TRAVEL
7 fantastical travel destinations All you need is a bit of imagination By Victor Block
As
a travel journalist who has visited and written about nearly 80 countries, the current situation is especially frustrating. However, while my travels are restricted, my imagination isn’t. I’m dreaming about bucket list trips to magical places—some real, some not. Some may even require a time machine. From the fictitious land of Oz to our solar system’ s red planet, adventure is only a day dream away. the opportunity to enjoy some bliss there for even a brief time.
LEGENDARY CITIES
LOST, MAGICAL LANDS For anyone who enjoys live theater, what bigger thrill could there be than taking in a Shakespeare play by his troupe in the original Globe Theatre? Unfortunately, that building—which opened in 1599—was destroyed by a blaze started by a prop cannon that misfired during a performance. However, the current reconstruction, located about 750 feet from the original, continues to offer works by William. But, with the help of a time machine, I’d attend a play at the first auditorium, spotting the Bard and perhaps even chatting with him. Or, what about diving into the fantastical world of a young girl from Kansas, a talking brainless
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scarecrow, a tin heartless woodman and a cowardly lion who dreams of being brave? I would love to recreate their journey along the yellow brick road to the Emerald City to meet the supposedly “great and powerful” Wizard of Oz. Other never-never lands have spots on my fantastical travel wish list. Shangri-La, the paradise conjured up by British author James Hilton in “Lost Horizon,” is located in a valley nestled beneath a mountain range far from the ocean. People in this joyful heaven on earth aged slowly, living for hundreds of years. No wonder the name of the mythical place has become synonymous with utopia. While I wouldn’t expect an imaginary immersion to lengthen my lifespan, I’d treasure WWW.LAFIFTY.COM
And then there are the myths. Who wouldn’t wish to check out an island-nation founded by demigods, inhabited by exotic animals and festooned with magnificent plant life? Plato’s fictional city of Atlantis served as an example of human hubris: it was submerged into the ocean when its inhabitants became too arrogant and prideful for the deities. Despite the allegorical underpinning of Plato’s work, some semi-scientific sleuths have speculated that Atlantis actually existed
and have conducted expeditions to find it—so far unsuccessfully. The fabled city of Troy may be the most famous city in the history of the world, due largely in part to Homer’s “The Iliad.” The story relates a mythical telling of the Trojan War which, depending upon the source, took place sometime during the 13th and 11th centuries BC. In truth, there was a city of Troy located in present-day Turkey and there may even have been a Battle of Troy, although many historians believe it referred to repeated sieges of the settlement during the Bronze Age (approximately 33001200 BC). The city was attacked,
Who wouldn’t wish to check out an island-nation founded by demigods, like Atlantis?
