Noble beasts perhaps, but not the Emperor's dogs.

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

This concrete tangle of square pipes has stood as a proud thorn in the city's side since the '70s.

These WWII-era murals were initially booed as a libelous portrayal of the American dream but have survived multiple attempts to have them destroyed.

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

9,000 square feet of vintage and modern mechanical toys, dioramas & sideshow curiosities.

Travelers exchange letters with woodland creatures at this mini post office.

Nose around a unique collection of more than 300 natural aromas used to craft perfume fragrances.

The only museum of sake in the United States is nestled in an unlikely California college town.

A shape-shifting buy-sell-trade bookstore, born to Beatnik Era spirit.

Julia Morgan's Moorish-Gothic labyrinth of fountains, trees, natural light and Oakland's notable dead.

Playable, historic pinball machines fill this Alameda museum.

Worker-owned cooperative and resource for those looking to lighten their ecological footprint.

A unique market that brings together various goods and cultures.

An art collective teaching the more fiery, metal-y art forms.

This Oakland fairytale kingdom, fiercely devoted to childlike whimsy, was an early inspiration for Disneyland.

An abandoned convention space that has been left to the homeless and the radical.

Bonsai garden in Oakland is curated by the first non-Japanese female bonsai master in the United States.

With statues of Nelson Mandela and Harvey Milk this monument has been called the Mount Rushmore of California.

Every Sunday, this Thai temple in Berkeley serves a backyard brunch.

This iconic L.A. bookshop is housed in an abandoned bank—both symbolic and chic.

Panorama exhibition hall in old silent theater with a beautiful backyard garden.

An abandoned NSA listening post on Berlin's "Devil's Mountain."

The beautiful baroque library of the Hapsburg empire.