Two stone columns flank the grand Venice square, but there were supposed to be three.

Thousand-year-old Viking runes adorn an ancient Greek lion at the entrance to the Venetian Arsenal.

An extensive collection of reliquaries containing the bones of saints housed in the largest Catholic church in Venice.

Go inside to really appreciate this 500-year-old technological masterpiece.

One of the oldest libraries in the world is still operating and contains the oldest existing document in the Italian language.

Atop the former site of a historic bakery sit two stone tributes to Verona's contribution to traditional Italian baking.

A whale rib was used to advertise the store by the arch that offered exotic goods from far away.

Pilgrimage site for star-crossed lovers.

This Venice bookstore has resigned itself to constant flooding by keeping its books in bathtubs and boats.

A cobblestone alley with an interesting past.

Celebrating the transformation of trash into objects of beauty.

The dramatic upward-curving roof is one of the most iconic examples of Googie architecture that still stands today.

Offering commanding views of the California coastline, this restaurant was a hub for the artists and bohemians of Big Sur.

Remains of a Greek freighter trapped off of Rocky Point in 1961.

Version of the French Riviera destroyed by the sea.

Outposts of this restaurant chain were shaped like jaunty chapeaus.

A large sculptural artwork and garden in Escondido, California.

This temple, built by an eccentric religious leader before his death, sits guarded and in ruins.

A sudden forest of traditional Papua New Guinean art works is hidden in a corner of Stanford University.

The oldest continuously operating church in California.

A charming desert roadside bakery that produces 10 times more bread daily than it has residents in its town.

Burping, gurgling geothermal mud pots by the Salton Sea.

This diner's a kitschy dreamland for anyone whose heart is stuck in the 1980s.

This one-block alleyway is stuffed with street art that is colorful, cultural, and intensely political.