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Real Locations that should be fantasy


Eosin

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I'm not sure, but I *think* the castle at the start of Scott's first batch is Burg Eltz, in Germany. I bring this up because I've read that Burg Eltz was built and inhabited by more than one family. In old Germany, sometimes families that couldn't afford to build castles by themselves would share the cost and build a duplex or triplex. This could be a good setup for murder mysteries and other intrigue, if the resident families came into conflict. (The Wikipedia entry for Eltz Castle has more information.)

 

Dean Shomshak

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The Richat Structure, Mauritania, aka "the Eye of the Sahara," an aberration in an otherwise-featureless desert region. Thirty miles across, the circle was once thought to have been caused by meteorite impact, but current theory is that it was a natural uplift in the surface that's been laid bare by erosion.

 

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There's a type of structure in Europe often called a "devil's bridge" due to its seemingly miraculous, and perilous, delicacy. This one, Rakotzbrucke, at Kromlauer Park in Saxony, was commissioned by a local knight in 1860, designed to create a perfect circle when reflected in the river.

 

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Spotted Lake is located in the Nk'Mip Desert, British Columbia, the only desert region in Canada. It's mineral-rich, and during the summer months much of the lake water evaporates, leaving concentrations of minerals which form visible colored patches, varying in color according to the predominant minerals in the patch. It's called Kliluk by the local indigenous people, who consider it a sacred site, and believe each of the circles holds its own medicinal properties.

 

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You've all seen pictures of Petra, the ruined city in Jordan: One of its famous rock-cut structures featured prominently in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. But there's more to Petra than a few ancient monuments, spectacular as they are. Last night the National Geographic channel showed a new documentary, Petra: City of Riches, on its history and construction. Petra was certainly a rich city, located as it was at the intersection of major trade routes. But its greatest wealth could not be measured in gold: It was the city's hydraulic engineering, that enabled the city to have gardens and pools -- and less visibly, a fine bath-house -- in the middle of desert mountains. To a visitor seeing Petra for the first time, the city must have seemed supernatural.

 

Unfortunately, the program is marred by lengthy passages of archaeologists talking in French or Arabic, with subtitles you can't read (well, I couldn't) because they are in white on backgrounds that are often very light-colored or, indeed, white. If you find this too annoying, I recommend another program about Petra, an episode of NOVA that aired several years ago.

 

Dean Shomshak

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You've all seen pictures of Petra, the ruined city in Jordan: One of its famous rock-cut structures featured prominently in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. But there's more to Petra than a few ancient monuments, spectacular as they are. Last night the National Geographic channel showed a new documentary, Petra: City of Riches, on its history and construction. Petra was certainly a rich city, located as it was at the intersection of major trade routes. But its greatest wealth could not be measured in gold: It was the city's hydraulic engineering, that enabled the city to have gardens and pools -- and less visibly, a fine bath-house -- in the middle of desert mountains. To a visitor seeing Petra for the first time, the city must have seemed supernatural.

 

Unfortunately, the program is marred by lengthy passages of archaeologists talking in French or Arabic, with subtitles you can't read (well, I couldn't) because they are in white on backgrounds that are often very light-colored or, indeed, white. If you find this too annoying, I recommend another program about Petra, an episode of NOVA that aired several years ago.

 

Dean Shomshak

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