Editor’s note: Egypt is a place I desperately want to visit. However, after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war, I would not personally feel safe going. I hope that will not last, and that I will be able to see these magnificent sites, and more. Fortunately, we have Sam’s visit…
Walking past the Gate of Harmonious Interest along Fisgard Street in Victoria, British Columbia, the city’s tiny - but mighty - Chinatown opens before me. Shops, restaurants, lanterns… it might only go a block or so, but the effect is outsized. And indeed, that is the biggest takeaway from a visit here to what is…
Standing on the end of one of the pier’s of Fisherman’s Wharf in Victoria, British Columbia, I watch as a research vessel of the University of Victoria is cleaned and offloaded from a morning of… whatever it was doing. I stare at the water, and try to make sense of this city, and the Inner…
Editor’s note: one of my canceled trips due to COVID (one of thirteen such cancelations) was to Taipei. Unlike some of the others, I have yet to reschedule this one, though Sam’s beautiful descriptions of the sights and the food make me want to do so as soon as possible. For more of Sam Spector’s…
I love being surprised by a destination. When I planned out my itinerary for Greece, Crete - and Heraklion in particular - was on my radar for its Minoan history. (You can read about that here.) The palace-cities of Knossos and Phaistos marked the Golden Age of Crete way back in the Bronze Age. But…
It is incredible just how much is here. It’s a warm day in late August, and the Knossos Palace archaeological site is rapidly getting crowded, even before 10am, thanks to a large cruise ship in port in nearby Heraklion, Crete. I do my best to stay away from the tour groups, winding up doing a…
Greece is so very old. And yet, it is shockingly new. Nowhere can this be seen quite like Athens. Here, ruins of temples dating back 2500 years or more stand within a city and country that itself spans barely two centuries. How is this possible? If you’ve been following our Athens content here on The…
Few places on the planet are more iconic. Even at 9am, an August day in Athens is hot, and especially so here, on top of the Acropolis, the platform-topped rocky crag that has been the centerpiece of this city for three millennia or more. There is little shade, and though a breeze helps, the sun…
Editor’s note: it has been a lot of years now since I visited Madrid in the early days of The Royal Tour. (Click here to read my guide from back then.) I loved it, and my visit to Toledo while there. Funny enough, I tried to also see El Escorial, but did a poor job…
Before coming to Scotland, I’d never heard of Dundee. It is Scotland’s fourth largest city (after Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen), a UNESCO City of Design, and boasts a couple of sights that are truly worthy of planning a day around. And yet for me, and I’m guessing for most Americans, the mention of Dundee would…