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

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

A marvel of Byzantine engineering under the streets of Istanbul.

A Nesting Doll of Churches.

At the crypt of St. Mary of Eulogies and the Dead you are left alone to ponder mortality among piles of skulls.

Some say this medieval church is where the poet Dante married his wife and also met the love of his life.

A slightly creepy gallery of plaster cast models in the same museum as Michelangelo's David.

The middle finger of modernity.

There aren't too many operational funiculars around, but Pittsburgh has two!

Home to drunken tower-climbing goats... seriously.

The bad-ass ride of a soul legend, housed in one of the world's few soul museums.

This kaleidoscopic mural shows Bob Dylan throughout his transition from young troubadour to Nobel laureate.

The first car-centric shopping plaza in the U.S. brought a little bit of Spain to downtown Kansas City.

Four, 18-foot-tall badminton shuttlecocks lie scattered about the lawn of a Kansas City museum.

A bizarre house filled with an astounding array of collections.

The palatial McDonald's that inspired Wesley Willis.

These pretty kitties killed and ate as many as 135 railway workers.

The twin towers in this Chicago fountain use 50 foot tall video screens to spit on people.

At Chicago's revered Field Museum, visitors are invited to learn about and literally explore DNA.

This historic hotel invented the chocolate brownie.

The only Bahá'í house of worship in North America and one of only a handful worldwide.

A monument to the art of slicing people open.

Four glass boxes hover over 1,000 feet in the air to give visitors an unparalleled view of Chicago.

This massive stained-glass masterpiece is thought to be the largest Tiffany dome in existence.