"Been There" Virtual Travel Quiz? Round #76
See Round #20 for info about and rules for the contest.
Round #63 won by BKMD
Submitted by Smiling Sam. A woman of one of the Karen tribes which reside in both Myanmar and Thailand. Picture was taken in Chiang May, Thailand on the Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand tour.
Round #64 won by AlanS
Submitted by Portolan. Katzenzungen Castle, home of the 350+ year old vine of Versoaln. Versoaln isn’t just Italy’s oldest vine, it is one of the oldest in the world – and the largest in Europe. Located in Tisens, South Tyrol, it is 350 years old, and its branches form a 300-square-meter pergola. It produces a white wine that goes by the same name as the vine, Versoaln.
Round #65 won by BKMD
Submitted by MCD. The Boboli Gardens of Pitti Palace - Florence Italy. The Abundance, 1608 - 1637, by Sebastiano Salvini - Giambologna - Pietro Tacca. White marble with wheat bouquet of bronze.
Round #66 won by AlanS
Submitted by BKMD. A photo taken during the Israel & Jordan tour a short distance from the Movenpick Resort in Jordan of the window of a small shop. The window display featured a female mannequin wearing a “Burkini,” a full body swimsuit which covers all but face, hands, and feet, and is designed to be worn by Islamic women.
Round #67 won by JohnS
Submitted by Sealord. Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain
Round #68 won by BKMD
Submitted by JohnS. A high drop, “Squatty Potty” at Bhadrapur Airport (BDP) in Bhadrapur, Mechi, Nepal.
Round #69 won by Johns (and BKMD)
Submitted by Kathy M. Folding parking preventer. Zagreb, Croatia. This style is also known as a Wide Arm Fold Down Bollard.
Round #70 won by Smiling Sam
Submitted by BKMD. Isla del Sol, village of Yumani, Bolivia, the Inca Stairs. 12,552'- the stairs add 200 meters in elevation, at the top.
Round #71 won by connorlaker
Submitted by sidecar. It is Toledo, Spain. It is known for being the City of Three Cultures: Christian, Muslin, & Jewish. Also, the sister city of Toledo, Ohio (A few miles from where we live. "Holy Toledo"
Admin. Toledo has an incredible history of conquest. In your free time (is there anything else now? ) read the “short” Wikipedia history of this incredible city
Round #72 won by SueMS (w/a pre-opening PM from Sealord)
Submitted by DavidB from the UK. It is a red Jammer in Glacier National Park. The photo was before our run along the 'Going to the Sun Road’ to Lake Mcdonald lodge. The Red Buses of Glacier were made by the White Motor Company and are Model 706. That is a Dept. of Interior logo in the lower left of the license plate with buffalo in its center.
Round #73 won by Portolan
Submitted by connorlaker. Crawford Market, Mumbai, India. Relief scenes above the entrance arches are all are about gathering food. Photo was taken on Portrait of India trip.
Round #74 won by Kathy M
Submitted by BSP51. She is getting ready to “spin the bull” in Milan’s Vittorio Emanuele Galleria. The bull was shown with big genitals and thought to bring good luck. Men spun around three times with a heel and women touched them to improve fertility. Unfortunately, heels damaged that part of the bull and left a hole. However, the bull still attracts curious and superstitious people.
Round #75 won by JohnS
Submitted by Smiling Sam. The Pöstlingberg, a 1,768 ft high hill on the left bank of the Danube in the city of Linz, Austria. It is a popular tourist destination, with a viewing platform over the city, and is the site of the Pöstlingberg pilgrimage church, and the Linz Grottenbahn. It is reached from the city centre by a tramway. Photos taken on the Berlin, Danube, and Krakow river cruise tour.
Round #76 is officially open. Submit your photo in a reply [Leave a Comment] to this announcement.
Comments
Where?
When did it get here?
How did it get here?
Where - Saint Petersburg
When – 1830
How did it get here - The story of these sphinxes started in 1830 when Andrei Muravyov was going through a pilgrimage in Egypt and saw these sphinxes for sale. He was so impressed with the ancient Egyptian statues that he got in touch with the Russian ambassador and proposed to acquire them.
Supposedly, Russian Emperor Nicholas I deemed the purchase too much. And when everything was finally settled down, the owner had already sold the sphinxes to France. Then the French Revolution happened and Saint Petersburg got the sphinxes that can be seen today in front of the Imperial Academy of Arts.
Is this the Sphinx at the Penn Museum, that arrived in 1924. It was moved to its current location as follows:
The job was to hoist the sphinx out of a second-story window, across a courtyard, and into another window on the other side — without damaging the building or the sphinx. The challenge was put to Brian Houghton, the museum’s building engineer.
“We reached out to rigging companies and they said they have this technology called an air dolly system,” he said. “Essentially, it’s like a glorified hoverboard, like from ‘Back to the Future.’”
The sphinx was placed on four pneumatic pads hooked up to an industrial-sized air compressor. The whole thing floated on a buffer of air, all 13 tons of it literally flying two inches above the ground.
It glided, with many hands guiding, along a 200-foot ramp made of scaffolding, steel beams, and wooden planks inclining up to another window on the other side of the courtyard. A manual winch did the pulling as many hands guided it ever-so-slowly, about a quarter inch per second.
I think the one at the Penn museum is a little more worse for wear, especially in the face- made from softer material? It doesn't have a crown, either. But it sure took a circuitous route, too.
SueMS has got it ... took at least twelve minutes. I know Sue’s real name now ... Wikipedia. (;-)
Another nearby historical relic: Soviet Whiskey Class submarine parked next to Ponant’s Le Soleal.
For those who have not been to Russia on a ship, it is interesting that unlike cruise ships everywhere, instead of getting cleared by immigrations and customs once and then going and coming as you please, in St. Petersburg you have to be cleared every time you leave or return. So you must carry your passport with you at all times.
Show me your paperrrzzzz!!
The last time we went thru the ‘paperrzz’ people there was a young stern KBG type young woman who examined our ‘paperrzz’. No warmth ... no smile. When she was done I leaned over through her window and whispered ... “we love your country”! She burst into a big friendly smile. A memorable moment.