Places Edited by Daniel McDermon

A mysterious stone staircase deep in the Swedish woods, said to have been made by trolls.

One of the 20th century’s most famous businessmen is buried in Houston’s most prestigious cemetery.

This monument commemorates NASA’s astronaut training in northern Iceland.

This little patch of Europe remained neutral for more than a century because of a mine.

You can hear Buddhist prayers in this elevated sea cave once used by monks.

A recreation of the bar from the classic 1942 movie “Casablanca.”

Amazing collection of over 2,000 live birds from around the world, many of which are rare or endangered.

One of the world’s most dangerous roads may be this abandoned shore route in Iceland.

The highest station on the highest adhesion railway in the British Isles.

The spirit of an executioner is said to cause cars to roll uphill in this English forest.

A small museum tells how a group of Russian Mennonites ended up in the Paraguayan Chaco.

At these downtown crossings, pedestrian lights show axe-wielding Vikings instead of the usual walking figures.

Quirky bronze statue depicts the chaos of everyday life in Hong Kong.

A real haunted house with an extensive history going back to 1893.

Historic anchors for the animals that once carried India’s mail.

Tower in the center of town marks the midway point in the 10,000-kilometer Cape-to-Cairo journey.

It’s a street without a name, but there is a sign.

Deep in the Swedish forest hides a forgotten water-powered carousel.

A cocktail lounge decorated like an American dive bar, in honor of the legendary author Ernest Hemingway.

A fossil collection of the only known Devonian high-latitude estuarine ecosystem.

A collection of over 700 chess sets in a beautiful historic building.

A habitable museum, or a time machine into Romania’s Communist era?

This statue commemorates the tale of the fisherman who captured a Kópakonan by stealing her skin while she was transformed as a woman.

An obelisk commemorates historic floods that hit two towns along the Red River of the North.