Places G Pike Wants to Go

A crumbling monument to a now locally-extinct sport in Bulgaria's oldest ski resort.

The Bulgarian royal family exclusively used this ornate, now-abandoned train station.

This fifth-century church is one of the oldest Christian sites in the Balkans.

A supersonic jet stands on a pedestal in this rural village as a monument to military aviation.

Massive, unfinished broadcasting station stands as a monument to the fall of communism.

A massive cave once a secret military base is now home to thousands of bats.

One of the largest mines in Bulgaria is now home to a vast museum more than 100 feet underground.

The Grand Mall in Varna hosts one of the biggest collections of Soviet-era paraphernalia in Bulgaria.

These cascading falls resonate throughout the Bulgarian forest.

A gigantic statue of a Russian soldier watches over the ancient city of Plovdiv, a prominent reminder of the Soviet period in Bulgaria.

This ancient theater, restored in the 20th century, lives on as a venue for dramatic and musical performances.

A spectacular Bulgarian cave resembling a devil's head with a waterfall rushing down its throat.

A striking symbol of the Bulgarian capital.

The ceiling of Prohodna Cave in northern Bulgaria affords a peek at the sky via two deity-sized-eye-shaped holes.

This historic black and white monastery is one of Bulgaria's architectural jewels.

An abandoned saucer-shaped monument in the Bulgarian mountains.

Carefully reconstructed after the Bosnian War, this 16th-century bridge stands as a symbol of the country's enduring multicultural heritage.

Celebrated example of Ottoman architecture that also served as a site for brutal massacres.

This historic timepiece is thought to be the only public clock in the world that keeps lunar time.

This ironic war memorial thumbs its nose at a campaign of inedible humanitarian aid food products.

A bridge destroyed three times: once as a ruse, then in an actual attack, and finally for the movies.

This abandoned airplane hanger is said to have once been a top secret launch facility.

The haunting ruins of a military fortress turned astronomical observatory sit on a Sarajevo mountaintop.

There's a mini version of Iguazu Falls hidden in the Balkans, and it's got a rope swing.