North Korea

9/15/2014

Today's paper had an article about a man from California who went voluntarily (why?) to North Korea. Having never been there, I can't imagine it's not a "must see" on most  people's places to visit.  They aren't known for their hospitality.  

Reportedly, the young man ripped up his tourist visa after he arrived in North Korea.  Again why? Oh, that's right he wanted to "experience" prison life in North Korea.  Guess he got his wish.  Sentence: six years hard labor.  Now when he gets out of prison, and gets the hell out of "Dodge", he then will be able to accurately report, from his personal experience, on prison life in North Korea.

There are many things that I'm curious about, and many places I would like to visit, but at the end of the day, much as I would like to go to Egypt, for example, the mid-east makes me nervous.  My in-laws went to Egypt back when it was safe for a visit and they had a great time and took lots of wonderful pictures.  I don't want to ever put my foot into a situation that ultimately could and likely would end badly.  Your could call me a coward, and I'm okay with that; or, you could think that I was just being careful.  

I don't want to venture into a foreign country or city and being arrested for something that I didn't even know was a crime.  I'm reminded about the boys' trip to Russia years ago.  They made the mistake of walking on Red Square, which is a no-no.  The police re-routed them and all was fine, but it could have ended up much differently for them.

On my bucket list, there are places I want to visit: Italy, Spain, England, France and even Iceland just to name a few.  Will I ever get there? Seems doubtful but a girl can keep dreaming.  I went to England with my Dad for a two week trip and I was thrilled to have this one-on-one time with him.  Unfortunately, he wasn't able to walk very far, so we had to compromise on what we could do.  I sympathize now because I'm in a position where I am unable to walk very much, a condition that prevents me from lots of activities.

I collect Murano glass from the island off of Italy, and I have a lot of it. I want to watch the glass blowers turning glass into pieces of beautiful art.  If I ever get rich and I don't see that happening, Murano would be probably the first place I would want to visit.

What's on your travel bucket list?

P