fav places have grand,expansive water views. Coastal Maine, my own state’s waterside venues.I don’t like sitting on the beach so much (i’m good for 45 minutes,) but a nice restaurant or park is doing the trick. Big water views.
Waterton and the Prince of Wales Hotel in Ontario Canada are amazing! We were just there and the views are perfect! It really looks like the video and their photos. Glacier Park and Many Glacier Lodge are lovely as well, in Montana.
http://www.glacierparkinc.com/lodging/prince-of-wales-hotel/
Beautiful: Canadian Rockies (Banff/Yoho and especially Lake O’Hara), Yosemite, Bali, Vietnam, Croatia (including Dubrovnik but most of the country, which is basically coast – @doschicos, I travel all over the world and Croatia is one of the places I’d like to go back to – didn’t get to Plitvices), parts of Peru. Parts of Gold Coast of Australia. Grand Tetons. Yellowstone of the trail). Sausalito/Marin County. Much of Northern California. Zion National Park. Parts of Arizona (sunsets in Tucson, Chiricahua National Monument). Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket – very magical places where time seems to stop or run at a slower pace. I’ve been all over Mexico over 35 years. Many nice places but maybe not all safe at this point. Parts of Baha California Sur on the Gulf of Cortez (e.g., Los Barriles), loved snorkeling in Cozumel years ago, Tulum, some towns in Riviera Nayarit. King’s Canyon NP in Australia. Canmore, Alberta (town just ringed by huge mountains).
Much of Italy north of Rome: Many hill towns (e.g., San Gimignano) in Tuscany and Umbria. Siena, Florence, Padova, Trieste, Capriva del Friuli.
Amazing: El Rosario, MIchoacan State. Mexico; Great Barrier Reef; Machu Picchu, Lake O’Hara area, Angel’s Landing in Zion NP. I proposed to ShawWife on top of Half Dome in Yosemite.
Guided tours in Israel – the place is just chock full of history.
Cities: Jerusalem is the prettiest city I’ve been to or maybe Dubrovnik. San Francisco could be if it weren’t so gritty/dirty. Vancouver is great.
I liked Stockholm and Copenhagen. Oxford and Cambridge are lovely university towns. I really enjoy London. NY is a great city to visit for short bursts (though I did live there for 6 years and was happy to leave).
Places I am not crazy about: Kuwait, Jakarta, a number of inland US cities, Frankfurt. Caracas/Venezuela generally. Switzerland is lovely but way too buttoned up.
Places that seem overrated: Toronto, San Antonio (I concur). I’ve never really like New Orleans but have only been there on business. Similarly, never been a fan of Atlanta but have always been there on business. Venice (never my favorite place, though I’ve been there quite a number of times). Didn’t love Cambodia but was only there for a few days in a trip with Vietnam and Koh Samui in Thailand.
Places I’d like to go: the Greek Islands, South Africa, Nepal, the Amazon, San Cristobal de las Casas, Brazil other than SP, Ecuador/Galapagos, hiking in Scotland, Petra, Myanmar, Laos.
My favorite place on Earth right now is our backyard deck. The sliver of the lake that can be seen from it is amazing. This summer was a gift from Mother Nature!
@shawbridge - you should revisit Atlanta. It has a cool downtown and great food. Mr. was there on business and I just tagged along. I had a much better experience than he did. 
Come visit Seattle - it is lovely in the summer (I find it charming even when it is grey and nasty, but I am biased).
@BunsenBurner, interesting about Atlanta. Haven’t been to Seattle in years. One of my former students was a muckety-muck there. It was beautiful and grey. Looked generally like a lovely place.
Spent a long weekend in Portland last year with ShawD. I thought it would be a good place for a kid starting out to live. Not that expensive, pretty easy to get around, lots of nice scenery. Something of a smaller version of Seattle, no? But grey and rainy for about half our time there.