Abbazia delle Tre Fontane, Rome

If you're staying in Rome long enough, the abbey's beautiful, but it's a long bus ride to get there. The abbey marks the place where St. Paul was beheaded. Legend says his head bounced three times, and a fountain sprouted at each place. Seeing the shrines over the fountains themselves, my cynicism popped up (they're pretty far apart, prompting thoughts of a flying head), but the shrines themselves are very moving. At each one, a different kind of offering is made. In one, slips of paper with intentions are slid through the grate, in another, small coins have been tossed in (I unfortunately now forget what was in the last). The abbey is essentially abandoned, so it's very peaceful, and much of the grounds look like a tropical park. No visit to the abbey would be complete without visiting the small shop, where they sell monk-made liquor (incredibly strong) and chocolate that is positively life-changing (get the one with hazlenuts in it).