Elaborately carved to showcase the glorious wealth that the age of exploration brought to the Portuguese empire.

A king's pet, a pope's gift, an artist's inspiration, and a tragic shipwreck.

The ruins of a town wiped out by the second-largest earthquake in recorded history.

This Industrial Age architectural and engineering gem helps visitors and residents alike traverse Lisbon, “The City of Seven Hills.”

A fantastical 13th-century fortification sandwiched by a modern hotel in central Brussels.

This modern arts center is built around a gem of late-Baroque architecture.

Cozy basement bar sports an inventory of over 2,000 beers.

A shining memorial to a Belgian hero is said to bring luck to anyone who touches it.

A little sculpture with a large wardrobe.

Meet the bronze beloved pet to a family of famous peeing statues.

On East Burnside, a 24-hour vending machine distributes world-class pastries.

This sandstone mansion was the home of two of Oregon's most important pioneers.

Portlandia is the second-largest copper repoussé statue in the United States.

This public art piece proves that in Portland even reporting the weather is a thing of whimsy.

A 130-year-old urinal is the oldest of Stockholm and perhaps all of Sweden.

The remains of Alfred Nobel's first nitroglycerine factory can still be found on the shores of a Swedish bay.

Now a hotel, this former bank was the site of a robbery that spawned a psychological phenomenon.

The library's graceful rotunda is like a bibliophile's temple.

Small Easter eggs are hidden in the ventilation holes of the city's newest trains.

Manhattan’s Battery Park has a whimsical carousel full of spinning, glowing fish.

A community of artists and entrepreneurs seeks a simpler life on London's waterways.

An ancient octagonal weather station named for the eight Greek gods of wind.

This mystical orb covered in strange symbols is thought to have been used in ancient Greek magical rituals.

150 or so scrounged-up lamps, chandeliers, and lanterns light up this alley in central Athens.