Places balletmecanique Wants to Go

This high-speed test track is popular with car manufacturers, speed freaks and orbiting astronauts.

This solitary monastery may hold the remains of Vlad the Impaler (but probably not).

This grisly effigy displays an early Christian martyr who was skinned alive and beheaded.

An exclusive waiting room built for the royal family in the 1920s is hidden in Milan’s central station.

One of the world’s smallest bars, just 13 square feet, is brimming with speakeasy flair.

Milan's duomo is covered in beautiful carving including a curious "dinosaur-like" beast.

The secret medieval communication system will whisk your words above the noise of the crowd.

Small on the outside, big on the inside, this church is an astonishing act of visual deception.

Famed for its pie, this eatery has a hidden tunnel that allowed Catholics to secretly walk to church during the Reformation.

A study of Fascist era Art Deco design in Italy.

High atop the Eiffel Tower is a small apartment built exclusively to entertain the science elite and make the rest of Paris jealous.

Electrical curiosity museum housed in an old transformer station.

A floating bridge leaning on barges allows pedestrians to reach the historical center.

Around 100 sculptures from artists all over the world decorate the hiking trails surrounding this locale.

This narrow canyon has been carved by the river over thousands of years into spectacular and curious forms.

Historic funicular railway, believed to be the shortest railroad in the world.

America's most famous piece of self-built architecture.

From sax to spuds, get 'em all at this landmark music establishment.

A wild west scene starring life-sized wooden statues hides in the trees behind Pierce College.

Hand-crafted tributes to a stray cat named "Room 8" now cover this LA elementary school.

The last orange grove of the San Fernando Valley is owned and protected by CSU Northridge.

This rare tortoise skeleton has been hanging around the downtown Los Angeles museum for over a century.

This opulent hotel has been visited by Spider-Man, Charlie's Angels, and the Ghostbusters.

This star-studded Old Hollywood restaurant is where fettuccine Alfredo made its United States debut.