Places aestheticsnafu Wants to Go

What was once a trend-setting, phrase-coining icon of architectural splendor is now a rotting, forgotten hulk.

The saddest little diner in New York.

This posh mansion began as a family's estate and ended as the site of a murder ripped from the pages of a pulp novel.

Beasts and branches swirl in sandstone carvings, interrupted by one strange creature.

This intricate Hindu temple is the largest of its kind outside of India itself and was constructed like a giant puzzle.

This unlicensed collection of fast-food memorabilia sits on the site of the first ever McDonald's restaurant.

From dragonfruit to mangoes to durian this Thailand resort allows guests to stay inside all manner of giant fruit.

This perfectly preserved Chinese medicine shop was untouched for decades before being reopened as a museum.

This abandoned 19th century orphanage started as a boarding school for children of Civil War veterans.

Historical Japanese-Dutch relations are honored with haunted rides and flower fields in this replica town.

A museum dedicated to the history of a terrifying secret police is now held in their former headquarters.

Murals of the wild parties once held on the frozen River Thames.

Each spring, a dreamlike carpet of bluebells overtakes the forest floor.

A working miniature city designed to teach kids about safety and presumably city planning.

A train station that was abandoned by the coal industry and converted into a cocktail bar. Now it’s home to the local visitor bureau.

Hidden in plain sight on the Hudson River is an abandoned train station where nature has taken over.

This folk art dinosaur was almost pushed to extinction due to lack of a building permit.

The community pools that the community refused to give up on.

Mysteriously stacked storefront paths give this medieval British town an iconic style like none other.

This tiny patch of arid sand sits in one of the greenest states in the United States.

The famous sculptor left his mark on this Italian wall in an internationally protected example of street art.

This small town in the Netherlands has no roads but instead, miles of canals and over 100 bridges.

This 29-ton granite ball spins around at the slightest touch thanks to a scientific phenomenon.

Crammed inside this grounded passenger plane is a bar that was once a Communist hang out and is now a ratty relic.