Popeye Village: an abandoned set from the 1980 film claimed and repurposed as a theme park by creative locals.
We are in Anchor Bay, 3 km from the village core of Mellieħa, Malta. The set from Robert Altman’s film Popeye, shot in Malta, was never fully struck and remains […]
Catemaco: the witchcraft capital of Mexico
We are in Catemaco, in eastern Mexico. Built on the shores of the eponymous lake, the town has a long history of fishing, even though nowadays, the town’s main economic […]
England’s Bolton Strid: the most dangerous stretch of water in the world
The Bolton Strid, a narrow segment of the River Wharf in North England, is a picturesque stretch of river that looks like the type of place one might find fairies […]
Pozzo del Diavolo: was this cave created by Hercules’s wrath, the devil, or volcanic activity?
We are in Italy, in Lazio region, above Vico Lake in the beautiful beech forest of Monte Venere, part of the UNESCO’s Primeval Beech Forests of Europe transnational network of […]
Dinosaur footprints at the Isle of Skye – Scotland
We are in the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Here there are lot of icons of the past, as ruined castles that are hundreds of years old stand atop an unusual […]
The leaning Lighthouse of Puerto Morelos, Mexico
We are in Puerto Morelos, located about halfway between the Riviera Maya hubs of Cancún and Playa del Carmen. Believe it or not, the small seaside town has had a […]
Chichen Itza Chirp: clapping at base of an ancient pyramid echoes the call of a sacred bird
Chichen Itza, a pre-Colombian archaeological site built by the Mayans in northern Yucatan, Mexico, is home to many architectural and cultural wonders, and one of this has baffled acoustics experts […]
Roosevelt Island Lighthouse: a little lighthouse in New York surrounded by mysterious stories of insanity-driven construction
Built in 1872 and known then as the “Blackwell Island Lighthouse”, the 15-meters-tall stone lighthouse at the northern tip of Roosevelt Island was constructed, if the legends can be believed, […]
Anundshög – the Sweden’s largest burial mound, allegedly belonging to a mythical king
We are in Sweden, near Västerås in Västmanland. Scandinavia is full of burial mounds, runestones, and any sort of ancient graves. Similar to the Egyptian pyramids, great rulers were honored […]
Créac’h: the most powerful lighthouse in Europe
The Créac’h lighthouse, in Breton Tour-tan ar C’hreac’h (translated as Tour-tan: lighthouse and C’hreac’h: promontory) is a lighthouse in the island of Ouessant, in Brittany, France. It was built in […]
Hyder: the easternmost town in Alaska that can only be accessed from Canada.
The town of Hyder, Alaska, is both the geographically easternmost town in Alaska, as well as the southernmost town in Alaska that can be reached by car. However, one cannot […]
Yangzhou Zhongshuge: this Chinese library’s interior is designed to look like an infinite tunnel of books
We are in Yangzhou. The Chinese city is known for its graceful arched bridges, proximity to the Yangtze River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Architects kept these local features in […]
The curious folktale of Blowing Rock, North Carolina
Apparently, most people born in North Carolina have visited Blowing Rock at one time or another in their lives. The town of Blowing Rock, is named for “The Blowing Rock”, […]
Stiff lighthouse: the oldest lighthouse in Brittany that is still working
“Further west than the west”, Ouessant is the westernmost island in Finistère, a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. The island is well known for its treacherous […]
Air Sinai: the ghost airline that has linked Cairo and Tel Aviv for decades
A flght from Cairo to Tel Aviv is a 50-minute flight on a clear day. But if you’ll book your ticket, when you’ll arrive to the airport, probably you’ll not […]
Bangkok’s “David Beckham Temple”: one of the world’s weirdest religious buildings
Bangkok’s temples are truly a wonder to visit, but after a few days of battling the crowds, the appeal of gilded Buddha statues may start to lose interest. Thus, when […]
Whitby Abbey: the gloomy ruins that inspired Bram Stoker to bring Dracula to life.
From Mina Harker’s diary, Chapter 6, Dracula by Bram Stoker: “Right over the town is the ruin od Whitby Abbey, which was sacked by the Danes, and which is the […]
Crater Lake: the deepest lake in the United States, and once the site of epic destruction that lives on in myth.
Crater Lake, Oregon, has been known different names. It was first known, to non-Native Americans anyway, as “Deep Blue Lake,” as named in 1853 by its discoverer, John Wesley Hillman, […]
Tourlitis Lighthouse: The magical Greek Lighthouse
We are off the coast of the Greek port city of Andros. Rising up out of the islet of Tourlitis, a weather-worn stone spire opposite the harbor at Chora, on […]
Svörtuloftsviti – Skálasnagaviti: a lighthouse in Iceland that boasts magnificent coastal views
Svörtuloft (or the Black Ceiling) is a ruggedly beautiful place to visit. Despite the name sounds ominous, it stems from the cliffs being formed of pitch black lava, like in […]
The Aqueduct of Segovia, a glorious Roman heritage in Spain
If we speak about architecture, the Romans are among the greatest builders of the world’s history. Some of the surviving Roman buildings and monuments are magnificient still today, many centuries […]
Kallur Lighthouse and the magnificent Kalsoy – Faroe Islands
We are in Kalsoy, one of the eighteen islands (and the westernmost) that make up the Faroe Islands. The island, nicknamed “The Flute”, is mostly known for the Kallur Lighthouse […]
Buford, Wyoming: Population 1 (and now zero)
Despite its tiny size, the little town of Bufort, Wyoming, has become somewhat of a roadside attraction. It has two claims to fame: the iconic road sign reading “Population 1” […]
Torre Argentina – the Roman Cat Sanctuary
As you probably know cats in Rome are very popular and they have always found shelter amongst the ancient city ruins. They are also protagonists of numerous postcards depicting them […]
Pidhirtsi Castle: one of the most valuable palace-garden complexes in the Ukrainian’s eastern borderlands—and one of the most haunted!
We are in Pidhirtsi, Ukraine. For believers, the country itself is filled with legends and mysticism, and Pidhirsti castle (Ukrainian: Підгорецький замок; Polish: zamek w Podhorcach) is also known as […]
Kościół w Kartuzach: the coffin-shaped church in Poland where monks once slept in coffins
Despite It’s hard to tell from the ground, if you take to the skies you’ll see that this 14th-century Gothic church is shaped like a coffin. Yes, really a coffin. […]
Fingal’s Cave, the “Cave of Melody” in Scotland
Usually you not hear, in the same sentence, names like Queen Victoria, Matthew Barney, Jules Verne, and Pink Floyd but, strangely enough, there is a place that they all share. […]
Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, the mysterious disappearance of Muriel Trevenard and its haunted history
On a scenic basalt rock headland that juts into the Pacific Ocean stands a beautiful white lighthouse. At 28 meter tall, the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, located in Newport, Oregon, is […]
Francesco Petrarca’s house: a modest museum in the final home of Italian poet
“In the Euganean Hills, I had a small house built, decorous and noble; here, I live out the last years of my life peacefully, recalling and embracing with constant memory […]