Visit Vatican City, the Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Basilica


I will admit it: I'm not a religious person. I am, at times, spiritual. Seeing a gorgeous sunset, viewing the world from a top a mountain, or tasting the salty sea air while lounging on a tropical beach all give me moments where I truly feel spiritual, like I am one with the universe. But I have never been, and most likely never will be, one for organized religion. This is not to say I consider it "bad" - it is just not for me. In fact, there are some things about organized religion that I admire, particularly religion's penchant for aesthetics and beauty. No matter what religion you study, you will always find that it breeds beauty in architecture, art, and music.

Live Through the Rides at the Top of the Stratosphere Casino in Vegas


Life is full of ironies - unexpected contradictions and surprises. For example, I am such a chicken on my rollerblades that I roll to the nearest patch of grass and choose to walk whenever I encounter the slightest incline. I am terrified of going downhill on my rollerblades because I worry I won't be able to stop, and I'll either crash so hard I'll get hurt, or roll straight into a busy intersection and get flattened. (The former scenario I have actually done, and lost a front tooth in doing so, and the latter scenario I nearly did, but ran into a bush at the last minute, in front of a group of very attractive men at that...)

Ride the Chunnel


Tunnels are fun places. Every kid loves to crawl inside them, engineers dream of building the perfect one, treasure hunters covet them and what they may contain. I used to hold my breath every time we drove through one on family vacations, particularly while driving through the Rocky Mountians of British Columbia, where tunnel after tunnel gobble up the highway. If you made it through the entire tunnel without letting go of that breath, well, I'm not sure what you'd get but it was always a challenge.

Visit Windsor Castle and Maybe see the Queen


It's British fever these days, what with the Royal Wedding hot in the news: William and Kate, Pippa and her show-stealing dress, and those oh-so-cute miniature flower girls. So I thought, what better time to talk about visiting Windsor Castle, home of the Queen and her royal family?