Day 77 - Geography

 GEOGRAPHY

Prompt - Geography : Pick a state or country you've never visited.  Write about why you would or would not like to visit that place.

Randomly point to a place on a map or globe.  Do you want to go there?  Why or why not?

THE PLACE I WANT TO VISIT

I am not a big fan of travel nowadays.  Trains journeys are good, a chance to sit and read, listen to music, watch the world pass by.  But getting any distance nowadays usually means flying.  While I don't mind the flying itself all that much, other than what the cramped conditions do to my long limbs and suspect back, I have come to hate airports passionately.  Ever since the twin towers they have been transformed from places of promise, even with some of their own enjoyments, into places to be endured.  I adopt Stoic Mode to get me through.

So the prospect of travelling anywhere far away is not as exciting as it might have been when I was younger (and more supple!).  But I have never been to North America (I've only once been outside Europe, and that just to the North African coast) and Canada has an appeal.  So too do iceland and Finland, but if I had to pick a destination right now it would be Montreal.  

Why Montreal?  The architecture looks interesting, from photos and films I've seen, and watching several Canadian Grand Prix from there!  The Frenchness of the culture appeals.  I'm a big fan of Quebecois music (courtesy of Genticorum, Le Vent du Nord, De Temps Antan etc.) so it would be a thrill to experience it live in it's native setting.  And although I no longer get to live hockey games, I would love to see at least one NHL match.  Montreal Canadiens may not be the most successful of teams these days, but I'd be going for the atmosphere and the experience of seeing hockey as part of a really big crowd.  I'd wear one of my old Caps shirts, which might be an icebreaker (pun intended) with the local supporters.  Would anyone have heard of Edinburgh Capitals?  

RANDOM PLACE

Hmmm... My finger took me to a country which shares with Montreal a French background.  And very, very little else.  I landed upon the Central African Republic and have to confess I knew nothing  at all about it.  But a bit of Wikipedia hasn't added it to my potential travel destinations.  

A French colony until 1960, the country is, as the name suggests, totally landlocked.  For someone who has always lived near a coast it would be a strange choice anyway.  The turnoffs are a bit more substantial than that though.  One of the poorest countries on the planet, and one of the unhealthiest, with war zones, a dreadful record on human rights, dubious legal procedures and endemic corruption.  Not a place to travel to unless you are providing aid, doing business or you enjoy danger.  I don't...