A local dialect born in the late 19th century is only spoken in this isolated California valley.

Seven ceramic sculptures are scattered around this California college campus.

A massive ultra-modern church presents a science-fiction view of Catholicism's inclusive future.

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

A classically inspired temple in Redwood City.

A Roman-inspired temple once controlled half of San Francisco's waters.

One of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World holds the world's tallest metal staircase.

A modern day curiosity cabinet.

It should come as no surprise that the world's largest artichoke lies in the town that calls itself the "Artichoke Center of the World."

A house built from trash known as the poor man's Hearst Castle.

This stretch of beach along California's central coast is a busy highway for the largest seal in the northern hemisphere.

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

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

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.

A man-made island in scenic San Francisco Bay.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

Once the tallest building in the world and the site of "the highest dinner ever held in New York" this building now holds the most expensive penthouse in the city.

This historic address is home to the beloved ball and is an almost totally empty building among the most expensive real estate in the world.

Statue of Lenin, from Cold War era Czechoslovakia, now in a neighborhood of Seattle.

Ancient ruins hidden underneath a modern luxury hotel.

More sculpture than building, this architecturally significant temple was built on the spot of Saint Peter's crucifixion.

Spanish architects used seized Muslim gravestones to rebuild parts of the fortress.

Single runway interrupted by a busy road that cuts across its middle.

The Pope’s secret escape route.