Places brucewatson71 Wants to Go

The most metal church of all time was built in record time because of an international, pious pissing contest.

This crucial gathering spot along the "hippie trail" still displays old notes between traveling beatniks and backpackers.

Turkish adventurer antiques in the heart of the Grand Bazaar.

In Kazakhstan, a colorful cathedral with many lives once survived the most powerful earthquake in the region.

An abandoned Soviet-era mining town in the mountains of South Kazakhstan.

A tiny slice shop hides down an unmarked hallway in a Las Vegas casino.

A homage to the King at the hotel where he revived his career.

An overlooked monument to the celebrity gangster who helped put the sin in Sin City.

A piece of the iconic wall found an unlikely new home in a Vegas bathroom.

Byzantine emperors ruled, lived, and died in this 13th-century palace-turned-museum.

Climb a set of vertiginous stone steps to the top of this impressive ancient edifice.

Quite possibly the oldest love poem known to humankind.

This half-forgotten fortress was constructed by the Ottoman conqueror of Constantinople.

Legend says if you stick your thumb in the hole and it gets wet, your wish will be granted.

A sixth-century Byzantine cistern hidden below a modern carpet store.

A gorgeous, Gaudí-esque stairway constructed in the city of Istanbul by a prominent Jewish family.

Five sultans and their families rest in eternal splendor, teeming with overlooked beauty and drama.

This remarkably well-preserved Egyptian plinth is pretty well traveled for a giant piece of stone.

A small etching on the white marble parapet was written in runic script by a Viking mercenary.

A marvel of Byzantine engineering under the streets of Istanbul.

A sober museum housed in the original administrative building of one of Stalin's largest gulags.

A Stalinist prison camp for the wives and children of men accused of betraying the Soviet state is now a memorial museum.

A collection of Lenin busts and other Soviet Era statues sit idly behind the Semipalatinsk Hotel.

A modern tower, symbolizing the legend of a golden egg on top of the tree of life.