Our most peculiar finds abroad

Oddities abound on an international scale

If you think some of our stops in the U.S. are odd, wait until you see some of the landmarks, and dare I say, attractions, we’ve found in other countries. While most of these trips were not empty nester trips, these are the sorts of things that await on our future travels, and YOUR empty nester travels, outside the U.S.

Our top ten finds across the globe:

 1. Ötzi the iceman, the oldest most preserved man ever - Bolzano, Italy

 This is no joke. In Northern Italy lies a little museum in the very charming Italian city of Bolzano. Inside this museum lies the actual FROZEN remains of one of our ancestors who they named Ötzi. In 1991, the remains of a man from the Copper Age murdered by an arrow 5,300 years ago, were discovered in the Tyrolean Alps between Austria and Italy. His 45-year old body is intact and even has traces of red deer and cereals still in his stomach. He is perfectly preserved in a freezer room where he is monitored constantly so he doesn’t unthaw. It remains (no pun intended) one of the coolest museums we have ever visited.

2. Lindow Man, or “the bog man” - London, England

 Akin to Ötzi the iceman, we find the The Bog Man in The British Museum in London. Under the same roof as The Rosetta Stone and the Greek Parthenon sculptures, this Iron Age body was also murdered and then tossed into a peat bog of Lindow Moss in Cheshire, England. His body was discovered in 1984 during peat cutting. His body is remarkably well preserved with stubble, hair and skin. He even had food in his stomach. Evidence confirms he died a “triple death” by strangulation, cut throat and blunt force. Ouch.

3. Mannekin Pis, the statue with the most outfits - Brussels, Belgium

 What would life be without a little bit of whimsy? In the middle of the bustling center of Brussels stands a little statue of a boy, a few inches shy of 2 feet tall, peeing into a fountain. You would think that this alone would make for a landmark stop, but what you may not know is that this little guy gets a wardrobe change every day. There is even a museum displaying some of his outfits around the corner. According to the City of Brussels, he has 900 outfits to his name!

4. Atomium - Brussels, Belgium

Never will you see anything so odd, I promise. This World’s Fair attraction lies in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower just several hundred miles to the West of Brussels. While you can buy a ticket and go up to the top of the monument, this didn’t quite end up as iconic as the Eiffel Tower is to Paris. A fun find nevertheless! Don’t miss the furniture and design museum you can buy as part of your ticket--this was perhaps even more interesting.

5. Flying Foxes - Cairns, Australia

 What they say about Australia and their animals is true. They are as strange as strange can be, and some can even kill you…no offense to our Australian sister-in-law who we love dearly. In Cairns, where the Great Barrier Reef is located, they have foxes the size of large cats that are actually not part of the fox family. They are actually BATS! And they hang upside down in trees all over downtown Cairns in the summertime. And they are everywhere! While they are harmless, it does make for a good Stephen King novel or Edgar Allen Poe poem.

6. Time Meridian, the dividing line between the hemispheres - Greenwich, England

 This is a fun stop to say you’ve stood on both the western and eastern hemispheres at the same time. The stop we found was smack dab in font of someone’s home. I guess half their house is in the West and half in the East. How fun is that?

7. Le Refuge des fondus - Paris, France

 I guarantee you will never eat in a restaurant like this one anywhere. Located in the famous artist district of Montmartre, around the corner from Sacre Cœur Basilica, is a little unassuming restaurant, so small it only has two long tables on either side. Inside, you are shown to a table where you will step over it to sit down on the other side and sit next to complete strangers who will become your besties afterwards. The walls are meant to inscribe your name or note. But what makes this restaurant a must-do stop on your trip? They serve wine in baby bottles. You know you can’t miss this…so I am dropping the address here: 17, Rue des Trois Frères.

8. A splinter from the crown of thorns - Milan, Italy

 As cradle Catholics, we enjoy going to see all the cathedrals across Europe. Bonus points if they contain relics! And we’ve seen some crazy ones. We know these are all authenticated by the Vatican, but our minds do wonder how many of these are actually authentic. For example, if we collected all the splinters of the crown of thorns from across the world, how big would the crown actually be? Anyway, I digress. In the beautiful Gothic Duomo di Milano, don’t miss looking up. You’ll see a dim red light. Inside this light is said to be a splinter from Jesus’ crown of thorns. Blew our minds.

9. Jesus’ blood-soaked cloth - Bruges, Belgium

 Not to be outdone by the Duomo in Milan, the small Basilica of the Holy Blood in Bruges houses a 12^th-century rock crystal vial that contains a small piece of cloth stained with Jesus’ blood. It was brought there from the Holy Land around 1150. Perhaps what is even more shocking is the priest that has to sit there all day watching everyone visit the vial to ensure the people behind get enough time to see it, too. What did he ever do to get that assignment?

 10. St. Anthony’s tongue, intact - Padua, Italy

 This is one of those relics I can never wrap my head around. In the reliquary of The Basilica of St. Anthony, you can find the entire tongue of St. Anthony still intact enshrined in a gold reliquary. One of the true divine mysteries. It’s a symbol of divine eloquence and signifies that his voice still lives on. He is the patron saint of lost items. Someday I know St. Anthony will reveal where my gold headband went in 4^th grade.

---

There you have it, the best take on the smallest, the largest, the only and the weirdest---across the world. We hope some of your empty nester trips take you to some of these places. What are some of the most bizarre things you’ve encountered in your international travels? We’d love to hear about them and add them to our list!