A guarded history, exposed

The Cold War once dominated the nightly news. It divided continents and literally cut cities in half. Though a few remaining stalemates remain — on the Korean Peninsula for example — the tense standoff between nuclear powers basically ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Sections of that famous barrier remain, but the non-shooting war between communism and democracy, between the U.S. and the USSR, is remembered now through history books, museums, movies and television shows.

You can also see replicas of Cold-war sites (like this copy of Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin), though, and many relics from this important part of recent history are hidden in plain sight in Europe, North America and the Far East.

Here are several places where you can see remnants of the Cold War and perhaps, learn a little history while you're there.