Engineering Time Capsule: Amsterdam

In the 17th century, Amsterdam was bursting at the seams fed by a booming economy. Population growth and influx led to a housing crisis. To end the housing shortage, rich merchants designed and built horseshoe-shaped canals with ostentatious houses overlooking the waterways. The canals known as 'grachten' are the landmark of Amsterdam to this day.

The Town That Builds a Medieval Monastery

They wear homespun clothing made from flax. They use wicker baskets for transportation. Workers in the German city of Messkirch have started building a monastery. The technology is exclusively medieval. The template for the monastery was provided for in the never realized a plan dating to the 9th century intended to be built in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Is it a gimmick, tourist attraction, or archaeological research?

Cleopatra's Needle on the Embankment

One of the things you do when in London is walking along the Thames. That will inevitably bring you to the Victoria Embankment where Cleopatra's Needle is standing tall. The needle is an obelisk, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Cleopatra. Otherwise the name is apt.

Yemen: The Way Into Today's Mess

Yemen is not a usual tourist destination. It could be one, if the country had a minimum of organization and structure. But that was lost and willfully destroyed during the cold war in the last century. If you want to know the reasons why you are unable to enjoy the Yemen historic sites and landscapes, here's a book to read. 

Slow Travel: Walking From Somerset to India

Parents like to remind their children to eat slowly. And slow cooking has progressed from being a fad to being a way of life. Time to think about slow traveling. And quite frankly, you can't see anything when doing Europe in three days. My advice, take a page out of Thomas Coryat's book and start walking.