Places gertrudeabbring Wants to Go

This Roman statue is missing a limb from when the Venetians stole it from Constantinople during the Crusades.

This palatial spiral staircase was so unusual the name "snail" was given to the noble family who built it.

Those who own or stay at this 500-year-old, allegedly cursed house often meet terrible fates.

The only museum with its curator—and her pets—buried inside.

Despite their macabre past, these hooks are said to bring good luck to those who touch them.

The marble facade hides a little-known medical museum with early surgical instruments and rare copies of canonical texts.

Tiny museum with unusual specimens.

This Venice bookstore has resigned itself to constant flooding by keeping its books in bathtubs and boats.

As can be expected from a centuries-old church built in a canal city, the undercroft of this house of worship is beautifully flooded.

Thousand-year-old Viking runes adorn an ancient Greek lion at the entrance to the Venetian Arsenal.

Dancing skeletal figures pay homage to a medieval mural destroyed during World War II.

No matter how many times this community-run sauna gets destroyed, it always rises from the ashes.

Finnish lake, and scene of an infamous murder mystery.

Every summer, an open-air swimming pool appears at the base of a Finnish city's beloved winter attraction.

Extraordinary animals sculpted from leftover junk.

This lonely rock has been turned into a character loved and feared by children.

A journey through 430 years of bulbiculture in the Netherlands.

This towering church is home to a world-famous organ and a treasure trove of medieval art.

Small transmitter operated by a priest in the Netherlands.

A museum-like shop that has been producing clogs, brushes, and ropes for nearly 200 years.

This jellyfish provides clean water for an entire Dutch province.

The world’s largest street art museum.

This church also serves as a lighthouse complete with a beacon.

This irregularly shaped sea fortress has defended not one but three different sovereign states.