Bellagio Fountains, Las Vegas, Nevada

TripAdvisor recently announced their 2013 “Travelers’ Choice” Top 25 World Landmarks list. I was surprised in viewing the list that I have had the privilege of traveling to seven of the top sites listed. The landmarks I marked “yes, I’ve seen that” include:

#7 Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood – St. Petersburg, Russia
#8 St. Peter’s Basilica – Vatican City, Italy
#12 Bellagio Fountains – Las Vegas, Nevada
#15 Gettysburg National Military Park – Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
#19 USS Arizona Memorial - Honolulu, Hawaii
#21 Top of the Rock Observation Tower – New York City, New York
#23 Golden Gate Bridge – San Francisco, California

I’ve had near misses with a few of the landmarks — places I should have gone had I been more in tune to my surroundings. I was frankly also surprised by a few of the inclusions (the Bellagio Fountains?) and the omissions (the Cliffs of Moher, the Grand Canyon, or even my beloved Yosemite National Park).

My favorite thing about studying this list was seeing the many spiritual destinations among travelers’ favorites. Clearly tourism provides an excellent opportunity to learn about (or perhaps even discover) faith and its blessings. How many tourists have ventured into a spot such as St. Peter’s Basilica simply out of curiosity and then been moved towards belief by the beauty surrounding them?

Because I’m a goal-oriented person who loves travel, my mind is now sort of set on crossing the eighteen remaining unseen landmarks off my list. Obviously, I’m not planning to be in Cambodia, Peru or India any time soon, but a girl can dream, right?

Your turn: How many of the landmarks on this list of 25 have you personally visited? What landmarks would you add to the list?

Destination Name:

Birmingham, Alabama

Location:

Birmingham is the largest city in the state of Alabama with a population currently estimated at 242,820, and a metro population of 1,079,089.

Closest Catholic Church:

• Parishes in the Diocese of Birmingham
• The Cathedral of Saint Paul
• EWTN

Birmingham, Alabama

A Bible passage to ponder while you’re here:

Open your mouth in behalf of the mute, and for the rights of the destitute; Open your mouth, judge justly, defend the needy and the poor! Proverbs 31:8-9

Saintly Companions for your Journey:

• St. Paul the Apostle (3-65) is the Patron Saint of the Diocese of Birmingham.

What you’ll find here:

• Birmingham was a center of the Civil Rights movement. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, adjacent to the 16th Street Baptist Church, paints a vivid portrait of the city’s place in history.
• The television studios of EWTN — the Eternal Word Television Network — are located in Irondale, Alabama, a short drive from Birmingham. Plan to make a visit to the small EWTN chapel, to enjoy the studio tour, and perhaps to even take in a live taping. The studio grounds also has a lovely gift and book shop. If you have more time, consider a day trip to Our Lady of the Angels Monastery.
• A walking tour of Birmingham’s historic downtown offers sightseeing, religious houses of worship, cultural opportunities and shopping.

Be sure to check out:

If you’re looking to shop, dine or simply want a lovely view of the city, check out The Summit.

Learn more at:

• City of Birmingham
• Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Trip Advisor

Destination Name:

Bass Lake

Location:

Bass Lake, California (Located in the Western Sierra Mountains, just 8 miles from Oakhurst, Elevation 3376 ft)

Closest Catholic Church:

• St. Dominic Savio Church and Retreat Center
• Our Lady of the Sierra Parish
• MassTimes.org listings

Hiking at Bass Lake

A Bible passage to ponder while you’re here:

Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them.
Then let all the trees of the forest rejoice
before the LORD who comes,
who comes to govern the earth,
To govern the world with justice
and the peoples with faithfulness.
Psalm 96:10-13

Saintly companions for your journey:

• St. Bernard of Menthon (923-1008) is the patron saint of mountaineers. This priest founded an order that served and protected travelers in the Alps. The “St. Bernard” dogs are named for this patron saint of travelers in the mountains.
• St. Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897) is the patron saint of the Diocese of Fresno.

What you’ll find here:

• Bass Lake is a terrific place for water sports. If you own a boat or plan to rent one, check out Miller’s Landing. Popular water sports on Bass Lake include skiing, jet skiing, fishing, swimming, kayaking and rowing.
• Amazing nature — be on the lookout for a broad variety of wildlife, including eagles!
• Skiing – in the summer it’s water skiing, but in the winter there are great surrounding Ski Resorts and cross-country trails.
• Bass Lake is less than twenty miles from Yosemite National Park, a destination in and of itself.

Be sure to check out:

The hiking trails! If you’re visiting in the Spring or Summer, there are several trails immediately surrounding Bass Lake for a variety of different levels of expertise. There is something about a quiet hike in nature that offers the ability to really sense the amazing beauty of God’s creation. Research your planned hike in advance, stick to the trails, and bring plenty of water. Cell phone coverage near Bass Lake can be sporadic, so be sure to inform someone of your day-trip plan and use common sense while respecting the natural beauty of this area.

Learn more at:

• Bass Lake Website
• Trip Advisor

A warning that these photos could never do justice to the incredible beauty I experienced in the past fourteen hours. In the space of one calendar day we saw and did so much and covered so many miles. Since this is a professional trip for writers and not necessarily a pilgrimage, we did not linger in the sites the way that I will hope to do when I come back again — hopefully one day soon…

Here’s a bit of what we took in today in Israel:

Jaffa artist colony

Caesarea, where Herod built a Roman theater and aqueduct

Stella Maris in Haifa, a lovely Marian church and Carmelite monastery

Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth

Dinner in Nazareth – another amazing display of Israel’s culinary treats at Tishreen – fantastic food

Time to crawl to bed. Tomorrow promises to be full of amazing adventures.

Since I’m wide awake in the middle of the night here in lovely Tel Aviv and have given up hope of sleeping during the few quiet hours remaining before our day gets started, I thought I would share a few of the photos I took along the way here to Israel and some preliminary thoughts on this amazing journey.

First, let me say again how absolutely amazing it is that I had the good fortune to be selected for this journey to Israel. Our group, members of the Catholic Press Association from around the United States, are traveling courtesy of the Israeli Ministry of Tourism. As such, it is already clear to me that my trip will be unlike many of my friends’ pilgrimages in the past that were organized by Catholic faith organizations. While we will have the chance to visit many of the most wonderful faith related sites in the Holy Land, we will also be given a look at other tourism options. Along the way, we are staying in three amazing hotels and — if tonight’s welcome dinner was any indication — will be fed lavishly and frequently.

Let me start off with a few words about the trip here to Tel Aviv. I departed home before 4 am, flew to San Francisco on United, connected on Delta to JFK in New York, and landed t around 5 pm for my 11:40 pm flight.

My “office” for the next several hours was El Al Airline’s beautiful King David Lounge.

As I enjoyed the lounge’s amazing food and free wifi, my fellow writers began to arrive. Soon it was time to begin the check in process, which involved ample security measures appropriate for travel to this region of the world. Once cleared, we headed back to the lounge and began sharing our stories and getting to know one another. It’s clear to me that this is an amazing group of individuals, talented, driven, and passionate about sharing the faith and this experience with their readers.

The ten hour flight to Tel Aviv was surprisingly easy. I was lucky enough to be seated in a window seat next to an amazing couple — formerly from the US and now living in Israel — who took good care of me and gave me my first impression of how kind the Israelis are. I slept for several hours (which is likely why I can’t sleep now), had a mini Hebrew lesson, watched enough of The Last King of Scotland to know I want to see the whole thing, and marveled when I had my first view of the Mediterranean and shores of Israel.

We cleared customs quickly and easily in the beautiful airport in Tel Aviv and were soon introduced to our guide for the trip, Nathan. As we bussed our way to dinner, Nathan gave us a quick orientation to the trip and a tour of Tel Aviv. His knowledge is vast and he has a passion for Israel which is infectious. While driving through the streets of Tel Aviv, we learned that the 100 year old city is home to 600,000 who live in the city, and another million in nearby communities who commute here daily to work. The architecture is beautiful and quite modern. The streets are teeming with folks walking, dining and shopping. One thing that impressed me were the recycling bins on nearly every corner and the general bustle of the streets.

Near our destination, we passed a small demonstration and jokingly asked Nathan if this was Israel’s version of “Occupy” and he informed us that we had come across a one day operation related to Israel’s compulsory military service.

Our dinner at “Meatos” restaurant was an amazing display of culinary treat. Our host for the meal was Benjamin from the Ministry of Tourism. He welcomed us warmly and lavishly, with more food than a group twice our size could eat — but we did our best! We enjoyed Israeli wine, “tapas” style appetizers, a wonderful main course and a sampling of delectable deserts. Over dinner, it was fun to learn more about the city of Tel Aviv and my fellow writers. Our group is diverse and made up of all types of journalists.

Our home for tonight is the fantastic Dan Hotel of Tel Aviv, perched on the shores of the Mediterranean and quite luxurious and modern in its amenities. The warm welcome we received from the hotel staff was a blessing after such a long day of travel.

So close the sea, a few of us couldn’t resist taking a quick walk down to the water and dipping our toes into the waves to remind ourselves that we’ve come such a long way and experienced so much already!

Standing and looking out on the sea, immediate prayers of gratitude sprung within me. I can only imagine what delights the next several days will hold. In a life so radically filled with blessings, adding this trip feels like the definition of my “cup running over”. I hope to be able to find a bit of time each day to share some impressions and experiences with you. Israel — this Holy Land — has already won my heart, and we’re just getting started!

Copyright 2012 Lisa M. Hendey