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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...