I really love Washington, although I didn’t think much of it before I visited it for the first time. It’s a beautiful city, with so much to see, and I would love to go back to do a proper visit, where I can finally visit the National Museum of American History, the National Gallery of Art, as well as the National Crime Museum, and the International Museum of Espionage, among other things. It’s a fantastic city, especially for tourists!

The Smithsonian Castle.

The National Museum of American History.

Inside the National Air and Space Museum.

First stop: The box office for our Broadway Show.This is the poster found outside.

The M&Ms store. We went in mostly for the air conditioning.

My brother got to meet "Elmo" - other characters at the same corner were Spongebob and Minnie Mouse, as well as a Statue of Liberty.

Taking a stroll through Central Park.

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The Met, where I took most of the rest of my pictures.

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The highlight of the evening was definitely the walk through Times Square. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a street corner that it that illuminated. It looked just like on tv, with the Broadway and television ads lighting up the whole street.

This was a very cool advertisement from Forever 21. Three of four girls would take turns on screen taking "photos" of the crowd, which they would then shake a few times and hold up to the crowd to see. There was a huge group of tourists huddled in the street taking pictures and watching, getting all excited every time they saw themselves in the photo.

The Broadway show that my sister and I ended up seeing for our birthdays. Amazing!

Stopped off at Gershwin Theater to see where Wicked is performed. I'm really hoping I get to see it soon.

This is the CBS merchandise store, which I took a look at the next day when they were open. They had some really cute t-shirts, like the Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother ones in this photo. I was looking for some Criminal Minds merchandise, but unfortunately all they had was CSI.

We spent a lot of time walking around the Theater District, looking at what shows were playing.

We actually went into this store the next day. It was supposedly for my brother to find some toys (which he did), but my sister and I ended up walking out with M&M pillows.

Rockefeller Center. We didn't have time to go in, unfortunately.

Bryant Park

We stopped off at Bryant Park to rest and to let my brother run around and burn some energy. But, of course, as soon as I'd whip out my camera he'd run sit down and look all innocent. He's not even two and he already poses for the camera.

Funnily enough, the most that I have seen of any country is the United States. I’ve visited at least five states (including Washington D.C.) but I’ve only seen Ontario and my own Quebec in Canada. Before this year I had never been any more south than Virginia, but I was lucky enough to visit Mexico this January during my Christmas vacation. The only other continent I’ve been to is Europe – I’ve visited Greece three times since I have family there, as well as Germany, Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary during a school field trip.

Although there are at least a couple dozen countries that I would like to visit, here are the top seven that I am hoping to see in my lifetime.

7. Russia

There’s something so very striking of this beautiful country and its rich history. I would love to visit Russia, especially after having seen their preview for the 2014 Winter Olympics.  I would most likely like to see Moscow.

6. China

The only Asian country on my list, although I would also love to visit Japan, Singapore and Vietnam as well. I know I would never be able to even begin to learn the language, but I would absolutely love to visit the country. A friend of mine was born there and has returned many times in the past to visit, and I can’t help but feel so very jealous of her!

5. Italy

I took an art history class this semester, so I got to learn quite a bit about Italy’s history in terms of art and culture. I would love to see Venice, Rome, Milan and Florence, and also Vatican City (although it’s technically its own country). Rome especially has such an ancient history to it – it would be amazing to see some of the sights there.

4. Spain

Spanish is a language that has fascinated me for a very long time, just as its mother country has. I was just talking to my friend last week about how much I would love to visit Madrid and Spain. Such a gorgeous country with such a rich culture to it. I am going to be taking a Spanish class this semester, which will only make me want to visit the country even more!

3. France

I don’t know if it’s because I grew up in a French speaking environment, but I’ve always had a fascination with everything that had to do with France, especially French music. One of my dreams is to visit Paris and all its mesmerizing sights. It doesn’t hurt that I also know how to speak the language, which will make it easier to enjoy the environment. I’m super excited because I might be going to see Paris next January with my school.

2. England

Oh, England! Aside from New York, London is the place that I would like to live the most in the world. The closest I have ever been to London is Heathrow Airport on a school trip to Eastern Europe, but unfortunately we were not allowed out of the airport. I may also be going to London in January, and I am super excited if my teacher goes through with this trip.

1. Australia

Australia…it’s on the other side of the world, but it’s the place that I want to visit the most in the world. If I were given the opportunity to go anywhere, it would be Sydney. Too bad it’s so expensive to get there.  If I ever get to go, I would also love to visit New Zealand and Fiji, since I don’t see myself being able to visit that part of the world very often!

Some other countries that I would have loved to add to this list are Egypt, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Venezuela, Brazil and Portugal. Anywhere in Europe or South America would be amazing!

]]> http://nothing-better.org/top-7-countries-to-visit/feed/ 9 http://nothing-better.org/places-to-go-singapore/ http://nothing-better.org/places-to-go-singapore/#comments Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:50:24 +0000 Marie http://nothing-better.org/?p=245 Status: Never Visited
Continent: Asia

Why? A couple of years ago, my neighbor (who travels a lot for work) went to live in Singapore for six months, along with his wife, who accompanied him for a couple of weeks when she was able to get time off from work. They came back raving about this little country that they got to experience. I had known very little about it before, except for the fact that it had very strict laws. My neighbors loved the country because of the fact that it was apparently extremely urbanized, because it was an extremely safe and neat city, and also because almost everyone knew how to speak English, making it easier to move around. Every since they returned from their trip, I’ve really wanted to see this city/country. I actually have a couple of souvenirs that they bought me hanging up in my room, urging me to take a trip when I save up enough money to fly that far.

Five Random Facts
The first official language in Singapore is English
It’s illegal to chew or bring gum into the country
There are over 400 000 possible illegal offenses
After Monaco, Singapore is the most densely populate country in the world?
Singapore means “lion city”

Five Things to See
The Chinese and Japanese Gardens
Merlion Park
Jurong Bird Park
Marin South City Park
Singapore History Museum

Five Things to Do
Spend an evening at the Night Safari, the world’s only night zoo
Spend a Day at Sentosa Island, a playground/island
Walk through Chinatown
Visit Kusu Island
Go see Chijmes Hall

Have you visited Singapore? If so, what did you think of it, and would you go back? What did you most like/dislike about the city?