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Located within the walled grounds of Blockhusudden on Djurgården, Thielska Galleriet is a fine art museum with late 19th- to 20th-century works by Eugène Jansson, Carl Larsson, Bruno Liljefors, Edvard Munch, August Strindberg, Anders Zorn, and other leading artists of that era. Characterized by spacious rooms with glass roofs, the museum walls are covered with paintings, and collections include Nietzsche’s death mask and prints by Edvard Munch. It also houses painter Richard Bergh’s extensive archive—letters, notes, drawings, drafts, and photographs.

You can eat other things at Loveless Cafe, but if you don’t try the flaky buttery biscuits, you’re missing out. Carol Fay Ellison started at Loveless as a dishwasher in 1979. She graduated to the stove a few years later and reigned supreme as The Biscuit Lady until her death in 2010. Fortunately, she passed her recipes for biscuits and preserves on to other capable hands, so her memories survive along with her portrait in the cafe. Loveless isn’t the same without her, but the biscuits are still incredible.

While there are plenty of in-water activities around St. Thomas, one of the best is at the Coral World Underwater Observatory. At this interactive park, which is great for families, visitors can see marine life rescue efforts, play with crustaceans or hang out by the beach. They can also swim with the star residents of the observatory, the sea lions. Rescued several years ago from certain death, today the sea lions are crowd favorites. In a special interactive session you can learn more about the ongoing research and interact with them in a special pool. This activity is safe for the sea lions and the mental stimulation is an important part of their daily schedule.

Nestled in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, this small yet exceptionally powerful museum is the first in the US to directly address human rights abuses in China. Founded by former political prisoner and dissident Harry Wu, the museum specifically exposes the “Laogai,” the name of the vast and repressive system of forced labor prisons which has resulted in countless deaths of those opposed to China’s Communist regime. In addition, it continues to highlight other abuses, including public executions, organ harvesting, coercive enforcement of the one-child policy, and the government’s curtailment of expression of freedom on the internet. Keep in mind that the images, videos, artifacts, articles, and captions are graphic and can be disturbing.

Have you ever had a drink while standing at the top of a 1,700-foot vertical drop, as the sun sets into the ocean? That’s what you get at Lovers’ Leap, less than a half-hour’s drive from Treasure Beach. Pay a small entrance fee and walk through the bar to reach the balcony with the jaw-dropping view. Of course, there’s a legend to go with the name of the cliff: Two enslaved lovers jumped together from this spot to their deaths to escape from their colonial master who wanted the girl for himself. A wood carving of the lovers stands just outside the entrance. The sunset panorama here is arguably the most stunning view in all of Jamaica.

Discover a history that can be felt and a little local flavor with one of the many tours available or explore it all on your own. The beauty of this cemetery is a reflection of it’s location. Worn and unkempt, its air of mysterious romanticism can only be felt and explained with a visit. Although, it is rumored that the above-ground tombs are due to the water levels, it is in fact, mainly Spanish influence that dictated the above-ground practice. Here, you’ll find the reputed resting place of Marie Laveau and a little farther into the city of the dead, her daughter. Both are easily recognized by the offerings left. Here’s a little bit of lagniappe: Many years ago, the groundskeeper started a myth that is still perpetuated by many today. Although the offerings left at the base of the tomb are mainly authentic, the ritual of the 3 x’s are not. Recounted by the misguided groundskeeper to rich white folks after Marie Laveau’s death, the groundskeeper hoped that they would leave money as an offering for the sorely needed repairs of the grounds. It is said that the more gullible the tourists appeared, the sillier the ritual became. It is speculated that the origins of the 3 x’s in fact come from the tomb maker’s signature who mostly poor men of color, could neither read nor write. Be sure you spread the word if you go for a visit and be warned that if perpetuated, you risk a hefty fine.

One of the traditions associated with Day of the Dead in Oaxaca is the creation of colorful sand tapestries. You’ll find them all over the city throughout the week of the holiday, but in the plaza adjacent to La Soledad church, they set up some large ones that are truly monumental, It’s interesting to see when they’re being made, they bring in truckloads of sand and then the young artists painstakingly fill in their design to bring their vision to life. The theme of the tapestries is invariably death, but often there is a playful aspect to these creations. The ephemeral nature of this art form reminds us of the fleeting nature of life. After the holiday has passed, they scoop up the sand and return the plaza to its unadorned condition.

The 17th century mansion that houses Oaxaca‘s contemporary art museum is commonly referred to as “La Casa de Cortes,” although it was in fact built over a century after the death of Hernan Cortes, it is certainly lavish enough to have been worthy of the great conquistador. The front of the building has the family seal of the Lazo de la Vega and Pinelo families, who were the home’s original inhabitants. The state government acquired the building in 1986 and it housed a different museum prior to the opening of the MACO (Museo de Arte Contemporareo de Oaxaca) in 1992. The museum has 13 exhibit rooms, with the permanent collection on the second floor, and downstairs areas are used for temporary exhibits, which change frequently.

Built from 1892 to 1894, this uniquely intact Victorian mansion was the home of German-American philanthropist and beer magnate Christian Heurich. Considered the world’s oldest brewmaster, he ran the Christian Heurich Brewery on the site where the Kennedy Center now stands—until his death in 1945 at the age of 102. At this museum, visitors can learn the story of one of D.C.'s most successful entrepreneurs and his family, his influence on America’s brewing industry, and the construction of his 31-room mansion. As D.C.'s first fireproof home (he had a fear of fire), it is replete with hand-carved wood, 15 fireplaces with individually carved mantles, hand-painted ceiling canvases, luxurious furnished rooms, original Heurich family heirlooms, a bierstube (“beer room”), elevator shaft, and gas and electric lighting fixtures.

“I am a song, I live to be sung, I sing with all my heart!” Pay your respects to the man who penned “Rocky Mountain High” and spent a lot of time in Colorado. The John Denver Sanctuary is a quiet cluster of carved boulders and monuments, located along the Roaring Fork River, near the Aspen Art Museum. Many of the singer’s famous lyrics are carved into the stone, which you can read as you listen to the creak rush by. Fans gather at the sanctuary every year on October 12, the anniversary of Denver’s death (Denver died in 1997, in a plane crash off the coast of California).

A couple of years ago, on Black Friday, my wife and I headed away from the malls of Tucson and into the mountains: Chiricahua National Monument, just west of the New Mexico border in SE Arizona, was one of the last strongholds of the Chiricahua Apaches, who called this area “the land of standing-up rocks.” This particular mountain peak is Cochise Head (elev. 8087'); cock your head to the right and it resembles a man’s profile. The ‘eyelash’ is formed by a tall Douglas fir tree. The volcanic formation is named after Chief Cochise, who died in 1874. About a decade after his death, several hundred of his surviving fellow Apaches were deported to Florida, never to return to their homeland again... The history of the American Southwest is a sobering mix of people on the move with conflicting labels: pioneers/invaders, defenders/terrorists, war/genocide, natives/aliens...It still hasn’t been all sorted out.

Home of the Venice Film Festival, the Lido is also where you’ll find Venice‘s beaches—Shelley and Byron went horseback riding here back in the day—as well as the Grand Excelsior Hotel, whose bar is often crowded with celebrities during the festival (and other times of the year, as well). If you’re a classic film fan, the hotel might look familiar: Luchino Visconti’s Death in Venice was shot here. The island has a decidedly lively feel compared with Venice itself, less a museum piece and more a buzzing destination, popular with Venetians and visitors looking to spend a day by the sea.

In the middle of Montréal, walking up Avenue McGill College toward the Mountain, you can’t help but run into the 65-person polyurethane sculpture “La Foule Illuminée” (“The Illuminated Crowd”). Sculpted by Franco-British artist Raymond Mason, this public art has stood in front of the BNP/Laurentian Bank Tower since the mid-1980s. In the words of the artist: “A crowd has gathered, facing a light, an illumination brought about by a fire, an event, an ideology—or an ideal. The strong light casts shadows, and as the light moves toward the back and diminishes, the mood degenerates; rowdiness, disorder and violence occur, showing the fragile nature of man. Illumination, hope, involvement, hilarity, irritation, fear, illness, violence, murder and death—the flow of man’s emotion through space.” Get up close, eye-to-eye with some of the details, and you’ll see why this sculpture still generates both controversy and bemusement in the middle of this vibrant city.

D.H. Lawrence detested it. Langston Hughes loved it. It’s probably safe to say that no one who has seen bullfighting comes away ambivalent about it. If you can stomach the blood and the inevitable death of the bull (and, perhaps, the injury of the matador), then a Sunday afternoon at Plaza México, the largest bullring in the world, is one place to experience a centuries-old tradition. The Spanish brought bullfighting to Mexico when they arrived in the New World, and though the sport has become increasingly controversial in recent years (it’s even been banned entirely in the Mexican states of Coahuila, Guerrero, and Sonora, and its prohibition has been discussed–but not yet passed– in Mexico City), it’s one of the few places where such formality, pageantry, skill, and–yes, some would say– savagery can be witnessed for the price of a few pesos.

The charming Swiss village of Verbier is a breeding ground for fearless, thrill-seeking mountain bikers. Be warned, though: Even a rockstar mountain biker from Colorado or Utah will feel like he needs training wheels when he tackles these mountains. In town, local bike shops outfit cyclists with bikes and Transformer-like protective gear. A gondola whisks cyclists to the top of the mountain where they can tackle trails of varying degrees of difficulty in La Tzoumaz Bikepark. Less death-defying trails wind around the mountain past quirky sculptures such as a giant penguin and a huge skeleton of a wooly mammoth. Apparently, a mountain-biking battle wound is an essential Swiss souvenir. I took home a double-fractured finger after launching over my handlebars (A note: Men who get injured apparently get stitched up by a hot Swiss nurse. I got a scholarly Swiss doctor, but I also didn’t get a bill). For something a bit more low-key, rent an electric mountain bike and cruise around town past the fancy hotels (Verbier W opened in 2014) and charming homes. Just a touch of pressure on the pedal makes you feel like Lance Armstrong ascending the hills.