Places CalWhimsey Wants to Go

Hidden in the Santa Ynez Mountains off Highway 154, this tiny restaurant once served as a stagecoach stop.

Colorful Native American paintings are hidden within this small cavern.

Inky sludge oozes to the surface of this beach thanks to a rare natural tar seep.

Windswept and remote, this island was once the home of a rare mammoth and today is home to a rare tree.

A new sculpture calls attention to climate change in the centuries-old city it threatens.

Invented in the mid-19th century, this machine could send copied images via telegraph lines.

This enigmatic piece of art is a mnemonic device from the early Renaissance.

This building was designed to celebrate Italy's victory in World War I.

One of the largest squares in Europe contains an entire artificial island.

A giant owl named Rocco oversees mythical woodland creatures along these charming mountain trails.

The hilltop ruins of a border fortification in the Italian Alps that was much fought over.

An ode to the washerwomen who called Pavia home.

The charred, dead skeleton of an oak tree is said to have consoled a dying 16th-century Italian poet.

Once the hunting reserve of a noble family, this is one of the few remnants of Pleistocene planitial forest in northern Italy that still stands.

Europe's simulation of the Martian surface uses soil from Mount Vesuvius.

Six paintings reminding you that death is integral part of everyday life.

This 1st-century CE Roman bath sits under a carpark.

This house certainly has a unique decor.

If you ever wanted to touch a medieval mercenary’s three testicles, look no further.

Five painted skeletons are hiding behind a church in this tiny village in the Italian Alps.

This medieval settlement was abandoned after a series of landslides. What remained was largely destroyed during a mock battle for a WWII film reel.

Legend says the only thing buried within this magnificent tomb was a dog.

This crescent-shaped beach is said to glow under the light of a full moon.

This amazing medieval fortress stands atop a promontory along the famous Cinque Terre.