Places JBecks Wants to Go

A 16th-century Andalusian palace.

This former charity hospital for elderly clergy houses some of Seville’s most treasured paintings.

The little church's beautifully frescoed ceiling has earned it the nickname “the Sistine Chapel of Madrid.”

A whimsical brother of the nearby Fallen Angel statue takes the falling part quite literally.

Commonly acknowledged as the only public monument to the Devil himself.

Once the main gateway to Tokyo, sneaking through this checkpoint was a capital offense in feudal times.

The cutest shrine in Kyoto is dedicated to bunnies.

1,001 carved statues of the Buddhist God of Mercy, each with a unique face.

Blowtorches, tuna, and a jolly, chain-smoking proprietor mark this beloved street-food stand.

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

An eerie reminder to the horrors of World War II.

In 806, Kobo Daishi began meditating on Mount Misen. The Buddhist monk lit this holy fire, which has been kept burning for 1,200 years.

A shining sculpture made of 3,115 lights, the number of visible stars in the Northern Hemisphere.

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

A gorgeous garden oasis with winding paths, stone bridges, and a troubling history.

An amazing stag sculpture constructed entirely of discarded materials.

One part antique store, one part curiosities hodge-podge.

This unique structure in suburban Austin is made up entirely of other people's castaways, and constantly changing.

A small and quirky museum hidden inside a fence.

A bronze kitty adorns the grave of the polar explorer who brought the original feline to the Antarctic.

A lakeside garden in the Southern Alps full of whimsical artwork and thousands of beautiful flowers.

This strange geological landscape erupts with sudden bursts of water.

A Maori village obliterated by an 1886 volcanic eruption.

This electric green sulphur lake in New Zealand looks like a cartoonish radioactive dump site.