michaelsballard's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Leaderboard Highlights
michaelsballard's activity rankings
1st
Places visited in Chattanooga, Tennessee
1st
Places added to Caribbean Netherlands
1st
Places visited in Hegra, Saudi Arabia
2nd
Places visited in Antigua and Barbuda
2nd
Places edited in Antigua, Guatemala
3rd
Places visited in Caribbean Netherlands
3rd
Places added to Oman
3rd
Places visited in Algiers, Algeria
4th
Places visited in St. Augustine, Florida
Loading map...
Brașov, Romania

Biserica Neagră (The Black Church)

A fire once nearly devoured this gorgeous 14th-century Gothic cathedral.
Bran, Romania

Bran Castle

The possible imprisonment of Vlad the Impaler here earned the medieval castle its nickname, "Dracula's Castle."
Tirana, Albania

Tirana's Colorful Facade

What happens when you cross a mayor and a painter?
Elbasan County, Albania

Bunkers of Albania

Hundreds of thousands of concrete bunkers crowd Albania long after the fall of Communism.
Padua, Italy

Prato della Valle

One of the largest squares in Europe contains an entire artificial island.
Padua, Italy

Padua Astronomical Clock

One of the world's oldest working clocks is curiously missing the Zodiac sign of Libra.
Padua, Italy

Botanical Garden of Padua - Orto botanico di Padova

The oldest botanical garden in the world that technically isn't the oldest.
Foz do Iguaçu, Argentina

Iguazu Falls

A series of waterfalls so massive they straddle the border of Argentina and Brazil.
Presidente Franco, Paraguay

Salto del Monday

An underexplored, 130-foot tropical waterfall that you will have all to yourself.
Mexico City, Mexico

Casa Gilardi

The last home designed in its entirety by noted architect Luis Barragán owes its existence to an impressive jacaranda tree.
Mexico City, Mexico

SCOP Center

Murals made with millions of colorful stones adorn the abandoned building.
Mexico City, Mexico

Centro de Cultura Digital

Beneath the most controversial monument in Mexico City is a cultural center that exhibits only digital art.
Mexico City, Mexico

UNAM Botanical Garden

These biodiverse university gardens form a green oasis amid the urban chaos of Mexico City.
Mexico City, Mexico

Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo House Studio Museum

The famous artist couple lived and worked here, in two different houses separated by a bridge.
Sydney, Australia

Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney

Come for the flowers, stay for the bats!
Brisbane, Australia

Streets Beach

Brisbane's manmade urban beach has enough water to fill five Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Nahr El Kalb, Lebanon

Stelae of Nahr el-Kalb

In a narrow river valley just north of Beirut, Lebanon, is a chronicle of human history unlike anything else in the world.
Busra, Syria

Black Amphitheater of Bosra

One of the world's best-preserved Roman amphitheaters is also one of the most unusual; it's made of black volcanic rock.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial

America's smallest national park site is the former residence of exiled Polish national hero Thaddeus Kosciuszko.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Ben Franklin Bridge Pedestrian Tunnel Mural

One of Philadelphia's largest murals resides hidden under this bridge.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

First Bank of the United States

Alexander Hamilton’s creation caused quite a bit of controversy.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philbert the Pig

This beloved marketplace mascot poops money and grants good luck.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Swann Memorial Fountain

A tour de force of a fountain, memorializing a man who loved fountains more than anything else.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Foucault Pendulum at the Franklin Institute

A daily replay of the experiment that proved the rotation of the Earth.