Unutterably Silly Let's Go Places!

[pdurrant]

Malta

A small island (well, pair of islands) state in the Mediterranean. A member of the Commonwealth and the EU, with two official languages - Maltese and English.

As far as I know, the only nation to have been awarded the George Cross, which appears on the national flag.

Also the birthplace of one of my brothers!

[drjd]

America, India

America, is a village just a few kilometres from Falodi and Kheechan, 140 kms off Jodhpur in the state of Rajasthan, India.

Its actual name happens to be Lordiyan, but, over the years, it has acquired the tag "America" - and each villager seems to have his own reason for calling it so.

"America" has 100% literacy and is self-reliant in many respects.

Ironically, many houses in America have the works of Karl Marx, Engels and Lenin. And, the village is supposed to have birthed the Communist movement in Rajasthan! This village used to be called Lalchin (after Red China) due to belief in Communist ideology in 1960s.

It appears that even as Red China adopted free market socialism, Rajasthan's own Lalchin turned into America!

[wodin]

Americas



encompass the totality of the continents of North America and South America. Together they make up most of Earth's western hemisphere and comprise the New World.

Along with their associated islands, they cover 8% of Earth's total surface area and 28.4% of its land area. The topography is dominated by the American Cordillera, a long chain of mountains that run the length of the west coast. The flatter eastern side of the Americas is dominated by large river basins, such as the Amazon, St. Lawrence River / Great Lakes basin, Mississippi, and La Plata. Since the Americas extend 14,000 km (8,700 mi) from north to south, the climate and ecology vary widely, from the arctic tundra of Northern Canada, Greenland, and Alaska, to the tropical rain forests in Central America and South America.

[cromag]

Schooleys Mountain, NJ

Schooleys Mountain is sometimes known as Schooley's Mountain, and was originally known as Schooler's Mountain. It's about 20 miles west of Morristown. George Washington noted that the road across Schooleys Mountain was particularly hazardous. The road is paved now, of course, but cars can still have problems if the drivers aren't careful.

Schooleys Mountain is best known, locally, for a 1788 hoax involving a self-proclaimed medium, buried gold supposedly left behind by Tories after the Revolutionary War, and ghosts who (inexplicably) demanded cash in order to reveal the gold's location. Quite a few superstitious residents of Morristown lost money trying to persuade the ghosts, through their "agent," to reveal the location of the treasure.

[drjd]

Natal, Brazil

The implementation of the Via Costeira (Coastal Highway), 10*km (6.2 miles) long avenue along the shore and the dunes, was the true starting point for the beginning of tourist activity in the State in the 1980s. That is where the main hotels of the capital city, Natal, are concentrated. Natal has several tourist attractions and is famous for its natural beauty (such as the crystalline waters of Maracajaú and the largest cashew tree in the world), for its historical monuments and buildings (such as the Forte dos Reis Magos, the Alberto Maranhão Theatre and Newton Navarro bridge), for its beaches (such as Ponta Negra, Pipa and Genipabu) and also for its off-season carnival, the Carnatal. The city also boasts the second largest urban park in Brazil, the Parque das Dunas.

[wodin]

Lānaʻi



is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. It is also known as Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation. The island's only settlement of note is the small town of Lānaʻi City. As of 2012, the island was 98% owned by Larry Ellison (Founder and Chairman of Oracle), with the remaining 2% owned by the state of Hawaii.

[cromag]

Intercourse, PA, US

Pennsylvania seems to have more than its share of towns with smile-provoking names. This is just one, but we have a lot of fun with it.

[drjd]

Originally Posted by cromag

Intercourse, PA, US

Pennsylvania seems to have more than its share of towns with smile-provoking names. This is just one, but we have a lot of fun with it.

Elizabeth, United States

In 2008, Elizabeth was named one of "America's 50 Greenest Cities" by Popular Science magazine, the only city in New Jersey selected.
Elizabeth, originally called "Elizabethtown" and part of the Elizabethtown Tract, was founded in 1664 by English settlers. The town was not named for Queen Elizabeth I as many people may assume, but rather for Elizabeth, wife of Sir George Carteret, one of the two original Proprietors of the colony of New Jersey. She was the daughter of Philippe de Carteret II, 3rd Seigneur de Sark and Anne Dowse.

[Phyllis41]

Harrington
Harrington is a city in Kent County, Delaware, United States. It is part of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area.

[wodin]

Niʻihau or Niihau (/ˈniːhaʊ/; Hawaiian: [ˈniʔiˈhɐw])



is the westernmost and seventh largest inhabited island in the U.S. state of Hawaiʻi, lying 17.5 miles (15.2 nmi; 28.2 km) southwest of Kauaʻi across the Kaulakahi Channel and having an area of 69.5 square miles (180 km2). Several intermittent playa lakes provide wetland habitats for the Hawaiian coot, the black-winged stilt, and the Hawaiian duck. The island is designated as critical habitat for Brighamia insignis, an endemic and endangered species of Hawaiian lobelioid. The United States Census Bureau defines Niʻihau and the neighboring island and State Seabird Sanctuary of Lehua as Census Tract 410 of Kauai County, Hawaii. Its 2000 census population was 160; Its 2010 census population was 170.

[drjd]

Ulan Hot, China

Ulanhot literally: "red town", formerly known as Wangin Süm, alternatively Wang-un Süme, Ulayanqota (Red City) in Classical Mongolian, and Wangyehmiao or Wangyemiao in Chinese prior to 1947, is a county-level city and the administrative center of Hinggan League in the East of Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Just outside the city is a tomb from the Yuan dynasty and a temple dedicated to Genghis Khan. The temple was constructed in 1940. In the year 2002 it received funds for significant expansion.

[WolfBack]

Trikala, Greece

Trikala (Greek: Τρίκαλα) is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios. According to the National Statistical Service, Trikala is populated by 81,355 inhabitants (2011), while in total the Trikala regional unit is populated by 131,085 inhabitants (2011).

[Phyllis41]

Arrington, Cambridgeshire

Arrington is on the A1198 road, the old Roman Ermine Street. Around 950, the settlement's name was written as Earnningtone; in the 1086 Domesday Book it was spelled Erningtune.

[drjd]

Napier-Hastings, New Zealand

The Napier-Hastings Urban Area lies mostly on the Heretaunga Plains of the Hawke's Bay Region in New Zealand and is based on the twin cities of Napier and Hastings.

If Hastings and Napier were to amalgamate they would become the fifth most populous city in New Zealand after Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Hamilton.

[wodin]

Sicily, Italy and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and still casts black ash over the island with its ever present eruptions. It currently stands 3,329 metres (10,922 ft) high, though this varies with summit eruptions; the mountain is 21 m (69 ft) lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps. Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 (459 sq mi) with a basal circumference of 140 km (87 mi). This makes it by far the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. In Greek Mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus, the god of the sky. Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily.