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

If a glacial river suddenly diving into a sheer chasm via a dramatic, multi-stage waterfall isn't peak Iceland, it's certainly close.

This valley of hot springs and boiling mud pots is home to the record-holding "Geysir," which originated the English word.

This eye-popping Icelandic crater lake is surrounded by red volcanic rock.

Iceland's "Smoky Valley" is a beautiful river that is shrouded in a constant cover of steam clouds.

This fantastical waterfall is hidden in a cave located in a cracked cliff.

Twisted girders are all that remain of an Icelandic bridge that was wiped out by a combination of volcanic heat and glacial floods.

Two hundred tons of pioneer artifacts were painstakingly recovered from a shipwreck at the bottom of the Missouri River.

Paranormal experiences in this hotel's room 217 led Stephen King to write "The Shining."

A collection of art from Bulgaria's time as a communist state.

A desert ghost town—occupied for only 12 years—was once home to more than 500 silver mines.

Golden cobblestones remember a time when this small alley was used to avoid having to give a Nazi salute.

Daily jousts and dancing barrel makers in Munich's mechanical clock.

This massive stone and steel monument remembers a century-old battle that cost thousands of lives and nearly destroyed the city.

An abandoned saucer-shaped monument in the Bulgarian mountains.

An homage to the medieval rulers of Bulgaria.

A vast Communist-era exhibition space in the Bulgarian capital.

Eastern Bloc nostalgia, anybody?

"Holy Wisdom" overlooks the city that became its namesake.

A Bulgarian monument to Russia's role in World War II is constantly being painted in pop culture protest.

"Unity, Creativity, Beauty."

Sofia's legislative center is continuously reinventing itself.

A striking symbol of the Bulgarian capital.

The small town of Poulsbo in Washington state is the next best thing to the Kingdom of Norway.