The world's first zoo for microbes collecting the horrible and wonderful things living on and around us.

An Amsterdam street lined with antique shops each one dedicated to a different obscure collection.

Gods clash with machines in a power plant regenerated as a museum.

The engineering wonder and pleasure dome of a much-maligned emperor still holds undiscovered secrets.

This ancient market is often referred to as the oldest shopping mall in the world.

2300-year-old Roman road connecting the empire.

Madrid's last horchata kiosk is a blue-and-white beacon of refreshment.

A whimsical museum dedicated to the mischievous kappa, a mythical cucumber-loving water sprite.

Hidden by the roadside in the Iya Valley, this gem brings together folk monsters and the region's unique geography.

The world's longest tunnel with an undersea section.

A 59-ft. robot statue looks over the citizens of earthquake-ravaged Kobe.

The Buddhist temples of Yamadera, built into a mountain side, feature a viewing deck with sweeping views.

The tallest bronze seated statue of the Buddha in Japan.

A rare festival blending religion, blacksmiths, vagina dentata, sex workers, and the straight-up facts of life.

A Japanese cat island also populated by the descendants of a band of banished samurai.

A Japanese corporation has turned this small island town into living modern art gallery.

Shells collected from over a hundred different countries line the walls, floors and ceilings of this fantasy museum.

A plaque marks the site directly below the mid-air detonation of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima.

This isolated Japanese mountain village untouched by time showcases unique and stunning traditional architecture.

Not quite the menace it once was, this monster still has some chops.

A museum on the history of Paris, including a set of Napoleon's toiletries, Proust's room, and relics of the Revolution.

Behind the pink curtain, Au Bonheur du Jour, an art gallery of erotic archives.

Strange masks and obscure costumes are housed in this old Madrid corrala.

For decades, Puerta del Sol has been illuminated by a giant, guitar-wielding bottle of sherry.