Anna Campbell, author of some amazing books (Untouched and Claiming the Courtesan) and fellow Valenduckie, shares with us her top 10 most romantic “Places I’ve been” and “Places I Gotta Go Before I Die.”
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OK, this Valentine’s Day my mind is roving far afield. Come back, Mind, I need you! I have a book to write!
Um, right. OK, I thought I’d list the ten most romantic places I’ve been and then the ten most romantic places I want to get to before I turn up my toes.
So here is my official romantic places I’ve actually seen list:
Hever Castle, Kent
Leeds Castle, Kent
Chateau de Chenonceaux, Loire Valley
Coeffin Castle, Isle of Lismore. Actually pronounced “Coffin” (snort) but it has this wonderful legend about a Viking maiden falling in love with a warrior who was killed while he was out a-Viking and she just faded away and still haunts the place, sigh. Would have been nicer if he came back, though!
Calgary Beach, Isle of Mull
Venice, Italy
Rome, Italy
Tintagel, Cornwall
Cordoba, Spain
The Alhambra, Granada, Spain
Here is the official romantic places I want to go list (anyone listening with a credit card?):
The Taj Mahal
Darjeeling to see the Himalayas in the distance [Ed.: that’s those white things in the background.]
Topkapi Palace in Istanbul
St. Petersburg in the Midnight Sun [Ed.: this photo was taken at 00:05, or 12:05am.]
Halong Bay, Vietnam
Macchu Picchu, Peru
Petra, Jordan
Montreal, Canada
Big Sur, California
The Blue Grotto, Capri
If you could go anywhere for Valentine’s Day, where would you pick? And why? Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!
Hi Anna,
That is a grand couple of lists that you have there. Several of the places named are on my lists, too.
However, for Valentine’s Day I would like to just hole up with my sweetie in a snug mountain cabin with a great view of a lake or mountains. Of course, the cabin would need to have all of the amenities, a large bed, fireplace and be very well stocked kitchen with good food, candles, etc.
First: *waving to Anna* Hi!
With that out of the way…
*tantrum* I wanna go places!!! /*tantrum*
If I could go anywhere for Valentine’s Day? *chuckling* Let me reveal my utter dorkiness by saying that if I could travel anywhere for a day I rather spend time in say, some nice ruins (Greek, Roman, Celt, Egyptian, Incan, Aztec, Mayan, pretty much any you can think of), than *cough* wasting *cough* the chance on a traditionally romantic ‘getaway’
‘Cause really, I can be romantic anywhere and everywhere, but the Parthenon or the Valley of the Kings are where they are, and so far I haven’t had a chance *checking lint in pockets* to be there.
Vegas baby!! Yeah!
I know..it doesn’t sound so romantic but it’s very sentimental for me. I grew up in LA and my parents would take us there as kids (Circus Circus anyone?). Well, when I got married, my parents asked where I wanted to go on my honeymoon…Vegas Baby!! It had been YEARS since I was there and it had changed so much (sadly, Circus Circus was pretty run down). So, Vegas holds a special place in my heart.
Oh Anna, I agree with your Spain picks. I would have to add Toledo to that list though, what a beautiful city Toledo is.
I think New Orleans would be a good Valentine’s getaway as well. 🙂
Anna,
I’d recommend changing Montreal to Quebec City. I always feel as if we’ve barely escaped with our lives when we drive through Montreal. But Quebec City is for lovers! Stroll from your hotel to see everything. The street performers, shops, river, etc. Very romantic!
Fab (hee!) list of both beens and want-to-bes.
The Taj Mahal caught my eye especially – not just because of its inherent majesty, but I just watched a show on food channel where they made one out of white chocolate. It was gorgeous!
Hi Anna,
Those are some very nice places! I’d definitely want to be in Capri on Valentine’s. Or… maybe some place in Taiwan – I’ll visit family for the Lunar New Year and get in on all the festivities 😀
Hi Anna,
I think I would try Paris for Valentine’s Day.
Maureen – Paris is damn cold and wet in February. Go for Bastille Day, 14 July. THAT is a party! Spring/Summer in Gay Paree are really pretty wonderful.
Another note to you folks.
These little thumbnails really don’t do these locations justice. If I have time, I’ll start adding the websites, so you can get more details of the locations.
For example, the photo of the Blue Grotto – there are small kayaks floating the the picture that look like they’re floating in mid-air. The photo of Montreal is a panoramic with red-leaved maples – really pretty. Halong Bay has an unreal, quaint beauty. The photo of Macchu Picchu doesn’t do justice to the verdant mountains around it.
It’s all unbelievably beautiful.
I haven’t been to any of the places, but I would like to visit some one day. They look lovely.
Hi guys! Speaking of romantic getaways, I just got back from Sydney. Got to say that Harbor is something everyone should see before they shuffle off this mortal coil! Thanks so much for the responses – and Gwen, thanks so much for putting up the pictures! SOOOO much more evocative.
LLL, love the sound of the cabin! Hope you made it 😉
Actually, Azteclady, I’m with you about the ruins. I keep thinking of romantic places I forgot to include – one would have to be Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire which has these incredibly romantic ruins of a monastery in beautiful 18th-century style gardens. Seriously romantic!
Sharmi, you’re so right about sometimes the associations making a place romantic rather than any spectacular scenery. I always have fond memories of the Gold Coast in Queensland. It’s a beach resort that’s very built up with big buildings and touristy stuff but it’s where I had all my childhood holidays so I’ll always love it (and sometimes tacky stuff is just plain fun, isn’t it?).
Lawson, Toledo is fantastic, isn’t it? I felt I was overdoing the Spanish thing so it JUST missed out. Spain is a glorious country and so incredibly varied. Oh, sigh, I really need a plane ticket…
Sharyn, how interesting about Quebec versus Montreal. Hopefully one day, I’ll visit both and I can make an intelligent comment back 😉
Maya, wow on the white chocolate Taj Mahal. I just bought a stack of chocolate opera houses to give away as contest prizes in the next few months. They’re WAAAAY cool!
JSL, the sad thing is I’ve been to Capri (it’s incredibly rugged which I hadn’t expected) but the weather was bad so the Blue Grotto was closed. So close and yet so far!
Hi Maureen! Shock, horror, and clearly I’m a Philistine, but the one time I visited Paris, I found it rather disappointing. I’ve always wanted to go back with some money (and without the awful tummy bug that definitely did spoil my experience) and see if I feel differently about it. And I was staying in a foul youth hostel where they never cleaned the bathrooms. Which by the way were unisex – a big shock to a wide-eyed young Aussie girl (this was MANY years ago!).
Daisy, I hope you make it to some of these places one day. My problem is that I just love going back to places I’ve adored and then I don’t get to knock any others off the list!
Hey, thanks for all the comments, everyone. I hope you all had a fantastic Valentine’s!
If you find the person with the CC, can I tag along? I promise to behave ::bats eyes::
Sounds good to me, Sybil! I think I could put together a pretty good world tour using my favourite places. What do you think? And have you got something in your eye, my friend?
Don’t listen to her, Anna. She’ll have you arrested in under 48-hours.
But one thing I can say about Syb: she’s the kind of friend that will help you hide the body. 🙂
You say that like it is a bad thing?
Anna,
I know how you feel. The one time I/my family went to the Grand Canyon… it snowed. Yes, snow. I kid you not. In fact, it was something like a blizzard. We stood at the railings, and stuck our arms out. It was so foggy and cloudy and blistery, we couldn’t see our hands. We did get to go into the center and look at the pictures of what we *should* have been seeing. Another case of “so close, yet so far.”