Places I'd love to visit at least once blog#5

“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.”

 – Anthony Bourdain

As an aspiring seafarer in the future, I for one would like to travel around the world and see places that I would like to go, at least once, when I was a kid.

And here are some of those magnificent places...

• Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy

The 197-foot bell tower rose at Campo dei Miracoli between the 12th and 14th centuries to accompany a Romanesque cathedral and baptistery. Although it began tilting immediately, Pisa’s eight-story marble structure, ringed with arches and 207 support columns, was considered an engineering feat. Following centuries of effort to right it, the tower reopened in 2001 after three years of placing weights on the tower and removing soil from below the foundation succeeded in reducing the tilt.

• Niagara Falls, New York and Ontario, Canada

Reaching an estimated 22 million annual visitors, the 6 million cubic feet of water per second tumbling over the rocky U.S.-Canada border gets everyone wet. While Canada’s thundering Horseshoe Falls is the widest, New York's stunning American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls are seen from a more natural environment. Bring passports to cross the Rainbow Bridge and see both, and don’t miss any under-the-falls experiences on land or by boat.

• Mount Fuji, Japan

Often capped with snow, Mount Fuji’s gently sloping volcano is Japan’s definition of perfection. Revered by locals, the 12,388-foot summit is open to hikers in certain seasons. Most visitors opt for a sighting, either from Tokyo’s sky-high observation decks or a passing bullet train heading to Osaka. Or, consider a visit to Hakone or Fuji Five Lakes, towns with natural hot springs where you can savor the view – best in early morning or late afternoon, between November and May.

(Image source: travel.usnews.com)