The Element of Traveling - Part 4

My last post featured a quiz about famous journeys, real and literary. The answers to the questions are listed below.  P.S. You can scroll down to the original post if you want to jog your memory about the questions:

Answers: 1) Dorothy made the journey; her destination was the Emerald City in the Land of Oz 2. The journey is known as the Salt Satyagraha, Mahatma Gandhi organized this journey, the Salt Satyagraha was one of several civil disobedience actions which led to India’s independence 3) The boy’s name was Pi; Pi’s original name was Piscene; he adopted the name Pi, because his original name, Piscene, made him a target for teasing in school - his classmates called him Pissing; the name of the lion who accompanied him on his journey was Robert Parker. 4) The book is the Odyssey, it was written by Homer, and the women who inhabited the island and sang treacherous songs were called The Sirens 5) The explorer was Christopher Columbus, the name of his ships were Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria and the continent he discovered was North America 6) The journey was a journey around the world; it was to be completed in 80 days 7) The military men were Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lieutenant William Clark. Their journey became known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition, they discovered 200 new species of plants, animals and birds 8) The protagonists of On the Road are Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty, who were modeled on Jack Kerouac and his friend Dean Cassidy, William S Boroughs and Allen Ginsberg are two other people on whom characters were modeled in the book 9) Minoo Jha immigrated to America, became a Commissions Analyst and started this blog in 201. 10) Steve Fossett was the person who circumnavigated the world, he did it in a balloon 11) The name of the post is The Nightdress Brigade; Rosie and Minoo are the characters mentioned in the post 12)Apsley Cherry Garard was the only survivor of that Antarctic journey; the eggs of the Emperor Penguin was the object of that treacherous journey he and 2 others made 13)Heinrich Harrer was the Austrian climber who escaped from an Indian prison and went to Tibet; the Dalai Lama was the prominent figure whom he tutored; Seven Years in Tibet was the name of the book he wrote about his experiences in Tibet 14) Eat Pray Love is the name of the book and film, Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of the memoir 15) The story is from The Alchemist; the boy is a shepherd boy; his desire to travel to Egypt arises out of a dream in which a child tells him there are treasures in Egypt.

Moving on to this post, I will continue the travel theme with a quiz about world famous tourist attractions. 

See how many you can name:

• If you make the journey to this tourist attraction, you can view the private chambers of Louis XV, and the famed Hall of Mirrors.  Name this world-famous tourist attraction.

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• If you make the journey to this tourist attraction, you can dodge the dinosaurs on a Jurassic Park water ride, and experience many other exciting things based on famous movies.  Name this world famous tourist attraction.

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• If you make the journey to this tourist attraction, you can savor historical artifacts such as the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles. Name this world famous tourist attraction.

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• If you make the journey to this tourist attraction, you can see reveling street performers, observe sea lions, eat clam chowder, and visit the prison which once housed Al Capone.  Name this world famous tourist attraction.

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• If you make the journey to this tourist attraction, you will stand in awe of a 305 ft statue, which was a gift to the United States from the people of France. To build the pedestal on which it stands, contributions were sought from the American public, and it was thanks to 120,000 contributors, including children, that the statue stands where it does today. Name this world famous tourist attraction.

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• If you make the journey to this tourist attraction, you can see for yourself, the city described as “a rose-red city half as old as time” by John William Burgon in his Newdigate Prize-winning poem . Built in 312 BC, it is Jordan's most famous attraction. Smithsonian Magazine selected it as one of the 28 places to see before you die.You will also find this city in the 19th book in the Tin Tin series, and in many popular films, including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.  Name this world famous tourist attraction.

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• If you make the journey to this tourist attraction, you will see a ring of standing stones, dating back to 3000 B.C.  The land on which these stones rest, changed hands many times through history, going from King Henry VIII, to the Earl of Hertford, to Lord Carleton, to the Marquess of Queensbury, to the Antrobus family of Cheshire, until Baronet Cecil Chubb, bought the site for £6,600, and donated it to the British Government in 1918. Name this world famous tourist attraction.

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• If you make the journey to this tourist attraction, you will travel across a bridge, which was designated as one of the wonders of the modern world, by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It was designed by an engineer, whose interest in suspension bridges, was sparked by being in hospital during his college years, and seeing a suspension bridge from his hospital window. The bridge opened in 1937 and, until 1964, was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Today, it is the most internationally recognized symbol of a well-known American city. Name this world famous tourist attraction.

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• If you make the journey to this tourist attraction, your breath will be taken away by an imposing marble mausoleum which is renowned for its intricate calligraphy, inlaid flowers made of gemstones, and magnificent garden. It's the first large mausoleum dedicated to a woman, built by the Muslim king who loved her.  Name this world famous tourist attraction.

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• If you make the journey to this tourist attraction, you will see the largest tourist attraction of South America, dating back to 1450. Here you will be able to appreciate the fine stonework of the Inti Watana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. The attraction, an icon of the Inca civilization, would have been lost to us, if not for the work of an American historian by the name of Hiram Bingham. Name this world famous tourist attraction.

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• If you make the journey to this tourist attraction, you will see the ruins of an elliptical amphitheater, dating back to 80 A.D.  It is one of the largest amphitheaters ever built, considered one of the greatest works of architecture and engineering. In its heyday, it was used for  gladiatorial contests and public spectacles, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on classical mythology.  Today, besides being an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome, it has become a symbol of the international campaign against the death penalty. The color of its night time illumination is changed from white to gold, whenever a person condemned to the death penalty, anywhere in the world, gets their sentence commuted, or is released, or if a jurisdiction abolishes the death penalty. Name this world famous tourist attraction.

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• If you make the journey to this tourist attraction, you will see an amazing array of scenery, from the beaches of Qinhuangdao, to rugged mountains around Beijing, to a desert corridor between tall mountain ranges at Jiayu Pass. Name this world famous tourist attraction.

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• If you make the journey to this tourist attraction, you will find yourself between 40th and 53rd Street, and 6th and 9th Avenue of New York, most appropriately on New Year’s Eve. The tradition of celebrating New Year’s Eve at this venue dates back to 1907 - when the New York Times held a fireworks celebration to inaugurate its new headquarters, also located here. Name this world famous tourist attraction.

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• If you make the journey to this tourist attraction, you will tour the quirky mansion of a widow, who believed she had to keep adding rooms to her house - to appease and house the spirits of all those killed by the rifles manufactured by her husband's company.  By the time she died, the house had 160 rooms and contained numerous oddities like doors or stairs that went nowhere, windows overlooking other rooms, and stairs with odd-sized risers. Since the number 13 had special significance for this lady, look for the expensive imported chandelier altered to hold 13 candles instead of 12, the wall clothes hooks in multiples of 13, the spider web-patterned stained glass window containing 13 colored stones, and the sink drain covers with 13 holes. Name this world famous tourist attraction.

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• If you make the journey to this tourist attraction, you will see a magnificent work of art, commissioned by Pope Julius II for a chapel in the Apostolic Palace.  This magnificent work of art is a series of paintings painted directly on the ceiling of the chapel. The artist commissioned to create this work, originally declined the commission, being a sculptor, rather than a painter. He subsequently agreed - on condition he was given a free hand with the pictorial content. The result was a series of nine pictures, depicting God's Creation of the World, God's Relationship with Mankind, and Mankind's Fall from God's Grace, each more exquisite than the other. Name this world famous tourist attraction.

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As always thanks for reading, and have a great day and week….M….a Pearl Seeker like you.  Thanks to Ajay for his comment and compliments on my last post, and thanks to the rest of you for your likes, pins and votes.  Much appreciated.

P.S. Answers to this post will be in my next post.

The Element of Traveling - Part 3

As a further spin-off to my last 2 posts - with their travel theme, this post features a quiz about famous journeys, real and literary. The quiz consists of 20 descriptions of journeys. See how many you can recognize from the descriptions.

1.     This journey was made via the yellow brick road.  Who made this journey and what was the destination?

2.     This journey was made from an ashram near Ahmedabad, India to the coastal village of Dandi.  What is this journey popularly known as, who organized it, and what political event did it ultimately lead to?

3.     This journey was made from Manila to Mexico in a small lifeboat, in the company of a tiger.  What is the name of the person who made this journey, why did he change his name, and what was the name of the tiger who accompanied him on this journey?

4.     This journey was made by someone who was cursed to wander the seas for 10 years. He experienced many treacherous challenges, one of which was passing an island which sent seafarers to their doom.  On this island, lived a group of singing women.  The song they sang caused every sailor who heard it, to steer their boats towards the rocks, hit the rocks, and sink.  The hero of our journey, escaped this fate, by having himself tied to the mast of his ship when they passed the island.  What is the name of the book in which you can read about his journey, who wrote this book, and what was the name of the inhabitants of the island who led sailors to a rocky death by their singing?

5.     This journey was made across the Atlantic in 1492, with a fleet of 3 ships, by the “Admiral of the Ocean Sea”. It led to the discovery of a new continent. Who was the “Admiral of the Ocean Sea”, what were the names of his ships, and what continent did he discover?

6.     This journey was undertaken by an English gentleman, who was so fastidious, he dismissed his valet for bringing him shaving water at 84 °F instead of 86 °F. Accompanied by a new valet, he makes this journey, betting 20,000 pounds that he will complete it in a certain number of days.  What was the journey, and how many days did it take? P.S. The author of this story was inspired by the linking of the Indian railways across the Indian sub-continent.

7.     This journey was commissioned by Thomas Jefferson, and was the first journey across the western part of the United States.  It was made by two military men, a Captain and a Lieutenant. The goal of this journey was to explore the vast territory acquired by the Louisiana Purchase and to establish trade and U.S. sovereignty over the native peoples along the Missouri River. What were the names of the Captain and the Lieutenant who made this journey, what is the official name for their journey, and how many new plants and animals did they discover?

8.     This journey - both an autobiographical and literary journey - was undertaken by 2 protagonists of the Beat and Counterculture generation. In 2012, Francis Ford Coppola turned the journey into a movie. Other than the 2 main protagonists, several famous people belonging to the Beat generation, are associated with this journey, one of them a famous author, another, a famous poet.  Who are the protagonists, and who are the famous author and poet?

9.     This journey was made by an Indian advertising copywriter, who moved to America, became a Commissions Analyst, and started a blog in December of 2010. This is her 298th post. Can you name the person?

10.  This journey was undertaken by a millionaire, who made his millions by renting exchange memberships to would-be floor traders, starting with the Chicago Board Options Exchange. In 2002, he circumnavigated the world.  What was his name, and how did he circumnavigate the world?  Was it by airplane, by boat, by foot, by bicycle, or by something else?

11.This journey was undertaken by 2 sisters, who set out in their nightdresses, to rescue their brother.  Hint:  The journey is told in a post on this blog.  What was the name of the post, and who were the two sisters who made the journey?

12.This Antarctic journey was made by a doctor and two men, under conditions of complete darkness, and temperatures of −40 °C and below, with a goal of procuring the eggs of a specific bird for scientific study.  Only one of them lived to be able to tell the tale in a book. Who was he, and what was the the much sought-after bird, whose eggs they wanted to procure?

13.This journey was undertaken by an Austrian, who on a climbing expedition in India in 1939, was caught by British officials, and sent to a detention camp in Dehradun in North India.  He and his fellow-climbers escaped from the detention camp, and made it across the border to Tibet.  He lived in Tibet for the next 7 years, becoming the tutor to an important Tibetan figure, whom he taught English, geography and science.  He even built a cinema for this figure - with a film projector run off a Jeep engine. What was the name of this Austrian climber, and who was the Tibetan figure he became a close friend of, and tutor to? Can you also name the memoir he wrote about the years he spent in Tibet?

14.This journey took a woman, who was in search of herself after a divorce, to India, Italy and Bali, Indonesia. The journey became a New York Times Best-seller list memoir, and the memoir became a hit film. What was the name of the author who wrote the memoir, and what is the memoir called?

15.This journey took its protagonist from Andalucia in Spain, to the sands of the Sahara in Egypt, in search of treasure. What was the occupation of the person who made this journey? Also what prompted him to make this journey? Was it someone he met, wanderlust, a book he read, or something else?
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Do you have a literary or historical journey to add to the list? I'm sure you do.  Take a moment to think of one and to reflect on how it might be special in some way.

As always, thanks for reading, and have a great day and week….M….a Pearl Seeker like you.  Thanks to Aarathi for suggesting Freedom Come, Freedom Go as an addition to the list of songs with lyrics about countries, cities, states or towns (see my last post). Thanks, Aarathi.  Your suggestion was a trip down memory lane for me, resulting in me listening, to not just, Freedom Come, Freedom Go on You Tube, but other hits of The Fortunes, such as “Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again.” I really did enjoy that. Thanks also, to the rest of you, for your likes, pins and votes.  Much Appreciated!

P.S.  Answers to the questions in this post will be in my next post.

The Element of Traveling - Part 2

As a spin-off to my last post, the Element of Traveling, this post features a song lyrics travel quiz. The quiz consists of 20 snippets of popular songs from the 60s on, a few older, each of which contains the name of a country, state or city, with the name deliberately left blank.

Test your memory.

See how many of the blanks you can fill, and how many of the tunes you can remember.

Hope you have fun doing it.

Here we go...

Song Lyrics Travel Quiz:

Fill in the blanks with the correct city, state or country.

1.     If you are going to ……, be sure to wear flowers in your hair.

2.     Oh to be in …….drinking……..beer

3.     Don’t cry for me,……….

4.     This land is my land, this land is your land, from…………to the ……highlands

5.     There is a house in ……., they call it the Rising Sun

6.     By the rivers of …….Where he sat down
And there he wept when he remembered Zion

7.     Viva ……….

8.     I left my heart in …….

9.     Rocky Mountain High, ……….

10.    All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray. / I've been for a walk on a winter's day. / I'd be safe and warm if I was in L.A.; / ……..dreamin' on such a winter's day.

11.    Born in the ……

12.    By the time we got to …we were half a million strong
And everywhere there was song and celebration

13.    Well, I'm a standing on a corner
in ……
and such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed
Ford slowin' down to take a look at me
Come on, baby, don't say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is
gonna save me

14.    Almost heaven, …….., Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River...

15.    Do you know the way to…….?

16.    Doesn't like crap games with barons or earls
Won't go to …… in ermine and pearls
Won't dish the dirt with the rest of the girls
That's why the lady is a tramp

17.    Oh Suzanna! Don't you cry for me--cause I come from …….. with a banjo on my knee.

18.    It never rains in ………..

19.    Carry me back to old…………

20.    Then I'm walking in ……..
I was walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in ……..

But do I really feel the way I feel?

Hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane. What's your favorite song about a country, state or city? Take a few moments to pick one, and then sing a few lines of it today. Music is a great way to travel.

As always thanks for reading and have a great day and week….M….a Pearl Seeker like you.  Thanks to Ajay, Audrey, David and Rosie for their comments and compliments on my last post, and thanks to the rest of you for your likes, pins and votes. Much appreciated. P.S.  If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy an earlier post Family Songs.