Luxor must be a fascinating place: the temples and the Valley of Kings are next to each other , I think, so I'm guessing you saw both sites, Marie.

Quote from: jimmy jazz on May 11, 2023, 08:22 PMHow many do you think you've been to?

^ Thanks for giving us a great question, jimmy jazz. :thumb:

Lists, and absolute accuracy are optional, and in fairness to people in the USA, it's probably best to count US states as countries too, because:-



How many countries and/or states have you visited?
[/b]



To get lost is to learn the way.

Luckily I have a pretty crazy memory for chronology and a lot of family photos to fill in the gaps, so here's my recollection, plus bonus info of when and why I first went there. First the states, of which I count 16:

Alaska (my parents' arctic cruise, 1991)
California (visiting friends, 2019)
Colorado (visiting my parents' friends, 1998)
Connecticut (visiting my grandpa, 2002)
Florida (family vacation, 1993)
Illinois (family vacation, 1999)
Indiana (visiting friends, 2009)
Iowa (visiting friends, 2009)
Maryland (family vacation, 2003)
Michigan (visiting my parents' friends, 2003)
Minnesota (family business trip, 1997)
Nevada (my parents' Vegas vacation, 1990)
New Jersey (family vacation, 2005)
New York (family vacation, 2005)
Ohio (visiting friends, 2009)
Wisconsin (my birth, 1989)

And as for countries, I've been to a whopping two:

The Bahamas (family vacation, 2000)
USA (my birth, 1989)

Phew! Kinda hard to summon that knowledge off the noggin.

"stressed" is just "desserts" spelled backwards

lol @ dog pussy doesn't count -

QuoteUK as one and only counting countries

i think it's fair to count northern ireland and england as two different countries




Quote from: Toy Revolver on May 12, 2023, 01:44 AMlol @ dog pussy doesn't count -

i think it's fair to count northern ireland and england as two different countries



Literally neither of them are countries please do not do this. The country is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.




Only God knows.

Quote from: jimmy jazz on May 12, 2023, 02:00 AMLiterally neither of them are countries please do not do this. The country is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.





did y'all break away from canada yet



Quote from: Lisnaholic on May 07, 2023, 04:01 PM
Personal Safety: Where and why have you felt most at risk? 

South side of Chicago after dark and the Bronx in NYC after dark.

Their reputations speak for themselves.



^ I wonder if that's literally "after dark", which starts at approx 8 p.m. I imagine, or is it when the streets empty out, like 10 pm. I ask because in the city I live in we have two-shift schools: morning shift, 7 a.m. to 2.p.m., afternoon shift 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. So buses are full of schoolkids going home  "after dark", and it stays pretty good, fairly safe, until midnight or so.
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Thanks for such a full answer, Mrs. Waffles: that's an impressive number of states! I've been to about 16 countries, more-or-less, but most of them European.
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If anyone can think of a new question for this thread, feel free to put it in, please. In the meantime , how about:

What has been your most spectacular experience of physical geography?
The coast, the mountain, etc. that left you, as we say in the UK, "gobsmacked"?


To get lost is to learn the way.

QuoteWhat has been your most spectacular experience of physical geography?

Nepal and the Himalayas
The Grand Canyon
Zion National Park
Grand Teton

and even if it's not on that same grandiose scale - kayaking through swamps and water ways into lakes and other bodies of water right here in florida- it's incredible how you can go down a little water path and suddenly it's so incredibly densely tropical with the vegetation so think - it feels like you're in the middle of brazil but you're really just a mile or so out

i also really believe in the waldon pond thing that the miracle of nature is tremendous everywhere- just watching birds and the sunrise through an oak tree in my backyard can be as rewarding as the grand canyon if you really appreciate how beautiful it is - and the sky just doing it's incredible thing everyday

fog on the water driving to work

it's everywhere

ngl though... Nepal... damn

at one spot five of the ten highest mountains on earth were all close and you could look from one ledge and see ice on top and tropical swamps below and all the transition from top to bottom

I felt so fortunate to be there. I was crying a lot because it was so beautiful.


#68 May 16, 2023, 04:46 PM Last Edit: May 16, 2023, 05:03 PM by Janszoon
Quote from: Lisnaholic on May 16, 2023, 03:52 PM
What has been your most spectacular experience of physical geography?
The coast, the mountain, etc. that left you, as we say in the UK, "gobsmacked"?
   

Death Valley, California. It's the only place I've ever been that truly felt like I was on another planet. Aside from the little oasis where the campground, hotel, and other amenities are located, it's 3,000 square miles (7,800 square kilometers) of dead land. The lowest parts of the valley are a salt pan. Other parts include a volcanic crater, sand dunes, canyons, and crinkled, multicolored rock hills. It's far from everything, so it also has a beautiful night sky.



This is what you want. This is what you get.

Them USA deserty places look unreal.

Apparently the Atacama Desert in Chile is like something from another planet too.



Only God knows.

Quote from: jimmy jazz on May 16, 2023, 05:19 PMThem USA deserty places look unreal.

Apparently the Atacama Desert in Chile is like something from another planet too.

I'd love to visit Chile and that's a big part of the reason why. The Danakil Depression in Ethiopia is another one of those alien places as well.

This is what you want. This is what you get.

Quote from: Lisnaholic on May 16, 2023, 03:52 PM^ I wonder if that's literally "after dark", which starts at approx 8 p.m. I imagine, or is it when the streets empty out, like 10 pm. I ask because in the city I live in we have two-shift schools: morning shift, 7 a.m. to 2.p.m., afternoon shift 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. So buses are full of schoolkids going home  "after dark", and it stays pretty good, fairly safe, until midnight or so.   

I was thinking roughly of the nighttime hours after 10pm and into the early morning hours before daylight but I wouldn't feel particularly safe revisiting either place when it gets dark even when the sun sets earlier.


Quote from: Lisnaholic on May 16, 2023, 03:52 PM
What has been your most spectacular experience of physical geography?
The coast, the mountain, etc. that left you, as we say in the UK, "gobsmacked"?

My favorite site had to be he end of Cape Cod, Massachusetts with the snow white sand, not far from Provincetown. Other sites that impressed me were the formations in Arizona and the California coastline.

The Word has spoken :D

Sometimes when I've been in the countryside in the Midlands I've thought some of you lot on here would really love to see it.

I used to speak to a Greek guy and he said when he came to England it was like entering heaven. He said it was so green and lush and cool it was nothing like where he was from (think it was Crete) he said it was pretty much scorching and dry and brown all the time.

Only God knows.

Quote from: jimmy jazz on May 17, 2023, 05:42 PMSometimes when I've been in the countryside in the Midlands I've thought some of you lot on here would really love to see it.

I used to speak to a Greek guy and he said when he came to England it was like entering heaven. He said it was so green and lush and cool it was nothing like where he was from (think it was Crete) he said it was pretty much scorching and dry and brown all the time.

Having been to both England and Crete as well as other places in the Mediterranean, I concur 🙂

Driving up along the English south, I thought it would be the cliffs in the southeast that would make the biggest impression, but for us it was actually Cornwall, Dartmoor and New Forest that stood out the most.

I'm sure there's lots and lots more to see for us in England.

Happiness is a warm manatee