A Pediatrician Travels the World

On our recent trek to see cherry blossoms in Japan, we spent a few days in Taiwan. Since we've been to Taipei twice, we thought it would be cool to see another city and Kaohsiung popped up. It's known as Taiwan's Maritime Capital, home to it's largest international port. It has a thriving art scene, crazy good food and feels like a chill little sister to Taipei. 

My recent trip to New Zealand included more than just Hobbiton (although that is definitely a highlight). We spent a few days in Auckland after Brisbane.  This is my second trip to Auckland. The first trip was over a decade ago so the details were hazy but I remembered I liked it. I wasn't such a foodie back then so I don't know if the food scene has come a long way or it was always good and I'm better at finding things now. Regardless, the food in Auckland is amazing. The city itself is beautiful. It's in the northern tip of New Zealand, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea. 

So my extensive travels have finally brought me to the Shire in Middle Earth. I am a HUGE Lord of the Rings geek. I can't remember at which point of my childhood that I read the books. The Hobbit was always my favorite. Then I watched all the movies. When I found out about Hobbiton, I knew I had to go. It's basically the film set for the movies. The original Shire was taken down after filming the LOTR trilogy. When they made the Hobbit trilogy, a smart guy was like 'let's keep the set and have fans visit.' It was genius.