Places daryleconners Wants to Go

Amid the bustle and noise of the Financial District hides a secluded garden oasis above the city streets.

An abandoned 1970s theme park that has been turned into a space for waterfront walking.

Hidden in an Italian forest is a completely homemade amusement park that has taken a lifetime to create.

This beloved Baltimore spot features caged dolls, a giant Pez collection, and many, many mannequins.

Though its celestial ceiling is impressive, the true star is the vast collection of French books.

The walls are decorated with whimsical murals painted by the creator of the Madeline franchise.

The oldest family-run luncheonette in New York, last renovated in 1948, still serves food and drinks the old-fashioned way.

A gorgeous gilded tower houses what may be the world's largest collection of gin.

Okinawan dining in a twenty foot tall, man-made tree house overlooking Naha Harbor.

The abandoned Japanese amusement park once loomed as a dystopian Disneyland.

Along the side of the road on a small Japanese island is an extensive garden of uniquely designed Shisa statues.

A giant rooftop ride with unbeatable views of Matsuyama city, the nearby mountain ranges, and the Inland Sea.

This traditional Japanese-style house doubles as one of James Turrell's colorful works of art.

The small candy-colored ride is the last rooftop Ferris wheel in Tokyo.

Japan's first automaton went missing, only to be revived by the Osaka Science Museum.

The floats housed in this hall are more than 100 years old, and are brought out for an annual celebration.

More tin toys than you can shake a clapping monkey at.

This high-design church is made up of two dizzying spirals meant to evoke the weaving together of marriage.

A 59-ft. robot statue looks over the citizens of earthquake-ravaged Kobe.

Giant sand sculptures of famous people and places are on display near the Tottori sand dunes.

Giant animal sculptures are created with the rice straw leftover from the fall harvest each year.

Cherry blossom season comes early in this Japanese town where pink flowers line the streets and riverbanks.

A Japanese cat island also populated by the descendants of a band of banished samurai.

An astounding annual light display honors the victims of one of Japan's most devastating earthquakes.