A couple of days ago, TIME Magazine just released its World’s 100 Greatest Places of 2019. They broke it down into three different categories. To Visit. To Stay. To Eat & Drink.
I am always highly intrigued by these types of articles, and I am not sure why. I’m a big Homebody. Once I go someplace, I typically enjoy myself, no doubt. But given the choice, I’d rather stay put. Anyway. For some reason, I clamor to these lists with spiked interest. This one was no different.
As I read through this particular list, though, I found there weren’t a lot of places I’d go out of my way to visit. They just seemed — well — not up my alley. Take for instance, a stop in Sfer Ik, located in Tulum, Mexico. Upon seeing the photo, I didn’t even know what the heck it was. Then, after reading the description, I didn’t even know what the heck it was, again.
Here is the description, if you so choose:
SFER IK doesn’t look like an ordinary exhibition space—and that’s the point. The Tulum location’s nestlike structure was conceived as a place where avant-garde artists could gather and envision new ways to create, inspired by their unusual environs. Made of locally sourced wood and cement, the space’s ceilings and walls are trimmed with plants sprouting along circular apertures to the world outside. Its current exhibition includes a diaphanous purple cloak suspended from the ceiling—an allusion, in part, to elevated states of consciousness by artist Bianca Bondi. Entry is free, so long as visitors agree to walk the floors barefoot. —Wilder Davies
I think I need a translator.
But here is my deal. IF, I spend time and money to go somewhere for vacation, it will probably look more like Dumbo and the Seven Dwarfs, then a “diaphanous purple cloak.” Honestly. And there will most likely be a hamburger stand in walking distance. One of the restaurants on the list is Nyum Bai in Oakland, California. It is Cambodian Cuisine. Perhaps it is all delicious. Yet. Cambodoia is a pretty poor country, and two-thirds of the households in Cambodia experience seasonal food shortages every year. I’m just thinking. That’s all. Just thinking.
After reading through a few more of these, I just had to wonder how TIME Magazine picked this list. I had to wonder: Had they even been to 4Js Pizza in Camden, Ohio?
As it turns out, they sent out a survey to their editors and correspondents all over the world, asking them for their nominations. Apparently, my tastes and aptitudes are not quite in line with this panel of experts.
That’s just how it goes sometimes. We are all unique. We have different likes, tastes, and interests. What is good for the goose, might not be so good for the gander. Have you ever had someone recommend a book and then be sorely disappointed by the reading of it? Or a pal tells you a certain restaurant is the best thing going, and you have a crappy meal?
I don’t believe there is a reliable scale on which to measure such things. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. One woman’s Reuben is another woman’s Cucumber Tea Sandwich.
I’m on the Reuben end of things. With Kettle Chips and a big dill pickle.
As for those lists? They sure might be a nice place to visit, but they are more fun to write about.
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“You cannot control the behavior of others, but you can always choose how you respond to it.”
― R. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
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“It is not for me to judge another man’s life. I must judge, I must choose, I must spurn, purely for myself. For myself, alone.”
― Herman Hesse, Siddhartha
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“This wallpaper is dreadful, one of us will have to go.”
― Oscar Wilde
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