Back to The Past

The other day I was talking to my mom about how lucky I am when compared to her when she was young. Then I realized I had been to 10 countries already! Yes, exactly 10. But when I thought about how much I knew about the places, I couldn't really give good answers. I thought about what I remembered most, and what I was impressed with from each trip. My answers were, I believed, not what most people would expect. That's because I was so young when I traveled to some of the places. If I was there when I was a teenager, I just didn't bother to find any extra information about them. I think if I want to learn more about the countries, or the world, I should start with the clearest memory I have about them. I've chosen the ones I thought would be interesting for you readers and for me, too. I hope I will learn something from what I've found...

 

1. Italy

What I remember most: There were so many pigeons in the city!

I know you were waiting for answers like spaghetti or the Coliseum. No, I remembered the pigeons. They were everywhere! I thought they were like beggars because they didn't have to look for food at all. They just had to wait for people to give them food. So, I decided to look more on these naughty birds. These are what I've found...

• It is clear to me that there are so many pigeons in Italy. What I didn't know was that pigeons actually populate every continent on Earth, except for Antartica because I guess it's too cold there.
• Charles Darwin used pigeons to support his evolutionary theory a lot.
• Picasso, the great artist, loved pigeons so much he even named his daughter Paloma which means pigeon in Spanish.
• In the past, pigeons' feces was very valuable. The droppings were highly prized manure in Egypt, and in England they were declared property of the Crown as they were an important ingredient for making gunpowder.
• Chefs are fond of baby pigeons. They are served rare at many finest restaurants.

Wow! I didn't know these little birds were so precious....

2. Minnesota, USA

What I remember most: "The Wild Thing"

I'm not scared of height and that's why I'm crazy about roller coasters and other scary rides. There is a big amusement park in Minnesota called "Valleyfair" with this huge ride "The Wild Thing". 

As far as I can remember, I went on it for 4-5 times in one day despite the fact that there was always a long line. What makes a roller coaster scary (or fun) is not the height, but it's actually the angle of the drop. It was the steepest ride I've been on. I looked up some information about the ride. 

Height: 207 feet (63 meters)

Drop: 196 feet (60 meters)

Length: 5460 feet (1660 meters)

Max vertical angle: 60 degrees!!

I looked up more about roller coasters and I found out that the "Takabisha" in Japan is the   steepest one exist now. This makes me feel like "The Wild Thing" is now "The Baby Thing". 

I guess I have to go to Japan then...

Please share some of your impression when you go abroad. I'll be writing about 1 European country and 1 Asian country next time. Stay tuned! :3

 

Citation

1. http://www.andrewblechman.com/pigeons/cool_facts.html
2. http://www.deterapigeon.com/21-amazing-facts-about-pigeons.htm
3. http://rollercoaster.wikia.com/wiki/Wild_Thing_(Valleyfair)