Cold war icon and onetime "hole" in the iron curtain.

Reminders of the Battle of Berlin still scar the railway.

One of downtown Berlin's last reminders of its Communist past.

Once the tallest building in the world, this abandoned church is now a monument to the destruction of WWII.

A wunderkammer of exoticism immortalized by Tom Waits.

Hamburg's first legal sex work is relegated to a gated street that still does not allow pedestrian women.

Hamburgers are intensely proud of their tunnel beneath the river.

Some 80,000 Delft Blue tiles line the inside of this Amsterdam walkway.

A Dutch clog company in the town of Zaandam loves the wooden shoes so much it made a museum for them.

The portrait of a man from Japan who sent weekly letters to a Dutch hotel he never visited.

An Amsterdam street lined with antique shops each one dedicated to a different obscure collection.

This gorgeous reading room houses the oldest and largest art history library in the Netherlands.

The facade of this bank has changed little over the centuries, including its unique welcome sign.

An ancient passage filled with stalls selling used books, once frequented by Vincent Van Gogh.

Three connected pink triangles memorialize persecuted gays and lesbians throughout history.

A public urinal so pretty, it was declared a national monument.

Europe's official "zero-level," the equator of elevation.

Rare wooden escalators lead deep down into an otherwise staggeringly monotonous tiled tunnel.

This heavily worn bas-relief was once an honored fertility symbol.

Hidden along this old street in Antwerp is a surreal monument of a bronze arm sprouting four hands.

An open-air sewer system that was covered piece-by-piece over 300 years.

This interactive sculpture allows visitors to leave a message in case a friend passes by.

This legendary giant, born from vegetables, terrorized townspeople and cheated local children in games.

A man throwing a giant severed hand towers over Antwerp’s main square.