Google Earth: Identify the city

[Louis VI the Fat]

With some exceptions, that type of city can only be found in two countries. Judging by the neatness and compactes, it's the northern one of the two.
I found the place, it starts with a 'G', but I'll let others try for it.

Edit: Argh! Why do people keep beating me to it!? I need to learn to type faster!

[Stig]

Aye Sigurd got it, it's the city I live in

[Sigurd]

you snooze you loose as they say...

here is a nut:
https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/asleka/entry10.jpg

[Louis VI the Fat]

It looks like it's somewhere in Oz. I can't make out any distinguishing features, it looks like a plain large-city suburb. In effect, like 98% of Australia.

Let me try a lucky guess: Brisbane.

[Sigurd]

It looks like it's somewhere in Oz. I can't make out any distinguishing features, it looks like a plain large-city suburb. In effect, like 98% of Australia.

Let me try a lucky guess: Brisbane.
Not so lucky M8...

I will help you along here and say: you are on the wrong continent.

[sapi]

First thought that struck me was europe (probably eastern, maybe greece) but I'm really not sure..

[Sigurd]

First thought that struck me was europe (probably eastern, maybe greece) but I'm really not sure..
Fishing for clues eh?

Alright... this city was destroyed by an earthquake.

[KukriKhan]

this city was destroyed by an earthquake.


+not Oz

Hmmm.
San Francisco. No
Concepcion, Chile. No
Lisbon, Uh uh.
Pompei, No.

L00king. :)

Messina. Negative.
Bam, Iran. ix-nay.
Calabria, Italy. No.
Quetta, Pakistan. No

Ah-HAH!

Suffering several earthquakes in the 19th & 20th centuries, most recently in 1972, Dec. 22, Managua, Nicaragua: earthquake devastated city center, leaving up to 6,000 dead (10,000 by some reports). They haven't rebuilt the city center, instead spreading out, which is why the image looks so "suburban", as noted by Louis.

That was a 'nut', Sigurd F.... nice selection. :bow:

[Sigurd]

+not Oz

Hmmm.
San Francisco. No
Concepcion, Chile. No
Lisbon, Uh uh.
Pompei, No.

L00king. :)

Messina. Negative.
Bam, Iran. ix-nay.
Calabria, Italy. No.
Quetta, Pakistan. No

Ah-HAH!

Suffering several earthquakes in the 19th & 20th centuries, most recently in 1972, Dec. 22, Managua, Nicaragua: earthquake devastated city center, leaving up to 6,000 dead (10,000 by some reports). They haven't rebuilt the city center, instead spreading out, which is why the image looks so "suburban", as noted by Louis.

That was a 'nut', Sigurd F.... nice selection. :bow:

Correct!!!

Damn, you people are getting good.

[KukriKhan]

Correct!!!

Damn, you people are getting good.

Slo-o-owly learning from the Masters. :bow:

Next up, I was intrigued by the pattern here:

https://jimcee.homestead.com/25.jpg

I cut out more than usual from the image (the white block at bottom), as the source may have given it away too soon.

[KukriKhan]

Hint: location is not in Asia, Australia or Africa.

[Louis VI the Fat]

In case you are wondering: yes, we are still playing.

My only thought is that it is a military headquarters or some such. Maybe a university. If I had to guess I'd say Germany, the UK, that direction.
But I wouldn't even know what to call that....thing. Googling "oddly shaped set of buildings" probably wouldn't yield any results. And the earth is too big to GoogleMap for it hoping to get lucky.


We are pwnd. ~:mecry:

[KukriKhan]

Ahhh, more perspective, then. We'll zoom out about 20K feet:

https://jimcee.homestead.com/33.JPG

[Louis VI the Fat]

Ah, now it looks distinctly French....:idea2:

[Louis VI the Fat]

It's not a military installation, it's a prison. :wall: :furious3:

The prison is the prison de Fleury-Mérogis. It's in l'Essonne, a department to the south of Paris.

[KukriKhan]

Fleury-Mérogis is correct! I found it when backing out of your Versailles pick. To be honest, I didn't know what it was either - I had to click the place-name and google it to find out. Fascinating bit of architecture from the air.

Take it away Louis VI the Fat!

[Louis VI the Fat]

https://img442.imageshack.us/img442/6076/bigkingsanctapi5.jpg

[KukriKhan]

It's laid out like a university or college campus in the middle of a large city (a 6-lane street below & 4-lane boulevard at top, both well-travelled by individual autos). Busses or large trucks in the interior. The larger round building looks like a planetarium or theater, the 2 smaller round buildings = ?.

The green-topped buildings suggest copper roofing, found in the eastern US & Europe. Looks like afternoon sun, the shadows leaning eastward - yet the sun isn't particularly bright, ruling out west-coast US and most of Oz.

Are we looking at Europe or eastern US?

[Sigurd]

Let me add to Kukri's observations,
It seems the traffic is right oriented ruling out the british isles, Oz/NewZ and Japan.
there is a truck turning into the campus north in the picture... Its windshield is turned towards campus. Yep right hand side for traffic.

Two tennis courts to the north east... some ventilation systems on the roofs of the buildings East, South-East.
This screams East coast US to me.

[KukriKhan]

I tried out some of the big uni names in east US without exact matches: Princeton, Yale, Harvard, MIT & Georgetown.

Off to look at eastern Canadian uni's, on a side-bet.

[Sigurd]

hah... Louis tricked us with the sun... it is actually a midday sun... and the picture is tilted eastward making North actually West - North West. The reason the sun is so weak is because it is autumn. If you look closely some of the vegitation has coulours other than green. This also explains the low midday sun.

I also noticed that a substantial number of the cars in those two streets have a yellowy colour.
Anyone but Kukri making a bet?

[KukriKhan]

Looking at campues in Quebec & Ontario didn't pan out.

You know what's beginning to bug me? Parking. There's none for over 22 buildings, some of which look to be at least 4 stories high, enough room to accomodate about 4,000 people at any given time. But how do they get there or leave? Those busses/trucks?

Maybe Louis is doing a pay-back, showing a prison complex, not a uni. Just speculating.

Still, I'll be extremely surprised if this anywhere but eastern US.

Still l00king. :)

-------------------------------------------

GAH! I feel like it's right under my nose, but can't see it; I must beg a tiny clue, please.

[Louis VI the Fat]

More clues?

My clues are that you (Kukri) and Sigurd are mostly spot-on. Up is more or less West - North West in the picture. Many cars in those two streets have a yellowy colour. Few parking spaces suggest other modes of transport are common in this place...

I think that Sigurd may have found it, but is holding back...

[KukriKhan]

I think that Sigurd may have found it, but is holding back...

I sure hope not.

Just knowing we were "warm", not "cold" helped narrow down the search, and the 'yellow-colored cars' (aka taxicabs) tipped:

New York City, NY, US, home to Columbia University, whose campus is pictured. The larger round building is Low Memorial Library.

Whew!

[Csargo]

I sure hope not.

Just knowing we were "warm", not "cold" helped narrow down the search, and the 'yellow-colored cars' (aka taxicabs) tipped:

New York City, NY, US, home to Columbia University, whose campus is pictured. The larger round building is Low Memorial Library.

Whew!

I looked in NYC I never found it. Guess I didn't look close enough:sweatdrop:

I figured that it was in the Northeastern US, because I looked at at Washington DC and it had the same colored roofs.

Kukri got it. I can't believe I missed that though. :angry:

[Sigurd]

I think that Sigurd may have found it, but is holding back...
You might be right :beam:

I guess it's Kukri's turn

[KukriKhan]

I looked in NYC I never found it. Guess I didn't look close enough


Me too, mate. On my first fly-by over NYC I looked at NYU, saw no match, and moved on to 'Joy-sey'; forgot all about Columbia, tucked in the geo-heart of Manhatten.


I guess it's Kukri's turn

We've always waited for the image-poster to declare "correct", so I'll stick to that procedure... besides, that will give me more time to find a "Sigurd-stumper"; no easy task :laugh4:

[Louis VI the Fat]

Columbia University in Manhattan, NY is correct.

[Sigurd]

besides, that will give me more time to find a "Sigurd-stumper"; no easy task :laugh4:

Ah, but you had me stomped on the hexagonial french prison.
I had never seen that building before and no english web pages had any info on it... I don't know how to spell hexagonial in french anyway.

[KukriKhan]

I don't know how to spell hexagonial in french anyway.

LoL :beam: Me either; Louis could say it's spelt: 'hexi-sexi-goni-woni', and I couldn't argue.

Today's selection:

https://jimcee.homestead.com/17.JPG


side note: I notice the thread loads more and more slowly over time, presumably because of the image data; after we hit @300 posts, maybe we should start a new/continuing thread. Sasaki K?

[Louis VI the Fat]

Maybe the one who guesses this one correctly can simply start a new thread?

My first thought is that it is Mediterranean, but not in Europe. Middle East, North Africa?
*searches*




I had never seen that building before and no english web pages had any info on it... I don't know how to spell hexagonial in french anyway.As 'hexagone'. But le Hexagone is a common nickname for France herself. You could've searched forever when googling for both 'France' and 'hexagone'...

http://a1692.g.akamai.net/f/1692/2042/7d/argoul.blog.lemonde.fr/files/hexagone.thumbnail.jpg

[Sigurd]

Kukri's picture just screams Middle East... and without actually taking a peek in google earth I could suggest Jerusalem, Israel...
But I believe Kukri has made this a little more difficult than that.

[Csargo]

I think Mexico for some reason. Though I doubt it is.

[Stig]

I would say Jeruzalem as well, but when I look at Google Earth I can't see Kukri's pic.

It's Mediterranean I think tho

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Thread load time hasn't changed for me. If it was affected by number of pics the babe thread would take ~3 hours to load.

After your pic has been guessed you can replace it with a link.

[Stig]

Use spoil tags, means you only have to load 1 at the time

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I believe it pre-fetches the images in the thread even if they are in spoil tags. I don't think it does that for the other pages in the thread though.

[KukriKhan]

This city was already established and thriving when Jerusalem was still a pre-Israelite, Jebusite watering-hole.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Doesn't seem to be damascus.

Is it damascus?

There are only 20 or so cities older than jerusalem and damascus seems closest, though I can't find that spot.

[KukriKhan]

Fine guess, Damascus, but incorrect. You're in the neighborhood, though.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

The only other city I see that looks remotely like it is adana turkey but i can't find that building there either. It's also not that much older than israel.

umm, is it gaziantep?

[KukriKhan]

Sorry, not Gaziantep, although your instinct of looking for a sort of obscure, ancient city with significant, multi-layered, multi-cultural ruins, is spot-on.

Damascus was "warmer", geographically.

[Mikeus Caesar]

Baghdad? Just a wild guess.

[Stig]

It's Baalbek ~:cheers:

[KukriKhan]

It's Baalbek ~:cheers:

Baalbek (in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon) is correct. Congrats Stig, and take it away!! :beam:

[Stig]

https://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d121/the_Stig_/Other/guesscity2.jpg


I won't be seeing it's tough because you'll get it quickly anyway :furious3:

[KukriKhan]

So, a toe-tipped island, with mostly industrial-looking structures, and an oil tanker making its way into port.

The water is quite blue, and the ship approaches from the west-north-west, so not an off-shore refinery along the Texas-Louisiana coast of US. More likely North Sea or Persian Gulf, or somewhere Pacific.

All speculation, so far. Hmm, only the southern end of the island is built-up, the northern part hosting only a single road.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I thought that was ice. But I don't know what island that would be.

[KukriKhan]

Ice, hmmmm.

[KukriKhan]

Sorry guys. I backed off playing after the 3rd trojan attempted to get hold of my computer today. All my ports (1 - 1059) are fully "stealthed", and I have no problems anywhere else, until I fire up GoogleEarth; then they pour in, within 15 minutes.

So I'll need to sit this one out, thanks. gl to all.

[Sigurd]

It is not ice what you see...
It is the sun's reflection on a major sea. You will find similar effects in the carribean.
I would think this is located around Venezuela, but when looking I can't find it.
Yeah... the sea really looks like the carribean, but I would think these effects are found in other "sunny" waters.
I guess the major ship up north is a container boat/major cruise ship and the smaller one looks like an oil tanker. But I can't see an oil installation on the island/peninsula nor a container dock.

[Stig]

heheh, I'll give you a hint (tho it might not directly help you):
It's in the Caribean, which is full of islands

[barocca]

this little black duck is going to need another clue...
i found 3 that have the right shape, but none have the habitation...

[Louis VI the Fat]

I tried the Netherlands Antilles, of the coast of Venezuela, but alas...

The Caribean is a big place to search manually. I wouldn't mind a clue.

[Stig]

There are two games that are named after this place

[Sigurd]

No need for clues Stig...

the place is Port Royal just outside Kingston, Jamaica

[edit]:heh... I guess you gave some clues after all...

I had to use a little brainpower on this one... good choice...

Seeing the container ship moving towards this peninsula had me fooled a little as I thought that it was sailing towards a port south of the island.
Then the road on the island caught me eye... it led right out to nowhere. It had to be a peninsula.
Maybe the ship was sailing from a port?

I then thought of the tanker... it too sailed towards the island/peninsula...
Where do they have a container dock and a refinery/oil depot next to eachother?... Off course... in Kingston Jamica.

[Stig]

Heh, correct yes. I tried to make it look like an island with nothing to the north of it.

[barocca]

There are two games that are named after this place


heheh, I'll give you a hint (tho it might not directly help you):
It's in the Caribean, which is full of islands
i had the feeling it was pirate related,
and the second game was not called port royal for the australian version, it was called tortuga (which was the first place i went looking last night before bed),
this morning i got out my tortuga game map of the carribean, intending to trawl (google-earth) through all the ports listed and check them,
(on an impulse i checked the forum for more clues...)

and sadly i was too slow getting up (it's 5am here)

B.

[Sigurd]

Let's see if you can find this one:

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/asleka/entry11.jpg

[Louis VI the Fat]

I'll start with trying a lucky guess: Cairo?

[Sigurd]

I'll start with trying a lucky guess: Cairo?
Nope

[KukriKhan]

Hunh. Louis went with Middle-east. Gotta respect his instincts.

My first impression was western Europe - someplace with a well-organized mass-transit system (those numerous vehicles are bigger than autos - and parking is planned for).

The traffic looks better organized, and drivers seem to comply with road rules - more so than I've seen in Asia or Middle East.

The domed building and neighboring courtyard suggest a government or uni function (or, at a stretch, religious).

Just organizing my thoughts, so far.

I reformatted my computer 2 weeks ago, and thought I'd gotten all the MS updates. After the Trojan attacks, I double-checked, and needed 77 updates (!). Got them now, and can hopefully scour GoogleEarth safely again. Wish me luck. :beam:

[barocca]

Let's see if you can find this one:

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/asleka/entry11.jpg

that view is from 50 metres ...
how about some decent clues?
(dont want to sound grumpy, but i dont have endless amounts of free time and i am really enjoying this game)

[Csargo]

I need a hint I've been looking over Western Europe and haven't seen anything. Though the gloomy look of the picture reminds me of a German city I looked at though the architecture doesn't seem to match up.

[barocca]

i feel your pain,
i only had a couple of hours so quick scans through Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and across into communist (and former communist) europe (through east berlin), down through Spain and Portugal and as far away as Latin America (spanish influence) ...
turned up nix, nada, zip

(trying to pick from an image that low level is not going to be easy)
kom i gang odin , gir oss en brekke...

[KukriKhan]

... gloomy look...

Does anyone think we're looking at left-hand drivers here, making it (with 'gloomy') the UK? In the top-right corner, we have vehicles merging, bearing left I think.

Maybe this is one of the thousand or so Brit traffic circle thingees. Tho' I still can't place the dome/circular statue-base.

Wild guess: Trafalger Square, London, UK?

[Louis VI the Fat]

It's not in Europe.

If you're right about that left-hand driving, then I assume it's in the Indian subcontinent, or possibly in a former African colony.

[KukriKhan]

I guess I was barking up the wrong tree with the "lefty" guess. Checking the non-island former colonies that still drive left, I get no match.

Those busses are tourist busses, I think, moving visitors to and from some attraction, or photo op. Any guesses on the tree-covered complex just north of the round thing?

[Louis VI the Fat]

Looking at the picture a bit more, I don't think they drive left. I could be wrong about this though.

I think these buses are white vans, not tourist buses. Third world countries don't have a lot of private car ownership, and little to none public transport. Vans that seat six to eight people are a common mode of transport.

I totally suck at recognising buildings or structures from directly above, I've got absolutely no clue whatsoever about that structure in the center of the picture. A fountain? A monument of some sort? Anybody got a clue?

We should be able to find it ourselves without Sigurd's aid. It looks like a huge city.

Edit: But I'm not really one to spend forty-five minutes aimlessly checking google maps, hoping to get lucky. Either I have a hunch and check it out, or I'll wait for an 'aha-moment'.

[Sigurd]

Alright... the clues:

This city is situated at a high altitude in its country.
It is quite old and has an walled old city.
It has been used as a capital by more than one nation.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Aha, it's Sana'ah!

[barocca]

Louis is obviously correct

may we see your task Louis? (before i have to leave for work)

cheers
B.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Tradition says we should wait for confirmation, but I'll squeeze it in.

A question in a classic format for a change, to keep things interesting. Just a plain city in a large perspective:


https://img236.imageshack.us/img236/3318/bkspt6.jpg


If any of you Google Earth Gods find it really quickly, would you mind passing up on the opportunity to answer it straight away, so we can generate more interest in the game? Thanks.

[Stig]

mmmm certainly looks like an old city, not something too recently build. Have no clue tho

[Murfios]

RIo de Janeiro?

[KukriKhan]

Resembles Pacman with an underbite, and a wild eyebrow hair :laugh4: (the harbour slips look like teeth).

Note to Sasaki Kojiro: apparently my slow-loading problem was on my end. After gathering all the MS updates, I'm loading normally again. Sorry for the distraction. :bow:

[Sigurd]

Aha, it's Sana'ah!
It is correct!!

[Sigurd]

As to Louis' city...

It is most likely a Mediterranean city with its narrow streets and red tiled roofs.
Not many villas in the picture, mostly apartment buildings with backyards.
The ocean is to the west and there are piers protecting it from bad seas.
Also if you notice, the downtown harbour is filled with small boats suggesting that this city is a holiday city.
One more thing I noticed is the train station. The trains seem to enter from the north suggesting that this city is far south in its nation.

Yep, I would suggest looking in the mediterranean and its southeren cities placed with the ocean to the west.

[Louis VI the Fat]

No, it's not Rio de Janeiro.

Clues:
Those red spots interspersed with grey lines are houses and streets respectively. The blue stuff on the left is water.
~;p



BTW, I liked your last question a lot, Sigurd. It was fiendishly difficult but in just the right way.

[Sigurd]

BTW, I liked your last question a lot, Sigurd. It was fiendishly difficult but in just the right way.
I found a better one just after I posted San'a... I will use it at my next chance.

Now were is that damn french city? :beam:

[scotchedpommes]

I know I've seen this one before, but of course the exact location isn't coming
to mind. It's beginning to niggle away.

For the lazy:
https://img236.imageshack.us/img236/3318/bkspt6.jpg

[Louis VI the Fat]

Come on, lads. It's do-able! Kukri already knows what it is, Sigurd, if he doesn't already, would too if he would put the effort in.

Let me know if you want some clues...


I know I've seen this one beforeWell, they do have a football (/ soccer) team of some renown...

[barocca]

unexpectedly it's Marseille
B.

[barocca]

and i just realised i am going to work in 2 minutes and i cannot log in here from there

so please forgive my posting this now

https://img470.imageshack.us/img470/5817/portcityvw2.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

and your first clue is in the name of the file

B.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Marseille (http://marseille13.canalblog.com/archives/2006/04/index.html) is correct. The city faces westwards, even though the Mediterranean is to the south. I think this may have caused some confusion. :sweatdrop:

***

Port city...hmm. I tried Portland, Oregon, but no match. I think it is somewhere in the US, the vegetation suggests somewhere inland, mid-continent, quite a bit down south. (not necessarily in the 'South').
What's that white building? A shopping mall? Do any of the Americans here know what it is? Do the Americans think it is American?
Or is it Australian?

[scotchedpommes]

The stream of expletives just uttered can not be repeated here, I assure you.

:shame:

[Redleg]

I am thinking its looking a lot like a port city along the Gulf of Mexico. But it could be one of the inland port cities which there are several now in the United States.

[KukriKhan]

I think barocca's clue (portcityvw2) tells much. The streets are grid-based, suggesting the "new world" - north america or oz. vw's are built in US, Canada & Oz. We gotta find a city with a river, with a VW factory, with some kind of playing field(s) across the river (definately not baseball diamonds). Cricket?

Oz, I think.

[Sigurd]

I am just going to post what I see... I shall look for it after work...
This city has an Australian feel to it.
Not much tiles in Australia.. and they use other materials on their roofs. That gives a multi coloured look...
Just take the reds.. there are many variations. Also light blue tiles?
The dirt seems reddish, also an Australian trait.
What really got my attention was the circular fields you see north. If I am not mistaken those are cricket fields.
There is also one to the west hidden under the map tool. Circular fields with a small stripe of worn/treated patch in the middle is definitely cricket fields. Australia has plently.

[edit]: heh.. I didn't see your post there Kukri... you're on the ball.

[barocca]

no VW's are made there, as far as i know,
well maybe the odd "rebirthing"...

that is the CBD you are looking at, and it USED to be a port city,
till some gallah(smart-alec-idiot) made a mistake...
(CARRY the 2, not subtract it...)


B.

[barocca]

you think that place has multicoloured roofing??

take a look at a spot just a couple of miles down the road from here...
https://img264.imageshack.us/img264/9466/0rc2ip8.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
talk about multicultural...

everything from 255,255,255 through to 0,0,0...

B.

[sapi]

Looks like Aus to me.

The colour of the river screamed 'Brisbane' to me, but we still are a port city and so that wouldn't make sense with respect to Barocca's comments...

[barocca]

hmm.

This port city is actually some way inland.
(we will call it "Port X")

"Port X' was cut off from the ocean after some engineers thought blowing out a natural dam would allow larger ships access to the port.

The explosion was too large, the gap created was excessive and caused the water level to drop so much that even flat bottom barges struggled to get past newly created shallows and to the port.

Other Newly created shallow further inland were for many years actually a very hand ford providing good safe access to "Port X" from the northern districts for early settlers. (They built a bridge there in 1878)

(that bridge is Not in the Map)


https://img470.imageshack.us/img470/5817/portcityvw2.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

EDIT
(i just realised you can see on the map above where the river used to run, and where it runs nows)

cheers
B.

[sapi]

Settlers from northern districts indicate to me that this in in victoria...

hmmm....

[barocca]

What really got my attention was the circular fields you see north....
the one hidden under the map tool is the first of FOUR adjacent fields that stretch to the west.
To Their North (not more than 500 metres) are TWO more...

and to the North of the fields just over the river, again some 500 Metres, is yet another ... (though it is not as green)

and to the east - in line with the unusal "star" shaped building are TWO MORE... (though they are more practice fields)
AND - immediately South of those fields, is ONE more...

then we travel ANOTHER 500 meters south, and we have TWO more...

from there travel some 750 meters east and find THREE more...

you get the idea - it is Australian

B.

[barocca]

and just to be safe, so you know i'm not leading you astray,
at low level you can see a few more...

[Louis VI the Fat]

Is your city on the Murray river?

[pevergreen]

well its almost certainly Victoria, they all seem to be AFL fields.

Richmond is my guess (only because i did an assignment on it)

[KukriKhan]

I was sooo wishing it was Wagga Wagga, just so I could type the name. :laugh4:

And now I have.

[Sigurd]

One other thing I notice is that the river might runs eastward, Suggesting the ocean lies to the east... but this could be a trick as a river could run right back west outside the picture.

[Sigurd]

hehe... found it...
It is Ipswich south west of Brisbane, Queensland.

sapi was right on track when suggesting the river looking like the Brisbane river with its green/brown colour.
I studied at Queensland University of Technology and I walked next to this river every day the time I spent there. (18 mths)

[Sigurd]

I guess the people down under are still sleeping...

Should I wait?

....

nah..

This is your next assignment (not a city):
https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/asleka/entry12.jpg

[barocca]

you truly are a god of google :bow:
Ipswich it is,

Queenslands Oldest provincial city was founded in 1827 and originally called Limestone. In 1842 Ipwich looked set to become Queenlands capital, but lost out to Brisbane after seperation from New South Wales.

Queenslands first secondary (high) school was opened in Ipswich in 1863.

Ipswich began it's history with coal mining in the 1870's and at one time had over 60 mines producing half of Queensland's coal output.

Had history been just a little kinder Brisbane would be nothing more than a subsidiary ocean port.

B.

[barocca]

I guess the people down under is still sleeping...
it's 3am - yes, most sensible ones are sleeping.

[barocca]

thats a town??

[Sigurd]

There is a town there but I am looking for the name of the place which is far more famous.

[Stig]

that's an edit button? ~D


Gives me the idea of a volcano, no idea where it is tho

[barocca]

ya gotta remember you're dealing with an international audience here,

famous bits of land jutting out into the ocean for aussies extend to Gallipoli and Normandy and thats about it for us.
with no buildings we have no other clues (is that the droppings of the western seagull on that rock??)
:help:

[Sigurd]

famous bits of land jutting out into the ocean for aussies extend to Gallipoli and Normandy and thats about it for us.
with no buildings we have no other clues (is that the droppings of the western seagull on that rock??)
:laugh4:

Hard to give a clue that will not give it away instantly...

clue: WWII

[Stig]

You said too much:
Iwo Jima, that's Mount Surabachi

[barocca]

i doubt if there were any clues that would have led me to iwo jima,

ww2 certainly didnt help me any...

... HELL, googlemap cannot even FIND iwo jima....

B.

[Stig]

Yeah it's quite impossible to find using GoogleEarth's search form.

[KukriKhan]

Sorry I missed that entry (Iwo Jima); it would have interesting. Stupid day-job. :)

Congrats, Stig on the correct answer. Your task?

Side question: are most players using the GoogleEarth client (with the globe) or the GoogleEarth website to both pick and find their selections?

[Csargo]

I'm using the globe

[Stig]

Here it is:
https://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d121/the_Stig_/Other/guesscity3.jpg

[Csargo]

No idea. Looks like a tourist spot with all the beaches possible, but I'm not really sure.

[Sigurd]

I haven't been able to locate Stig's [insert proper word*] yet, but this is what I am looking for:

I think this is a small place. It is too far down to the actual city to see particulars.
Ichigo mentioned the beaches. There is one large smack in the middle next to the air strip.
A tiny air strip in the middle of a town speaks of not too much air traffic.
Somehow I get the feeling we are seeing a town on an island somewhere.
I can't see there are any trains in this picture.
This town is most likely on the west coast of this island.
Football fields all over... is that a round cricket ground up north-west in the picture?

I looked at the channel islands but with no luck.



*task, quiz, assignment (what do we call this?)

[scotchedpommes]

Quite clearly it's a game with cities. Stig's city, Nogster's city, and so on.
[Using the globe here, Kukri.]

[Sigurd]

Quite clearly it's a game with cities. Stig's city, Nogster's city, and so on.
[Using the globe here, Kukri.]

okeydokey...
This is where my english comes to short and I want to implement my Scandinavian ways of doing things.
I wouldn't have called it Stig's city as that would make a reference to his current place of residence.
I would have called it: Stig's oppgave [en: task], but that doesn't sound right with the english translation.

[Louis VI the Fat]

I've found it! :cheerleader:

It looked like it was part of a big city. Western. Probably on an island. Not touristic - where are the big hotels next to the beach? That they should've put that airfield there means the hinterland is hilly, mountainous. The outdoor swimming pool, beach, means somewhere reasonable warm at least. It doesn't look Caribean, nor Mediterranean.

So possibly Pacific? Oz has got plenty of flat land everywhere. So I tried NZ: it's Wellington.

[ I'm using Google Maps: http://maps.google.(fr/co.uk/com) ]

[Sigurd]

I've found it! :cheerleader:

It looked like it was part of a big city. Western. Probably on an island. Not touristic - where are the big hotels next to the beach? That they should've put that airfield there means the hinterland is hilly, mountainous. The outdoor swimming pool, beach, means somewhere reasonable warm at least. It doesn't look Caribean, nor Mediterranean.

So possibly Pacific? Oz has got plenty of flat land everywhere. So I tried NZ: it's Wellington.

[ I'm using Google Maps: http://maps.google.(fr/co.uk/com) ]

Your eagle eyes strikes again...

Yeah.. Stig you had me stomped on this one.
Now that I can examine the city in detail (just got a work around on the google maps at work), I see that I was correct with the cricket field... but was totally wrong on my asumptions of this being a small island.
Nice work Stig... making us[me] belive it was open seas to the east.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Nice work Stig... making us[me] belive it was open seas to the east.Aye, the little sneak is good at that, isn't he? This is the second time he tricked us like this. The Jamaica picture earlier in the thread had me fooled too. :2thumbsup:

[Stig]

heheheh, your go Louis

[Louis VI the Fat]

I have some hope that this one will prove to be difficult:

https://img235.imageshack.us/img235/7162/vieillevilleoc9.jpg

[Sigurd]

Raise and shine... it is morning on the northeren hemisphere.
Autumn colours in the fauna surrounding a beautiful town...
It looks Alpish.. Central Europe in the mountains is my first guess.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Time for some clues maybe:

-Note that north is in the bottom-left direction.
-My picture is from the autumn. I checked a current spring picture, and the place looks very green and sunny now.
-People in this place have funny names, like Marie-Thérèsa Röpke, Thierry Zimmerman, Liselotte Godard-Rüdisülli
-Sigurd is always right.

[KukriKhan]

Two rivers still flowing in autumn (though green with the yaer's algae build-up). Huge shadow to the East-Southeast, suggesting a mountain. Quite large buildings, suggesting a lodge or hotel/resort area. No snow (yet). French-blended names. Somewhere where they ski and have numbered, anonymous bank accounts, I think.

[Don Corleone]

The bridge to the island looks like the way to the Technological Museum in.... Munich???

[Redleg]

I am thinking Swizterland/German/ Austria border area - but the version I have won't let me get into some of the river valley's to look.
Its like the map isn't allowed to focus into that area for me.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Redleg and Don C are playing. :jumping:

It's not Munich. But my place is only a few hundred kilometers away.


I am thinking Swizterland/German/ Austria border area - but the version I have won't let me get into some of the river valley's to look.
Its like the map isn't allowed to focus into that area for me.That's right. Nobody's allowed to zoom in into the Switzerland/Austria/Germany border area: Liechtenstein is located there. https://img228.imageshack.us/img228/5585/lookaroundfj2.gif
It's classified. No-go. Verboten. Our Liechtenstein overlords won't have people poking around in this sensitive area.

Clues:
-my place is located exactly on the Rösti rift. This is the cultural and political divide between two civilisations, hence those peculiar names (which, come to think of it, perhaps don't sound peculiar to English ears at all, at least no more than other foreign names).
You'll find such oddities here as calvinistic, French-speaking blond girls named Heidi. :2thumbsup:
- there is only one river in the picture, not two.
- What's on top in my picture, is southeasth, so it will be bottom right when searching with Google earth / Google maps.

[Sigurd]

Man... we were tricked :furious3: ...

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/asleka/300px-Filzstift_Sarine_Saane_near_F.jpg

It is of course Fribourg, Switzerland.
I was looking in the Autumn patches of the google maps of Switzerland when in reality they are displayed as sunny spring pictures.

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/asleka/Fribourg.jpg

[Louis VI the Fat]

Fribourg / Freiburg is correct.

The place is known for it's bilingualism, it's a mixed German / French Swiss town. Of Switzerland's eleven universities, it has the only bilingual one. The German Swiss eat Rösti, it's their national dish. The French Swiss, of course, eat proper food.
The Röstigraben ('Rösti rift'), from the name of the national Swiss-German potato dish Rösti that originated in the Canton of Bern, is a political expression in Switzerland referring to the difference in mentality between Swiss Germans and the French-speaking Romands and the latent conflicts between the German-speaking majority and the French minority.

Its name comes from a play on the rift (or Graben) of the Saane river (in French Sarine) that to some degree separates the language populations in the Canton of Fribourg.

In political terms, it is often used to describe the differences in voting behavior between the different parts of Switzerland.

In social and foreign policy, the Romands tend to be more friendly to state regulation and supportive of a more open foreign policy.
In areas related to transportation, the environment, and drugs, the difference is not as marked, but the Romands tend to be somewhat more conservative and technocratic.
In recent years, however, the differences in perspectives on foreign and social policy seem to be weakening and the urban areas of German-speaking Switzerland, along with and medium-sized and small towns, are voting in closer tandem with Western Switzerland.

My next clue was their local mode of transport. There aren't many of these around, so if you're a good Googler, you could've narrowed the list of options down drastically.

https://img87.imageshack.us/img87/9453/fribourgfuniculairexe5.jpg

[Don Corleone]

Well, Siggy baby, all you.

By the way, none of my Google-Earth pictures come out as sharp as the ones you're displaying, at least not from similar elevations (3000ft ~1000m). Did you guys all buy the supported version?

[KukriKhan]

Wow, what a huge difference in lighting between those 2 images. Louis led me to the right region, but on a wild-goose chase after that. I'm surprised to see such a difference between the client and .com versions.

Congrats on a good "stumper".. :bow:

A culture question: In the US southwest, Spanish and English "bleed" into each other, such that, over time, "Spanglish" is heard. Is there similar bleeding of French and German words in Switzerland, or do they remain distinct languages?

[sapi]

Wow - the bottom picture there looks like a painting, and the top one like someone spilled paint on said picture :grin2:

[Sigurd]

By the way, none of my Google-Earth pictures come out as sharp as the ones you're displaying, at least not from similar elevations (3000ft ~1000m). Did you guys all buy the supported version?

I have a couple of computers spread throughout the house.
This one has the 3.0 Beta...

I have the newest 4.1 on my work computer. All free versions.

As to the new city... it could be a nut. Use your eagle eyes and analytical skills.
https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/asleka/entry13_3.jpg

[barocca]

https://img184.imageshack.us/img184/4362/00entry133pu4.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

[KukriKhan]

A tough one. First impressions: a "grid" street layout, suggesting the N. American mid-west, along with a multi-lane road, also suggesting a major highway, ala US & Canada. Just west of that major road, is that water, or a green belt?

And of course, the enigma: what is that polygonal white structure, and what is the white strip to its south that so starkly casts the shadows of the trees and buildings?

If we figure out what the polygon with a domed center is, I think we'll have our location.

Personally, I'm gonna need a tiny clue more, before I randomly scour 4,000 square miles of midwestern landscape.

Anyone else with further insights?

edit to add: lots of trees; no palms, so not us southwest. Those look like pine, maple or elm, and well-established, so an "older" US or Canadian town. Lots of park-like looking spaces, but not large, and certainly not sports-oriented (baseball, soccer, etc). I'm beginning to think we see a governmental seat, like a state capital, or large city City Hall complex.

So: OK, I'll make a first 'blindfolded dart throw' and ask:

Is it Ottawa, Ontario, Canada?

[Sigurd]

Is it Ottawa, Ontario, Canada?

Sorry .. no

Clues:

Look at the building compared to the compass. What type of building is usually aligned like that?
This is the second largest city in its nation.
I sang in that white building in 1997 (yeah, I once was a first tenor).

[KukriKhan]

The entrance to the white building appears to be on the south... are observatories south-oriented?

"Second largest city in its nation" = not US or Canada. I was on the wrong continent. Europe, then, I guess.

I never knew Norwegians sang :laugh4: (j/k old buddy; I'm sure you were a songbird 10 years ago). I recall you've mentioned some places you've been before - I wish I'd paid more attention to those posts, now. :)

I can't imagine you sang in a mosque, so that's out. More likely a church (but the building looks nothing like one, and there's no parking apparent). Maybe an arts center or conservatory. Hmm. L00king.

[Louis VI the Fat]

I'm just going for a wild guess: Saint Petersburg, Russia?

[Sigurd]

I never knew Norwegians sang :laugh4: (j/k old buddy; I'm sure you were a songbird 10 years ago). I recall you've mentioned some places you've been before - I wish I'd paid more attention to those posts, now. :)

I used to sing in a choir with this songbird (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1wK3Bwgszs)[The silver lady (Sissel Kyrkjebø (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kYIpu-WA_o))].
If you take a trip to the Album thread in the Frontroom (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showpost.php?p=592149&postcount=86), there is a picture of me there and a few faces from this choir.

I'm just going for a wild guess: Saint Petersburg, Russia?
closer than Kukri... but no

[KukriKhan]

Man, looking for the 2nd largest national city isn't easy, but I think I've had an ah-HA! moment:

Saint Michael the Archangel Church, Kaunas, Lithuania?

[Sigurd]

Man, looking for the 2nd largest national city isn't easy, but I think I've had an ah-HA! moment:

Saint Michael the Archangel Church, Kaunas, Lithuania?

Wow man!!!

You win the prize.

[KukriKhan]

Heh, thanks. That one took plodding detective work, working my way out from Norway. Luckily, after Scandanavia, I started north, and went south and west from Finland, then Latvia, then Lithuania. Clicking the city names gives a little blurb about the city - usually mentioning if it's the 2nd or 3rd largest, etc. That's how I found it.

This one is an out-of-the-way town, so I normally wouldn't present it, but the surrounding geography intrigued me (the road pattern looks like one of my grandson's sketches). If you zoom in on the unusal feature, then google what you think you see, you could get this one quickly.

https://jimcee.homestead.com/55.JPG

[Louis VI the Fat]

~:confused:

[KukriKhan]

I guess that one was too easy, and the fellas didn't want to embarrass me. :) Thanks, Guys.

Right; let's try another, less obscure:

https://jimcee.homestead.com/56.JPG

[scotchedpommes]

Kaunas and I missed it? Ugh, it just gets worse.

[Roman_Man#3]

Just to make the obvious even clearer, I will push my nose in here and pretend that no one else sees it.:laugh4:................................ :shame:

I see a baseball stadium. And judging by all the on and off ramps, I would think that it is a highway to the east. My guess, because I am a little lazy, would be in one of the MLB cities.:shame:

*backs way out of the room*

RM3

[Louis VI the Fat]

Some American city, with a baseball stadium, possibly a basketball stadium (NBA?). And is that some sort of light rail or monorail?
I tried some mid-sized American cities, but no luck yet...

Also, I am still determined to get that previous question. Unfortunately, googling 'giant rabbitdoll-shaped object that looks like it fell out of a plane' yielded no results.

[Sigurd]

You had me really stomped on your first location Kukri...

This last city of yours looks at first sight like an american city with the great mall to the west, the baseball stadium just south of the mall, The Baseball/Ice hockey dome north and the highway next to the baseball stadium and the mall.

The sun come from two directions... southwest in the north part of the picture and southeast in the south part of the picture.
The mall, Dome and some of the taller buildings have their shadows on the northeast side, while the baseball stadium and some of the taller buildings in the south-west icluding the tall building almost in the center of the picture have shadows on the northwest side.

Also, Kukri has enabled the National geographic feature at one point, but I can't figure out why only that is showing. Anyone know a place in the world where this is true?

I don't know if we see the downtown area of this city. The Suburbs that takes up much real estate in this picture is evidence of a more out of the city view.
No strong grid sense to the building layout makes a weaker case to a us based city.
The baseball stadium has no roofing suggesting a warmer climate and that the domed stadium is a basketball stadium.

[KukriKhan]

I don't know if we see the downtown area of this city. The Suburbs that takes up much real estate in this picture is evidence of a more out of the city view.
No strong grid sense to the building layout makes a weaker case to a us based city.
The baseball stadium has no roofing suggesting a warmer climate and that the domed stadium is a basketball stadium.

Sigurd's preliminary conclusions are all correct, with one exception: the dome is used for entertainment, not sport (tho' that is an understandable assumption). The image focuses on a neighborhood about 3 miles SE of this city's formal downtown.

The mall sighted, is the largest in the region.

Those interested in persuing the 1st image: try googling a shorter version of Louis's search-string (stong hint: the color of the unusual object).

[Don Corleone]

Don't let the roof fool you. The Astros (Houston) and the Devil Rays (Tampa) play in domes, the Red Sox (Boston) and the Cubs (Chicago) don't. I'm afraid I 'struck out' by searching all the baseball stadiums, but it was fun.

I also searched the largest malls in the US. No luck. There's only 1 Canadian baseball team, and that ain't it, that's not Toronto (3 miles Southeast of Downtown puts you into Lake Ontario.

This is fun though...

[Don Corleone]

Is that an active baseball park? I can't find a single one, and I think I hit all 30, where homeplate faces southeast like the one in your picture does (the N on your compass really does mean that the picture is facing north to south, roughly, correct?)

[KukriKhan]

Yeah north-orientation is always important in this little game. In my pix, N is always 'UP'.

Baseball is important in this town; the region has produced many Major League Baseball players... but it has no MLB team of its own.

[Don Corleone]

Okay, I went through and checked the top 15 malls by square footage in the country. Where they didn't appear in an MLB city, I zoomed in. Nope.

I then got thinking you were being tricky and i started checking caribean capitals like San Juan and Santo Domingo. No dice. I thought maybe Havana (good luck finding a shopping mall there) but no. So now I'm onto minor league cities like Tulsa, OK and Durham NC.

Any more hints for a newbie to this game like me?

[KukriKhan]

Check again. You're so hot, your hair's on fire. :)

[Don Corleone]

Well, if it's a place I already mentioned, I missed it. If I've mentioned similar, but not quite right cities, well, I'm not going to be able to get it. I'm plum out of ideas. I'm going to review the places I've specifically mentioned one last time, but I don't think I got it....

[Don Corleone]

Holy crap!!! There it is!!! It IS San Juan, Puerto Rico!!! What is that entertainment oval, Kukri?

Wow, this game is fun, but addictive! You go nuts because you never know whether you've actually missed what you were looking for at the place you were checking!!

Never mind, I figured out how to turn the building ID on. It's the Coliseo Jose M. Agrelot.

[KukriKhan]

edit: he got it. :)

[KukriKhan]

LoL:laugh4: :laugh4: :laugh4:

Yup, that's the blessing and the curse of this game.

Congrats, Don Corleone, San Juan Puerto Rico is correct!

Our euro players have gotten used to baseball diamond = US, so I thought I'd throw them a curve-ball.

Your turn, Don. :bow:

[Don Corleone]

Okay, well, that was a good one, Kukri. And before I head to bed, I promise to come up with one equally good. Let's see what I can come up with....

Okay, I think I've got it. Many places can claim to be the birthplace of civilization. It all depends on 'which' civilization you mean. This one certainly has as much right to be included in the list of 'birthplace' cities as any other.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/tharris00/city_game-1.jpg

The reason why I chose this particular place was that I was struck by the size of that black box. Look at the scale I'm on, then try to estimate how large it is. And no, it's not a road.

[KukriKhan]

OK, what do we 'know'? It was 10:10 p.m. when Don captured this image, he uses Snagit to take desktop screenshots, and he came up with the image mere minutes after it was his turn - suggesting the image is someplace he has visited personally. :)

We have a stadium with a rectangular pitch (=either football or futbol), with an impotant complex just south of it. Two large-ish park-like areas nearby, one (west) with a large pond/small lake. Very little vegetation otherwise.

Blowing up the image & zooming in, I note the 'black box' Don refers to, but can't make out enough detail to i-d, so I'll just go with his "not a road" hint. A wall, or hedgerow, or other border, I guess.

The image looks about 15 square blocks of semi-organized buildings (about 4 sq miles, I think), with 1 major and a few minor 'circle intersections'.

Prelim: looks asian. Large (I mean la-a-a-arge) city. Significant overcast/smog = industrial, with a tiny nod to parks & playing fields. Not Japanese, I think; rather China, or N.Korea.

Welcome in, Don Corleone. :bow:

[sapi]

*coughs

Don Corleone, did you leave 'xian china' in the search box for a reason? :laugh4:

[Sigurd]

*coughs

Don Corleone, did you leave 'xian china' in the search box for a reason? :laugh4:

:laugh4:
I think we should give the Don another shot...

Thanks for sharing this though.
I know I have seen stuff in magazines about this city (terracotta warriors etc), but never knew the extent of this fortress in the middle of the city (or should we say; the walled old city?).
I love the little blue and white dots that reveal photos taken on location. Impressive walls.

I also love the measurement feature in google earth...
The walls are (ca.) 13 979.33 x 8 758.24 feet or 4 215.66 x 2 669.52 meters

one last thing: Wow.. it has a moat!!

[sapi]

yeah, give him another go :yes:

Don't have google earth installed, but have to ask: was that the imperial precint, and what height was that taken from?

[Don Corleone]

OOps. :embarassed: Sorry about that guys. Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag on that one. I'll try to come up with another one fairly shortly.

@Sapi: It's the original walls and moat of the old city. I didn't get a chance to look around too much, the only sight seeing I did in the city itself was at night, but the drum tower and bell tower are huge and very impressive. The walls are truly impressive, considering they're about 2200 years old.

The terracotta men and the underground palace are actually about 20 minutes outside the city. And smoggy/gritty doesn't begin to describe it. Most people wear gauze masks, and I wished I had one.

[Don Corleone]

So let's try this again. This time with all identifying text boxes hidden or edited.

Hints:
-This is a capital city.
-It has hosted an Olympics.
-My choice of centering the view on the bisecting river is geographically, culturally and historically accurate.
-The city is relatively famous worldwide as a tourist/holiday destination.



https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/tharris00/city_game2.jpg

[Stig]

mmmm I'd say London

[Don Corleone]

Hmmm, nope. Good guess though. But the Thames is a good deal wider than the river pictured, and it's hard to find a portion of it that runs so straightly.

[Louis VI the Fat]

I know Don's mind....cunning as a fox he is, but he won't outwit me: the special olympics were held at Dublin. ~;)

I'm still working on Kukri's 'rabbit' 'white' 'ragdoll'. No place on earth should be able to withstand my google-fu. :knight:

[Don Corleone]

Nice job, mon amis! I was starting to think I'd picked a lemon that nobody was interested in.

[Louis VI the Fat]

My question:


https://jimcee.homestead.com/55.JPG


:balloon2: :beam: :balloon2:

[Don Corleone]

Darn, I cannot resist. Artesina, Italy, in the Piedmont region. I got tripped up at first searching on the road pattern, thinking I was supposed to search for the Chupacabra.

[Don Corleone]

Okay, no hints this time, until people start asking for them...

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/tharris00/city_game3.jpg

[Louis VI the Fat]

It was a pink rabbit that, for reasons I don't quite understand, the Italians decided to dot their landscape with:

http://static.flickr.com/25/47537867_7428b2c7b2_o.jpg



Naturally, I already know which city Don has posted, but I'll abstain for a while. :sweatdrop:

[KukriKhan]

Austrians actually (http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2005/09/20/one_blooming_big_bunny.html) for artistic reasons that I don't understand, either.

I tripped over the silly image when leaving the Switzerland selection, a couple of tries back, and thought "What duh..." and zoomed in.

Don C, that's one b.i.g. city.

And: I've learned to accept no posts for almost a day when I put up a selection. I've taken to noting the "views" number of the thread, so I know that someone is at least looking at it. After 24 hours, if no one posts, I usually give a light hint. Not that you have to do that.

Off to dinner, then g-earthing. :)

[KukriKhan]

I see some waterways (rivers?) some parks, a (footy?) stadium, some park-like areas. Not a lot of apparent vegetation; mostly 'older'-looking housing, with newer red-tiled roofs in the west (near the stadium). A few large buildings; sun casting a southward shadow, indicating approximately mid-day, though the image isn't particularly bright, indicating some level of smog. Almost random-looking street pattern.

Either Asia or South America, I think; leaning heavily toward S.Am.

[Don Corleone]

This is a HUGE city. It's also a big one in the world football annals. Those of you that follow FIFA should have it at the tip of your tongues.

[Stig]

Either Mexico City
Or
Rio de Janeiro

[Don Corleone]

Not bad guesses, but I'm afraid no, and no.

Okay, another snapshot and a hint:
Here's a zoom-in shot of downtown. While there might be more distinguishable features elsewhere in this city, this shows the financial and government district. The financial district is especially important, as it's one of the top 5 or 6 in the world, and the most important one reigonally.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v334/tharris00/city_game_3b.jpg

[Mikeus Caesar]

It's either Shanghai or Hong Kong. Or some city in East China.

Or i'm just wrong.

[Sigurd]

Come on you guys...

I shall give a clue as well.
Stig is so warm his @ss is on fire.

[Stig]

mmmm, maybe Porto Alegre
Or Buenos Aires


But it is Sao Paulo, home to Santos, Pelé's club

[Don Corleone]

Congrats, Stig. Your turn. It is indeed Sao Paolo. Sao Paolo is ENORMOUS! Even at 24000 ft (8000m) elevation, I was only showing 20% of the major metro area. It makes even LA look small in comparison. The only cities I saw that come close in terms of area are Tokyo and Shanghai.

[Stig]

https://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d121/the_Stig_/Other/guesscity4.jpg

[Louis VI the Fat]

Aah..Table Mountain, the Cape, sun, wine. Cape Town, sweet memories.

I spend some time there visiting friends with my South African girlfriend, the one who taught me English. Great city, shame it's such a troubled country.

[KukriKhan]

Heh. After discounting islands and slim peninsulas due to the apparently high population, I left the Carib and was just journeying to southern Africa (after eliminating southern Spain due to the lack of red-tiled roofs), when I checked the thread.

Good call, Louis. Your friend taught you well, and apparently gave you a feel for local nuance - an appreciation for dialect and slang, I mean.

[Stig]

Louis got it, I hoped you guys would have some problems with both the seas and think of an island.

[Louis VI the Fat]

https://img169.imageshack.us/img169/7314/autorouteya4.png

[Mikeus Caesar]

From what i can tell, it's in America, it's a spaghetti junction, and i can only find one picture of it on the net, and the site it's hosted on doesn't work :(

[KukriKhan]

Looks like Linguine and clam sauce... yum. LoL.

Good-sized city, with large buildings. Multi-level interchange looks US or Malaysian. Lower right-hand corner = parking? And what is that circle thing?

I don't see much actual housing, so I guess we have the major downtown area of this city. Also see no playing fields or stadiums. The green area (lower left) looks academic.

Just 'talking out loud' here. I guess I'll google freeway interchanges.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Possibly Spaghetti Junction, so, Birmingham?

[Sigurd]

My observations for Louis’ last city.

A monster traffic machine that seem to intersect two major highways (East-West and South-North).
Some indication of a nice grid layout for blocks of buildings.
Large parking lots suggesting price pr. acre is of little concern (rather parking lots than parking buildings).

Some kind of rail track in the western part of the picture. I can’t see if the rectangular grey building is the end station or if the tracks continue under ground. There is some shadow from what looks like a roof with trees on it connected to this grey building. Maybe the rest of this train station [or similar] continues outside this picture. The rail is however elevated above the highway.

Again we can see slight intesection of pictures as some of the southern buildings have no shadow from an Eastern sun but have shadow suggesting a sun from the West.

The straight western and eastern shadows suggest summertime or a city in the southern parts of the Northern hemisphere.
I am thinking Northern hemisphere because some of the shadows have a slight angle towards the north.

Several construction sites that reveal the dirt colour of this region. A Reddish hue to more in the yellowy sand colour.

I think this is a Midwestern/southern city in the US based on these observations.
The major parking outside on p.lots are not the way of Asian cities nor of European ones.
The 10 lane highways is also so US…

There is also an interesting feature up north east in the picture, something that looks like a tube suspended in air (it casts a shadow). Looks like a pedestrian bridge of some sorts.

Also ... I guess Louis have obfuscated some of this picture... looking next to the pedestrian bridge, I see a [something] next to a building that appears to have a dome... a golden dome. I think this is where the name of this city is found.

Also ... the parking lot south west seems rather big... it has a weird round fence in the middle of it with a strange "drawing"? in it. Again two different pictures are intersecting as one of the pictures displays a parkinglot full of cars and somehow a picture with no cars is melted in to it. It suggests a sporting lot... some kind of stadium is connected to this parking.
You see the trees in norht in the parking lot have shadows on the west side, but the trees south in the parking lot has shadows on the east side.
There is also some kind of sign/billboard at the entrance north in the parking lot. The shadows gives it away.



[edit]: writing this post took longer than expected...

[edit2]: I suspect this city had the Olympics... the 1996 olympics?

[KukriKhan]

Pretty sneaky hiding half the baseball diamond :laugh4:

[Don Corleone]

If you've actually found it in Google Earth, Louis didn't hide it, that's how it actually looks.

Come on, Curry or BKS. Sigur'ds given it to you, just claim it... I haven't seen either of you pick a city yet.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

I haven't seen either of you pick a city yet.


so, Birmingham?

?

I looked at Atlanta after I saw Sigurd's post, but the interchange there seems to look different. I haven't got Google Earth on this PC, so I just used wiki, but the Tom Moreland Interchange there apparently looks like this-

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/SpaghettiJunctionGA.jpg/800px-SpaghettiJunctionGA.jpg

Unless there are two big junctions there?

Edit-Ha, there are. Well done Sigurd.

[KukriKhan]

If you've actually found it in Google Earth, Louis didn't hide it, that's how it actually looks.


OK, yeah... he hid it in plain sight (the best way of hiding). Just didn't show the revealing bits. Silly me; I thought "too dark for LA" (home of the multi-level interchange), and went galavanting through Asia, LoL.

[Don Corleone]

?

I looked at Atlanta after I saw Sigurd's post, but the interchange there seems to look different. I haven't got Google Earth on this PC, so I just used wiki, but the Tom Moreland Interchange there apparently looks like this-

Unless there are two big junctions there?

Edit-Ha, there are. Well done Sigurd.

I meant I haven't seen you or Curry post a photo.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Ah, I see. Well, I didn't want to take credit for Sigurd's work.

[Don Corleone]

We're trying to get more people sucked in erh, playing along. The fact that he didn't claim it for himself when he clearly could have indicates he'd like somebody else to have a go.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Well, if you say so. It's Atlanta!

[Louis VI the Fat]

Atlanta it is indeed.

You can gain a lot through trial and error in this game. That's why occassionally you'll see some experienced players holding back their answer a bit, to allow newer players to develop a feel for the game and hopefully to suck them in in this way. Or sometimes people just don't have time to post a question and check the replies.

[Sigurd]

Atlanta it is indeed.

You can gain a lot through trial and error in this game. That's why occassionally you'll see some experienced players holding back their answer a bit, to allow newer players to develop a feel for the game and hopefully to suck them in in this way. Or sometimes people just don't have time to post a question and check the replies.
Or sometimes it is more fun to search for the place than giving it.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Ok then, here goes-

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/enervatedband/city.jpg

It's zoomed out quite far so you can see the whole river system, which is rather distinctive. I'll give hints if people don't get it straight away.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Hmm. There is an old city centre, but the road pattern is not medieval. The centre is not very big, it's not a major historic town. Big enough to be of regional importance. The area of pre-1945 extention is small. And are those social realistic blocks that surround the city?

I think it is Eastern European. Poland maybe?

The river flows westwards, but this can be decieving. Or is that rivers, plural? I wish I could see a church, or anything culturally specific so I could narrow down the list of options. Maybe I'll try and zoom in a bit. I'll be back...

[KukriKhan]

We might have a church or other cultural building at about 4 o'clock. Also, the 'cluster blocks' of buildings at about 7 o'clock are interesting. I wonder if the split river flows are man-made or natural...

Louis is checking eastern europe - I'll go further east (not to asia, yet) and look.

[barocca]

3 days with no guesses - i think it's time for a clue

and what is with the strip in the middle that has been masked??
not entirely fair...

hamburg, vancouver and naking all have similar structure to river systems,
but none of them are "it"

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Nothing important has been masked, I just couldn't figure out how to get rid of the name.

Ok, clue. It's had a number of different names over the years.

[Louis VI the Fat]

I suspect this city used to be better known by its German name. [/mode Sigurd]

[KukriKhan]

Ahhh, too far east, I travelled. Louis' instincts were good. Today's name of the town starts and ends with the same letter. :)

Interestingly, there are several smallish towns in Slovakia that very closely resemble BKS's selection, except for the multi-river thing.

edit: p.s. to BKS: to take away the town name next time, un-tick the checkbox in g-map "Places".

[Lord Winter]

I'm going to guess St. Petersburg

[Louis VI the Fat]

It's Wroclaw (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breslau), formerly also known as Breslau, in Poland.

My initial guess was closer than I expected. A brief search got me the result, but I waited a bit for others to take this turn. It is sometimes more fun guessing than posting a city yourself.

I've been reading up on it a bit just now. Wroclaw is an old Hanseatic city, with a troubled and tragic recent history. On the upside, and it's what I really like about Polish and central European cities, is that their inner cities, after extensive rebuilding, look very historical. The physical damages of WWII have been restored, and there is none of the post-war rubbish architecture that spoils so many Western European historical inner-cities.

[Louis VI the Fat]

It's 2:00 am. It's probably going to be hours before BKS is awake and at a computer. So as not to keep you all waiting, here's a new question:


https://img84.imageshack.us/img84/9867/villejv5.jpg

[barocca]

amritsar india

[barocca]

i've been looking for an aussie city to put up...but all the bloomin cricket pitches give it away,
even from 1000 meters you can still see them...

if you want to something quite unusual go look at adelaide!

[sapi]

If you want an Aussie city, I'd put up one of the outback mining towns (not this round now that I've said it though ~:)).

They don't 'look' aussie to the same extent that cities with cricket pitches do, though the soil would quick give it away.

[barocca]

well i've got one ready to go,
just got to wait for the Ok from Louis...
i'll just go get my knitting... (he he he)

[Louis VI the Fat]

Aye, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India is correct.

To continue to make this thread into a nice tour around the world, here's a pretty picture:


https://img172.imageshack.us/img172/939/ngm199705p54ft9.jpg


Edit: speaking about a nice tour around the world, I googled the above picture from this site (http://smart.tin.it/domsky/4/fr.html). They have a fine collection of photographs, most with short introductions. I'm browsing it it right now, and might as well share the link with you.

Santorini, Greece :balloon2:


https://img176.imageshack.us/img176/1963/traveler199709p71loqv6.jpg

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Well done Louis.

[barocca]

now you need to go to the uninteresting spiral arm, (boring),
then you are looking for a plain ordinary yellow star, (even more boring)
and count out to the third rock, (so boring it hurts to yawn...)

https://img127.imageshack.us/img127/1460/00airportxo8.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

[barocca]

and when you guys get it,
i have some QUESTIONS about this town...
:dizzy2: :fishbowl: :freak: :inquisitive:

[Louis VI the Fat]

Well this one's goin to be tough. ~:confused:

The only thing I can think of is that its an American city, probably southeast. Quite big. And we're looking at mostly recently build neighbourhoods.

I could be totally off.


and when you guys get it,
i have some QUESTIONS about this town...
:dizzy2: :fishbowl: :freak: :inquisitive:Hmm, the plot thickens...

[barocca]

according to statistics 107% of the people in this town are of single racial heritage...
and 3% have two or more races in their heritage...
i think someone made a mistake...

EDIT - the 107% are from a diverse mix of races, that 107% total, not 107% from only one race in particular..

second edit - and the fact that this town has 110% residents in total is just ONE of the questions i have...

[Duke John]

Of course I first looked to a few big Australian cities and noticed how there is the small housing and some big buildings with white roofs. So it seems Austrialia to me.

There is a river running through it and there aren't that many around so that narrows it down.

Next I tried to find a geographic landmass that looks like a spiral arm but could not find one which had a big enough city on it. Indonesia could have been a target except for the orthogonal street grid.

The yellow star could be a road network. And the third rock either an island or a hill or mountain.

Edit: hmm, or the spiral arm could be a river, how I do I turn that on... :thinking:

Edit 2: ah, Austrialia doesn't seem to be as enthusiastic with boring street grids as the US.

[barocca]

when we add up the percentages of
1. households which are familes with children,
2. households which are families without children
3. households which are non-familial
the total is 116%

which would be my second question...

[barocca]

oddly the local municipal authority owns less than 60 buses...
(my local municipal authority owns more than 300...)
EDIT - 807!!!, Brisbane Council owns 807 buses...i am flabbergasted.

[barocca]

morning clues
1. this town IS in the USA
2. antipodean interdimensional physics

[Duke John]

I got it! At least the "boring" hints (that I didn't think of that before) and I think I know where to look, but alas I don't have much time now to continue searching. Very nice task, barocca!

Edit: ah, I thought the third rock would be something more special, but it is the obvious one :tongue2:

Edit 2: I can't get any further:
The "boring" hints are about the third rock from the sun: Earth. If there is any more to be gained from that then I can only come up with a guide to the galaxy (for aliens) as it tells you to fly to the earth. NASA sites are not it.

Interdimensional physics is seems to be about cults and sects believing in some blah blah. And antipodean means the other side of Earth. For Australia that is the Atlantic Ocean and thus not any place in the US...

[sapi]

oddly the local municipal authority owns less than 60 buses...
(my local municipal authority owns more than 300...)
EDIT - 807!!!, Brisbane Council owns 807 buses...i am flabbergasted.
We actually have a severe bus shortage, but I digress ~;)

[KukriKhan]

Smack dab in the middle of "Tornado Alley", barocca shows us

Wichita, Kansas, US

Yeah; 51 busses. West of the Mississippi, the automobile rules, in terms of city planning (if you can call it that).

You've probably heard of Wichita before in cowboy movies, Texans moving their cattle herds to the railhead there.

[Louis VI the Fat]

I tried Kansas city. :wall: :furious3:

[Sigurd]

I would like to know what the clues were referring to
I got lost in Ohio... somehow I thought the third rock clue was referring to the TV show: 3rd rock from the sun, which apparently were about a city in Ohio.
The towns in the midwest look alike from that altitude...

Good job Kukri.

[KukriKhan]

I'm not too sure of the clues either. I first thought "Indiana", and toured Gary, Muncie, Indianapolis... all looking similar, but no match. Frustrated, I re-examined: why did I think "Indiana"? Answer: because it's flat. So, where else is flat? Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska.

As I zoomed in on Kansas, Wichita was the first city to pop up, so it was a lucky 'hit'.

[KukriKhan]

With Sigurd confirming my guess, I'll assume I was correct, and make another assignment, to move the game along.

You guys know I get intrigued easily by the appearance of unexpected images - giant pink bunnies, etc. Well here's another one:

https://jimcee.homestead.com/12.JPG

This is so distinctive, I'll let it stand on its own without clues for a bit. (Extra bragging rights granted for naming the figure, as well as the city)

[Sigurd]

Let me be the first to narrow this down a little...
Those apartment blocks really look like those found in the southern Spain...

I have to go to work now... and will probably not find any time for searching until returning home.

[Avicenna]

Southern Spain..

Sevilla?

[KukriKhan]

Southern Spain..

Sevilla?

Fine guess, but incorrect.

[Louis VI the Fat]

My first guess was Barcelona.

I was wrong, but I got the language correct. ~;)

Oh, and that language is not Spanish...

[KukriKhan]

Many languages have been spoken in this city since Roman times - even (for a short while, thanks to this guy):
https://jimcee.homestead.com/pete.jpg, english.

[Louis VI the Fat]

That's baron Mordaunt, isn't he?

[KukriKhan]

Indeed. Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough and 1st Earl of Monmouth. Wow, Louis.

[Sigurd]

It's been a while since I posted a city, huh?

I take it the city we are looking for is Valencia,Spain and the figure for the bonus point is Gulliver..

[KukriKhan]

+2 acumen to Sigurd Fafnesbane; Valencia & Gulliver are correct.

Come on, Siggie, give us a stumper! :laugh4:

[Sigurd]

Oh, I have one in mind already.

[Sigurd]

The new "stumper"... Clues provided when asked (I want you to at least try to analyze this first).

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/asleka/entry14.jpg

[Louis VI the Fat]

England I'd say. (Well the British Isles)

* starts looking for a place with a professional footy team AND a gothic cathedral...*

[KukriKhan]

Western euro street layout (originally the ancient, "concentric circles around important building" type), but now modernized - more scattered. A rail line (looks like freight vs passenger). A river with bridges over it, and (surprisingly) an entire building complex over it as well (hydro-electric plant?).

A large footie stadium (I'd estimate it holds about 35,000 people). I can't make out enough street traffic to determine left- or right-hand driving. Cricket pitches in the north? Too big for tennis courts, I think.

Preliminary conclusions: Not N.America, Asia, or Africa. Likely Western Europe, probably UK. L00king for major railheads.

[Louis VI the Fat]

I checked all over England, but I can't find it. Goodness, there's no end to the amount of medium-sized British towns with a football club...

Anybody had any luck? Ideas? Is it not Britain?

[scotchedpommes]

Looks like a small stadium to me. I've been scouring the grounds; nothing yet.
[Starting to believe it's not English, though I refuse to rule out the possibility.]