Bell Bliss: Exploring Taipei- Longshan Temple and Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial

Over Memorial Day weekend we hopped on a plane with our friends and headed west to Taiwan. Honestly, before we moved to Okinawa I knew nothing about Taiwan. I had heard different people mention it was a perfect place for a weekend trip, so I did my research. Taiwan may be a tiny island, but it is filled with tons of beautiful places to see! I was overwhelmed by all that there was to see and I knew we could never do it all in one weekend.

On our way, excited for Taiwan

It is kind of funny because there were tons of other service members and their family on our flight. There were more Americans than anyone else. Everyone seemed to have to same idea for the long weekend. Once we arrived, we decided to check into the hotel and then explore. The first thing we did was grab something to eat at random noodle shop we found while wandering around the streets, which turned out to be pretty good. We quickly learned that Taipei is a very vibrant and busy city. It was also fairly clean compared to some of the other cities we have been in, like Bangkok. After lunch we headed for the subway. I think subways are so interesting and love figuring them out.

We headed a few metro stops away to Longshan Temple. It always interests me in these Asian cities that there are big beautiful temples right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city. Longshan temple was so colorful and intricate, complete with a waterfall and fountain.

Our next stop was Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial. As soon as we got there, it began to rain. Thankfully, there was a cute covered outdoor cafe at the national theater that we sat at until the storm passed. We then headed up the stairs to the memorial and were just in time to see the changing of the guards. This is about the time we realized that Taipei was even more hot and humid than Okinawa.