I'd Need Sixteen Lives To Do It All

The Dictator Princess (who, by the way, may have the best online name ever) has challenged me to a meme (hush now - let me finish telling you what it's all about before the eye rolling starts) and as it fits in my monthly theme of favorite things I am happy to meet her challenge.

Ganked from her blog because it cracked me up:

McCain has 8 homes in the U.S I thought it was 13 but whatevs. You have to pick eight places you would like to live. List them. You don’t have to list your reasons, but if you do at least for a few of them, it would be more fun. And remember that the only rule is: the homes must be within the borders of the United States of America or else, within the borders of the country you live in, so as to utterly emulate the McCains. When you’re done, tag 8 people, so that they may join in the self-indulgence, forgetting about the crappy property market and the equivalent of The End of Pompeii on Wall-Street. You could spend your time hammering your doors and windows shut in preparation for the apocalypse instead, but it would be much less fun.

As Dictator Princess lives in Switzerland she's upped the ante and on her blog listed eight places in Switzerland and the US I shall give you the same twofer - with Germany instead of Switzerland.

Germany first:

1. Schwerin. It's the capital of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and having my friends and family try to remember and pronounce that (they're already having fun with saying Sachsen-Anhalt) would alone be worth the move, it's a very pretty city. Small and managable as well. And they have a lovely castle on a little island.

2. Berlin. Parking there is atrocious and it's enormously spread out but I love the feel of Berlin.

3. Potsdam. For living purposes I likely would prefer Potsdam over Berlin. Jump on the S-Bahn and you're in Berlin in about 20 minutes. All the fun of Berlin without the hectic feeling.

4. Wernigerode. When I think of fairy tale towns - the king's castle on a hill way above a charming little town - I think of Wernigerode because that's what it has. There's really a castle up on a hill above the town. The city hall alone makes me squeal because of all it's adorableness.



5. Munich. How could I resist the lure of Bayern-Munich home games?

6. Nuremburg. How could I resist the lure of the most famous Christmas market in Germany?

7. Heidelberg. Pretty, pretty, pretty.

8. Freiburg. It's usually the warmest place in Germany.

And in the USA:

1. Olive Branch, Mississippi. Now normally I'd have said Memphis but I no longer think I could bear to live in Memphis itself. Still, I love Memphis (and would move there if I had the ability to live in the Peabody Hotel) so what could be better than to live over the county line (and state line) from Memphis? Olive Branch is the alternative. Close to the fun of Memphis without having to deal with the hellish traffic every day.

2. Washington, D.C. When I say DC I don't actually mean in DC. I like having an actual senator and voting member of congress, thanks. I mean living in northern Virginia where I lived before. Fairfax county, Prince William, Loudoun, Fauquier counties - all of them would be acceptable to me. Arlington and Alexandria are a bit too close in for me. Maryland is out of the question. All the traffic and overdevelopment would be worth it to once again be that close to the Smithsonian museums.

3. Savannah, Georgia. Atlanta tempts me but Savannah is more my style. I am in love with its parks and squares.

4. Charlottesville, Virginia. A gorgeous area of Virginia. And I love Mr. Jefferson.

5. Miami, Florida. Hilda lives there. And there's plenty of seaside to fill my needs. And of course, there are the Cuban sandwiches.

6. Santa Fe, New Mexico. I'd love seeing that impossibly blue sky every day.

7. Williamsburg, Virginia. I have always wanted to live there. I still have not forgiven my ex-husband for turning down a chance for us to transfer down there when we both worked for the power company.

8. Oxford, Mississippi. Lovely town. University events. Not too far from my hometown. The ability to just live in the bookstores.

I won't tag anyone but do feel free to give us your own list. Especially useful for you NaBloPoMo folks who may run dry one day.