Places krisfreedain Wants to Go

This float factory takes the mask off of Mardi Gras and lets visitors see where the magic happens.

This unique shop is full of memento mori art, antique medical equipment, secret society paraphernalia, and historical relics.

A 19th-century shrine covered with prosthetic body parts as votive offerings.

Storyville was New Orleans' historic red light district and hotbed of jazz music, sometimes referred to simply as "The District."

Made of giant chains and hung with shackles, this iron cross honors those unknowns who perished under American slavery.

A 200-year-old building in the French Quarter that was to be Napoleon's home in the New World.

New Orleans' famous cemetery, located on the site of a former race track.

This macabre shop, filled with art, oddities, and taxidermy is hidden in the heart of the French Quarter.

At the crypt of St. Mary of Eulogies and the Dead you are left alone to ponder mortality among piles of skulls.

2300-year-old Roman road connecting the empire.

The skull of the patron saint of lovers lies in the Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin—maybe.

The underground sanctuary of a mysterious ancient cult.

In Rome’s Jewish ghetto, a 200-year-old bakery still makes the neighborhood’s historic sweets.

An alchemist's “magic door” stands in the middle of a Roman park.

The yawning maw of this pagan visage is said to bite off the hands of liars.

Rome’s legendary peephole vista is also a former Crusader stronghold.

Architectureal fantasy quarter of Rome.

This hidden Art Nouveau courtyard is an opulent feast for the eyes.

The crypts of Capuchin friars decorated with the bones of over 4,000 friars, including an entire "crypt of pelvises."

According to one local tradition, the entrance to the Voodoo underworld can be found in New Orleans through seven gates scattered throughout the city's French Quarter.

This symbolic piece of New Orleans architecture is also home to a few ghastly stories.

This knobby, drooping New Orleans oak is a favorite place both for climbing and for meeting giraffes.

A 200-year-old bar in the historic French Quarter refuses to give up its place in history, nor its role in securing ours.

A theme park that suffered massive flooding during Katrina was abandoned, and now proves irresistible to trespassing explorers.