2019 and 2020 have been challenging years for Hong Kong. Protests against the local government, general population unrest, and as of this writing, the threat of a deadly coronavirus have rendered unto this megacity several blows that might take a few years to recover from. However, make no mistake about it, Hong Kong is still very much one of the world's great cities. Located at the crossroads of the West and China, this former British crown colony is one of the world's most significant financial centers, busiest commercial ports, and home to the highest number of skyscrapers of any city in the world. All photos were taken on a trip with friends, years ago. * To get an idea of how skyscraper-dense the HK skyline is, one must head to Victoria Peak, the highest point in the city!

On any journey to the Iberian peninsula, it is easy to focus all of one's time, budget, and attention to the more popular and glamorous cities of Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon. However one cannot truly appreciate the richness of Spanish culture, without experiencing the city of Cordoba. One of the most important cities back in the Middle Ages, yet overlooked today, Cordoba has been inhabited for thousands of years; with its earliest inhabitants thought to be the Neanderthal humans whose fossils can be found all over this area of Spain. * Later on becoming a Roman settlement, whose people left their mark by constructing this fascinating and sturdy bridge that still stands to this day running across the Guadalquivir River! 

Due to decades of Soviet Communist rule, something startling happened to cathedrals and churches across the Russian Federation. With its chief creed of having no religion except the ideology of socialism, all churches within the vast Soviet empire were secularized; meaning they were stripped of their religious significance and turned into museums. * And what's truly amazing about all of this is that these churches are not just simple places of worship; a lot of them are among the largest, grandest, and most majestic churches on earth!

There is undoubtedly no other city as iconic as New York City, whose five boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island are rich in history, character, and culture; forever immortalized in numerous movies, TV shows, stories, and songs. Originally a Dutch colony settled in 1624 named New Amsterdam, New York City has grown to become what is is now: the most populous and visited city in the US, home to the United Nations and the Statue of Liberty, the fashion, media, and financial capital of the world, the very symbol itself of the great United States of America. And it is said that in New York City, even buildings, squares, and streets are world famous. Here are some of NYC's most famous tourist locations: Part One Times Square * At the center of New York is the pedestrianized intersection of lights, sound, and spectacle known as Times Square.