Cities

Wow...I started with a bang & just lost momentum right away. How do the real bloggers do this (Kenneth, Joe, Andy, Marc, 3 guys)?

I was watching a bit of The Bachelor last night ( the husband says- "come here quick, The Bachelor is hot & he has his shirt off"!). The show was in Seattle & The Bachelor's house boat is close to where we lived in Seattle.

We both remarked how beautiful Seattle looked & how much it had changed in the 7.5 years since we moved. It made me want to go as a tourist! The Mountains! All that water! The city!

It gave me pause to reflect on how lucky I have been to have lived in such amazing cities. I am a true urban gentleman. I even prefer vacations in major cities.

I grew up in Spokane & left the day I graduated high school. I don't want to say anything too bad about Spokane. My parents still live there & I have friends that remain, but...

I went to college in Boston (B.C.) & Loyola Marymount in LA. I lived in NYC 1975-79 & I lived in Seattle for 20 years. I loved each of these cities.

When we first moved to Portland I thought we had moved to Hooterville. I knew Portland well. We had visited at least once a year all the time we lived in Seattle, but when we arrived, it really did seem SMALL! I have been won over by Portland's many charms, which are considerable. It will probably live here the rest of my life (we often talk about our house as our last). When i lived in Seattle, I used to announce that I would never live anywhere smaller & I would not live anywhere that was not on the coast or a major body of water... so, of course, I moved to Portland!

But...

CITIES I WOULD LIVE IN (given half a chance):

1. Vancouver BC

2. NYC, this time in Brooklyn (maybe Carroll Gardens)

3. Sydney, close to a beach

4. Santa Monica (in a bungalow near the ocean)

5. Chicago

6. Venice

7. Buenos Aires

8. Cape Town

9. San Francisco

10. Amsterdam

The new economy has produced what is known at our house as - The new Austerity Program, & travel is not in the picture right now. But, I can dream about these fabulous cities. Hell, I can spring for a trip to Seattle on Amtrak & I can be a tourist this time.

One of my favortite writers- Brian Bouldrey, rightly claims that travelers ruin the places that they love.