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Ho Rattanachai, Thailand
Ayutthaya Railway Station
Every passenger train in Thailand must stop at Ayutthaya—a mandatory pause at the birthplace of Thai railways since 1897.
From the CommunitySigns
Signs point the way. Or sometimes not. These signs are all a bit... extra.
London, United Kingdom
Elaine’s London
London's Elaine's channels the spirit of NYC's legendary writers' hangout, closed since 2011 after 48 years of celebrity chaos.
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Montauk, New York, United States
White’s Liquors
This neon sign marks where Montauk kids once slurped ice cream sodas, before the White family traded prescriptions for pours.
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Lisbon, Portugal
Santa Apolónia Train Station
Once called both 'Wharf of America' and 'Wharf of Europe,' this 1865 station transferred European rail passengers to Atlantic ships.
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Castelnuovo Nigra, Italy
Restaurant L’Etoile de la Vallé
Four years old and already rusting in the shadow of a Sleeping Beauty.
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Granard, Ireland
Granard Farmers Mart
This farmer-owned mart has weathered every crisis since 1970, selling over 25,000 cattle yearly on the same Monday-Wednesday schedule.
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Harrogate, United Kingdom
Harrogate Tap
The only part of an 1862 station that survived demolition now causes passengers to miss their trains on purpose.
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Manchester, United Kingdom
The Peveril of the Peak
The landlady ran this pub for fifty years, retiring at 93 after keeping Manchester's last detached pub alive.
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Lakeside, Colorado, United States
Lakeside Amusement Park
To sell beer at his amusement park, a Denver brewer incorporated his own town: population 16, with its own police force.
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Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
The Cab Phone @ Aloha Tower
This lei-wrapped phone near Aloha Tower connects directly to a cab dispatcher—no coins, no dialing, just pick up and go.
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Ogland, Kazakhstan
Beket Ata Underground Mosque
This 18th-century underground mosque carved into desert rock may have doubled as an astronomical observatory.
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London, United Kingdom
Lacy Gallery / Pippa Small
A frame dealer's son and an anthropologist-turned-jeweler hold down neighboring pink and yellow shopfronts on Westbourne Grove.
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Monterey, California, United States
Monterey Canning Co
At its peak, Cannery Row processed 250,000 tons of sardines a year. Then the fish vanished - and only one marine biologist knew why.
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Wengen, Switzerland
Hotel Bellevue des Alpes
A family-run hotel since 1840, accessible only by train, with a front-row view of the "murder wall" that's claimed 64 lives.
AWA visted here
Broc, Switzerland
Maison Cailler
This 1898 chocolate factory powered an entire Swiss village: its hydroelectric plant brought electricity to Broc in 1899. What a uniquely sweet history!
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New York, New York, United States
New Yorker Hotel
NBC broadcast live big band performances from here nightly during the Depression.
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New York, New York, United States
Domino Sugar Refinery
At its peak, this factory refined 98% of all sugar consumed in the United States.
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Ioannina, Greece
Stoa Liampei
A covered arcade rebuilt in stone and iron after fire leveled half the city's shops in the 1800s now hosts modern day shops.
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Cabo Pulmo, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Cabo Pulmo EcoAdventures
This fishing village gave up fishing in 1995. Now it has the largest fish biomass recovery ever recorded in a marine reserve.
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Superior, Arizona, United States
Superior Climbing Shack
A former copper mining town reinvents itself one climbing route at a time, with 1,000 sport climbs replacing underground shafts.
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Alnwick, United Kingdom
Alnwick Gardens
Behind skull-marked gates, gardeners in hazmat suits tend belladonna and hemlock. Oh, and 20 to 30 visitors faint from the fumes every year.
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Freeport, Maine, United States
Desert of Maine
A dinner-plate-sized patch of sand grew to swallow forty acres, buildings, and all.
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Geneva, Switzerland
Bijouterie CD I Love You
A jewelry store in Geneva’s neighborhood where love is the local specialty.
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Cedar Grove, Tennessee, United States
101 Travel Stop
This Tenneesee travel stop's first digits are the only ten we see...
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Brooklyn, New York, United States
Metropolitan Fish Market
Old-school. Cash-only. Preferably quarters.
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Portland, Oregon, United States
Oaks Park Roller Skating Rink
Roller skating to the sound of a live pipe organ? Only in Portland.
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Kraków, Poland
O. Weinfeld Farby Lakiery
This century-old ghost sign in Kraków offers a rare glimpse into pre-war Jewish life and entrepreneurship.
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Florence, Italy
Wine Window
These pocket-sized portals were designed to distribute vino, one glass at a time.
AWA visted here
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Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard
Northernmost
Ny-Ålesund, populated by a few dozen people, is the world’s northernmost permanent settlement.
Svalbard, Svalbard
Where Polar Bears Apply
Polar bears are collectively referred to as an “aurora” or as a “celebration”—until you find yourself face-to-face with one.
Sisimiut and Ilulissat, Greenland
Greenland Airports
Flights to Greenland are rarely taken on a whim, so visitors are likely aware that they’ve signed up to arrive at the edge of the world.
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Slope Point, New Zealand
Slope Point
This signpost offers the precise distance to the South Pole and the Equator, reminding travelers that there’s always room to limbo lower.
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Dungog Shire, Australia
Dungog Shire Council
Playful cow-related imagery is prevalent in the area and can likely even be found on the bulletin board of the light, dung-hued brick council office.
Waco, Texas, United States
Dr Pepper Museum
The oldest major soft drink in the US of A.
AWA visted here
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