
The Monastery of the Holy Trinity in Meteora ,,, in Greece … not Kyrgyzstan
Maxim, (when he’s not taking photographs), is studying Tourism … I have no idea why – he chose the course himself without me trying to exercise any influence whatsoever … and even if I had offered some advice, he would have listened and said “Thank you”, but would have still decided for himself.
For one of his assignments he asked me if I had ever heard of Meteora … and was surprised when I said, “Yes, I’ve been there.”
“What?!” he exclaimed, “Is there anywhere you haven’t been?”, to which I replied “Yes, lots of places, … “, and started rattling off a list of places: Sary Chelek, Aktyn Arashan, Lake Kel Tor, Batken, Khan Tengri, Safed Bulan, …
for the record, they are all here in Kyrgyzstan.
When he realized what I was doing, he asked about other places – not in Kyrgyzstan … so I added “Stonehenge, Aberystwyth, Land’s End and John O’Groats, Hastings, Milford Haven … ”
for the record, they are all in Britain
… and when he worked out what I was doing he rephrased the question asking about other places “around the world” … so I added: “The Amazon Rain Forest, The Argentinian Pampas, the Pyramids in Egypt, Mediterranean islands like Cyprus and Malta, Poland and the Baltic States, the Forbidden City in Beijing, Ayers Rock in Australia, The Grand Canyon …”
for the record, they are places I really would like to visit – places that might make it onto my Bucket list when it’s time
… and then, finally: the Moon
for the record: that’s my usual riposte when people say they would like something that, I think, is unrealistic … “Yes, and I want to go for a walk on the Moon … but that’s not going to happen either!“.
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