20 Places I Plan to See Before I Die (Pt. 4)

Here's the final five places I plan to see before I die (if God wills), the list I started four days ago:

16. Alaska. Maybe it was Michener's book, Alaska, but I have long wanted to see the wild splendor of our forty-ninth state.

17. The Aurora Borealis. Okay, so it's not a "place." But if we time it just right, maybe we can see the Northern Lights on our trip to Alaska. Two for the price of one.

18. Paris. For our fiftieth wedding anniversary in 2027, if God grants, I would love to take the lovely Robin to see these last three sites on my list. In Paris, I would hope to see the Louvre, which has long been a desire, as well as Notre Dame Cathedral. And Versailles, if possible. And I want to sit in a sidewalk cafe eating cheese and bread.

19. Rome. The Eternal City. Coliseum. Catacombs. Vatican City. St. Peter's Basilica. The Pantheon. And more.

20. The Alsace. My ancestors emigrated from this area on the border of France and Switzerland; my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather's last European home was in a town called Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines (and near a tiny village named Hostett, interestingly enough).

There's a chance, by the way, that I could see the Alsace as early as next year (in our October 2010 speaking trip to Germany), which would certainly ease some of the pressure on that fiftieth anniversary trip!

And left off the list are a few places I plan to see as part of some of those trips above, like Pergamum and Philippi (on our "Journeys of Paul Cruise") and Jerash, one of the best preserved Roman cities in the world (in our 2010 trip to Jordan and Israel).

And who knows if I'll get to see all these places, by the time it's all said and done. But it's fun to anticipate. And it will be fun to try.