11. Kansas, USA

Kansas - home of little Dorothy and her gingham frock, Toto, Aunt Em and Uncle Henry.  No, I've never
really been there, but I feel as though I have.  Like everyone else of my generation, I've watched The Wizard of Oz umpty-million times, both as a child and as a long-suffering parent.  When I was a child, it was on TV every Christmas for years on end.  I remember my poor old Nana (who presumably thought she had seen it quite enough times) grumbling but still sitting through it, because she knew how excited I was about seeing it again.  Maybe she had a little nap - I wouldn't know because I was enthralled every time!  Say Kansas and straight away I see (black and white) fields stretching for miles, picket fences, little wooden houses and endless skies.

    

Of course, Kansas isn't all fields and prairies...

Kansas City

Does anyone reading live in Kansas or have you visited?  Or do you know of any good books set there? (Apart from the obvious one!)

10. Jardins du Luxembourg, Paris, France

Les Jardins du Luxembourg, or the Luxemburg Gardens, are in central Paris,
close to the Sorbonne university.  The 17th Century palace and grounds were originally owned by the Duke of Luxemburg, hence the name, and are now one of Paris' most popular public parks.  I haven't been there (boo hoo), but, I was introduced to their existence by my old French teacher, the lovely Madame Simone Goodwin, who is a Parisienne.  They stuck in my mind for a reason: one of our class assignments (back when I was about 15) was to write a story in French and I decided to write about a little boy from a rich home who had no friends to play with ('Le garçon sans amis' - 'The boy with no friends').  I recently found the 'book' while I was clearing out the debris from under our bed (the less said about that the better) and was fairly appalled at the childishly illustrated cover.  I'd like to think I could do better now, but in reality...  Anyway, Madame Goodwin told me about Les Jardins du Luxembourg because in the story my little boy had to get lost in a park.  Having also read glowing reports about the gardens in magazines on various occasions, it's somewhere I've always meant to investigate.  The gardens were originally based on an Italian design as the park was commissioned by Marie de' Medici, but were restored in the 19th Century in a more French style.  Think 55 acres of grounds laid out geometrically with a boating pond, statues galore, fountains, a vintage merry-go-round and pony rides - I'm sure it was a wonderful place for my poor garçon sans amis to get lost in!  Ah well, next time I'm in Paris...


Here are some pics to make you go Ooh là là!

9. Ithaka

Oooh, this looks lovely!  Ithaka - or Ithaca - is a Greek island in the Ionian sea.  To me, the name conjours up Odysseus and mysterious mythological magic, azure waters, dolphins, heat haze and the wonderful, warm people of Greece.




Vathy

Ithaka lies off the coast of Kefalonia (which I have visited), covers 45 square miles and has just over 3,000 inhabitants.  The capital Vathy - or Ithaki - has one of the world's largest natural harbours.
Doesn't it look wonderful?

    
If you want to know more about the history of the island, there's a link here: Ithaka .  One day, I hope I'll be leaving a blog post about my first-hand experience of Ithaka - it's definitely on my holiday list!

Anyone been there?

8. Home - my house!

 
Well, as I'm on a tour of places that I love, have good memories of or want to visit, it doesn't seem out of place to include my own home!

My home is unremarkable in many ways; it's a semi-detached, three-bedroomed, ex-council property in a reasonably ok area of town. The garden isn't huge, but beyond the garden fence is a huge, green designated play area, so the outlook from the upstairs windows at the back gives the impression that you're in the countryside!  What makes my home remarkable to me is that we have now lived here for 21 years and have brought up two children here.  My home is full of happy memories: bringing home my babies, caring for them and watching them grow into entertaining little people and incredible bigger people, family Christmases and birthdays, parties, family meals, happy evenings spent with good friends...

We often plan where we're going to live next - we would like to be closer to the sea or further into the countryside and we'd like to be detached so my husband's love of loud music isn't an issue - but to be honest it's going to be such a wrench to leave.

Here are some pictures of my unremarkable yet remarkable home!

Happy days!

7. Glastonbury, Somerset, UK

 I've chosen Glastonbury as my next destination because I've never been there but I sooooooo want to!  We bypassed it once, travelling to Cheddar Gorge on our honeymoon, and I really wish we'd had time to stop!  Not only does Glastonbury have incredible historical sites, such as Glastonbury Abbey and Glastonbury Tor, it is also home to one of the most famous summer festivals in the UK.  Just the words Glastonbury Festival conjour up the magic of muddy wellies, painted faces, spilt beer, rain, flooded tents and watching your favourite bands perform on a big screen because you're half a mile from the stage.  Oh, and stinky porta-loos.  I so want to go.

Glastonbury Abbey

Glastonbury Tor

 

Anyone been to Glastonbury - either the festival or just to visit the town?

6. Framlingham, Suffolk, UK

Framlingham is a small market town buried in the Suffolk countryside.  It would be a fairly unremarkable place - beamed, thatched cottages are all over Suffolk - if it wasn't for... the amazing Framlingham Castle.  It's a 12th Century fortress, once the refuge of Mary Tudor (Bloody Mary) before her accession to the throne in 1553, which makes it special enough - but it's even more special to me.  It was here ... cue drum roll ... that my daughter cut her first tooth! Ta-da!  She was such a lovely, sunny little baby that we didn't even realise until I fed her before we left for home, bless her.
Another memorable family story was born on that day, too.  My daughter was only about 3 and a half months old and still small enough to fit into a body-sling, which my husband was wearing. There is not a lot left of the castle apart from the outer walls and towers, so the tour involves climbing the towers and walking around the tops of the walls on walkways (not quite as dangerous as I've made it sound.) Now, I already knew my husband reacts strangely to heights as on a ferry he once told me to take the bag with the passports and money in just incase he threw it overboard (!) At this point, you can probably guess where this story's going.  Suffice to say that I had to take over the wearing of the baby sling.  Thankfully, with the baby still in it!

5. Exeter, Devon, UK

Here I am in Devon AGAIN, but this time it's because very good friends of ours used to live here.  Exeter is the County Town of Devon, is great for shopping and has an awe inspiring cathedral (founded in the early 12th century) set on a green, surrounded by olde-worlde buildings.

Exeter is only a few miles from the lovely Devon coast and also only a few miles from Dartmoor, where herds of Dartmoor ponies wander free and there's a beautiful country park and plenty of quaint pubs at the end of single-track country lanes.  It's also, therefore, not too far from the infamous Dartmoor Prison, from whence the occasional inmate has been known to wander free!

Our friends hope to go back to live there eventually (they had to move because of work) and I really hope they do!  Maybe we'll go and live there with them!

Here are some of my favourite views of Exeter:

Exeter Canal Basin

The Exe Valley, running through the heart of Exeter

Shopping!

The Cathedral (incase you hadn't guessed)