"Where are your top five places?"

May 13 2008

Over a wonderful dessert + sightseeing + dinner (in that order) Monday night in Athens, my colleague Pantelis asked about my favorite places in the world.  Having just added countries 52 and 53 the visited list -- of which, amazingly, 33 are represented in my current six-year-old passport -- it was a good question to reflect on.  But this is a very hard question to answer, because there are so many wonderful places in the world

Eventually, we talked about places as varied as Paris, Phuket, and Prague, Sydney and Santa Fe, Toronto and Tokyo.  The bottom line, though, is there are still many, many more places to explore -- which is why I turned the question around and asked Pantelis about the Greek islands.  We talked about Santorini, Crete, and a few others, but he then also pointed out that there are many wonderful places on the Greek mainland.

One of the more fun parts of our conversation was talking about how the food from different countries is interpreted differently around the world.  Pantelis has never been to the US, so when I told him that a Greek restaurant in the US serves things like gyros, moussaka, and spanakopita, he said, "those are simple foods, the things we eat at home."  He had never heard of "saganaki" (the Greek word simply represents any kind of fried cheese), and was puzzled by this concept.  So, we proceeded to eat a typical Greek restaurant dinner...one which included nothing I've ever eaten before.  It was a great evening, just as much for the conversation as for the food.  At one point, Pantelis said to me, "you are not a typical American"....maybe I should have started talking louder.  :-)

I really enjoyed my 36 hours in Athens.  Many of my preconceived notions were blown away (including the relentless description in the guidebooks of Athens as being smoggy -- I never felt this, and it was a beautiful sunny 18-23 degrees Celsius most of the time), and visiting the Acropolis early this morning before my flights was a fantastic experience.  Even the airport ground staff were unusually friendly.  It has taken me a long time to get to Greece, but I will be back.

How would you answer Pantelis's question?

Ed Brill | LH432, FRA-ORD Category:  Travel  Add/View Comments [35]

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  1. 1  Ian Randall  | 5/13/2008 11:21:24 PM

    For me the top 5 places would be (not in any order):

    1) Positano (Amalfi Coast) - Italy

    2) Bellagio (Lake Como) - Italy [NOTE: Not the one in Las Vegas]

    3) Queenstown & the Dart River (South Island) - New Zealand

    4) Sydney - Australia (not just because I live there)

    5) Oia (Island of Santorini) - Greece

    I think that there are many other beautiful places in the world that I have visited, but these resonate most strongly as my personal favourates.

  1. 2  Patrick Darke http://www.ekrad.org/ | 5/14/2008 2:18:12 AM

    1) Elk, California

    2) Houston Street, NYC, NY

    3) Brussels, Belgium

    4) Ely, UK

    5) Bang Pe, Rayong, Thailand

  1. 3  Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be | 5/14/2008 2:36:29 AM

    Indeed a tough question ! My picks:

    - Uluru (Ayers Rock), Australia

    - Borobudur, Indonesia

    - Tuscany, Italy

    - Bruges, Belgium

    - New York City, USA

    Do I really have to stop, because Mexico, Greece, South-Africa, France and Spain are also on my list !

  1. 4  Dan King  | 5/14/2008 4:34:35 AM

    Nice one, takes a bit of thought:

    1) Sydney, Australia

    2) Ko Tao, Thailand

    3) Luxor, Egypt

    4) Kyoto, Japan

    5) Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

  1. 5  Lars Olufsen http://www.olufsphere.com | 5/14/2008 5:56:14 AM

    Easy ...

    1) Copenhagen, Denmark in the spring

    2) Copenhagen, Denmark in the summer

    3) Copenhagen, Denmark in the fall

    4) Copenhagen, Denmark in the winter

    5) Orlando, Florida in January EVERY year!

    ;-)

  1. 6  Pedro Quaresma http://playroom3.wordpress.com | 5/14/2008 6:32:29 AM

    The only place I visited that made me fall in love with it was Sal island on Cape Verde { Link }

    Maybe I should travel more... :-(

  1. 7  Michael Kobrowski  | 5/14/2008 7:24:41 AM

    1) Doolin, Co. Clare, Ireland

    2) Nuremberg, Frankonia, Germany

    3) Newgrange, Co. Meath, Ireland

    4) Westfield, Indiana, USA

    5) Glencolumbkille, Co. Donegal, Ireland

    Guess I like Ireland and the two places I lived in ;)

    Btw, talking about Greek food....do you remember the dishes you had? Love greek food..probably would love Greece too.

  1. 8  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 5/14/2008 8:08:56 AM

    @7 thank you for prompting me to look it up. The restaurant was Ouzou Melathron (Ouzo's Mansion). It is a Greek chain based from Thessaloniki but the locals eat there, too. Details at { Link }

    As for what we ate... mezedes. I have the receipt somewhere, but..."it's all Greek to me". I will see if I can look it up. Here's the menu:

    Ouzo's Mansion menu

  1. 9  Stephen McDonagh http://dominoyesmaybe.blogspot.com | 5/14/2008 8:30:28 AM

    Favorite places can I think be split into those places that we think of as "Mine" and those place we have been to that we have found "connection" with so I have two top 5's

    Top 5 "MY" places that I return to and return to and return to

    1) The Giant's Causeway. Co.Antrim, Northern Ireland

    2) Murlough Bay Torr Head, Co.Antrim, Northern Ireland

    3) Newgrange, Co.Meath, Ireland

    4) Dunfanaghy, Co.Donegal, Ireland

    5) The River Rhee between Ballylinta and Culcrow

    Top 5 Visited places than made be go WOOOOOO!

    1) The Hora on the island of Alonissos, Greece

    2) The Acropolis in Lindos, Rhodes, Greece

    3) The Ruins of Ephesus near Selcuk, Turkey

    4) Matchupitchu, Peru

    5) Swimming with humpback whales off Vava'u, Tonga

  1. 10  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 5/14/2008 8:45:59 AM

    @9 some of us who were at ILUG 2005 have a Newgrange story...

  1. 11  John Head http://www.johndavidhead.com | 5/14/2008 9:16:39 AM

    My top 5 places I have been:

    1. London - I lived there for a while, and still love that town. I still think about moving there

    2. St. Petersburg, RUS - what an amazing town. The history, the feeling ...

    3. Talin, Estonia - my fav Baltic city. Part of why I remember it is I was there on Sept 15, 2001 when the moment of silence was observed for 9/11 ... not only did everyone stop, but more than half of the restaurants stopped their music, signs were turned off, etc. What an amazing town to experience that moment

    4. Taos, NW - still my favorite destination in the US. The skiing is amazing and so is the food

    5. Malta - My trip there last Oct was eventful, but I have not been anywhere in the world where the locals were more friendly.

    Places on my todo list:

    1. Egypt to see the Pyramids,

    2. Greece to see the sites

    3. New Zealand to see Hobbiton once it is rebuilt :-)

  1. 12  Turtle http://www.weightlessdog.com/shell.nsf | 5/14/2008 9:48:14 AM

    Cape Hatteras, North Carolina

    Old Orchard Beach, Maine

    Monterey, California

    Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

    Lake Placid, New York

  1. 13  Kathleen McGivney http://kmcgivney.typepad.com | 5/14/2008 9:58:14 AM

    My top 5 are places that I've been that I really just fell in love with. They are places that I have returned to again (or plan to in the future) because I just feel a sense of joy when I'm there. These are in no particular order. I love them all.

    1. Asolo, Italy & Orvieto, Italy - I know I'm cheating with two, but at least they're both hill towns! I just can't choose between them. They're both amazing.

    2. Ireland - hard for me to pick a particular spot. The whole country is gorgeous.

    3. Brugge, Belgium - romantic and beautiful. I'm going back in the fall!

    4. Florence, Italy - beautiful, walkable, and so full of art you could be there for months and not see it all. For an art and history geek, this is heaven.

    5. New York, NY. Good thing I live here!

  1. 14  Benny Borchers  | 5/14/2008 10:19:50 AM

    Okay. Seems that nobody see africa as a top five!!

    It´s much more.

    1. Baobab - Kenya - Africa

    2. Isar river - Munich - Germany

    3. Arhus - Denmark

    4. Sagres - Algarve - Portugal

    5. Of course Australia in 2008! coming soon ;-)

  1. 15  Stephen McDonagh http://dominoyesmaybe.blogspot.com | 5/14/2008 10:33:40 AM

    @10

    :-) it is one of those sort of places.. if you can get it to yourself it is .... well.. it just is :-)

    If it was a nice 2005 ILUG story, you should try the Girianan of Aileach up beside me in the north. It isn't quite so old.. prob late iron age (600bc) and it is a fort not a grave but you don't get any tourists and you do get a truelly marvellous view when it is not raining !

    { Link }

  1. 16  Rob McDonagh http://www.CaptainOblivious.com | 5/14/2008 10:43:28 AM

    A great topic. My answer would be different if I was going for the places that amazed me. This is my list of *favorite* places, and I'd love to live in any of them.

    1. Edinburgh

    2. Venice

    3. Istanbul

    4. San Francisco

    5. Mountshannon, Co Clare, Ireland (very small, my wife has family there - could probably substitute many small towns and villages in Ireland)

  1. 17  Richard Schwartz http://www.rhs.com/poweroftheschwartz | 5/14/2008 10:50:52 AM

    For me...

    Cape Cod

    Paris

    New York City

    London

    San Francisco

    But really, there are so many other places that could easily be on this list.

  1. 18  Christel van der Boom http://doormijnogen.blogspot.com | 5/14/2008 2:43:51 PM

    It's tough to pick five... but these places are for sure in my top 10:

    Tulum, Mexico

    Cape Town, South Africa

    Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    San Francisco, California

    Barcelona, Spain

  1. 19  Charles Robinson http://cubert-codepoet.blogspot.com | 5/14/2008 4:11:35 PM

    1) The Caribbean (a sea is a place ;-) )

    2) The English Midlands (so is a region)

    3) Lake Tahoe

    4) Charleston, SC, especially in the spring

    5) The foothills of the Appalachians in Tennessee, especially in the fall

  1. 20  David Bailey  | 5/14/2008 5:02:26 PM

    1. Myanmar

    2. Moracco, especially the Medina at Fez

    3. Barcelona, Spain

    4. Lhasa, Tibet

    5. The Canadian Rockies

  1. 21  Brian Benz http://www.softwaresoapbox.com | 5/14/2008 5:19:46 PM

    Top of the tops - this year I'm into beaches and Islands....

    1) Eagle Beach, Aruba

    2) Naxos, Greece

    3) Murray's Beach, Australia

    4) Ko Tao, Thailand

    5) And just to mix it up...Las Vegas, NV

  1. 22  Kerr  | 5/14/2008 6:26:38 PM

    @19, "2) The English Midlands"

    Wha'? Srsly? Top 5?

  1. 23  Dan Soares  | 5/14/2008 7:57:57 PM

    Have any of you guys been to Goa?

  1. 24  Patrick Darke http://www.ekrad.org/ | 5/14/2008 9:17:02 PM

    @23, Yes, you going?

  1. 25  Ian Randall  | 5/14/2008 9:32:33 PM

    @23, Yes I have been to Goa, but I found Agra in India (specifically the Taj Mahal) to be a much more interesting and beautiful place in my opinion.

    Goa was very tropical and I loved the fusion of Indian and Portuguese cultures and the shopping was cheap and fun, but to be honest, I feel that there are more beautiful tropical/beach locations in other parts of the world. (Not to be disrespectful to Goa fans). Moorea in Tahiti is one such example, Bali another, some of the islands off Fiji, the Maldives, Maui, Mystery Island, Turtle Island in the Great Barrier Reef.

    But if you like spicy food, long sandy beaches and bartering for everything, then Goa is a really great place.

  1. 26  Ports http://www.mrports.com/ | 5/15/2008 11:04:31 AM

    1. London, England

    2. Big Sur, California

    3. Gozo, Malta

    4. Dublin, Ireland

    5. Munich, Germany

  1. 27  Frederic Dahm http://www.greenhouse.lotus.com | 5/15/2008 11:23:09 AM

    I've not been to Australia nor to New Zealand, so apologies for not putting them on the list. However, they are on my life's to do list and it may require to amend this list when I am back.

    I'll differ though. I am the type of person that likes the journey rather than the destination, so here are (big and small trips) people should try out... but in no special order (so the first one listed is not necessary the top of my top 5 or the bottom of my top 5)...

    - Hong Kong to Macau by Ferry (and if you are in Hong Kong, double-decker bus 6 from Central to Stanley)

    - Geneva - Aigle - GStaad - Bern - Zurich in Switzerland by motorcycle (come to think of it, just about any mountain pass in Switzerland and even perhaps Northern Italy by motorcycle is a sublime experience in itself)

    - Tokyo - Osaka by Shinkansen (Bullet Train)

    - From any port to a private island in the Carribbean by cruise ship

    - A walk by foot through Prague with a camera, some sunshine and plenty of time to take pictures.

    There are plenty more, which I did enjoy (Gibraltar, Greece, Helsinki, Athens, Brussels, Brugges, London, Dublin, Bangkok, Singapore, New York, San Francisco, Vancouver, Montreal, Chicago, Mexico, Lima, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Neuchatel, Lisbon, Paris, Kuala Lumpur, Pretoria, Cairo (and the pyramids), The Adirondaks, New England, Boston, etc... But if I had to do it all again, it's those I'd do all over again.

  1. 28  Charles Robinson http://cubert-codepoet.blogspot.com | 5/15/2008 1:32:49 PM

    @22 - Yeah, we spent a week on a narrow boat { Link } traveling the canals. We started in Tamworth and went to Shardlow, then turned around and went back to Great Haywood. It was wonderful scenery and the pubs were great, and I'd do it again in a minute.

  1. 29  Kerr  | 5/16/2008 5:28:51 AM

    @28, Maybe I've spent too much time in grim parts of the Midlands. I'll give you that there are some quite nice bits once you get out into the country side, but in my opinion, not more so than the rest of the country.

    Having said all that, one of my favourite places is Glasgow and that's got some really dodgy parts. Experience colours perception as the say.

    And I did like Tahoe. This is a photo taken from the top of Heavenly looking out the other side from the lake: { Link }

  1. 30  Nomadic Matt http://www.nomadicmatt.com | 5/16/2008 12:52:07 PM

    A friend of mine gave me your site. I'm an avid traveler and have been to over 30 countries.

    I'd say my top 5 places in the world would be:

    1. Amsterdam, Holland

    2. Ko Lipe, Thailand

    3. Perth, Australia

    4. Cambodia

    5. Florence, Italy

  1. 31  Alan Fisher  | 5/17/2008 6:06:13 AM

    Hi Ed - is Scotland on your list of 53? If you've not been to the West Coast of Scotland I would recommend a visit (esp a place called Plockton).

    Favourite places elsewhere:-

    NY, NY

    Sydney, Aus

    Xcaret, Mexico

    Rome, Italy

    Kefalonia, Greece

    @27 - I agree, sometimes the journey is the best bit!

  1. 32  Dan Sickles  | 5/17/2008 9:49:12 PM

    1. Big Sur, California

    2. Pacific Grove, California

    3. Cefalu, Sicily

    4. Hanalei Bay, Kauai

    5. Anywhere else but Vegas

  1. 33  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 5/17/2008 10:40:33 PM

    @31 no, my Scottish experience is only a day in Glasgow for business. My sister did a much longer Edinburgh-etc. type tour and loved it. Someday.

  1. 34  Mark H http://www.travel-wonders.blogspot.com | 7/1/2008 7:15:48 PM

    I have been to around 80 countries and such lists are difficult.

    Five best cities are:

    1. Paris, France

    2. Florence, Italy

    3. Sydney, Australia

    4. Prague, Czech Republic

    5. San Francisco, USA

    Five best places:

    1. Seeing the mountain gorillas in Africa

    2. Wildlife safari in East Africa

    3. Antarctica

    4. Bears feeding on salmon in Alaska or Canada

    5. Iguazu Falls (simply awesome waterfall)

    5 (tied). Yosemite National Park