Google Earth: Identify the city

[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.

[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:



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):
, 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!

[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).

[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.]

[KukriKhan]

I took a few "cruises" down English rivers; no dice with the biggies (Thames, Avon, etc), so that waterway is a much smaller river. Also tried some uni towns, without luck (Oxford, Cambridge, Keel).

Then slipped across the channel to coastal w.euro; the towns don't look the same. I'm convinced it's UK, and probably England/Wales. OTOH, I've gone on wild goose chases before.

I guess I'm ready to admit my instincts haven't bore fruit, so I need a clue.

Nice stumper, Sigurd.

[Sigurd]

Clues are in order.

This town (its a city in my book since it has its own university) is old and became an Abbey in the 13th century.
Kings lie burried at this Abbey.
It was again raised to a greater status in the 15th century and became a Burgh of Barony.

[Sigurd]

[damn page expired and when doing a refresh it made another post]

[scotchedpommes]

Paisley. I should've known from the start, though I couldn't remember exactly
where you were familiar with.

To call it a city's stretching it a bit, I would've thought. Might as well go all-out
and label it a metropolis.

[Sigurd]

Paisley. I should've known from the start, though I couldn't remember exactly
where you were familiar with.

To call it a city's stretching it a bit, I would've thought. Might as well go all-out
and label it a metropolis.

You're correct!!!

I don't know, but here over the pond when a town manages to establish a university, it gets the status of city.

my next clue would be the textile industry and their well known pattern.

[scotchedpommes]

I have had somewhere in mind for a while, although the globe and map pages
only seem to provide poor quality images at the height I would prefer.

This'll do for the time being, I think:

[KukriKhan]

Paisley.

Rats; I should have known 'up' wasn't necessarily 'North'. Good assignment, Sigurd; searching, I learned more about the UK countryside.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Paisley was a good one, Sigurd.

At least Kukri, rdeče and I were on the right track. Football team, UK, university, gothic cathedral (well, abbey).

Paisley Abbey.


I'm working on rdeče's picture. Or to be more precise, I'm stumped.

[KukriKhan]

I'm touring eastern european cities to see if I get a lucky match; striking out so far with Ljubljana, Budapest, Prague, Bratislava, and Zagreb & Sarajevo. Maybe I'm wasting my time in E.Euro.

The little spots of red and blue among the otherwise grey/green city are interesting.

The blurry bit to the right of the image suggests that the city borders an area not given full resolution from the satellite. So maybe a 'smaller' town.

[Sigurd]

Trying to analyze rdeče's city...

To far up to actually see traffic...
Mostly larger apartment buildings in the area
A strange building up north with a metal like roof.
Lots of fauna inside this city/town

The black tarmac on the stadium is interesting though. I can't remember having seen that before.
I think red is the more usual colour, at least in Europe. What is that thing to the north of the stadium?

There is also a lot of tar roofing on those buildings. This could indicate colder climate.
It does look eastern europe/North western Asia with those large open squares behind the apartment buildings.

Time to go home... Will look at this later