Floating man-made island and upscale restaurant.

Art from the latest counter-culture; kids who dye their hair blue and believe the future will be a post-apocalyptic water world.

San Francisco's oldest operating hotel, with a Victorian atmosphere and a "haunted" fourth floor.

A mysterious painting of the self-declared Emperor of the United States watches over a local hof-brau.

A walk down memory lane in the heart of one of San Francisco's most notorious neighborhoods.

The randomness of this wall of lava lamps helps encrypt up to 10 percent of the internet.

Home of modern dancer famously strangled by her own scarf.

Only hotel where you can legally launder money.

In this century-old literary safehouse, print is alive and well.

A library built during San Francisco's pioneer times is a student's retreat, bibliophile's sanctuary, and chess player's delight.

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

A shining, cold, black organ lies in San Francisco's financial district.

Tiki luxury on Nob Hill.

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

An art supply shop holds the secrets of this quiet neighborhood's raucous Barbary Coast past.

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

An artsy hidden staircase leads to breathtaking views of San Francisco.

An Italian hillside ghost town.

Southern Italy's spinning top village.

Four bald cypress trees in Lafayette Square, across from the White House, mark the southern edge of a 100,000 year old cypress swamp.

A small token of gratitude from freezing cold journalists who were given a warm haven while covering JFK's inauguration.

A diminutive memorial marks the site of a successful assassination by a right-wing death squad in America's capital.

Behind an abandoned storefront is an example of pioneering 1930s gas station architecture.

There's a crumbling old mansion inside the Smithsonian National Zoo.