Places mmattheis Wants to Go

The whimsical twist of this spire was either caused by the Devil, an unexpected virgin, or lead.

The world’s first penitentiary, meant to be humane, drove men insane.

Mural made of 100,000 pieces of hand blown glass, and one of the largest glass murals in the US.

Philadelphia boasts one of the best — and most often overlooked — traditional Japanese gardens in North America.

This ornate Victorian marketplace was the setting for Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron in the first ‘Harry Potter’ film.

A hidden treasure in London with a rich medieval history, and the resting place of many luminaries.

A million and a half tons of earth were used to create one of the world's largest land sculptures.

This sword isn't waiting for a king to pull it out. It was placed there by a saint.

A magnificent winding road through a steep valley, with deep natural caverns at the bottom

Down a cobblestone alleyway is a museum dedicated to Romanticism, with a secret garden.

Pitié-Salpêtrière was the dumping grounds for women who received the dreaded diagnosis of "hysterical."

For over 300 years this little carving has been the city’s good luck charm.

Beneath Kraków Old Town's main square lies a hologram-filled medieval market vampire graveyard wonderland.

The ancient past meets the retro-future at these dinosaur tracks that are protected by a geodesic dome.

Seemingly grown on some other world, these New Mexico rock formations look like a disused science fiction set.

Legends surround this jagged rock formation in the New Mexico desert.

The ancient tomb acts as a calendar that keeps perfect time.

An ancient neolithic tomb that only sees the sun twice a year.

One of Ireland's most infamous prisons for rebels including men, women and children.

This permanent collection of preserved bodies taken from Irish bogs is one of the leading authorities on such morbid mummies.

An Irish church where an 800-year-old mummy is reaching out of his coffin as if to shake hands.

The gorgeous library at Trinity College is home to remarkable treasures of Irish identity.

A museum that cashes in on its infamous little people while teaching you a thing or two about the Irish fey.

The homestead of American patriot John Adams.