Cities
Europe travel
Italy travel
Museums
Photo roundups
Travel
Vatican Museums photo roundup
The Vatican Museums feature so much great artwork that I had to devote a second post to them. See my first post about the Vatican Museums if you haven’t seen it already. Gallery of Geographic Maps One of the beautiful giant 16th century maps of Italy in the map gallery Sphinx with an eerily realistic […]
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Europe travel
Italy travel
Museums
Travel
Visiting the Vatican Museums
When it comes to the Vatican, I have to confess that I almost didn’t want to go. Rome was already really fascinating with so much to see. Luckily, I decided to spend my final day in Rome at the Vatican otherwise I would have missed out on one of the best museum experiences in my […]
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Cities
Southeast Asia travel
Thailand travel
Travel
Bangkok photo roundup
Bangkok is a city I’ve been to numerous times, but which I actually disliked on my first visit. Since then, I’ve grown to enjoy this noisy, modern, scruffy, shiny metropolis. Bangkok is full of history and modern consumption with its grand palace and temples and sleek skyscrapers, a thriving river and smelly klong canals (on […]
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Cities
Taiwan
Taiwan travel
Travel
Enjoying art in Tainan, Taiwan’s most historic city
As Taiwan’s oldest city and first capital, Tainan is considered the island country’s cultural and historical hub. Established by the Dutch in the early 17th century as a fort and trading hub when they colonized southern Taiwan, Tainan has almost 400 years of history that has included Qing Dynasty rule, Japanese colonization and the 20th […]
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Book reviews
Books
Book review- Saladin
I’ve always been fascinated by Saladin, the great military leader of the Muslim Arabs or Saracens who fought and won victories against Western Crusaders in the 12th century. He is famous for capturing Jerusalem from the Crusaders, but he was also lauded for his integrity. I was eager to read more about Saladin and John […]
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Taiwan
Taiwan travel
Travel
Visiting Beitou, Taipei’s hot spring district
Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan, is both a bustling East Asian metropolis and one filled with nature including hills and mountains, wetlands and natural hot springs. Beitou, Taipei’s northernmost and most mountainous district, is famous for its hot springs. Beitou’s name is derived from the area’s aboriginal name, Kipatauw, which means witch, probably because […]
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Museums
Taiwan
Taiwan travel
Travel
Visiting the National Museum of Taiwan History
As a young island country, Taiwan actually has a complex history of 400 years that includes Dutch colonization, Qing Dynasty rule, Japanese colonization, and a brutal martial law era. Taiwan went through a lot before it became today’s thriving democracy. All this is covered in the National Museum of Taiwan History, located not in the […]
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