Places Michael James Carvalho Luongo Wants to Go

The walls and streets of the ancient city are peppered with penises.

The last moments of the ill-fated Pompeiians, frozen forever in plaster.

Beautiful views and Roman-style statues on the Italian coast.

This seaside Italian village doesn't just look Escher-esque, it actually inspired the mind-bending artist.

Amalfi's pre-industrial history is slowly being engulfed by the lush vegetation of the Ferriere Valley.

A limestone grotto where daylight filters in from below and turns the water a beautiful turquoise. Also home to a small underwater nativity scene.

A narrow opening between the mountains of the Amalfi Coast creates a scenic hidden beach.

The mystic whose incorrupt corpse still attracts the faithful.

The ruins of the largest gladiatorial school in Rome are largely hidden under modern streets.

Roman-style pizza al taglio arrives here with magnificent, crackly crust.

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

This one-of-a-kind Roman arch is not actually dedicated to the god Janus.

This small, ancient Roman temple was once a church dedicated to the patron saint of penitents.

Crispy, cheesy rice balls—the Roman answer to arancini—take center stage here.

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

This ancient Roman prison is decorated with an upside-down cross not as blasphemy but as saintly tribute.

This ancient market is often referred to as the oldest shopping mall in the world.

Hundreds of lucky felines haunt the ruins where Caesar was murdered.

A master of trompe-l'oeil creates a stunning, tourist-fooling dome out of a flat ceiling.

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."

One of several skulls claiming to belong to the beheaded St. John the Baptist is on display at this Roman church.

One of the most important yet well-hidden museums dedicated to the history of medicine.

Architectural monsters are devouring this palace's every door and window.