A SPIRITUAL GLOBAL JOURNEY

I've recently been fixated on global adventures, so on this Sunday, what about spiritual sites?  Here are a few prominent locations to consider, going west from Honolulu:

• Cape Reinga, New Zealand, sacred to the Maori people.

• Uluru, Australia:  home of the aboriginal people, one of the oldest civilizations, the plateau rises to 1,142 feet.

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  Ubud, Bali:  Hindu harmony, plus spiritual Monkey Forest.
• Kyoto, Japan:  was Japan's capital for over a thousand years, and is the cultural heart of the country.  This would be the start from which you can go to Shikoku to visit 88 temples, a trek of 746 miles by foot, although there is a bus tour.

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  Bhutan:  said to be the last Shangri-La, this is a tiny Buddhist country, measuring prosperity in terms of Gross National Happiness.

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  Angkor Wat, Cambodia:  goes back to the 12th century and Hindu mythology, with Buddhist enhancements.
• Adam's Peak, Sri Lanka:  7500 feet tall, where a five-foot depression in the rock at the peak is a footprint of Buddha or Shiva, and considered by Christians and Muslims to mark Adam's first step outside of the Garden of Eden. 

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  Varanasi, India:  world's oldest city where the Hindu come to bathe in the Ganges. 
• Jerusalem, Israel:  spiritual beginning of Christianity, where close by is the Wailing Wall and the Dead Sea.  I once swam there, or more rather, floated.

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  Cairo, Egypt:  a river cruise to visit pyramids and other monuments.  My wife and I once flew from Israel to Egypt, which was not so nicely memorable.
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  Delphi, Greece:  goes back to 1500 BC, considered by Zeus to be the center of Grandmother Earth, sanctuary of Apollo,  located 100 miles from Athens, which I once visited.
• Machu Picchu:  in Peru, re-founded by someone from Hawaii, and boy, did I once have some excitement here.
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• Sedona, Arizona:  a cathedral without walls, located about 100 miles south of the Grand Canyon.  Home of unmarked energy vortexes and sacred to Native American tribes.  Now, a wellness center.  Havasu Falls is worth a see, something I missed when I visited.
• Hawaii:  no kidding, #4, according to this travel muse.  To quote:

Anyone who has been to Hawaii would likely agree that the islands have a unique spiritual sense about them. Maybe it’s the warm, friendly attitude among locals, a reverence for the land, or the general feeling of slowing down and reconnecting which pervades the islands; regardless, Hawaii’s got something special.

To the left is the inside of Haleakala Crater on Maui.

I was sent a bunch of Noah's cruise cartoons, so here are two, and you now are probably wondering what the animals ate:

One more item.  This is Valentine's Day, somehow linked to one of the St. Valentines going back to the early days of Rome.  

15 Craigside will deliver to me a prime rib dinner.  I will probably watch a romantic film evocative of this day.  The problem is which one.  Have you noticed that films like Sleepless in Seattle, It Happened One Night and An Affair to Remember have been showing on TV this week?  These flicks are romantic and therefore associated with Valentine's Day, even though they may have nothing to do with that day itself.  Here is a ranked list.  

Turns out the best actual Valentine's Day films are horror and slasher films.  Here are Rotten Tomatoes' ten best: 

• #8 My Bloody Valentine (47%)
• #6 My Bloody Valentine 3D (60%)
• #5 Happy Death Day 2U (70%)
• #4 Happy Death Day (71%)
• #2 Obvious Child (has to do with abortion, 90%)
• #1  Picnic at Hanging Rock (a disappearance, 95%). 

A few are more romantic:

• #9  Valentine's Day (what a cast: Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Ann Hathaway, Shirley MacLaine, Julia Roberts, Patrick Dempsey, Ashton Kutcher and Taylor Swift in her debut, but snubbed with 18% from reviewers...so don't watch, although the score is so low, might be worth a look to see why).  This film is playing ALL DAY on HDE!, a channel I can get.

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  #6  An Affair to Remember, with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, but only at 62%.   The theme song featuring Kerr was voiced by Marnie Nixon.  Vic Damone sang the version that became popular in 1957.

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  This movie is a remake of the 1939 Love Affair with Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer,  which scored 86%, but not included in this list because it is too old.  A double bill with both would be something to consider.
• #3  Sleepless in Seattle, with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, 74%.  Perhaps three tonight.  I see it is on from 7:15PM to 9PM on Showtime 2 HD West.

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