The picturesque birthplace of Icelandic democracy is drenched in the blood of its brutal past.

This North Korean pegasus statue was built as a symbol of the speed and perseverance of North Korean workers.

A toweringly silly piece of modern art has been delighting locals since the 1980s.

20,000 pieces in a Frank Gehry-designed building.

A 11-foot former president stands on a Kosovo street that also bears his name.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

One woman's Viking Castle on Lake Tahoe.

Bits and pieces from the ill-fated Donner Party's winter cabins.

NASA's leading space science lab started by a co-founder with deep ties to the occult.

The private clubhouse for the members of the Academy of Magical Arts.

In a city filled with Frank Gehry buildings, one stands out as one of the architect's weirder works.

World-famous, Pink's still manages to keep its prized cult fetish status.

After starting as a whimsical tourist attraction that eventually found its way to ruin, these renovated canals offer a lush and exotic locale on the Pacific Coast.

Once strictly off-limits, this lower level housing curious and priceless vehicles of the Petersen Automotive Museum is now open to the public.

Sports history, made in the Arroyo Seco.

An extraordinary final resting place full of oversized art, amazing statues, and dead celebrities.

A giant donut stands as a popular symbol of Los Angeles iconography.

A multimedia experience that chronicles the atrocities of racism.

An historic and oft-filmed spot for musclebound iron pumpers on the Pacific coast.

A Looff creation in Santa Monica best described as “a California-Byzantine-Moorish-style fantasy.”

A second generation sun-powered marvel lights up the night.

Come crisp December nights, this fairly plain neighborhood becomes a holiday dream world.

A glittering South Asian anomaly in a wealthy Los Angeles suburb.

A Beaux-Arts triumph rises from decades of decay to become the heart of a new innovation district.