Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is a non-bookish freebie, which means you can share your list on anything your heart desires! This top ten list could be on your favorite TV shows/movies, bands/singers, food items/recipes, items, places you’ve visited, fashion designers, etc. It could also be on a more broad topic like things nobody knows about you, your favorite things in general, your hobbies, your views on life, etc. The possibilities are limitless, you just can’t talk about books! I cannot wait to see what everyone has chosen to write about and get to know all of you a little better! I love traveling, so I’ve chosen to list out my favorite places I’ve visited. And every single one of them was with my favorite travel partner: my mom (and today is her birthday, so how perfect is this??). I’m not just limiting it to cities or countries, I’m letting myself get even more specific. These are in no particular order, as I love them all!
1. Venice, Italy
I loved walking through the tight alleyways along the canals. Everything is so twisty and turny, and every turn you make presents you with a stunning new view of a bridge or a secluded alcove. It’s easy to get lost, but it’s also easy to end up in places where you’re totally alone. That quiet, magical time of realizing nobody else is around is amazing. It’s just you and the water. And the pigeons. lol.
2. Bellagio, Italy
My mom and I stayed at a pink hotel right on Lake Como, and our corner room provided us with two balconies to gaze out at the stunning views. We climbed to the very top of the town and saw the most beautiful little chapel, and then we dined on some amazing past on our way back down. My favorite gelato shop has a bench right on the water, and it was empty for us every time we stopped to get a cup.
3. Florence, Italy
Florence has my heart. I loved seeing the Duomo, which is right smack dab in the middle of everything. Seeing Michelangelo’s David at the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze was a transcendent experience, My mom and I found the cutest jewelry shop and bought some fun souvenirs, and I had the best prosciutto and fresh mozzarella sandwich of my life here.
4. Curaçao
This little Caribbean island is magical. The traditional architecture is stunning, and all the buildings are pastel colored. My mom and I had so much fun ducking in and out of the shops and basking in the sea breeze (it gets so windy there).
5. La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain
I minored in art history in undergrad, so I am obsessed with art and architecture. Visiting Gaudi’s stunningly unique church after studying it and seeing it in my textbooks and on lecture slides was surreal. When the sun shines through those stained glass windows the entire interior becomes a kaleidoscope of color. And then when you stand in the glow of those windows? You can almost feel the colors soaking into your skin. I could have stayed here for hours.
6. Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Mallorca is a small Spanish island, famous for their pearls. My mom, sister, and I visited the most famous Mallorcan pearl store, Majorica, which has been producing these pearls since the process began in 1890. We each bought some, and I have cherished them ever since. I also visited my very first European cathedral here in Mallorca, The Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma (La Seu). I saw my very first rose window in this church!
7. Paris, France
I was going to say the Eiffel Tower, but then I got sad because I loved Paris so much. I loved the iconic Art Nouveau metro station entrances, the hot pink bakery outside our quaint hotel that sold the most amazing quiche and strawberry tarts, the Notre Dame, Shakespeare and Company, the Louvre, exiting the Louvre and getting my first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower, the baguette sandwiches, Sainte-Chapelle, the Sacré-Cœur, everything. My mom and I ate nutella crepes sitting on a bench overlooking the Eiffel Tower. It doesn’t get more magical than that. Visiting Paris was a dream come true.
8. The Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy
I got the picture everyone gets of themselves, holding the tower up. But I don’t care. I have wanted to see that tower since I was little, and it was so much fun.
9. New York City at Christmas
This was another dream come true! My mom and I stayed in this adorable boutique hotel with a door man and a bellhop and a Christmas tree in the lobby and breakfast with fresh doughnuts from a local bakery. We saw the Rockefeller tree, bought obscenely expensive truffles from Teuscher Chocolates, watched the Rockettes dance in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, saw Mary Poppins on Broadway, saw all the beautiful Christmas storefront windows, braved the coldest and windiest night of our lives at the top of the Empire State Building (there were like 2 other people up there with us), bought an ornament from Bloomingdale’s, had frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity 3, found the best pizza ever, saw Starry Night at the Museum of Modern Art, went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, took the wrong subway, walked the streets at night looking at Christmas lights and eating candied peanuts, got overwhelmed in Times Square, poked into FAO Schwarz (I was last there as a kid and my parents bought me a cute dog stuffed animal), at ate Junior’s in Grand Central Station, and so much more. We had the best time, and made the best memories.
10. Juneau, Alaska
This was a port of call on our Alaskan cruise, but Juneau will forever have a place in my heart because this is where I got to go whale watching. It was a cold, misty day out there on the boat but I seriously felt like I had communed with nature. There’s something so majestic about watching whales dance in the water. I saw so many flukes, tails, spouts, and even breaches! I never knew how much I loved whales until this experience, and I still can’t get enough of them. I look for spouts every time I’m near the ocean now, and I see them way more than I would ever expected.
Do you like to travel? What place in the world is your favorite?
What topic did you choose this week?
Jana, do you remember the name of the hotel in NYC? We go up once or twice a year and are always looking for new and lovely places to stay.
Hi Sprite! Unfortunately, the hotel we stayed at doesn’t exist anymore! It broke my heart when I went to look it up and it’s gone. I don’t know what’s become of it. :(
I love this! I haven’t visited any of these places myself but I haven’t been traveling all that much. Maybe one day 😉
You have been a lot of great places. NYC is so fun at Christmas. We haven’t been since the pandemic, but we used to go every year.
A fellow world traveler! I’ve been to 8 of your 10 places and agree with all your comments. In Paris Ste Chapelle brought me to tears it’s so beautiful. Barcelona and all it’s Gaudi buildings will always be one of my top cities to revisit. I haven’t been to Mallorca or Bellagio and yet they both sound inviting. I shared some of my favorite travel spots too…..
Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys
https://www.bookshelfjourneys.com/post/ttt-freebie-personal-sharing
Yes, yes to Sainte-Chapelle! Unfortunately, there was a lot of scaffolding up for restoration when we visited but it was stunning anyway! I also visited Casa Battlo in Barcelona, but never made it to Casa Mila. If I ever get back there, it’s definitely on my list. I’ll come see your favorite travel destinations next!
Cool list! You’ve seen some amazing places it looks like! And your New York trip sounds like it has some old fashion charm too. :)
I was able to visit Florence on my Italy trip as well! It’s been a very long time since I went. It was pretty much a once in a lifetime trip for me but I loved every moment of it! I was technically in Paris, briefly and only on the tarmac of the airport! We left one plane and walked out to the other one I feel like! It was a very quick connection! Lol!
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I almost did this topic, and now wish I had, LOL! I have been to Rome, but not the other places you have been in Italy. Have a great week!
Rome is great! I loved visiting the Vatican and the Colosseum! We were in Rome for about a week, and didn’t see everything on our list! Hopefully we can go back someday!
A great list. I have been to a few of them and have some of the others on my list!
Have a great week!
Great list of places visited! I would love to go to Italy someday. I was at La Sagrada Familia in 2010, but I hear they’ve made a lot of progress since then. I did my list on TV shows!
I was there in 2010, too! I really want to go back to see what they’ve done, but they say it’ll be complete in 2026 so I think I’ll wait!
You’ve been to some cool places. I hope to get to Europe someday.
I dream about going to Paris one day. We wanted to go for our 10-year anniversary, but having a toddler now makes us a little reluctant to travel far from him!
You’ve been to many places I want to go to! Especially Paris and Italy! Funny enough, I live two hours from NYC and have never been to “the city” other than going to the Bronx Zoo and Yankees games.
Isn’t it funny how we so rarely play tourist where we live? I live close to some very popular travel destinations, too, and have never been!
These are some great travel locations! Italy is still on my bucket list. One of my favorite travel destinations would have to be the river cruise I took on the Rhine river, with stops in France and Germany. Such a lovely area!
I would LOVE to take a river cruise, but my bucket list item is a Christmas marker river cruise! I’ll take any, though. lol.
The Christmas market cruises look so good! I really want to take one of those, too.
Great list, I love Venice! And Florence… I hope you made it to Rome as well? St. Peter and the Vatican Museum are great, besides many other sites and sights. And you should really visit the cathedral in Milano as well…
I did visit Rome, too! We got an apartment for about a week. My dad actually had his wallet stolen off of him in the subway on the way to the Vatican, and he realized it was gone right as we got on the escalator to enter. It made the visit very frustrating and upsetting for him, but it didn’t change my complete and utter awe at seeing Raphael’s The School of Athens and the Sistine Chapel. And yep, I did go to Milan! I went inside the Duomo, which was so pretty, and went to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II to make a wish and spin on the bull on the ground!
Yay! The first time I was in the Sistine Chapel, they were restoring it. Half was dark, half was brightly coloured, it was so bizarre to see…
It seems that you’ve traveled a lot!
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2023/04/18/top-ten-tuesday-10-albums-i-love-that-are-released-this-century/
You’ve visited some amazing places! Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
Years ago, I went whale watching in Alaska too! Sounds like you saw more whales than I did, but I still really enjoyed it. It was my favorite family vacation that we took when I was growing up. One of my hobbies is photography, so for today’s list I shared ten spring photos that I took. Thanks for the opportunity to share more about ourselves! :)
Wow! You’ve visited some amazing places! I’m so [nicely] envious!
Wow! You have seen most of the planet!
Hope you have enjoyed all your travels.
I absolutely LOVED Venice and Florence – I also fell in love with Rome and Lake Garda when I was there. And we’re planning on having our honeymoon in Rome as well!
I’ve been to quite a few countries but only Italy and Paris from your list. I would love to go to Alaska though.
Alaska is beautiful. I hope you get to go someday!
Out of the places you listed here we have Paris, New York and Barcelona in common, La Sagrada Familia is STUNNING!!
Yay! I would love to go back someday to see it completed. They announced this past March that it’s going to happen in 2026!