Monday, February 25, 2019

Top Ten Tuesday #40



Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's topic is Places Mentioned in Books That I'd Like to Visit. This one is extra special because, lucky for me, these places are real and it is very likely that I will actually get to most of them some day. Another win for non-fiction 😘

Basically, I want to do this trip with my mom and daughter - In the Footsteps of Eleanor of Aquitaine. It was a ten-day trip taken by historical fiction author Sharon Kay Penman in 2011. It will be absolutely magical, to see the places that remain of the life Eleanor knew. There are so few, after all, that I must see them before I die.

The first three entries hold very special places in my heart because are all connected to Eleanor. If you are new around here, Eleanor of Aquitaine is pretty much my fave historical figure ever. I am currently writing a book about her, though that damn Latin gets in my way a lot.

(The links go to websites about the various places. None of the photos are mine, and are linked back to the website where I found them.)

However, I also like some variety (sometimes) for my TTTs. And seeing as how I read about some really bad-ass places, there are tons of trips I have already planned in my head dozens of times.


Eleanor chose this site as her burial place, and was the abbey she retired to a handful of times before going into retirement for good. Her effigy rests beside that of her second husband, Henry II. Later their son Richard would be interred here as well. It absolutely broke my heart to learn that during the revolution, the bones of this family, and so many others, were taken out and scattered in the wind. It pains me to no end to think that the mortal remains of this great queen were tossed out like trash and never recovered.

alienor_1600


By the time Eleanor was (likely) born in the palace at Poitiers in 1124, there had been a structure on the site since at least the 9th century. It was the seat of the counts of Poitou and dukes of Aquitaine, and Eleanor's home. Over time the palace was used less as a residence and more often for the dispensing of justice, the chancery, and courts. The Maurbergeonne Tower, which Eleanor's grandfather Duke William IX had constructed especially for his mistress, Eleanor's maternal grandmother, still stands as well.



Despite my affinity for Eleanor, I am not all that enamored with France otherwise, so this will be the last stop, but perhaps one of the most important on the whole list. Here at the Louvre is the only known possession to have survived that belonged to Eleanor, known as the Eleanor vase. Eleanor gave the vase once belonging to her grandfather to her first husband, Louis VII. In turn he gave it to his most trusted adviser, Abbot Suger, who then found a place for it at St Denis.

Image result for eleanor vase


You didn't think I was done with those Plantagenets yet, did you? A few years ago when Mom and I were in the UK, one of our day trips was to involve a stop at Salisbury Cathedral to see one of the four surviving copies of Magna Carta. The morning of the trip we arrived at the visitor's center to find out that Salisbury had to be closed for some repairs and we would be going to Windsor Castle instead. Sounds great, right? WRONG. It would have been great, except we didn't get to see anything I actually wanted to see, because everything was closed off, because Queen Elizabeth was KNIGHTING PEOPLE THAT DAY. Which brings us to spot number five...


I have to see where Henry VIII was interred. The Tudors were my first love, when I really got back into reading and finding my love of history again. I read any and everything I could get my hands on about the Tudors and absolutely loved every minute. But then that Dan Jones guy introduced me to the Plantagenets and my attention kind of wandered. Even so, and despite the fact that Henry was a horrible beast, I would like to go to St George's Chapel and see the final resting place of the king who still captivates us so many centuries later.


Yes, I want to visit the whole country. Again. On said trip when I was irritated by the Queen with her knighting and whatnot, Mom and I had spent several days all over this beautiful country. I have never felt I belonged any place so strongly before as I feel Edinburgh is where I belong (and really, that's saying a lot, because I loooooooooove Minnesota). Mom and I had tons of adventures and saw some really amazing places. it would be wonderful to back for another round, and this time just wander the city, and the country to see what treasures we can discover on our own. We visited many of the must-see places, and there are also a few of those that I want to revisit. For example, Stirling Castle. We saw everything except the Royal Palace, which was undergoing major renovations at the time.

7. NYC

I want to spend a good two weeks here at least. I will only bring three books, because these are really the only books you would need on a trip like this, where I want to see EVERYTHING!

(The first two book links go to my reviews, third goes to Goodreads because I can't quite bring myself to write the review yet.)

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I have been quite obsessed with New York City for many years and my only fear about going there is that somehow, it won't quite be what I imagined, it won't feel in real life the way it felt in all three of these books - gritty and real. I don't expect it to be like F·R·I·E·N·D·S (one of my fave shows), but I want it to feel like home as much as Edinburgh does. And you best believe, OF COURSE I am going to see the apartment building used for exterior shot of the show. But I also want to see as much as I can of what glimpses remain of New Amsterdam, to at least imagine what it was like in this place 400 years ago. I want to see Ground Zero, and Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty. I want to see the memorials to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, to the General Slocum. I want to see all the places the Beasties rap about in An Open Letter to NYC, and just BE there.


The 15 year old in me will never let go. I have to see where they made her, where she became Titanic.


One day, there will be no survivors left to tell their stories, and the stories of loved ones who did not make it. One day, there will be no soldiers left who liberated the camps, who saw firsthand the absolute savagery perpetrated by one of the most evil regimes in history. As an 8th grader visiting Washington, D.C. on a class trip, I barely made it through the Holocaust Museum, blubbering like a baby to the point where my friend Martha literally had to guide me through the rest of the tour because I was crying so hard I could barely see. Visiting the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam a few years ago was equally emotional. I have never been more humbled than in that moment, standing in those tiny rooms, completely in awe of the sacrifices so many made in order to save as many Jews as possible. I imagine this trip will be that, times a thousand. But it is one that I must make, that we all must make, so that this history is never lost.

What places would you like add to your list of 'some day visits'?

Happy Reading!
Sarah

28 comments:

  1. My husband did a rotation in Poland in 2017 and got to visit Auschwitz. He said there's nothing quite like it - a very sobering experience.

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    1. I can't even imagine walking in there and just being there. When visiting the Anne Frank House, you walk past the bookcase, and up those very stairs as Anne described them. I spent so much of the tour just standing there, especially in her room. When the building was condemned and her father didn't think it was going to be saved, he had the panel from her room removed where Anne had pasted all the photos of her favorite movie stars. Once funding came through and the building was saved, the wall was reinstalled and now sits behind Plexiglas. I felt so close to Anne in that moment, I just sobbed.

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  2. Great post. All beautiful or interesting places that I would love to visit as well.

    www.tbrandbeyond.com

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    1. Thank you Melanie, I hope you get the chance to visit these and others from your list. Thanks for coming by, happy reading!

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  3. Ookay, that last one was unexpected. I can understand your reasoning, however. Love all the history here!

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    1. Thanks!! I could not decide where to place Auschwitz on the list, and opted for last because it is easily the most important one and it would be the most memorable.

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  4. I'm so glad that you connected so much with Scotland. I spent many a summer there as a child and love the country. My TTT

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    1. I am sooooooo jealous!! It is the most magical place. My only regret is that I visited BEFORE I really got back into my love of reading (I was in the middle of grad school when I went, so reading for pleasure was not happening), so there are some hugely important places we missed out on that will be on the itinerary for the next trip!

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  5. Scotland would definitely be on my list, and especially Edinburgh. And Windsor Castle also.

    The abbey sounds amazing, but then I have a thing for abbeys/ monasteries anyway.

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    1. ME TOO, I AM OBSESSED WITH ABBEYS AND MONASTERIES!!! We saw some amazing ruins all over Ireland, and would have in England, if we'd had the time. Edinburgh will forever and always be my favorite city in the whole world.

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  6. I like your list. I'd like to visit the Louvre someday too.

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  7. There are so many places I'd love to visit and the remains of the camps are one of them. I was swept up by the Sobibor escape story and would like to see the forest they escaped into. Yes to Windsor Castle-I love castles!

    There are some great places to visit in north of England-The Lake District, Skipton, Bolton, Middleham and Lancaster castles, York (which I really want to see!)

    For Scotland check these out if you haven't been there-Falkirk Wheel and Kelpies, Loch Katrine and Loch Lomond, Killen, Bannockburn, Wallace Monuement, Eilean Donan castle, Glenfinnan Viaduct, Inveraray Castle and jail, Rest and Be Thankful, Culloden, Loch Ness, Ben Nevis. I haven't been to all of these yet!

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    1. Yes, the concentration camps are a must.

      Windsor was fine, but again, with the Queen being in the way and all...

      There are so many places all over the UK that I have to see, and Northern Ireland too. I wish someone would pay me to travel and write about traveling.

      We got to some of the places you mentioned! We were at Lock Lomond and it was absolutely GORGEOUS. We were up in Inverness also, which I momentarily mixed up with when you said Inveraray, oops! But Inverness was pretty cool and I had the best panini at the cutest little shop, but that is neither here nor there. I wanted to see Eilean Donan sooo badly but there was not time. Bannockburn would be awesome too. We were at Stirling, and could see the Wallace monument but it was not part of our tour and I was sad about that. We did go on a cruise of Loch Ness and it was absolutely one of the most fun things I've ever done. Ben Nevis was also pretty awe-inspiring. Maybe some day we will wander to the same part of Scotland at the same time, and we can take a picture and chat about books face to face!

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  8. The Louvre would be an incredible place to visit. Nice choice there.

    My Top Ten Tuesday post.

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    1. Thank you Lydia. I absolutely have to go, if only to see Eleanor's vase. It is one of the single most important trips for me personally, because it is the only known object of hers to survive. I just HAVE TO SEE IT! Thanks for coming by, happy reading!

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  9. I've been to a few of these places! We saw the Louvre whilst we were in Paris, though I'm not sure we went in, we weren't there for very long and I don't think we had the time. My friend used to live in Windsor, so I've seen the castle a few times, it's gorgeous. I live in Scotland (in Stirling, actually!) so I've seen a lot of the cool sites here and my family went to New York a few years ago. I want to go to Auschwitz, like you I feel that it's so important that we see these places and make sure that no one forgets that awful history. I went to Dachau in Munich on a school trip a few years ago and it was haunting.
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2019/02/26/top-ten-tuesday-200/

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    1. I'm so jealous that you live in Scotland. it is my absolute dream - I even contemplated traveling there to have my daughter, so she would have dual-citizenship. Such a beautiful place. How old were you when you saw Dachau?

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  10. You have such a well thought out list! Your passion for history really comes through. Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.

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    1. Thank you so much! I really tried to focus on the places I could learn a lot more from and that I felt like were must-see things outside of my own world. Thanks for coming by, happy reading!

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  11. Ooh, this just got my travel itch going. I have been to Ireland (great), Paris twice, and I grew up near New York City. Be assured that NYC is as gritty as you want. You just have to explore. It is also one of the most disgusting examples of 21st century fuckery. I can't wait to hear about your trips and best of luck with your book!

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    1. Right??!! As I was making the list I started checking airline prices, even though there is no chance in hell of me taking my mom and Eleanor anywhere for at least 2-3 years. I've been all over Ireland, except for Northern Ireland. What did you think of it, overall? I felt like Dublin was as vibrant and busy as any capital city, but the countryside was so much heavier and sad, mainly because you had famine houses and penny walls everywhere, and that deep sadness still permeated the area I felt like.

      NYC is like, the be-all, end-all for me in the US. And don;t even get me started on regentrification...

      Thank you so much, I am hopelessly lost with Latin sometimes (all the time, actually) and I worry it is the thing that will most hold me back from exploring all the documents I have physical access to.

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  12. The Louvre is GREAT. I spent a whole day there just in the neo-classical sculpture section. Loved it almost as much as Florence though not as much as Rome!

    Must do something like this on Monday.... [muses]

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    1. Rome was one I toyed with putting on the list or not. And even though I am not Catholic, I super badly want to go to Vatican City and see Pope Francis.

      When we finally get to the Louvre, everyone else can gawk at the Mona Lisa, I'll be crying and drooling over Eleanor's vase, and probably making security think I am going to try to steal it. I'm not, of course, but when I don't move from the case for five hours, they might think something is up, lol...

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  13. I've been to Windsor Castle and NYC, but I'd love to go back - and go to the rest of these places as well. :)

    Check out my TTT, my Read Harder Challenge Update, and my Monstrous March TBR

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    1. Did you go into St George's Chapel?! Who knows, maybe ne day we will bump into each other on our journeys. Happy Reading!

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  14. I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau as a teenager on a cultural exhange trip. It's horrible, but in an everyone-should-see-this way. Even though it now has grass and much of the infrastructure was destroyed, there's still a very real sense of evil there. I'm glad I got that chance to visit, and I never want to go back.

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    1. I can't even imagine walking through that gate. I am glad you were able to visit and just be there, and know what happened. It is so, so critical that young people continue to be educated about the consequences of unchecked power. This must never happen again.

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