I just stumbled, as it’s easy to do in cyberspace, a site worth a visit - whether or not you intend a holiday in the USA. It’s called Roadside America - Your Online Guide to Offbeat Tourist Attractions. Click HERE for a nation’s worth of whacky travel.
Amongst the huge number of attractions listed are Chainsaw Massacre Tours - Jousting Hall of Fame - Elvis is Alive Museum - Booger Hollow (possibly visited by Gordon Brown) - UFO Welcome Center and the Fake Berlin Wall.
The Wall is in Dixon, Illinois - the childhood home of Reagan, and in appreciation of his speech demanding the Berlin Wall be torn down, a Bulgarian artist fashioned this fake Berlin Wall. It is accompanied by a statue of a dove and three murals depicting Reagan being President. An interesting site, it is officially called the "Wings of Peace and Freedom Park.
Something similar for Scotland? Suggestions please.
America is filled with these cultural icons (what some would call tourist traps). I have always enjoyed them, and sadly, they are becoming a thing of the past.
ReplyDeleteAs to Ronald Reagan's wall replica in Dixon, I like it. It's a fitting tribute to a small-town American boy who went on to help dismantle the largest totalitarian regime in the twentieth century. I know not everybody is a Reagan fan, especially abroad, and I don't suggest he was perfect, but his legacy is undeniable with respect to the fall of communism.
I salute the Bulgarian artist who made it--it is obviously a labor of love from someone who knew the realities of living in a communist system.
So, Scottish/British bloggers, do you have similar tourist sites in your fair land?
I told a friend of mine at the BBC in Scotland about this site and I think they maybe doing something on radio next week looking for the Scottish equivalents. I'll keep you posted so you can listen on line.
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