Weekend Workout (week starting February 23, 2014)

Place Names
(remember: larger versions of all visuals can be seen by clicking on them)

1. In the Ojibwe language, it's called Gitchigumi, meaning 'big water'. It is also written 'Gitche Gumee' as recorded by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in "The Song of Hiawatha". It was given a name meaning 'higher lake' in the 17th century by French explorers because it was located above Lake Huron. What is the English name that derived from this French one?

2. Which locality in / near Panjim is named after this person? She is usually depicted with a lamb because her name (which actually comes from the Greek for 'chaste') closely resembles the Latin for 'lamb'.

3. The title of 19th-century British author and speaker Emily Gerard's travelogue, 'The Land Beyond the Forest' was a direct translation of the name of which region in Europe?

4. In 1647, a Dutch vessel headed for Asia was wrecked in this bay. The marooned crew, the first Europeans to attempt settlement in the area, built a fort and stayed for a year until they were rescued. Shortly thereafter, the Dutch East India Company decided to establish a permanent settlement. They had no intention of colonising the area, instead wanting only to establish a secure base camp where passing ships could shelter, and where hungry sailors could stock up on fresh supplies of meat, fruit, and vegetables. But that's not how it turned out. Name the bay (named for the prominent geographical feature that overlooks it) and the city (named for another geographical feature).

5. This is a visualisation of a planned development of a building named Park51, from its location at 51 Park Place in New York. It was originally named Cordoba House, a name that was meant to invoke 8th–11th century Cordoba in Spain, which its promoters called "a model of peaceful co-existence between Muslims, Christians, and Jews". The name was changed after political opponents brought up the notion of Cordoba standing for the rule of Muslims over a Christian population. What is the far more incendiary name by which these opponents referred and continue to refer to this site, due to its 'sensitive' location?

6.  The capital of one of the former Yugoslav republics, this city is famous for its traditional religious diversity, with adherents of Islam, Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Judaism having co-existed there for centuries. Due to this long and rich history of religious diversity, it is also referred to as the 'Jerusalem of Europe'. Besides another historic incident (soon to mark its centenary) that it is well-known for, it also underwent the longest siege in post-WWII military history during the bloody conflicts following the break-up of Yugoslavia. Its name comes from a Turkish word used for a mansion or palace, quite familiar to us because of an Urdu derivative that is used for a resting place for travellers. Which city is this?

7. Which actor's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is situated at 7007 Hollywood Boulevard, a reference to his appearance in seven films of a certain franchise?

8. The name of this town – and the district of which it is headquarters – in northern Bengal derives from the local word for an olive (which once grew around here in great profusion). It is today better-known in other parts of India from the railway station named after it, that actually lies in another town, Siliguri. That station is one of the railheads for the toy train of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. Name the town, which is part of the name of the station.

9. Set up by French pirates as a safe haven, it came to be known as Hôpital after a hospital was set up in the growing colony. Its current name – given to it in 1706 by a visiting sea captain only identified as Monsieur de Saint-André – comes not from the title of any dignitary, but from the name of the ship the captain commanded. Which Caribbean capital city?

10. Tradition says that a boy emperor who once lived here noticed there were eight hills surrounding the area, which he called the Eight Dragons. A servant pointed out that an emperor is considered to be a dragon, therefore hills plus the emperor were nine dragons. That's what the name of this urban area means. The eight surrounding peaks are: ________ Peak, Tung Shan, Tate's Cairn, Temple Hill, Unicorn Ridge, Lion Rock, Beacon Hill and Crow's Nest. The ninth dragon was Emperor Bing. Name the place.

Answers
1. Superior, from 'le lac supérieur'
2. St Inez. 
The person is Agnes of Rome, referred to in Spanish and Portuguese as Santa Inez or Inés.
3. Transylvania.
From the Latin 'silvanus', meaning 'pertaining to forests', which gives us the English 'sylvan', meaning 'of the woods', most often seen in cliche-ridden tourism brochures ("set amidst sylvan surroundings...").
4. Table Bay, Cape Town
5. Ground Zero Mosque
6. Sarajevo, from 'sarai'
7. Roger Moore.
Sean Connery only acted in six official Bond movies. 'Never Say Never Again' is generally not accepted 'within the canon'.
8. Jalpaiguri. The station is New Jalpaiguri.
9. Port-au-Prince.
All the French references should have been a big clue – besides Canada, Haiti is the only Francophone nation in the New World.
10. Kowloon.
Can't give Hong Kong, because that name means 'fragrant harbour'.