This beautiful example of Spanish colonial architecture contains a small museum dedicated to the Spanish Inquisition's brutal persecution of heretics once carried out in these very chambers. Visitors can still see some of the torture devices used to extract confessions of heresy and witchcraft, along with some of the questions used in "witch" interrogations, which are still displayed on the museum wall. Needless to say, no prisoner could hope to be acquitted of their purported crimes against the Catholic Church, and most met their tragic end at the very guillotine still on display in the courtyard.

Near the Stock Palace and the Douro River is another UNESCO World Heritage site that is well worth visit while in Porto, the Monument Church of St Francis, or Igreja Monumento de São Francisco. This church built around the 14th century has one of Europe's most sumptuous and extravagant interiors. Here, all that glitter is, in fact, gold! Its interior is covered in gilded woodwork, and rumour has it that it was used around 400 to 600 kg of gold to decorate it. Hence why the St Francis Church is also known as "The Golden Church". Another highlight of this church is its impressive Tree of Jesse, a wooden sculpture carved by Filipe da Silva and António Gomes in 1718 depicting the ancestors of Jesus Christ, shown in a branching tree — considered to be one of the best in the world of its kind. Under the church, you will find the catacombs, where the Franciscan monks along with the members of Porto's noble families are buried.

The mangrove tunnels of nearby La Boquilla are an easy day trip from Cartagena. Guided tours will often combine a visit to the beach (one of the Playas De La Boquilla) with a boat or canoe tour of the mangroves, passing through Cienaga de Juan Polo and the Cienaga de la Virgen lagoons. Some tours will also include a closer encounter with local fishermen and offer insight into their craft. La Boquilla is an area of contrasts: the district of upscale hotels — Morros — borders on humble neighbourhoods populated by workers. When sitting down to tuck into no-frills seafood dishes served up by local eateries, make sure you're clear about the price of each item ordered from the get-go, as there have been reports of "surprise" bills amounting to several hundred US dollars.

The so-called Powder Tower, the last remnant of the 13th-century wall that once surrounded the heart of Riga, now hosts a war museum. The aim of the museum is to reveal to the public the complicated military history of Latvia, with a special emphasis on the 20th century, during which the Latvian people had to win their independence twice.