favorite museums
the best museum i have ever been to is the british museum, where i learned about samarra, the palace of the abbasid caliphs from 836 to 892, located north of baghdad, by the tigris river. its original plan is still visible, and it is the best preserved example of abbasid architecture because of how briefly it was occupied. it is home to a unique type of ceramics. the ninth century great mosque, with the spiraling cone minaret whose top was destroyed after US forces used it as a sniper nest, was built there. it became a unesco world heritage site in 2007. apparently tourists can climb the minaret now.
the second best museum i have ever been to is the military museum of the chinese people’s revolution in beijing. i like trying to guess the tanks. supposedly my grandfather was working on some aspect of the type 59 before he died.