Hello, DU! Ready for your Friday Afternoon Challenge? Today: “Monumental!”

[CTyankee]

A sampling of some of the big stuff in places around the world. What are they and where?

And please, no cheating...

1.
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2.
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3.
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4.
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5.
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6.
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[virgogal]

1. #3 Lisbon ---Explorers

[jberryhill]

3. Yep

[oldhippie]

5. Yep. I've been to that one! nt

nt

[CTyankee]

7. excellent!

have you been there to see it?

[jberryhill]

2. #1 is that place in Milan

Across from the cathedral. There's a mosaic of a bull on the floor and you stand on his balls and spin for good luck.

[CTyankee]

9. so what is it called?

[Pretzel_Warrior]

13. Vittorio Emmanuele Galleria. I've been there and love it!

I did forget to spin on the balls of the bull in the floor while there though...

editing for spelling and to add history on the tradition about the bulls in the floor

http://www.paulahardy.com/?p=219

[CTyankee]

17. my visit to Milan was unexpected and unfortunate actually...my passport was stolen

in Turin and MIlan had the closest AMerican Consulate...it was too bad, but I did get to see the beautiful cathedral and La Scala Opera House. I was also sick, so it wasn't too great...

[Pretzel_Warrior]

18. my arrival to Milan was surreal. Took a night train from Paris

through Switzerland, past Lake Garda, etc. Got to the big fascist era train station quite early morning and arrived to a haunting rendition of Un bel di vedremo from Puccini's Madame Butterfly. We took the train down to see Duomo, Galleria and La Scala. We had a wonderful breakfast in a tiny cafe that also sold old programs and sheet music from decades of operas.


That was five years ago....and I remember it like it was yesterday.

[CTyankee]

24. I love that soprano! Check out her version of "Chi bel sogno di Doretta" by Puccini

on YouTube. It's an amazing aria. She has an incredible voice...

Chi bel sogno was played behind the love scene in Fiesole in "A Room with a View" years ago, altho Kiri Ti Kanawa sang it. Beautiful scene!

[Pretzel_Warrior]

26. I will check it out for sure. I watched that movie A Room With a View and

want to see it again.

[CTyankee]

39. It's on YouTube. It's when the little group of English folks go off to Fiesole above

Florence and Lucy finds George on the hill looking down on Florence. Maggie Smith (her protector) discovers them kissing...and OMG...

[CTyankee]

44. Oh, you won't miss it. It is the only piece of music you will hear besides the

opening and closing credits of Puccini's O Mio Babbino Caro....

Here is the YouTube scene with this gorgeous music:

[jberryhill]

15. Victor Victoria Mall or something like that

It's named after an Italian guy.

We were running a little late, since we needed to get from Turin to Zurich, and I thought I'd swing by Milan and head north through the lakes, instead of going back through the Mont Blanc tunnel. So we took a peek at the cathedral, spun on the bulls balls, had a cup of coffee and took off.

But it was definitely named after some Italian guy who had something to do with uniting a bunch of provinces and being Italian about it.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

19. many things named after that guy. He is the one that united all of Italy

[jberryhill]

21. Yeah, wasn't the pizza invented for his wife or something?

I saw the movie. Julie Andrews was great.

[Kingofalldems]

4. #4 is awesome.

[kentuck]

6. Is #3 in Dominican Republic?

It looks like Columbus landing. ??

[jberryhill]

8. During the chilly season there, apparently

But the bridge to Cuba in the background looks good from that spot.

[CTyankee]

11. it is the explorers monument in Belem, Portugal...

homage to Portuguese explorers and navigators in the new world...

[pinboy3niner]

10. #4: Swallow's Nest, Ukraine

The Swallow's Nest (Ukrainian: Ластівчине гніздо, Lastivchyne hnizdo)[nb 1] is a decorative castle located between Yalta and Alupka on the Crimean peninsula in southern Ukraine. It was built between 1911 and 1912 in Gaspra, on top of the 40-metre (130 ft) high Aurora Cliff, to a Neo-Gothic design by the Russian architect Leonid Sherwood.[nb 2] The castle overlooks the Cape of Ai-Todor on the Black Sea coast and is located near the remains of the Roman castrum of Charax.[2] The Swallow's Nest is one of the most popular visitor attractions in the Crimea, becoming the symbol of the Crimea's southern coastline.[3][4][5]

The building is compact in size, measuring only 20 m (66 ft) long by 10 m (33 ft) wide.[6] Its original design envisioned a foyer, guest room, stairway to the tower, and two bedrooms on two different levels within the tower. The interior of the guest room is decorated with wooden panels; the walls of the rest of the rooms are stuccoed and painted.[6] An observation deck rings the building, providing a view of the sea, and Yalta's distant shoreline.

...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swallow's_Nest

[CTyankee]

12. funny looking, isn't it?

[pinboy3niner]

16. I was looking for Tinkerbell on the spires. :) nt

[treestar]

14. Totally cool!

I'd live there!

[Shrike47]

25. I wouldn't. I couldn't sleep waiting for an earthquake, a landslide, gophers...

[pinboy3niner]

34. ...Mini Count Dracula...

[joeybee12]

20. I spent a lot of time at the mall in Milan during my visit there...it was January

and pouring, so I headed in there for lunch every day...loved Milan...I have photos of this place, but unfortunately I can't post them and prove I was there because this was before I got my digital camera...I scanned quite a few, but I don't have those on this computer....

[CTyankee]

42. I was sick with a virus that several of us got...prolly the reason I was neglectful and had

my passport stolen...wasn't on my guard (I now put my passport in my hotel room safe immediately after I arrive). Always carry a copy of your passport ID page (and keep one at home). But, hell, yes, my passport goes into the safe first thing when I get in my hotel room!

As for photos, I am the world's worst photographer, but I try with my cell phone. I will be doing this with my upcoming trip to eastern Tuscany in mid March. Look for it when I get back in early April. I hope I don't screw it up, but knowing me, I just might...oh, well...

[joeybee12]

43. I wasn't sick on my trip there but had just gotten over a cold...

And I sneezed on the flight and my nose shot out blood, all over my shirt and pants...nice, right...the thing is, that made one less outfit I had for the trip since I packed light!

[CTyankee]

45. I have learned that packing too light is a problem...just the way you described...

but overpacking is a pain, too. So I pack enough for the trip, plus one spare for "just in case." You don't want to be scrubbing out a piece of clothing but you don't want to be hauling around a trunk, either.

[joeybee12]

46. Fortunately ti was January and clothes last longer that time of year...

You're not sweating like in the summer...although with all the rain I should have worn the shirt and it would have been cleaned that way!!!

[blogslut]

22. Somebody guess #5 already!

I wanna knowwww! They're wicked cool and my Google powers are not helping me at all. Tineye couldn't find anything wither!


Guess already!

[CTyankee]

23. they are out in the public eye. don't know why you are not picking itup on google...

people have got to see them every day, given where they are...

[pinboy3niner]

27. #5: Central Railway Station - Helsinki, Finland. nt

[Shrike47]

30. On Internet images, no green hats. ??? Seasonal? To keep heads cool?

[blogslut]

31. Thank you!

Now I can go and have a proper architectural porn session. I'll be in my bunk on Google images for a while.

EDIT ADD: OMG!!!

[pinboy3niner]

33. The statues at the front of the station are often parodied—such as...

...supporting the monorail at Linnanmäki amusement park...







The station is mostly clad in Finnish granite, and its distinguishing features are its clock tower and the two pairs of statues holding the spherical lamps, lit at night-time, on either side of the main entrance. Animated characters based on the statues have recently been featured in some major advertising campaigns by Finland's government-owned railway operator VR, to the extent of releasing rap singles allegedly sung by Kivimiehet ("The stone men&quot .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki_Central_railway_station

[CTyankee]

36. That is funny! I love it!

[Shrike47]

29. Googling statues with green hats doesn't help, either. But those hats do puzzle me.

[City Lights]

28. #2 is the 1972 Olympic site in Munich.

Not sure about an actual name.

[CTyankee]

35. Yep. Sad, isn't it. It looks so forlorn. I guess nobody really wants to visit there....

[City Lights]

38. Actually, there's a beautiful park there now.

Was there recently and there were people everywhere.

[CTyankee]

40. well, they had to do something, didn't they?

Hard thing to resolve. Tear it down or make it into something better...

Quite frankly, I would have preferred they tear it down. Too many bad memories for too many people. Get rid of it and think of something new that would honor the victims and not remind others of the horror...

[City Lights]

52. It was kind of eerie and depressing there, despite the park. nt

[Shrike47]

32. Thank you so much, CTYankee! You make Friday afternoon so good.

[CTyankee]

37. Well, we have ONE more to solve, folks!

What is # 6!

Uh, oh...

HINT: is is a monument to someone, somewhere...

[pinboy3niner]

47. The Wallace Monument at Stirling, Scotland?

[CTyankee]

49. what gave it away, pinboy?

[pinboy3niner]

50. Your clue that it was a monument

I'd been searching for it, but refining the search to monument instead of castle was the key. I found that photo (or a very similar one) at a sci-fi site, credited to Jon Wendzina. Apparently part of the concept design for a sci-fi movie in development is based on the monument.

I suspected it was Scotland after finding a very similar spire design located at St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh.

[CTyankee]

55. I didn't know anything about it until I recently researched a trip to Scotland...

some of the photos of various sites there were haunting. It doesn't surprise me (actually it delights me) to learn that it inspired a sci fi movie. Eerie.

[grantcart]

41. I can say that al of these are taken from works created by homo sapiens working on the

third planet in the solar system


Finally I won one.

[CTyankee]

48. Of course! Bravo, grantcart!

But what about #6?

[Warpy]

51. All #6 needs is a thunderstorm and a big yellow eye on top.

All art really is derivative, I guess.

[grantcart]

53. constructed by Attel Malagate, a renegade from a species called the Star Kings from the in

in the Oikumene, but exactly which planet has been lost to history.


What did I win?

[fadedrose]

54. Wow

Thanks for posting . . .