mikereali's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
London, England

The Mail Rail

Hidden beneath the streets of London is a secret subway that only carried mail.
London, England

Word on the Water

This 1920s Dutch barge is now a floating bookstore.
London, England

Grant Museum of Zoology

The only university zoological museum in London houses extinct animals, bizarre natural history specimens, and a Micrarium of microscopic creatures.
London, England

Natural History Museum of London

Eighty million natural history specimens call this gargantuan museum home.
London, England

Cecil Court

A charming 17th-century alley is lined with secondhand bookstores and antiquarian shops.
London, England

The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Natural History

This shop and gallery is a modern-day cabinet of curiosities, unassumingly positioned along an urban thoroughfare.
Oxford, England

The Headington Shark

A 26-foot shark sculpture—a statement about bombs—set off a municipal battle royale.
Oxford, England

Majapahit Piggy Bank

A rare specimen of the ancient piggy bank of Java resides in one of the unassuming corners of the Ashmolean.
Oxford, England

Martyr's Mark

The spot where three Protestant clergymen were burned at the stake during the reign of "Bloody Mary."
Oxford, England

Oxford Museum of Natural History

Home to the most complete dodo remains known - one head, and one foot.
Oxford, England

Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology

Used as an example in one of the first dictionary entries for "museum" in 1706.
Oxford, England

Pitt Rivers Museum

Ancient Egyptian wigs, South American feather headdresses, a bounty of anthropological artifacts in Oxford.
Chicago, Illinois

World Artifacts on the Tribune Tower Walls

Fragments of architectural wonders from around the globe are embedded in the newspaper building's walls.
Atlantic City, New Jersey

Chef Vola's

If it feels like a speakeasy, that’s because it probably was one.
Chester, Pennsylvania

William Penn Landing Site

Surrounded by industrial sprawl, a small monument marks the site of William Penn's first landing in Pennsylvania.
Afton, Virginia

Crozet Tunnel

A railroad tunnel that, upon its completion, was considered one of the engineering marvels of the modern world.
Fredericksburg, Virginia

Abandoned Virginia Renaissance Faire

The remains of a failed attempt at medieval nerdery are hidden deep in the woods of Virginia.
Arlington, Virginia

Rosslyn Metro Escalator

At 207 feet, one of the world's longest continuous escalators.
Saltville, Virginia

Great Channels of Virginia

This maze-like slot canyon is a unique gem within an already fascinating geological area.
Tabernacle, New Jersey

Emilio Carranza Memorial

Rising out of a clearing in New Jersey's Pine Barrens is an Aztec-inspired monument to the "Lindbergh of Mexico."
Shamong, New Jersey

Mighty Joe the Gorilla

This 25-foot-tall gorilla made his way from the Wildwood boardwalk to a Pine Barrens gas station and deli.
Newfield, New Jersey

Matchbox Road Museum

Thousands of Matchbox cars spanning generations call this New Jersey barn home.
Hammonton, New Jersey

Amatol Ghost Town

In the woods of New Jersey lie the ruins of a munitions village abandoned after World War I and the remnants of a 1920s wooden racetrack.
Vienna, Austria

Gasometer Town

Apartment complexes built into huge repurposed natural gas tanks.