The Bode Museum in Berlin, Germany boasts a number of spectacular artifacts from the Roman Empire, but the medallion of the Emperor Valens particularly stands out. Valens was Emperor of the eastern half of the Roman Empire from 28 March 364 until his death at the battle of Adrianople (in Turkey […]
After so many years of travel, it is difficult to choose one single place as a favorite, but there is one place stands out in my mind more than the others. Trier, Germany’s oldest city, and nicknamed, “the Rome of the North,” calls me back again and again. Every visit to […]
I’ve neglected my blog for a little while to pursue my license to teach middle and high school history. When I first started Jaunting Jen, I thought I wanted to travel full time, but after two months in Europe and Malta, it’s clear to me that it’s better to maintain a […]
In light of the recently released news that “Charlemagne’s Bones are Probably Real” I thought this would be a good time to share my experience visiting Charlemagne’s Palace of Aachen, Germany. The first time I visited Aachen, it was the early spring of 2008, and there were few tourists in […]
After viewing thousands of artifacts in multiple museums, sometimes it can be tempting to just keep walking. But then there are times when something just grabs you, stopping you in your tracks.That’s what happened to me when I was in the Speyer, Germany State Museum a few days after visiting […]
You would never guess that main attraction of the Bode Museum in Berlin is a mosaic from Ravenna, Italy. The Bode Museum on Museum Island houses a unique collection of Byzantine art, and I went there specifically for their Byzantine collection. I had no idea that a mosaic from Ravenna was waiting for me at the […]