This colorful boulder serves as a canvas for political statements and artistic expression.

Lombard Street may be more famous, but this is the real “crookedest street in the world.”

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

Floating man-made island and upscale restaurant.

A classic advertising icon immortalized in regal bronze.

Staircase winds down the side of Telegraph Hill through gardens, wild parrots flying overhead.

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

A man-made island in scenic San Francisco Bay.

This ancient market is often referred to as the oldest shopping mall in the world.

This skeletal, unfinished Gothic church once housed a miraculous masterpiece by Raphael.

Behind medieval walls in a corner of bustling Palermo is a breathtaking former mosque once inhabited by a wolf-taming hermit.

This mosaic-lined medieval church was built by the world's first admiral and still holds mass in ancient Greek.

Cave shrine on Monte Pellegrino.

This amazingly preserved Doric temple was abandoned before it was ever completed.

This lovely, if imposing, piece of Canadian gothic is possibly the most photographed hotel in the world.

Every Easter, a small Sicilian town builds a stunning cathedral out of bread.

A massive ultra-modern church presents a science-fiction view of Catholicism's inclusive future.

An art collective teaching the more fiery, metal-y art forms.

One of the best absinthe distilleries in the United States.

Antiques by the Bay.

This quaint archive of the silent era preserves and pays homage to a seminal moment in film history.

Eastern Canada's ocean playground.

This 15-story mural celebrates the 50th anniversary of the musician's iconic "At Folsom Prison" album.

From the dishes to the art, this Michelin-starred restaurant orbits around one beloved French melon.