Travelogue of An Armchair Traveller

Google Earth Community - Fun and Games

Google Earth Community Forum is full of information which ranges from, but not limited to; history, geography, nature, environment, architecture, military, transportation, beliefs, festivals, huge, unique, bizarre items, current happenings etc etc.

My favourite section in the Community is "Fun and Games" - in which members post riddles and puzzles on almost all subjects and generally give hints for searching and locating the relevant places and or events on Google Earth. I have made several hundred posts in this forum and must have solved about the same number, though several were beyond my grasp. Believe me it is not easy to solve these riddles - Finding the answer is 90% perspiration (research) and 10% inspiration but it is pure 100% joy and sense of exhilaration.

This forum provides a stimulus to my brain and keeps it active. I strongly recommend this for those who have time and penchant for solving puzzles, but a word of warning – it is highly addictive.

My travels around the World are not limited to Fun and Games only, however many of the places being covered in this travelogue were found as a result of my researches for making posts in Fun and Games or trying to solve the riddles given therein.

The Original Google Earth Community was frozen by Google in April 2015 and finally killed in April 2019. However the dedicated moderators of the defunct Original GEC created a new Board for the GEC enthusiasts and the new Community is known as "Google Earth Community Forums". This new community continues to function as the old GEC but is independent of google.com

A single lonely lodge on the isolated and deserted Elliðaey Island, Norway is considered to be the loneliest House in the World. It is the lone building existing on the island having an area of 0.45 sq. km (110 acres; 45 hectares).

Till 1930s the island had few farming residents who gradually moved away to the mainland for better opportunities.

The lodge is a private property. It is owned by Elliðaey Hunting Association and was built for use by hunters. The island has a large population of puffins. It is also a major nesting area for storm petrels and other sea birds.

One has to be a member of the Hunting Association for visiting it. The island is accessed by boat. It has small docking beach and a ladder to climb the cliff to reach the lodge.

The island has no electricity, no mobile, no internet, no running water or indoor plumbing system.

In the image below, the lodge can be seen as a small white spot in centre of the concave shaped hillock of the left side of image.

Image from Wikimedia Commons is by Diego Delso

Image from Google Maps is by Shikder Mahmud Sayed

View location in Google Maps

Source of information: unilad.co.uk / Wikipedia

The SNP Bridge (Most SNP) over river Danube in Bratislava, Slovakia has a unique design with a giant Flying Saucer perched atop its pylon. The name SNP is abbreviation of "Slovenského národného povstania" meaning Slovak National Uprising. Commissioned in 1972 the cable stayed, double decked bridge is the world's longest bridge having a single pylon. It has a total length of 430.8 metres (1,413 ft), width of 21.0 metres (68.9 ft) and pylon height of 84.60 metres (277.6 ft). Its upper deck has four lanes for motor traffic, while the lower deck caters to cycle and pedestrian traffic.

Located atop its pylon is flying saucer shaped structure which houses a restaurant and an observation deck. These are accessed from the lower deck by lifts located in one of its pillar, while the second pillar houses emergency use staircase having 430 steps.

Image from Flickr is by Fred Romero