Off the clock

Fun fact: Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined. Over 60 percent of all the lakes on Earth are in Canada. Let that sink in.

Cairo

Fun fact: The Great Pyramid of Giza was the tallest man-made structure on Earth for over 3,800 years. Nothing else even came close until Lincoln Cathedral in 1311.

Paris

Fun fact: France is the most visited country in the world, receiving more tourists annually than it has citizens. Over 90 million visitors a year. The brand is that strong.

Athens

Fun fact: Greece has more archaeological museums than any other country in the world. Democracy, philosophy, the Olympics, and the gyro. The world owes Greece more than it acknowledges.

Fun fact: Kenya has the largest mobile money ecosystem in the world. M-Pesa processes more transactions annually than PayPal. The innovation happened not because of Silicon Valley, but in spite of it.

Fun fact: About a third of the Netherlands sits below sea level. The Dutch did not just adapt to water; they engineered their way out of it. The entire country is a masterclass in infrastructure stubbornness.

Fun fact: The Panama Canal saves ships an 8,000-mile trip around South America. It handles about 5 percent of all world trade. One of engineering's greatest achievements, and you can watch it work from a balcony.

Kigali

Fun fact: Rwanda banned single-use plastic bags in 2008, over a decade before most European countries even discussed it. Kigali is consistently ranked the cleanest city in Africa.

Singapore

Fun fact: Singapore is one of only three surviving city-states in the world. It went from third-world to first-world in one generation. The efficiency is not accidental; it is engineered.

Geneva

Fun fact: Switzerland has more banks than dentists. The country is also home to CERN, where the World Wide Web was invented. Not bad for a country smaller than New Jersey.

Fun fact: Tanzania has the highest point in Africa (Kilimanjaro at 5,895m) and borders the deepest lake in Africa (Lake Tanganyika at 1,470m deep). The country spans extremes.

Fun fact: Uganda is home to over half of the world's remaining mountain gorilla population. The source of the Nile is at Jinja, which also happens to be one of the best white-water rafting spots on Earth.