There’s no place like the Gnome Reserve: Fans of the cheeky lawn ornaments can travel here to see more than 1,000 gnomes and pixies in their natural outdoor habitat. (There are also more than 250 labeled species of wildflowers.)
The Reserve hosts an on-site museum with a collection of antique statues. The dress code? Pointed hats and fishing rods are loaned out to visitors for free, “so you don’t embarrass the gnomes.”
With just two life-size residents, the World’s Biggest Dinosaurs don’t exactly rival Jurassic Park. But if you ever wanted a T. Rex’s-eye-view of California, climb up into Mr. Rex—all four stories—and gaze through his teeth to the world beyond. Mr. Rex’s counterpart is Ms. Dinny, a 150-foot-long, 150-ton model of an Apatosaurus.
Claude K. Bell designed the pair, and since his death in 1988, the World’s Biggest Dinosaurs have been taken over by a religious group who also set up a Creationist museum at the site.
Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand, is home to one of the most photogenic optical illusions in the world: when photos of houses on the street are taken on a specific angle, it creates the illusion that all are sinking. At just 1,150 feet long, Baldwin is at a 19-degree slope and is the Guinness World Record holder of the world’s steepest street.
Still, despite its trick on the eyes and mind, the street may be most famous for the annual Cadbury Jaffa Race, where thousands of colored chocolates are released down the hill to raise money for charity.
St. Mark’s Basilica, known to locals as the Basilica di San Marco, is the crowning jewel of the Piazza San Marco in Venice. The enormous church was completed in the 11th century, and it boasts more than 500 columns, several stunning domes and countless Byzantine mosaics that use gold extensively. Also of note are the bronze Horses of Saint Mark, which date back to antiquity and watch over the basilica’s entrances.
The exterior of the basilica is quite ornate and has been added to over the centuries. Historians note that whenever Venetian vessels returned from the Orient, they brought something for the basilica, be it a frieze, column, or something else from an ancient building elsewhere in the world.
A shining example of Italian Gothic architecture is the Duomo of Orvieto. The 14th century Roman Catholic cathedral was commissioned by Pope Urban IV, but it took nearly three centuries to complete the structure. Today, visitors remark upon the staggering seven stories, the detailed facade and the horizontal stripes of marble used in the construction. Much of the artwork in the Duomo of Orvieto, which depicts apocalyptic stories and tales from Revelation, was done by Luca Signorelli.
This small consecrated oblate once, reportedly in 1263, started to bleed on a cloth, which was held by a priest, who had doubts about transubstantiation. This stained cloth has been preserved in Cathedral up to this day. Spots on the cloth show a profile similar to that of Jesus Christ – one more aspect of this miracle.