A preposterously luxurious hotel with gold-plated iPads, Rolls Royce chauffeurs, and a staff that trains by watching "Downton Abbey."

This artificial archipelago was supposed to resemble a map of the world.

This irregularly shaped sea fortress has defended not one but three different sovereign states.

This mountainside mural of a person carrying a torch was created for the 1994 Winter Olympics.

The "geometrical" center of the country, as calculated in 1947.

Longest road tunnel in the world features an air treatment plant and the illusion of daylight.

One of the world's first dedicated bank buildings in the world is now the oldest one.

An abstract representation of weather in Sweden.

A 130-year-old urinal is the oldest of Stockholm and perhaps all of Sweden.

A wooden street sign is the last remnant of this 400-year-old alleyway.

The Swedish flag over this small naval fort signals that the nation is at peace.

These waste baskets play a few risque messages to discourage littering.

Swedish skyscraper with a 90° twist.

A Viking-style brewpub named for a Norse sea giant, in the heart of fjord country.

Norway's oldest cathedral still in use.

Monuments don't get much more metal than these three giant viking swords planted in a Nordic hill.

In downtown Oslo, a menacing and terrifying relief clings to a church wall.

This simple roadside art installation ended up sparking a folk art movement and a controversy of international proportions.

Not quite the cultural gateway between China and Sweden its designer imagined.

Small Easter eggs are hidden in the ventilation holes of the city's newest trains.

A man has revenged his true love's betrayal through tears and stone genitalia.

Sound travels strangely in this underground whispering gallery.

The largest madrasa in Morocco once housed more than 900 students within its exquisite walls.

The embalmed remains of the communist leader lie within a custom crystal coffin.