We were in Kep just for the day. We found the entire town to be pretty abandoned, except at the Beach area. Statues (Dolphins, Shiva, Vishnu, Crab, White Horse, White Lady): This town has more statues at roundabouts than any other we’ve been to. It’s actually a weird mix: the White Lady is wearing too…
We spent almost a week in Siem Reap, five days of it at the retreat. Angkor Wat: This is the famous temple of this city and this country: it’s even the central image on the Cambodian flag! They say it’s the largest religious complex in the world, actually. We didn’t go at sunrise, like many recommend, because we’re…
We were in Phnom Penh for six days. Central Market: This is the most touristy of the markets, and the largest. The building is interesting from the perspective of modern Cambodian architecture, but mostly, the market is a mob scene. The jewelry area was the calmest and the most spacious, but the market also has electronics, clothing/shoes,…
Perhaps you imagined the Vatican as I did, like a giant church with many chapels and relics. I thought there might even be cardinals wandering about, conducting the work of the church, and that I could wander part of it, oohing and ahhing over the grandeur of these places of prayer. In reality, the Vatican…
We were in Seoul for a week and a half. Gyeongbok Palace: This was a palace complex used by the rulers of Korea from 1395 through the 1600s. It was later all but destroyed by the Japanese during their occupation of Korea, but restoration has been making progress since 1995. It’s made up of many…
We were in Rome for a week and a half. Church of Jesus [Church]: This church’s most amazing element was its frescoed ceiling. The way that it was executed, it really looks like figures are climbing into and out of it. This is hands down the coolest ceiling fresco I’ve ever seen, and I think it’s…
I have spent hours researching festivals and events that we could overlap with, based on our travel schedule. The Truffle Festival in Langhe? Not for a few months. The jazz fest in Copenhagen? No dice. All to no avail: even smaller festivals seemed to be just outside our travel dates. In Salerno, on the other…
We were in Venice for 3.5 days. Boat Ride: Part of the tour of Venice that my dad arranged for us all was a boat ride around the canals. It was a spiffed-up motor boat, somewhat like the one on which we spent entire summers when I was a kid. Our driver, Marino, was a quiet man who operated…
We were in London for 12 days. Piccadilly Circus [Square]: This is London’s Times Square, and I liked it only marginally more than the NYC one – and only because it’s smaller. Nothing exciting to see here. (Also, don’t expect animals or tightropes: in British English, a circus is just ‘an open circular place where…
We were in Pisa for approximately 3 hours: just long enough to check the ‘Leaning Tower’ box. When I was in high school, my physics teacher had some health issues which required him to miss a day of class a week for a few weeks. Whether on his suggestion or their own initiative, our substitute…