Mrs. Mallard and her brood are a beloved fixture in Boston Public Garden.

Ice cream stand, snack bar, and time capsule of milk conveyance.

Berthed at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, "Old Ironsides" is the oldest commissioned warship still afloat.

The oldest Italian café in Boston, this spot also serves as a veritable museum of vintage coffee ephemera.

One of Catholicism's four major basilicas has a series of papal portraits that are said to predict the end of the world.

Roman-era ships unearthed...

This hidden Art Nouveau courtyard is an opulent feast for the eyes.

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

This ritzy Italian market is built around a statue of an unforgiven heretic who was burned for his belief in an endless universe.

Installed in an act of one-upsmanship, the annual sundial in this church is also a symbolic victory for the Gregorian calendar.

One of several skulls claiming to belong to the beheaded St. John the Baptist is on display at this Roman church.

A Nesting Doll of Churches.

The yawning maw of this pagan visage is said to bite off the hands of liars.

A master of trompe-l'oeil creates a stunning, tourist-fooling dome out of a flat ceiling.

Architectureal fantasy quarter of Rome.

An alchemist's "magic door" stands in the middle of a Roman park.

Hundreds of lucky felines haunt the ruins where Caesar was murdered.

This German museum devoted to the simple wonders of salt is actually built over an old saltworks.

This German fountain of a legendary apple wine-loving drink thief will spit on you.

This small town in Germany was once a center of peppermint production, and has the museum to prove it.

This futuristic German television spire is actually the world's largest digital clock.

Böttcherstraße's bells, extolling Nordic virtues and the great conquerors of the world.

From Ancient Rome to WWII, Neupfarrplatz has over 2,000 years of history underneath its main square.

Twisted buildings adorn the banks of the Rhine river.