Prone to disastrous fires, the city of San Francisco has the Guardian, a fireboat gifted by residents, to watch over them from the bay.

An historic and oft-filmed spot for musclebound iron pumpers on the Pacific coast.

This ultra-modern California span is actually a titanic solar clock in disguise built by famed architect Santiago Calatrava.

A pair of pure white felines guard the entrance to a spot of California real estate established as an artist's haven.

Concrete strongholds stand guard over the Golden Gate.

Faceless white figures loom over the city from the rooftop.

A giant chess set, minus the psychedelic drug trip.

Every year, over 25,000 monarchs overwinter in Pacific Grove.

From the sky, a kaleidoscope of color brightens the grey landscape of the San Francisco Bay.

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.

A burnt orange monolithic dome structure perched on a hillside near Interstate 280.

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

A still functioning vaudeville carousel that has operated for over a century boasts a colorful menagerie and past.

San Francisco's oldest surviving monument and meeting place for 1906 survivors.

These delicate buggers are some of the rarest fossils that have bubbled up from the Tar Pits.

This scenic Icelandic lava flow is named for a pair of Berserkers who were murdered, according to a famous Saga.

The oldest (maybe) swimming pool in Iceland is a stunning oasis built into the side of a lush hill.

The oldest hall in Iceland was written of in the Sagas and features a centuries-old escape tunnel.

Small Island off the coast of Greenland.

A formerly glacier-tipped volcano that inspired none other than Jules Verne.

This black church sits alone among a field of lava rock.

Walk in the footsteps of the gods and straddle two tectonic plates.

Medicinal spa created with the discharge from a geothermal energy plant.

The most powerful waterfall in all of Europe.