A lonely Gondola stuck on a traffic circle sits in a spot where it once would have floated down the Grand Canal.

60 feet of towering steel balances gracefully.

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

Legendary frontman of the Doors looms in this giant mural by famed Venice muralist, Rip Cronk.

Magical-looking cottages that inspired one of the most famous animated films ever.

Apartment building was once posh playground to the Hollywood elite.

An increasingly eccentric apartment building, topped with winged beasties.

The oldest standing structure in downtown San Diego.

On a quiet suburban street stands a peculiarly decorated house covered in mosaics.

This one-block alleyway is stuffed with street art that is colorful, cultural, and intensely political.

An elaborate gift from Claus Spreckels is now a piece of San Francisco history.

Amazing meticulous gardens of personal wood carvings, Hydrangea, Canna, and many other flowers.

Since 1973, this block has been home to the most concentrated collection of murals in San Francisco.

Faceless white figures loom over the city from the rooftop.

San Francisco's oldest surviving monument and meeting place for 1906 survivors.

A Barbary Coast watering hole built into a Gold Rush shipwreck.

The oldest burial ground in the city, final resting place of city founders, Ohlone natives and murderers alike.

A psychedelic labyrinth on the San Francisco bay.

A tiny theater hidden in an alley plays a constant stream of short silent films for anyone willing to peer through the peephole.

The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.

A surreal, Gaudi-inspired play space near an Anaheim community center.

The neighborhood shop is a sort of tiny cactus museum full of exotic specimens you can take home.

One of the largest trees of its kind in California.

This historic graveyard was partially paved over to create a streetcar line.