Today, we debut my weekly Top 10 lists with a Top 10 list of places I want to visit outside the United States. Well, no Canadian cities made the list, actually. So, I suppose I could say outside North America. Of course, those who know me will be less surprised by my off-beat choices.
1. Tashkent, Uzbekistan- I always thought this would be a perfect place to shoot a spaghetti western rip-off with Turkish actor Cuneyt Arkin (pictured here). Of course, Arkin, a '70s matinee idol in Istanbul, is now 72 years old, and he has already been in several such ripoffs, including "Kucuk Kovboy/The Little Cowboy." But, Tashkent also boasts Central Asia's only metro system!
2. Bergen, Noway- We love Norway here, so this is a logical choice though we've never actually been there! It is home to the Norwegian soccer team Brann and the folk singer Magnet (yes, that is his actual stage name!).
3. Thessaloniki, Greece- Yes, we would love to visit the second-largest Greek city and the birthplace of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk ('course, we had to throw that in to appease the relatives in Konya, Turkey). The city that is quite hard to spell also boasts an international film festival.
4. Mus, Turkey- This very remote eastern Turkish city is on the list simply because I was going to actually travel there for a friend's wedding but I had to get to Istanbul to catch a flight back to Newark International Airport in New Jersey. Mus sits on the Murat River overlooking the Kurtik Mountains. The Greeks apparently have no territorial interests in this city (hopefully, they will get the joke; not so sure about my fellow Turks- who are not known for having a good sense of humor).
5. Akureyi, Iceland- 24 hours of daylight in the summertime! This city has only 17,000 residents which makes it the size of Carrboro, NC, but it is somehow Iceland's second-largest city! It also boasts an 18-hole golf course.
6. Pontevedra, Spain- This city of 81,576 residents simply makes the list because I have lots of postcards from there. It is known for a Roman bridge which crosses the Lerez River.
7. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil- I think everyone knows about this place which was incidentally the setting of the 1984 Michael Caine film "Blame it on Rio!"
8. Tangiers, Morocco- A city which attracts hippies, vagabonds and famous authors like the late William Burroughs who set his novel "Naked Lunch" there.
9. St. Petersburg, Russia- This makes my list because a Facebook friend of mine recently visited there, and it looks a fabulous place. It is home to the famed Hermitage Museum and it overlooks the Neva River (not the Volga as I once wrongly believed).
10. Kyoto, Japan- This city if the former imperial capital of Japan---enough said!
SIDEBAR: Domestically, Boulder, Colo., has been called "The Best Place to Raise Abducted Children" for a third year in a row by "The Onion."* The cover article had the following quote which we sincerely loved: "The residents here are quick to smile and say hello, but never ask you why you have an Asian baby."
*_For those of you visiting us from Uzbekistan, "The Onion" is a satirical journal.
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