Now that people are starting to travel again, last week I blogged about quirky questions tourists ask. This week I have some travel trivia for you. I came across an article that listed bits of trivia about various travel destinations. Little snippets of miscellaneous information usually not included in travel guides. Things I found interesting. I hope you find them interesting, too.
1) Mt. Everest
It's a commonly known fact that Mt. Everest, on the
Nepal–Tibet border, is the highest point above sea level on earth. You'd think that would be enough, wouldn't you? Well, apparently it isn't. The precise height of Mt. Everest is somewhat
disputed. It's generally thought to be
29,029ft (8,848m) above sea level. And
that interesting little fact? It's still
growing! Mt. Everest is pushing upward
at a rate estimated to be 4mm a year thanks to the clash between two tectonic
plates.
2) Mexico City
While Mt. Everest is growing, the interesting little fact
about Mexico City is that it's sinking at an average rate of 10cm a year which
is 10 times faster than the sinking rate of Venice, Italy. And the reason for this? Mexico City was built on a soft lake bed and
subterranean water reserves have subsequently been pumped out from beneath the
city. The result? The city is sinking. In fact, I recently saw a news story about a
large new sinkhole that just appeared in central Mexico and is growing.
3) Vatican City
The world's smallest independent state, 44 hectares (110
acres) is totally encircled by Rome. The
Vatican's Swiss Guard still wears the uniform inspired by Renaissance painter
Raphael. Vatican City's population is
800 with only 450 of those being citizens.
It even has its own coins which are legal tender throughout Italy and
the EU.
4) El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los
Angeles
What is all that? In
English it's Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels. It's the shortened version that's better
known today—the city of Los Angeles in the U.S. state of California. The town came into being in 1781 and today,
in an area of downtown Los Angeles referred to as Olvera Street, there is a
cluster of museums, ancient plazas and lively markets providing a taste of life
in 1800s Los Angeles.
5) Nuestra Senora Santa Maria del Buen Aire
What is all that? In
English it's Our Lady St. Mary of the Good Air, better known today as the city
of Buenos Aires in Argentina. It's the
best spot to savor the tango. Don't take
the tango lightly in Buenos Aires. It's
serious business.
6) London Underground
London's Metropolitan Railway was the world's first subway,
opened in 1863. The first section ran
between Paddington and Farringdon and was a hit in spite of the steam engines
filling stations and tunnels with dense smoke.
Today, if you ride the Circle Line between Paddington and Covent Garden,
you'll travel part of that original route.
7) Venice, Italy
As mentioned earlier, Venice is sinking. But in the interim…one of the things
immediately associated with Venice are the gondolas on the canals, especially
the Grand Canal. Each gondola is made
from 280 pieces of 8 different types of wood.
The left side is larger than the right side by 24cm. The parts of a gondola represent bits of the
city—the front echoes its 6 districts, the back is Giudecca Island, and the
lunette is the Rialto Bridge.
8) Great Wall of China
Most everyone knows this is the largest military
construction on earth. However the part
about it being the only man-made structure able to be seen from space is an
urban myth. The sections were built by
independent kingdoms between the 7th and 4th centuries
BC, then unified under China's first Emperor Qin Shi Huang around 210 BC. A not well known fact is that the sections
near Beijing which are most visited by tourists are reconstructions done in the
14th to 17th centuries AD.
9) Table Mountain, South Africa
This large plateau of sandstone looms over Cape Town. But this huge table has its own table
cloth. The plateau's cloud cover gathers
across the flat top and spills over the sides when the wind whips up from the
southeast. You can reach the top by
hiking trails or cable car.
10) Uluru, Australia
This is probably the world's largest monolith, rising from the Australian desert. More commonly known for years as Ayers Rock, it is now referred to by the Aboriginal name of Uluru. The rock glows a fiery orange-red color, especially at sunset. Where does its red color come from? It's made from arkosic sandstone which contains iron. When exposed to oxidation, the iron rusts thus providing the red color.
2 comments:
Interesting facts! Thanks for the post.
Ilona: You're welcome.
Thanks for your comment.
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