3...2...1...Liftoff! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Paris

Liv Toff and her rocket are in the romantic city of Paris, a city in a world centre of gastronomy, France. The Seine is the source of much of the apparent Parisian romanticism especially when the rippling water reflects the colours of the city lights at night. Many visitors cross the Seine via the St-Michel bridge and stroll in a leisurely manner to the Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris, one of the most famous cathedrals in the world.

The city's nightlife, both the pure and the somewhat less innocent, was captured by the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, a man whose paintings have sold for massive sums of money.

Answer: Berlin

Yes, Dr Liv Toff and her rocket are in Berlin, the German capital city. Berlin is architecturally stunning and this includes the Brandenburg Gate, a structure representing peace, which is recognised around the world. The Brandenburg Gate has welcomed many foreign Presidents and Prime Ministers to Germany before the leaders go on to give a speech to the public on a stage set-up such that the fabulous structure is situated behind the politicians.

Answer: Murmansk

The geography of the part of the world that is north of the Arctic Circle is truly fascinating. With extremely variable conditions, such as ice sheets in Greenland and relatively ice-free conditions in Murmansk, the region is inherently intriguing.

Murmansk, in the northwest of Russia, has for a very long time been the most populated city north of the Arctic Circle, but the Russian census of 2002 reveals some very interesting statistics. The population of Murmansk in 2002 was registered as 336,137, whereas in the census of 1989 the population was 468,039. That is a staggering 28.2% decrease in the population of Murmansk in just thirteen years.

Dr Liv Toff was very disappointed that she couldn't set off her rocket in Murmansk, but, don't fear! She (and her rocket) will be back...

Answer: China

K2 is sometimes referred to as Mount Godwin-Austen, and despite the occasional usage of the latter, it has been rejected by the Royal Geographical Society who will only recognise the name K2. This mountain is particularly tricky to climb and a statistic I find very interesting is that for every four climbers that successfully conquer K2, one fails and that failure results in an unfortunate death.

Dr Liv Toff is only a novice mountain climber and had no intention of reaching the summit of either Mount Everest or K2, but she did get high enough to see some wonderful views and, of course, prepare her toy rocket for liftoff!

Answer: Busan

The city of Busan, also known as Pusan, is not just the biggest port in South Korea but one of the biggest port cities in the world! Larger again is the South Korean capital of Seoul. This city is one of the most populated in the world and is a major part of the Seoul National Capital Area. Within this area is another port, Incheon, and this essentially serves as the main port for Seoul.

Needless to say that Dr Liv Toff was excited about launching her rocket in both of these splendid cities. She waited till the late evening to indulge in her hobby as the evocative and dazzling lights of many colours shining across the cities would provide a perfect background for the liftoff!

Answer: Adelaide

The wonderfully named Mount Lofty Ranges is a set of mountain ranges in the state of Southern Australia not far from the city of Adelaide. These ranges would provide perfect seclusion for Dr Liv Toff to take her toy space rocket!

Adelaide is the fifth largest city in Australia in terms of population, but this relatively small population is very cosmopolitan. Adelaide has a particularly large percentage of English residents as well as being home to individuals from Italy, Vietnam and Greece.

Answer: Manaus

Manaus is an interesting city situated in the jungle! The mental image of a city built around the trees with the wildlife living alongside the human residents springs to mind, but sadly there is very little greenery in Manaus. The city is expanding to accommodate the vast waves of ecotourists as well as people moving from cities such as Rio de Janeiro who wish to start life afresh.

Dr Liv Toff decided that she wanted to launch her rocket outside the Amazonas Opera House. For some reason the thought of an opera house in the middle of a rainforest always makes me smile.

Answer: Houston

Houston must surely be the perfect place for Liv Toff to launch her rocket. The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center houses the Mission Control Center (MCC-H), which is a center that coordinates space travel that involves humans. The most famous missions that were coordinated by the Mission Control Center in Houston were the Apollo manned missions to the moon.

Answer: Belfast

Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, is found in the province of Ulster. Northern Ireland is one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The other three countries are England, Scotland and Wales.

One of the most famous ships in naval history, the RMS Titanic, was constructed in the city of Belfast. Titanic, the "unsinkable" ship, would of course go on to strike an iceberg in the middle of the north Atlantic ocean and roughly 1500 people would die as a result.

Out of Belfast, Cork, Dublin and Limerick, only Belfast is in Northern Ireland. The other three are found in the Republic of Ireland (Eire). It doesn't matter to Liv Toff anyway, find her a launch site and she and her rocket will be there!

Answer: Cardiff

Liv Toff would be in the capital city of Wales, Cardiff. Seeing as I cycle to lectures along the River Taff (or Afon Taf in Welsh) every morning, I thought I'd have to throw in a question about it!

The Senedd is the building that includes the debating chamber of the Welsh Assembly. The introduction of a devolved Welsh government was controversial and was set-up amidst much apathy. Very few people turned up to vote and the pro-Welsh Assembly lobby won the referendum despite most people not really wanting it. The lesson to be learned perhaps is to use your vote!