Ticks in boxes

So I've been giving this bucket list thing some thought, and realised that most of mine involve traveling and places that I want to see.  I've also realised that I've been lucky enough to tick a few of them off already.  Many of them have been on my bucket list for many years, before I even knew it was a bucket list actually, in fact some since childhood.

I remember wanting to visit Sacre Coeur in Paris since I learnt about it at the age of 11 at school.  I always thought it was one of the most beautiful buildings I'd ever seen.  I've been lucky enough to visit it on two occasions.  The first time I will admit it brought a tear to my eye, it is beautiful.  We even went back to see it again at night, a fantastic sight all lit up, and the views from there across the lights of Paris are well worth climbing the steps for.  (although its much easier to get the cable car, which I discovered AFTER climbing the steps)  I went back a few years later and took CC this time, not sure if she was quite as impressed, but she did enjoy it.  Although I have the tick in that particular box now, I do adore Paris, and it has to stay on the list as I simply have to visit again one day.

Another tick in the box is the Pyramids and the Sphinx.  Again it is somewhere I wanted to visit from being a very young child.  My Grandad was stationed in Egypt during World War 2, and I would often listen to stories about it as a child.  He would talk about the Sphinx, and from then on it was on the list of must do places to visit.  CC has inherited my nerd genes, poor child, and was Egypt mad as a very young child.  She read lots of books and so was over the moon when a holiday to Egypt was booked, and she was only 6!  We did the trip to the Egyptian Museum, the Pyramids and the Sphinx.  CC was in her element, and bombarded the guide with a constant stream of questions. The museum was amazing, so many priceless things in such a small space.  The Pyramids and Sphinx are amazing when you think when how they were built.  It was also a little emotional for me, as my Grandad had passed away by then.

As I've already said I am a bit of a nerd, and always wanted to visit Hong Kong before it went back to the Chinese, unfortunately I didn't manage this.  I did however get the opportunity to spend a couple of days there on route to New Zealand a few years ago.  I loved it!  We did a whistle stop tour, up the Peak, on the Star Ferry, Nathan Street market, bird market, fish market, the Harbour.  So thats another tick in the box, the problem is we weren't there long enough, so what it did do is put it firmly back on the list to be visited again, but this time at a more leisurely pace!

These are just a few of the amazing experiences I've had, storing up the memories for that rainy day.  But you may have noticed a bit of a pattern developing, instead of the bucket list getting shorter as things get ticked off, its getting longer, as I keep finding that the experiences are so good I need to go again!  I haven't quite got the hang of it really have I!

C x