Top Ten Places Books Have Made Me Want to visit

Top Ten Places Books Have Made Me Want to visit: Ariel and Kristin pair up to take on this topic!

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme started on the Broke and the Bookish blog.

They set the topic, we make the lists. Visit their site to see more on this topic

Combined:
We would both LOVE to go to Hogwarts with the caveat that we were students and could actually attend school, ride the Hogwarts Express, and be chosen to be in a House. How awesome would it be to actually see Hagrid’s cabin, go to a Quidditch game, and explore the secret passages!? Pretty freakin’ awesome is the answer.

Kristin:

They are playing with a blown-up pig's
belly! Ahh, to be that resourceful.

The Ingalls' cabin in Little House in the Big Woods. Laura Ingalls Wilder was my favorite when I was a kid. I’d run outside and down to the creek, make a fishing pole out of a stick and twine, and pretend like it was pioneer times. I would love to spend a day with Laura and her family in the backwoods of Wisconsin. To hear one of Pa’s stories and his fiddle playing after a long day of smoking meat and playing with a blown up pig’s stomach, would make my life.

Ernest Hemingway’s Paris from A Moveable Feast. Post-WWI, 1920s Paris with the "Lost Generation" and before it became uber expensive. I want to go to Shakespeare and Company, the little cafes, and potentially run into the Fitzgeralds and Gertrude Stein. Think "Midnight in Paris" and you know exactly what I'm talking about!

Fairyland or Fairyland Below from the Fairyland series by Catherynne Valente. I fell in love with this children’s series, that is currently moving into its fourth novel, a few years ago. Fairyland is eccentric, a little dark, but still completely fun! Imagine, if you will, a cross between Wonderland and Oz and you’re on the right track.

Prince Edward Island from Anne of Green Gables. Oh to see the Lake of Shining Waters and the orchards would be so fun. The Anne of Green Gables series is so delightful and she makes Prince Edward Island, an actual island up in Canada, sound so idyllic that I’ve often wished myself into the meadows. Some day maybe…

Ariel:
London Below from Neverwhere. London Below is a vaguely creepy, parallel-dimensional version of London in Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere. If you’re an anglophile like me, you’ll enjoy experiencing the city’s landmarks in a whole new way. (A trip to London Above would be just as incredible, and a bit more—you know—possible.)

Willy Wonka’s factory from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I think this one is pretty self-explanatory. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate!

The Shire from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I always thought Bilbo Baggins' hobbit hole (a.k.a. “Bag End” to nerds like me) had a nice bed-and-breakfasty feel to it. If you tire of the countryside vibes of The Shire, you know that Rivendell is just a short trip away! Hopefully no wars break out during your stay…

New York City. Okay, this one might not seem to fit with the theme. (And, honestly, I’m cheating a bit by including it in the list, because I actually have visited NYC before.) But there’s a twist! My tour guide would be Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye. You can follow his adventures using a map provided by the New York Times, found here.

The Emerald City from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. My favorite color is green. That’s pretty much the only reason why I’d go there.

And you, dear reader? Where have books made you want to go?