I go to Cornell, and even though the “Ithaca Is Gorges” T-shirts that everyone in town seems to own get old pretty quickly, our gorges really are wonderful. (Even though we had a much-publicized string of tragic gorge-related suicides back in March that caused fences to go up along the gorges, they’ve been taken down now.) They’re the kinds of things that you can gaze into in awe, particularly for a Midwestern flatlander like me. And because of the gorges, we’ve got tons of beautiful waterfalls, too. Ithaca Falls and Buttermilk Falls are particularly exceptional, but even the humble Thurston Bridge waterfall on campus is lovely.

Other great things about Ithaca (I adore the place and miss it lots over the summer, so be prepared for wordiness):

-The fact that you can walk pretty much ANYWHERE. Ithaca’s spoiled me rotten in that sense since it’s got so much in a relatively small space so even with its hilly terrain—which makes walking a real hike—I’ve walked from the Kohl’s at the very very far southwest end of town up to campus on the northeast end in under an hour. And in winter when walking’s impossible—like much of the inland Northeast, we get tons of snow—there’s the TCAT bus system, which is pretty cheap at $1.25 a ride (but then again, as a student I get it for free after 6 pm on weekdays and all weekends…) and goes to places you can’t walk to like the mall.
-Campus itself, although it’s no longer a novelty to me, really is wonderful as well. Aside from periods of gray “unseason” in that awkward winter-to-spring transition, it’s really beautiful all year round—brilliant green in the spring/summer, flaming red-yellow-orange in the fall, sparkly white in the winter. I love college campuses in general since they’re like little cities unto themselves, and Cornell has, among other things: a famous clocktower that can be seen anywhere in the city, beautiful neo-Gothic architecture, particularly on the Arts Quad and West Campus (where I live, woohoo!), a killer bookstore, neat little cafés, great libraries with voluminous DVD catalogues, good health facilities and a gorgeous old restored movie theater.
-Food! Ithaca actually has more restaurants per capita than New York City, and I’m always on the lookout for new places to eat. My top picks: Collegetown Bagels (known as just CTB) and good chains such as Pita Pit and Insomnia Cookies in Collegetown; Kyushu up by the mall; Taste of Thai and Kilpatrick’s downtown in The Commons; Purity Ice Cream (which gives you two scoops when you ask for one!) on the south side; Napoli’s for pizza delivery; and of course, all the tasty things that The Boyfriend and I make back at the dorm with provisions from Wegmans.
-The general ethos of the place—it’s definitely a hippie town, but any sort of liberal weirdo is welcome. (Or weirdo, period—a good friend of mine is a Republican but also a DJ, a disco fiend and a hardcore punk. Go figure.) This makes it have a good music scene—sadly, two of the best venues, Castaways and The Haunt, are pretty much the only places in town you can’t reach either by walking or TCAT, so a taxi is required, but it’s definitely worth it. There’s also the swanky State Theatre downtown for more upscale concerts, and Cornell itself puts on a fair number of concerts, with the biggest ones at Barton Hall, which seems like a big soulless auditorium but becomes surprisingly intimate with the right tweakings. (Full disclosure: At The Decemberists’ concert in Barton in November 2008, The Boyfriend and I kissed for the first time and became an official couple.) There’s also the biggest and best record store in town, Angry Mom, in the Commons, where The Boyfriend and I have found tons of great $1 singles and a stunningly good selection of LPs—Ithaca’s definitely a vinyl town, so you’ve got to have a good turntable and stereo. We’re starting to become regulars there, and Angry Mom itself is in the basement of Autumn Leaves bookstore, which is the best for used books, while not too far away in an old high school-turned-alt-mall, Buffalo Street Books is the best for new books. Book and record fairs are also rather common in Ithaca and occur at least twice a year, usually in the late spring and fall.

Unfortunately Ithaca’s really hard to get to—we’ve got a teeny-tiny airport that flies to NYC, Philly and Detroit but nowhere else, and there aren’t any interstates nearby so driving on twisty-turny state roads is a necessity, but it’s a really wonderful place to visit!!

If anyone comes to Toronto, I recommend buying a day pass (on weekends it’s good for up to two adults and four youth), getting a transit map, and taking street cars up Queen St, King St, Spadina and maybe College. Then you’ll pass through the entertainment district, China Town, Little Italy (gelato, yum!) and more and can get off and on anywhere. What I love about the big city is, think of a food you want and you can find it. For example there are $6 sushi lunch deals.

Of course there is the CN Tower, which is cool if you’ve never been up something like that before. There’s a glass floor.

The ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) is a really big museum that has a lot of interesting stuff.

Eskilstuna, where I grew up, is a small town just west of Stockholm. The parts I especially like are the old town areas, among them a restaurant close to the river (Tingsgården), and Rademachersmedjorna, a small 17th century craftsmen village right by the town centre. There is also a whole bunch of lovely places to visit within a sort of 1 hour drive radius, including the old palaces of Sundbyholm and Strömsholm, both beautifully situated on a lake and a stream respectively, and Julita Gård, a big outdoor agricultural museum with emphasis on the small farmsteads of old.

Stockholm is absolutely beautiful, built on a set of close-lying islands there is always water around, and the colourful facades of the slightly older areas makes a beautiful contrast that I just never get bored of! Places to visit include Skansen, another outdoor museum with old cottages and animals typical of the Swedish fauna, the Vasa Museum, dedicated to a 17th century ship that sank in the Stockholm harbour on its maiden voyage and found again in the fifties after being lost for 300 years. Again, I love to take a stroll in the old areas, Gamla Stan, where you can also find the Royal Palace with the Change of Guards and a bunch of interesting museums. Very touristy, I know! Also recommended is some boating in the archipelago.

Gothenburg on the west coast is where I currently live. It is Sweden’s second largest city after Stockholm, but still quite small by US standards.. The smallish size makes it fairly easy to get around on a bike, but although the town centre certainly is very walkable, the whole town is a bit too sprawly for walking to be part of my normal mode of transport. There is a great tour by boat that I recommend all visitors to take, then there is walking in the old town, stopping for a Hagabulle in Haga: an absolutely massive cinnamon bun. The Botanical Gardens and Slottsskogen are both worth a visit. You can also take a tram out to the sea and either stay just by the coast or take a ferry to one of the islands, a great day trip. Most of the west coast is made up of smooth, sweeping granit cliffs, but there are a few sandy beaches as well if you know where to look!

Visby is another of my favourites, with its medieval defence wall, narrow winding alleys and low, colourful wooden houses, many covered in roses. It is the largest town on the summer island of Gotland and hosts a massively popular medieval festival every summer.

Mostly summer activities, these.. Mainly because that’s when I’ve got time to do stuff, but also because I prefer my country in summer time when there is light and a bit of warmth! Winter can get quite dreary, especially in Gothenburg, where snow is pretty rare.. Anyway, sorry for the novel, but do come and visit!

In Brisbane (in Queensland, Aust), I spend some time growing up. I would highly recommend the Gallery of Modern Art. When I visit family that live there, a group of us and do the kids activities – because it is just so awesome, and the activities involve doing, not just looking. For coffee you need to go to West End, and Milton.

In Darwin (Northern Territory, Aust), there’s a truck load of things to do. Mindil Markets, but the ones the locals go to the most – Parap Markets and Nightcliff Markets. Check out the Gallery, where there is a lot of information about and art works by the local Indigenous peoples. There’s some great parks for walking/hiking in Darwin locals – Holmes Jungle in particular is great. Check out Doctors Gully and do the fish feeding. Go to Stock’s Hill Wharf – during dolphin breeding season you will often see a lil dolphin pup with carer teaching it how to hunt fish. Then there’s a number of fresh water swimming places you can swim in the dry season – Berry Springs, Howard Springs, and further afield Litchfield National Park, Kakadu.
Dinner at Nirvana’s is always great – jazz/folk style live music, great mango dacquiris, and the most excellent Thai/Malay/Indian style food. Of course the Magic Wok – you have to eat here to truly understand the wonderousness and greatness of this place.

So any harpies that are venturing to the southern hemispere, in particulary Sydney – am plenty happy to show you round.

At one point, I came about thisclose to moving to Portland, but they just seem to have such a perpetually high unemployment rate, it worried me. It may be more of my fantasy city over-all than Seattle, though…

I live just down the street from Volunteer Park on 14th. If you are ever on The Hill and would like to meet and hang out sometime, feel free to ping me. I enjoy meeting new people, especially nice ones like the Harpies! I’m PetiteXL@yahoo.com