As the perfect antidote to turn around one’s fortunes during these trying times, travel website VirtualTourist.com has come up with a list of the top 10 monuments in the world believed to bring good luck. Make the bad vibes go away with a touch or a tickle of a belly, bottom, or even a pair of trousers; these talismans are renowned to help with whatever ails you.
1. Victor Noir Grave; Pere Lachaise, Paris, France
Although not nearly as famous a personality as most of the names in this star-studded cemetery, Noir’s grave is one of the site’s prime attractions. A rub of his trousers is thought to increase fertility and as such is often frequented by women hoping to become pregnant.
2. Showgirls Bronze; Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada
If luck is truly a lady then visitors to Las Vegas should make the kick-line statue outside the Riviera’s Crazy Girls review a priority. It’s said that a little fanny pat will increase gamblers’ odds.
3. Bull Mosaic; Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Milan, Italy
If shoppers in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele look a little dizzy there’s a good reason. Legend has it that planting your heel on the testicles of the mall’s bull mosaic and spinning around will bring good luck.
4. Blarney Stone; Blarney Castle, Blarney, Co. Cork, Ireland
At a loss for words? Try kissing the Blarney Stone. Thought to give visitors exceptional powers of speech, the stone must be kissed upside down from a prone position. In an effort to ensure the safety of visiting kissers, Blarney Castle provides a worker to assist in the process.
5. Sensoji Temple; Tokyo, Japan
Visitors to the Sensoji Temple in Tokyo believe that a little of the temple’s incense rubbed on an aching body part acts as a cure-all for everything from sore throats to backaches.
6. Chandelier; Cochem Castle, Cochem, Germany
As if a mermaid with antlers was not unusual enough, this one is thought to bring good luck. The worn-down paint on the sea creature’s red tummy is proof of how many believers come to give the fixture a little tickle.
7. Intihuatana Stone; Machu Picchu, Peru
Originally constructed as a time measurement device by which sacred ceremonies could be planned, the Intihuatana Stone has developed a secondary function. Some say that sensitive types can rub their foreheads against the stone and see spirits.
8. Manhole Covers; Sweden
It’s hard enough to look out for cracks in the sidewalk, but in Sweden residents also have to look out for manhole covers. Labeled with letters that represent different things like “love” or “lost love,” pedestrians either avoid or touch their feet to the covers depending on what fate they might bring.
9. Lincoln’s Tomb; Springfield, Illinois.
It’s been reported that people from all over the world come to not only pay their respects to Abraham Lincoln, but to touch the tip of the former president’s nose, thought to be lucky.
10. Il Porcellino; Sydney, Australia
Visitors who think they’ve seen this somewhere else would be right. A copy of the famous Il Porcellino in Florence, this boar was a gift to the Sydney Hospital and Sydney Eye Hospital. Like its counterpart, the statue’s snout is said to bring good luck to those who rub it.
News
November 14, 2008Drop Dead Red: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
