Here’s a photo of a mystery city somewhere in Europe. Do you know or can you guess where it is and which language is spoken there?
13 thoughts on “Where in the world?”
Is it Tallinn? If so, the language is Estonian, with a minority of Russian speakers.
No, it’s not Tallinn.
Is it Warsaw? If so, the language is Polish.
Edumacated guesses:
The sun seems to be off to the left of the picture, so we’re very likely facing north/northwest. It’s flat, and there’s water off in the distance. And it’s overcast.
Plus the brick-facade merchant houses. Everything suggests northern Europe rather than the Adriatic. Probably the Low Countries, though it could be the Baltic — given the onion domes — as your other reader suggested. Ruling out Tallinn, that suggests places like Riga, Vilnius, Gdansk, Bruge, Antwerp or Amsterdam. But I don’t recall anything of the sort in those cities.
Stumped!
Wish I knew my architecture — that merchant house beyond the square is really striking!
hmm… my guess would be Prague.
Definitely not Prague.
It looks like Filharmonijas skvērs in Rīga, Latvia.
it’s in Warsaw, in the royal castle square.
of course Warsaw being the capital of Poland, the language spoken would be Polish.
My guess is Riga, where they speak Latvian.
Martin, nice guess!
but what if it was the sunrise and the direction we are facing in the picture is south?
That might change the whole thing hmmmm…
Romania ? (Bucuresti or Bucharest?)
It is some where in Eastern Europe this is for sure I guess!
Mike and luningning got it – it is indeed Warsaw (Warszawa), the capital of Poland, where Polish is spoken. The photo shows Royal Castle Square (Plac Zamkowy).
And I’ve been there, too! Awk! Guess I best remember the place from ground level, but now that I look carefully, it’s certainly the spot!
Did you know the entire square is a careful restoration? Warsaw was not only bombed in WW II, as anyone who’s seen the Pianist will know, but actually demolished block by block by the Nazis as they were forced out. Krakow (near Auschwitz) escaped the same fate only because the collapse was prepared in far more haste….
Thanks! Great quiz!
Greetings from Luxembourg.
I didn’t manage to guess the city when I saw this post a few days ago, but searching for songs of Franco Battiato on Youtube, I just came across this:
Is it Tallinn? If so, the language is Estonian, with a minority of Russian speakers.
No, it’s not Tallinn.
Is it Warsaw? If so, the language is Polish.
Edumacated guesses:
The sun seems to be off to the left of the picture, so we’re very likely facing north/northwest. It’s flat, and there’s water off in the distance. And it’s overcast.
Plus the brick-facade merchant houses. Everything suggests northern Europe rather than the Adriatic. Probably the Low Countries, though it could be the Baltic — given the onion domes — as your other reader suggested. Ruling out Tallinn, that suggests places like Riga, Vilnius, Gdansk, Bruge, Antwerp or Amsterdam. But I don’t recall anything of the sort in those cities.
Stumped!
Wish I knew my architecture — that merchant house beyond the square is really striking!
hmm… my guess would be Prague.
Definitely not Prague.
It looks like Filharmonijas skvērs in Rīga, Latvia.
it’s in Warsaw, in the royal castle square.
of course Warsaw being the capital of Poland, the language spoken would be Polish.
My guess is Riga, where they speak Latvian.
Martin, nice guess!
but what if it was the sunrise and the direction we are facing in the picture is south?
That might change the whole thing hmmmm…
Romania ? (Bucuresti or Bucharest?)
It is some where in Eastern Europe this is for sure I guess!
Mike and luningning got it – it is indeed Warsaw (Warszawa), the capital of Poland, where Polish is spoken. The photo shows Royal Castle Square (Plac Zamkowy).
And I’ve been there, too! Awk! Guess I best remember the place from ground level, but now that I look carefully, it’s certainly the spot!
Did you know the entire square is a careful restoration? Warsaw was not only bombed in WW II, as anyone who’s seen the Pianist will know, but actually demolished block by block by the Nazis as they were forced out. Krakow (near Auschwitz) escaped the same fate only because the collapse was prepared in far more haste….
Thanks! Great quiz!
Greetings from Luxembourg.
I didn’t manage to guess the city when I saw this post a few days ago, but searching for songs of Franco Battiato on Youtube, I just came across this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku5Gwhseeik (Radio Varsavia).
I very much like the sound of the Polish language… I hope to delve a little deeper into Polish some time soon.
Hi – nice to know that someone guessed the place.
Greetings from Warsaw! (Warszawa)