Places rbalevine Wants to Go

Quito's historic, main square dates back to the 16th century.

It took 160 years to complete the most ornate church in Ecuador.

The world's tallest aluminum statue is also the world's tallest image of a winged Virgin Mary.

A turquoise lake within a volcanic crater.

A swing to dangle you off the very edge.

A clear blue swimming hole with hidden caves, still unexplored.

A collection of massive stacked rocks in Texas includes a snarky note on the benefits of modern technology.

Walk along the medieval fortifications that have been protecting Tallinn since the 14th century.

Relics from an era long gone, sit idle outside this Estonian museum.

A trio of giant wooden megaphones turn up nature's volume in this Estonian forest.

Mysterious craters may have been home to an ancient cult.

"There's nothing there," and other lies the KGB told us.

Hundreds of signs pointing to the birthplaces of current Helsinki residents form stalactites on the ceiling of the cave-like Kamppi metro station.

The door to the museum holds a unique artifact from the Finnish Civil War.

A stick-sprouting statue watching a duo of disembodied dancing deities.

If you visit Santa's village, you can get your passport stamped to show you crossed into the Arctic Circle.

The tiny, studious rodents greet visitors to the National Archives of Finland.

This insurance company building reminds customers that witches, bears, and gnomes are out there, best be insured.

Crawling into this primordial cave may feel disconcertingly familiar.

An abstract monument to a symphonic composer.

This irregularly shaped sea fortress has defended not one but three different sovereign states.

This endearingly discomfited urinating statue commemorates the sneaky pees had by us all.

A short but powerful waterfall resides amid Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes.

Everyone remembers Laurie Strode from Halloween, but this is the house where most of the blood was shed.