Things to Do in Piedmont & Liguria

Set 53 miles (85 kms) outside of Beirut in the fertile Beqaa Valley, the ancient city of Baalbek is inarguably Lebanon’s greatest Roman treasure. An architectural pinnacle of empire known to the Romans as Heliopolis, this UNESCO World Heritage site has served as a center of worship for a staggering number of millennia.

Civilizations as old as the Phoenicians worshiped here and themselves built massive stone structures to “Baal”, revered Phoenician deity and possible subject for the town’s name of Baalbek. With the arrival of the Romans in 64 BC, Baalbek was converted to a pagan center of worship and work was begun on the massive Temple of Jupiter, a hulking structure of granite columns which would eventually become the largest temple ever built in the history of the Roman Empire. While many of the columns have crumbled and eight were even relocated to the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, six columns still remain standing and provide a relevant framework for the sheer size of the ancient Roman ruins.

Confounding to scholars at the Temple of Jupiter are the dimension and weight of the stones which are used in the platform of the temple. While many of the stones comprising the foundation already weigh in excess of 450 tons, three gargantuan stones 14 ft. high and 64 ft. in length are believed to weigh over 1000 tons. These are known as the Trilithon, and they are one of the most mysterious elements of ancient architecture found anywhere in the world.

In addition to the Temple of Jupiter visitors can walk among the ornately designed Temple of Bacchus as well as the smaller Temple of Venus, the three of which comprise the triad of deities that Baalbek was centered around: Jupiter, Venus and Mercury.

Humbling in their size and stupefying in their architectural history, the ancient ruins of Baalbek are on par with any other ruins and wonders of the ancient world.

Known as the “Village of Painters,” Barbizon is a little town of around 1,500 people perched on the edge of the Fountainebleau Forest just outside Paris. Famous for the Barbizon art movement of French Revolution fame, Barbizon was the place where many artists headed at the time. Inspired by the rural paintings of English painter John Constable, the school of artists found the village’s fields and surrounding Fountainebleau Forest central to their work.

Singapore is city that resembles a patchwork quilt of different Asian cultural influences, and if you want a broader understanding of these regional cultures, a visit to the Asian Civilizations Museum is in order. Housed within the nineteenth century Empress Place building, the museum is the first of its kind in the region to examine the may ethnic groups that make up modern Singapore.

Divided into 10 themed areas, the museum displays an exquisite collection of art and artifacts from China, India, Southeast Asia and even Turkey and Islamic Asia. The West Asia galleries are particularly interesting, as they examine an area of the world responsible for the birth of three religions: Islam, Judaism and Christianity.

For the most rewarding museum experience, plan your visit during one of the daily guided tours of the collection, available in English, Mandarin and Japanese (French and Korean less frequently).

The Cayman Islands' first-ever national park was created around the northern end of West Bay, in an area called Barker’s National Park. Here you can find a long stretch of undeveloped beach alongside mangrove forests, where you can go for a hike or join a horseback-riding excursion. You can also see the park as part of a West Bay bike tour.