You Are a Tourist Trivia Quiz

Answer: Melbourne, Victoria

Melbourne is indeed home to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (which hosts Australian Rules football as well as cricket, not to mention the occasional concert), the Queen Victoria Markets, Flemington Racecourse, and Young & Jackson's Hotel. Rosa Roamer also visited the Old Melbourne Gaol to see where the notorious bushranger Ned Kelly was hanged, checked out the art on display at the National Gallery of Victoria and climbed the Eureka Skydeck to look out over the city before heading off to the casino.

Then back to her hotel room to record it all in detail - this looks as if it is going to be a hard-working holiday for me!

Answer: Christchurch

The other three options are found on the North Island.

Christchurch was devastated by a series of earthquakes between 4 September 2010 and June 2011. The damage to the city was extensive, and large parts of it needed to be razed and redeveloped. The city council plans to rebuild the city with a lower profile, and in line with their Garden City theme.

Tonight, Rosa made me type up a few thousand words of rhapsody about what she plans to visit in the next week as she travels around the South Island, including the Fox Glacier, Milford Sound, Mount Cook (New Zealand's highest peak), the world's only mainland southern albatross colony in Dunedin, Kaikoura for a spot of whale-watching, and the Buller River to go white water rafting. Thank goodness it's not winter, or she might make me travel to Mt. Hutt to go skiing!

Answer: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Here's the abridged version of the journal entry Rosa typed up on me this evening. Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, home of Eva Peron (subject of the musical "Evita") and internationally-acclaimed writer Jorge Luis Borges. As well as following those two tourist routes (I will be merciful and skip the gory details), she took pictures of the Tudor architecture of Belgrano, checked out the restaurants and clubs of Palermo, had a coffee in a street café as she enjoyed the Art Deco architecture of Retiro, and admired Benito Quinquela Martin's many wall paintings and sculptures in Caminito. Since there was no performance at the Teatro Colon opera house today, she journeyed into the countryside to stay at an estancia (an estate where cattle or sheep are raised) which operates a hotel for tourists.

There she enjoyed an asado, a barbecue with lots and lots of meat as the central feature. Gauchos are (roughly) the South American equivalent of the US cowboy. Rosa was particularly taken with their outfits - poncho, baggy trousers, colorful cloth belt - and by the display of the bolas, three rocks in leather pouches on the end of a long leather thong which are thrown around an animal's legs to capture it.

Answer: Havana, Cuba

Havana Harbor is actually split into three bays - Marimelena, Guanabacoa, and Atares. As well as being the capital city of Cuba, Havana is its largest port, and was originally settled by the Spanish for its strategic location as a port for ships travelling to and from the Caribbean. The region of the city near the harbour, which dates from the 16th century, is called 'Old Havana'. It has recently been restored, and is a World Heritage listed site.

As well as her watery adventures, Rosa also visited Chinatown, the National Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of the Revolution, the Ernest Hemingway Museum, and the Cigar Museum. Guess what - they all have lots of exhibits that she had to describe, so we were up most of the night while she typed away on my keyboard..

Answer: Boston, Massachusetts

The Swan Boats in Boston Garden are a popular tourist attraction, both because they are an interesting experience and because of their featured role in Robert McCloskey's children's classic "Make Way For Ducklings". Needless to say, Rosa wrote an extensive description of the statue in the Garden showing Mrs Mallard and her eight ducklings.

Then it was off on the Freedom Trail, following the red brick road to see a number of historical sites, including the Park Street Church and the adjacent Granary Burying Ground, Boston's third-oldest cemetery, where Paul Revere is buried; the stature of Benjamin Franklin on the former site of Boston Latin, the city's first public school; the Old South Meeting House, where the Boston Tea Party was planned in 1773; the Old State House, Boston's oldest surviving public building; Faneuil Hall, with its distinctive grasshopper weather vane; Paul Revere's house; the Old North Church, built in the style of Christopher Wren, where the fabled lanterns for "One if by land, two if by sea" were hung; the Bunker Hill Monument, site of the charge to the defending soldiers, "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes"; and, last but not least, the 214-year old (in 2011) USS Constitution, berthed in the Charlestown Naval Yards. I reckon Rosa typed enough information today for an entire book about the history of Boston! My keys are tired, and I need a good rest.

Answer: London

Rosa may be unsure of the origin of the name London (she typed over a page speculating as to whether it came from King Lud, or from someone named Londinos, or as a reference to the Thames being a very wide river), but she is very sure that she enjoyed her visit here. As her faithful typewriter, I recorded all the details of her visit to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, which was used to establish the Prime Meridian, the line running along a Great Circle from the North Pole to the South Pole which is defined as zero degrees longitude. All longitude measurements are recorded as being east or west of this meridian. The observatory was founded in 1675, and became a World Heritage Site in 1997. Although central to international navigation and time zones, it is not the 'official' centre of London, which is traditionally considered to be the Eleanor Cross in Charing Cross. This was one of twelve crosses erected in the 13th century by Edward I to mark the nightly stopping points of the procession carrying the body of his wife, Eleanor of Castile, as it was being taken to London after her death.

Rosa visited such historically-significant sights as the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Tower Bridge and Buckingham Palace. She took photos at Wembley, Wimbledon and Lords for her nephews, who are keen fans of football, tennis and cricket, then rode the London Eye so she could say she had seen all the other spots she didn't find time to visit on the ground. I call it cheating, but it did reduce the amount of typing she forced on me tonight - the lack of detail made her descriptions less fulsome than usual!

Answer: Paris, France

Paris was originally called "The City of Light" because of its role as a centre of intellectual activity during the Age of Enlightenment (roughly 1650-1750); the nickname has stuck with new reasons for it to seem appropriate - the introduction of street lights ahead of many other cities, and the exciting night life have been suggested as appropriate explanations for the name.

The Parisii tribe settled in the area on the Seine now known as Paris around 250 BCE. The Romans conquered the area around 50 BCE, and developed a large Roman-style city on the Left Bank and the Ile de la Cite (larger of the two islands which are the oldest part of the city), complete with baths, an ampitheatre, a forum, temples - the lot. With the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century CE, the town was virtually abandoned, and became a fortified island outpost. The city slowly rose to power again, becoming a capital city when the Parisian Hugh Capet became king of France around 1000 CE.

Paris is one of the world's greatest centres for tourism - hardly surprising considering the rich heritage on display. There are nearly 4000 historical monuments in the city and surrounds, not to mention contemporary cultural icons. Rosa's journal for today has plenty to say about the Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Elysees, Montmartre, the Louvre, the Place de la Bastille, the cathedral of Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, the Tuileries Gardens, Pere Lachaise cemetery, Roland Garos tennis stadium where the French Open is played, not to mention her boat ride down the Seine. I'm exhausted just from typing it up, I don't know where she finds the energy for these action-packed days!

Answer: Cairo, Egypt

The Sphinx and the Giza pyramid complex are in the desert about 9 km (5 mi) away from the Nile River, and roughly 25 km (15 mi) away from the centre of Cairo. The complex includes the Great Pyramid, also called the Pyramid of Cheops and the Pyramid of Khufu, which is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, as decreed by the Greek writer Antipater of Sidon in the second century BCE, that still survives.

Cairo's location on the Nile River just upstream from the start of the delta has made it a place of considerable strategic significance in the region. As the river has changed its course over the years, new suburbs have grown to maintain contact between the city and the river. The architecture of the city is quite varied, reflecting the different civilizations which have controlled it over the centuries.

Tomorrow looks as if a long night of typing will be in store for me, but I got off lightly today.

Answer: Mumbai

The seven original islands of Mumbai (sometimes called Bombay) were Isle of Bombay, Colaba, Old Woman's Island, Mahim, Mazagaon, Parel and Worli. Over a period of about 500 years the islands were joined first by bridges and then by land reclamation. The nearby islands of Trombay and Salsette were later joined to become part of Greater Mumbai.

The islands of East Ground, Oyster Rock, Middle Ground Coastal Battery, Butcher Island and Elephanta Island are still separate in Mumbai's harbour. Rosa could have taken the ferry to see the famed cave sculptures on Elephanta Island, but she chose instead to spend her time exploring Mumbai's film and television industry. Today's entry was little more than a list of names of the famous stars she had seen, whose autographs she shamelessly secured. Maybe tomorrow she will visit the Gateway of India monument.

This basalt arch located on the harbour was built in an Islamic style of architecture, but its decorations are Hindi. Standing 26 m (85 ft) high, and built out of basalt, this arch was used as a landing place for European visitors during the time of the British Empire, and was often the first thing that would be seen by those who arrived in Mumbai by boat.

Answer: Tokyo, Japan

The fishing town of Edo became a fortified city in the 12th century CE. Around 1600 it became the military centre of government during the shogunate of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and started to grow into one of the world's largest cities. It was rename Tokyo in 1868. In 1923 the Great Kanto earthquake not only caused extensive damage, but also led to the death of around 150,000 people. The bombing of Tokyo in 1944 and 1945 destroyed almost half of the city, and involved the death of up to 200,000 citizens of the city. On a happier note, Tokyo hosted the 1964 Olympic Games (remember the 1966 comedy film "Walk Don't Run", starring Cary Grant and Jim Hutton?).

Tokyo has suffered numerous earthquakes over the years because it is located near the Boso Triple Junction, the only place on earth where three trenches meet. They are the Izu-Bonin Trench, the Japan Trench and the Sagami Trench. The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami which triggered nuclear meltdowns at three reactors of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant had its epicentre on the Japan Trench.

Rosa typed more slowly than usual this evening, because she was using only one hand while trying to master chopsticks with her other hand. Oh Rosa, you are SUCH a tourist!