# What Are You Glad You Have Seen In Your Lifetime (As in relics) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 5, 2008, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060 "2008-04-05T09:26:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/1 "2008-04-05T09:26:11Z")
For me it was the Book of Kells in Trinity College in Dublin. Well I saw two of the four volumes. And I suppose the library itself was outstanding. What are you glad you have seen? ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/2 "2008-04-05T09:58:50Z")
Stonehenge and the stone circles at Avebury. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/3 "2008-04-05T12:43:53Z")
[QUOTE=Cicero] For me it was the Book of Kells in Trinity College in Dublin. Well I saw two of the four volumes. And I suppose the library itself was outstanding. What are you glad you have seen? [/QUOTE] Andres Segovia at the Academy of Music (he was a relic in 1978, believe me) The Alhambra in Granada, Spain The Pennsauken Mart (local NJ color, now gone) Veterans’ Stadium in Philadelphia The Liberty Bell when it was still in Independence Hall ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/4 "2008-04-05T12:55:13Z")
It means very little now, only 7 years on, but in 50 years I’ll be able to tell people all about watching the attack of 9-11 unfold on Sky and BBC news 24. And then talk about what happened to the world in the following years/decades. But things that I’ve actually been to see… there aren’t many. None that spring to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/5 "2008-04-05T15:34:28Z")
I’ve held and flipped through a first edition, autographed copy of Tristram Shanty by Laurence Stern, from around 1760. Anyway, it was in good shape(multiple volumes) and was really cool to flip through. The illustrations were hand colored and the text was perfectly readable. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/6 "2008-04-05T16:20:50Z")
The King Tut exhibit that toured Los Angeles a few years back. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/7 "2008-04-05T17:37:25Z")
Not really a relic, but I saw an iceberg once. 300 feet long, 150 feet showing above water (probably at least 700 below). We sailed by in a tiny boat, about 100 feet from the bergs base. Most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/8 "2008-04-05T17:38:50Z")
Some of the Dead Sea Scrolls went on tour and were here in San Diego last year. I went to that, and it was pretty cool. I mean, when am I ever going to see that again? I’m not sure that I’m ever going to make it to that part of the world… ---
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/9 "2008-04-05T17:51:35Z")
The step-pyramid at Saqqara, the Great Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza, and the Valley of the Kings, from a trip to Egypt 24 years ago. The Pyramid, Ball Court and other things at Chichen Itza in Mexico, more recently. The Winged Victory of Samothrace at the Louvre–30 years ago now. That I had been to the top of the World Trade Center, both the observation deck, and the Windows on the World restaurant. I will be glad that I attended baseball games at both Shea and Yankee Stadiums, once they are gone. Too many things to count, or even remember in detail right now, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY, where I used to work. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/10 "2008-04-05T18:31:07Z")
My little brother, who was ten at the time and whom we knew to have the imagination and creative spirit of a brick, looking at the view from the Alhambra and saying “wow, now I know why they fought so hard for this place!” The Alcázar in Segovia. The chains and emerald (it’s a “mother emerald”, really, a lesser stone with tiny emeralds embedded inside) which Sancho VII brought as a souvenir from the battle of Las Navas and which now are my homeland’s coat of arms. The view from the top of WTC. It wasn’t a relic, but the meeting with JPII at Santiago was pretty powerful stuff and a lot of fun. The moment where I’ve felt more as part of a “Universal” Church (that’s what the word “Catholic” means) was at Mass in Athens, though: there were less than two dozen people there, and we said the Lord’s Prayer in at least 8 different languages. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/11 "2008-04-05T19:01:12Z")
I second the Book of Kells and Stonehenge, and add: – the Pompeii volcano site – Pope John Paul II at the Vatican (even though he was just a small white figure on a faraway platform) – my great-great grandfather’s grave in Ireland – Altun Ha in Belize I also second Veterans Stadium and Yankee Stadium. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![T\_SQUARE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de053/32.png) [@T\_SQUARE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T_SQUARE)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/12 "2008-04-05T19:23:55Z")
I was one of the first “regular guys” to see [Lucy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_%28Australopithecus%29) when she came to Houston last year. Houston is the first stop on a multi city US tour, so lots of other people will be able to see her. She is not displayed in Ethiopia, they keep her locked up and have a replica on display. ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/13 "2008-04-05T19:28:34Z")
Sigmund Freud’s home in Vienna. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/14 "2008-04-05T20:08:17Z")
I’ll second the WTC. I went to the top in May of 1991, and I still have my ticket stub. Biltmore House in Ashville, NC (incidently once when I was there, they had Faberge Eggs on display). I’ll be seeing the Grand Canyon next month. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/15 "2008-04-05T20:18:59Z")
When I visited the Library of Congress in 1962, I was able to examine an original 1768 edition of Horace Walpole’s _Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard III_. By “examine,” I mean that I took the book to a cubicle and turned the pages for several hours. It still amazes me that they allowed a teenage girl to handle such an old and frail volume. I almost said “fondle” rather than “handle.” This was one of the high points of my young life. Yep, I’m a book geek all right. ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/16 "2008-04-05T20:35:45Z")
[ul][li]Napoleon’s underpants. 😉 (No, really. I was a docent for _Napoleon: An Intimate Portrait_ during one semester of college, and the objects that were part of that exhibit were amazing to see up close. Napoleon’s underpants were probably the least interesting pieces, but the clothing items that were in the exhibit gave me a new appreciation for craftsmanship in textile work.)[/li][li]Samurai armor from the 16th and 17th centuries. (I got to touch these pieces and see them up close. They’re amazingly scary in the dark, even without people in them.)[/li][li]Þingvellir, Iceland. The seat of important events in the history of my ancestors, and still as majestic today as it was several hundred years ago.[/li][\*]The European paintings in the [Norton Museum of Art](http://www.norton.org/collections/european.htm). Seeing photos does not do any of their pieces justice. When standing in front of some of their more massive and beautiful paintings, one feels so small in comparison.[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/17 "2008-04-05T20:39:21Z")
The Rosetta Stone. Especially since its impingement on my consciousness was so…_unexpected._ I was just placidly turning a corner in the British Museum and surprise, there it is. No ropes around it or anything. _The Last Supper._ It’s nice. Go. Reserve in advance. _Way_ in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/18 "2008-04-05T20:46:40Z")
Rosetta Stone for me also, plus the Magna Carta. Across the channel, the Mona Lisa and the Eiffel Tower Since people mentioned the WTC, we visited the floor of the commodities exchange once, thanks to my f-i-l who used to be a commodities broker. We were through there all the time getting the PATH on our way from auditions. But best - the liftoff of Apollo 17. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/19 "2008-04-05T21:09:42Z")
The Dome of the Rock The Western (Wailing) Wall Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem Garden of Gethsemane Via Dolorosa Church of the Holy Sepulchre Mary’s reputed home in Ephesus Ephesus Christopher Columbus’ birthplace in Genoa Baalbek ruins in Lebanon Byblos Rome The Acropolis Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Venice Hagia Sophia Topkapi Trophy of the Alps Il Duomo in Milan Notre Dame Cathedral Eiffel Tower Versailles The Matterhorn Dachau Holocasut Museum The Pieta The Mona Lisa The Winged Victory of Samothrace The Garden of Earthly Delights by Heironymous Bosch oops, posted early ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060/20 "2008-04-05T22:43:49Z")
I went to the Elgar museum in Malvern with my grandparents. Elgar, he of the Enigma Variations, was into puzzles and games. He owned a puzzle ring. I mentioned to the museum guard that I knew how to do them, so he unlocked the case and handed me Edward Elgar’s solid gold puzzle ring. (Incidentally, I fucked it up and couldn’t solve it as it was different to all the other ones I’d seen. They had to put it back into the case all messed up. How embarrassing.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-glad-you-have-seen-in-your-lifetime-as-in-relics/444060.md?page=2)