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1) MONACO had an adult literacy rate of 99% in the year 2023. The relatively tiny but wealthy principality is east of Nice — a city in which country?
A — GERMANY
B — FRANCE
C — SPAIN
2) Lake Mattamuskeet is only five miles away from the Atlantic Ocean. It is completely contained within Hyde County in which state in the UNITED STATES?
A — North Carolina
B — Pennsylvania
C — Vermont
D — Arkansas
3) Jaco is a tiny, circular island east of Timor Island and Cape Cutcha. It is the easternmost point of TIMOR-LESTE (East Timor) and is about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) in length. Overnight stays on are not allowed the uninhabited island. What is the official reason why visitors are banned from staying overnight on Jaco?
A — vicious nocturnal crocodiles
B — the island is sacred
C — to let birds sleep peacefully
D — sneaky leopards like to prowl at night and scare visitors
4) True or false: there are no time zones in the Arctic Circle.
ANSWERS
Question 1:
B . . . . . France
Question 2:
A . . . . . North Carolina
Question 3:
B . . . . . the island is sacred
Question 4:
True
In this twelfth and grand finale episode of The Amazing Race Season 38 (U.S. Edition), we found out whether Izzy and Paige or Adam and Joseph arrived to the ๐ซ๐ท Paris, FRANCE Pit Stop ๐ผ in third place. As mentioned as a spoiler alert at the bottom of the eleventh episode post, Adam and Joseph arrived third and continued in the competition; Izzy and Paige arrived in fourth and therefore could not compete for a million dollars. The three teams competing for moolah — Kyland and Taylor, Jag and Jas, and Adam and Joseph — flew ✈️ westward across the Atlantic Ocean from Paris to ๐ฝ New York City, USA ๐บ๐ธ and arrived at the magnificent Empire State Building. In a thrilling task, they went all the way to the top and rappelled down the spire!
Each team was given $550 ๐ต to spend in this episode, presumably for taxi rides, food, and maybe some souvenirs. Teams met and chatted with the Cookie Monster ๐ช and Oscar the Grouch — two wonderful personalities from one of the most popular PBS shows of all time, Sesame Street! Later at a gigantic fabric store known as Spandex Fabrics Inc., teams found sixteen specific bolts of fabric to match swatch samples. They gave the fabrics to a student waiting outside in front of the Feldman Center (Fashion Institute of Technology).
For the last challenge of Season 38, teams visited Seret Studios which provides an assortment of filming locations ๐ฅ throughout New York City. Teams completed a giant crossword puzzle recapping places and moments throughout this season. Finally, they unscrambled letters from the puzzle to determine the ๐ Pit Stop location: Yankees Stadium ⚾. To cheer on the final three teams, most teams from Season 38 were present at the Pit Stop mat including Eric/Tucker, Izzy/Paige, Chelsie/Jack, Matt/Megan, Enzo/Jack, etc. ๐ฅ Jag and Jas arrived first and won the $1 million! ๐ This was likely not a surprise to Amazing Race viewers due to their remarkable performance throughout the competition. In basically every episode, Jag and Jas arrived at the Pit Stop in first place or in the top three. Congratulations to them! The second-place team (Kyland and Taylor) ๐ฅ, the third-place team (Adam and Joseph) ๐ฅ, Izzy and Paige ๐
, and pretty much every other team are also to be commended for excelling at Season 38 of the The Amazing Race!
1) Which of the following is not a city in PORTUGAL?
A — Lisbon
B — Porto
C — Madrid
D — Coimbra
2) Highclere Castle is the grand main setting of the episodes and movies of Downton Abbey. This impressive building is located in which southern ceremonial county of the UNITED KINGDOM?
A — Cornwall County
B — Devon County
C — Hampshire County
3) True or false: BAHRAIN is an island country.
4) Nicknamed the Green Mountain State, which of the following choices gained statehood to the UNITED STATES as the 14th state?
A — Maine
B — Vermont
C — Minnesota
D — Washington
ANSWERS
Question 1:
C . . . . . Madrid — capital of Spain (↗)
Question 2:
C . . . . . Hampshire County
Question 3:
True
Question 4:
B . . . . . Vermont (↗)
Happy New Year 2026!
In this penultimate eleventh episode of The Amazing Race Season 38 (U.S. Edition), the four teams flew on the same flight from Milan, ITALY ๐ฎ๐น to Paris, FRANCE ๐ซ๐ท. They visited the famous Moulin Rouge (“Red Mill”) and performed a fast-paced choreography to the tune of Orphรฉe aux enfers with the Moulin Rouge ladies. Teams then visited the world-renown Notre Dame Cathedral ✝️ which suffered an unfortunate fire in 2019. The twelfth century French Gothic architectural masterpiece dedicated to Virgin Mary was majestically restored in December 2024. The next stop ๐ on teams’ itinerary was the National Institute for Blind Youth (Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles) — the first school for the blind in France and among all Western countries.
Teams encountered a Roadblock ๐ง challenge known as “Who Thinks They Know Their Type?”. Teams used a Braille typewriter to decode and type out a famous phrase from the Statue of Liberty ๐ฝ which includes “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”. Most teams typed away for quite a while because they would be so close to getting the paper correct but sometimes had just one spelling mistake — and had to type the whole poem again. The next task of the day sent teams on a scavenger hunt throughout Paris to look for three Statue of Liberty replicas. At each of the three locations, teams received a plastic 3D “puzzle piece” ๐งฉ of the French tricolor flag; they put the three pieces together to reveal an engraving and name of the Pit Stop. For this challenge, teams went near the Pont de Grenelle bridge ๐, to the Jardin du Luxembourg garden ⛲ (colloquial name: le Luco), and to the Musรฉe des Arts et Mรฉtiers (Museum of Arts and Crafts) ๐ผ️.
The particularly picturesque Pit Stop of this episode occurred at the Place du Trocadรฉro which is an ideal vantage point to view the Eiffel Tower ๐ผ. Teams encountered host Phil Keoghan as always but were also met with silence… a mime was there! Jag and Jas arrived first at the Pit Stop as usual; they won an exciting trip to FIJI ๐ซ๐ฏ. Kyland and Taylor arrived second, but the show did not reveal whether Adam and Joseph or Izzy and Paige arrived next and who therefore stayed in the competition. However, I will do that now. There is definitely a spoiler alert below! If (at this time) you don’t want to know who made it to the finale episode, please skip the bottom of this post.
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Adam and Joseph arrived to the Pit Stop in third place and therefore made it to the finale episode! Izzy and Paige arrived in fourth and were therefore eliminated from the The Amazing Race. They expressed gratitude for having a wonderful journey to the various places they visited and the memories they made.
In this tenth episode of The Amazing Race Season 38 (U.S. Edition), teams traveled from Athens, GREECE ๐ฌ๐ท to the world-class fashion city of Milan, ITALY ๐ฎ๐น. This majestic city of about 1.4 million residents in northern Italy is home to the world’s oldest shopping mall dating to 1877. The episode info above mentions that a team was “forced to travel an hour behind the pack”; the duo Kyland and Taylor had to book a slightly later flight from Athens to Milan due to previous teams reaching the first plane’s maximum capacity. This episode did not have a Detour task like most previous episodes in Season 38.
A Roadblock was the first task of the day; teams recreated a floral designer dress to meet a fashionista’s approval. Multiple team members struggled with this detail-oriented task since they had to have the correct number of flowers (five or so varieties) and arrange them in specific spots. The second part of the episode info above took place at this Roadblock; Adam suffered from heat exhaustion and took a well-needed break. When he resumed the task, teams encouraged him by cheering, especially Izzy and Paige. Teams encountered the “Who’s Got Italian Game?” Roadblock in the town of Vigevano — geographically located 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) west-southwest of Milan. Fun Fact: Leonardo da Vinci was involved in planning the town’s layout! First, a team member had to complete a replica of Vigevano’s Bramante Tower. To accomplish the second Roadblock task, the same team member was pushed on a rolling horse by two Italians and had to poke a lance (essentially a pole used for pole jumping) through four rings.
Before arriving at the Pit Stop, teams built a self-supporting bridge with notched logs. This task was inspired by da Vinci’s clever bridge invention. When teams were putting these together, I was reminded of being a kid constructing small buildings with Lincoln Logs! Anyways, Kyland/Taylor and Chelsie/Jack were building their bridges as fast as possible to avoid last place. Chelsie and Jack almost completed the bridge when all of a sudden it collapsed, giving Kyland and Taylor a much-needed advantage. They quickly rebuilt it but were not able to avoid last place. Jag and Jas won $7,500 each for arriving in first place at the Villa Borri-Manzoli Pit Stop in Corbetta — a town located north of Vigevano and west of Milan. Izzy and Paige arrived second (their best finish so far), Adam and Joseph in third, Kyland and Taylor in fourth, and Chelsie and Jack in fifth/last place. Chelsie and Jack completed their Amazing Race journey — which was occasionally chaotic with navigational difficulties but positively filled with memories nonetheless.
In this ninth episode of The Amazing Race Season 38 (U.S. Edition), all teams departed at different times but flew on the same airplane — therefore starting this leg of the race together. Teams left ROMANIA ๐ท๐ด and arrived in Athens, GREECE ๐ฌ๐ท and quickly proceeded to Pnyx (Pnyka) Hill near the National Observatory, Parthenon, and Acropolis. This area of ancient Greek civilization ๐บ is the birthplace of democratic voting. The Amazing Race chose this setting to conduct a Double U-Turn Vote. Each team voted two teams to slow down, requiring them to complete both Detour tasks ๐ง. For coming in last place in the previous episode (↗), Adam and Joseph were penalized with one U-Turn Vote. This turned out to be a trivial disadvantage for the team since the most votes were against Eric/Tucker (4 votes), Jag/Jas (3 votes), and Kyland/Taylor (3 votes). The teams of Adam/Joseph, Chelsie/Jack, and Izzy/Paige only received one vote each. Here is a team-by-team vote tally in sequential order:
→ Adam and Joseph voted against Chelsie/Jack and Eric/Tucker.
→ Eric and Tucker voted against Jag/Jas and Kyland/Taylor.
→ Chelsie and Jack voted also against Jag/Jas and Kyland/Taylor.
→ Jag and Jas voted against Eric/Tucker and Kyland/Taylor.
→ Izzy and Paige voted against Eric/Tucker and Jag/Jas.
→ Kyland and Taylor voted against Izzy/Paige and Eric/Tucker.
While there were supposed to be two teams having to complete both Detours, Jag/Jas and Kyland/Taylor both tied in votes so a tiebreaker vote was held. Just like in the first round of voting, both teams received three votes. Therefore, Eric/Tucker, Jag/Jas, and Kyland/Taylor were required to complete both Detour challenges: “Music in the Air” ๐ถ and “Olives Everywhere”. In “Music in the Air,” team members chose to carry or took turns carrying a Greek laterna piano ๐น on her or his back to a nearby town square. They performed the musical instrument and caught everyone’s attention with various shenanigans (and begging) in hopes of earning at least 10 Euros ๐ถ from nearby pedestrians. Jag and Jas earned €12.20 relatively quickly, Eric and Tucker earned €18.40, Kyland and Taylor earned €11.10, and Adam and Joseph earned €13.03. For the “Olives Everywhere” Detour task, teams tasted, visually identified, and memorized 10 varieties of olives grown throughout Greece. They then quizzed their newfound olive knowledge by going to a different table somewhat close by to match 10 bowls of olives with their variety name.
Visiting another hill in Greece, teams went to a place called Hill of the Muses to roll a giant ball on it. Teams were then tasked with memorizing the 24 lowercase Greek letters, and they recited them as an elderly gentleman in ancient Greek garb pointed to each letter in random order. If I was a contestant on The Amazing Race, I would have loved to complete this task because these letters are used for designating stars in almost all the constellations in the night sky! I created the Amazing Astronomy Blog (↗) to share my passion for ๐ญ stargazing and learning about the cosmos ๐. Visitors accessing the Amazing Astronomy Blog may notice lowercase Greek letter symbols (ฮฑ, ฮฒ, ฮณ, ฮด, ฮต, ฮถ, ฮท, ฮธ, etc.) within constellation maps and various posts.
Now back to recapping this episode! Jag memorized the letters in alphabetical order but did not realize the elder sage was going to point to them in random order. Nevertheless, he completed this task in first place. Meanwhile, Tucker struggled at this task despite usually finishing something in first or second place. Jag and Jas arrived at the Kotzia Square Pit Stop first and met Phil — and a lady dressed as Athena. Phil gave Jag and Jas a trip to CAMBODIA ๐ฐ๐ญ including the following destinations and activities: the world-famous Angkor Wat temple, the city of Siem Reap, ATV adventures, a Cambodian culinary tour, and Ta Prohm temple. Phil noted that Jag and Jas is the first team ever to have arrived first at the Pit Stop ๐ after being U-Turned! Chelsie and Jack arrived at the mat in second place, followed by Adam and Joseph in third, Izzy and Paige in fourth, and Kyland and Taylor in fifth. Despite being a competent team and winning in four episodes in a row, Eric and Tucker arrived last at the Pit Stop and ended their Amazing Race journey in this episode.
In this eighth episode of The Amazing Race Season 38 (U.S. Edition), teams searched for an Easter egg, visited the world’s heaviest building, learned and performed a folk dance routine, played a handmade flute, and made street food in Bucharest, ROMANIA ๐ท๐ด! The first task of the day involved searching for an Easter egg in a meadow and forest area to match one of the giant decorated eggs. Someone in a chicken costume accepted the eggs found by the teams and gave them their next clues. Jag and Jas used their Express Pass to skip the egg hunt and proceed to the Detour challenge near the People’s Palace (Casa Poporului) at Union Square (Piaศa Unirii). The People’s Palace of Romania is the world’s heaviest building weighing in at 4.1 million metric tons (tonnes) which equals over 9 billion pounds!
Adam and Joseph arrived to the Detour last because Adam struggled to find a hidden Easter egg. Teams who chose the “Find the Beat” task learned and performed a Romanian folk dance routine. Deciding that learning and performing this dance would be time-consuming, Kyland and Taylor was the second team to use the Express Pass in this episode. Teams who chose the “Hit the Note” task assembled two Romanian pan flutes (nai) and played a particular tune to a flute player’s liking. Teams completed their Detour challenge and visited the Green Hours jazz cafรฉ. Here, teams learned about mici (mititei) street food which tends to involve a mixture of meat, herbs, and spices. Teams formed, grilled, and culinarily plated 20 sausages made with black pepper, thyme, garlic, paprika, and a mixture of beef, pork, and lamb. Team members were encouraged to try one, and most of them were impressed by the deliciousness.
The “navigational frustration” mentioned in the episode info above especially occurred to Chelsie and Jack. The father-daughter duo struggled to find almost every location in this episode, but they have had similar moments in previous episodes, too. They managed to surpass Adam and Joseph in arriving at the Royal Palace ( Mogoศoaia) Pit Stop location. Built in circa 1700, the palace is in the village of Mogoศoaia across the Colentina river northwest of Bucharest. Jag and Jas arrived at the Pit Stop in 1st place and won a trip to BERMUDA ๐ง๐ฒ with an itinerary including an aquarium visit, crystal cave exploration, catamaran sailing, and an eatery and culinary tour in the town of Hamilton. Eric and Tucker arrived at the Pit Stop in 2nd, Kyland and Taylor in 3rd, Izzy and Paige in 4th, Chelsie and Jack in 5th, and Adam and Joseph in last place. Thankfully, Phil gave Adam and Joseph a non-elimination chance, so the brotherly team stayed in the competition!
I am thankful as always that you visited the GeoFact of the Day Blog today. I hope you and yours have a wonderful, happy, and blessed Thanksgiving!
In this fifth episode of The Amazing Race Season 38 (U.S. Edition), teams left Budapest and arrived together in Dubrovnik, a seafaring city near the very southern tip of CROATIA ๐ญ๐ท. I looked on an interactive map of Dubrovnik and noticed an island ๐️ with a pinpoint saying “Qarth – Game of Thrones”. I am familiar with the Game of Thrones but have never watched the HBO series. I had no idea what Qarth is, but I found out it is a fictional setting that is partly inspired by Dubrovnik. Some scenes were filmed in and around Dubrovnik. Please let me know with a comment if you wish to see more GeoFact of the Day posts that are focused on cinema and TV filming locations around the world. If you don't mind, maybe share about your travel experiences ๐ท if you ever visited a place featured in the The Amazing Race.
Anyways, teams arrived at a classy statue of a famed Croatian poet, Ivan Gunduliฤ. Teams found the Detour and chose between 1) lugging a heavy fishing net ๐ and chum bucket for a ½ mile to the Old Port or 2) preparing and filleting one slimy monkfish (grdรณbรญna) each. Whoever named this fish likely noticed the pointy shape — the monkfish somewhat looks like it is wearing a monk’s hood. It is possible that whoever named it did not think very highly of monks since the monkfish is quite ugly and ghastly! ๐ฑ Next, teams made their way through a hard-to-see stone walkway and arrived at the proverbial “light at the end of the tunnel”: the scenic seaside sojourn known as the Buลพa Bar watering hole. Here is where teams found the infamous ↪️ Double U-Turn ↩️ board. Eric and Tucker did not use the U-Turn to ensure that teams would not be upset with them. Jag and Jas did not have that thinking when they U-Turned Izzy and Paige. I don’t usually mention middle fingers right here on the GeoFact of the Day Blog, but I will mention that Izzy used both middle fingers to flip off the Jag and Jas photo at the Double U-Turn board. Adam and Joseph used the second U-Turn against Kristine and Rubina.
Teams arrived at the Ploฤe Gate to take on the frustrating Roadblock challenge mentioned above in the episode info. One member of each team had to assemble a not-so-sturdy scooter board by hand with many types of screws and wooden pieces. Natalie and Simone had the most struggles in assembling the handmade kart. The same team member who assembled the rectangular board with wheels then sat on and raced it with the help of their hands and/or feet for propelling. Chelsie, Izzy, Kristine, and Simone struggled to race the scooter in under 36 seconds. While Natalie took relatively long to create the kart, she steered it quite well — clocking in at about 38 seconds for the first attempt then crossing the finish line in about 35.7 seconds for the second race.
Finally, teams arrived at the Pit Stop known as Fort Bokar, a cylindrical bastion fortification overlooking the Adriatic Sea. Just like the previous episode, Eric and Tucker arrived 1st but each won $2,500 this time. Kyland and Taylor arrived 2nd, followed by Jag and Jas 3rd, Adam and Joseph 4th, Natalie and Stephanie 5th, Chelsie and Jack 6th, Izzy and Paige 7th, Kristine and Rubina 8th, and Hannah and Simone 9th. Host Phil Keoghan told Hannah and Simone that they were eliminated from this season of the The Amazing Race. I am wondering if there will be a non-elimination leg in this season since it hasn’t happened yet. The next episode will be Wednesday, October 29th at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time on CBS and soon streaming on Paramount+.
In this fourth episode of The Amazing Race Season 38 (U.S. Edition), teams left Prague and boarded one of two train routes that either went through eastern AUSTRIA ๐ฆ๐น or western SLOVAKIA ๐ธ๐ฐ in order to reach Budapest, the national capital of HUNGARY ๐ญ๐บ. Teams arrived at the Szรฉchenyi Thermal Baths to search for a king chess piece. Teams then gave it to locals who were swimming and playing chess on a floating platform in a large pool. After completing this task first, Eric and Tucker encountered a Fast Forward. They decided to complete the Fast Forward and both solved a Rubik’s Cube in less than 7½ seconds after much practice. Kudos to them because I don’t remember if I ever solved a Rubik’s Cube — or maybe I completed it in several days! Due to the Fast Forward, they quickly surpassed the competition and arrived at the Pit Stop: Vรกrkert Bazรกr (Castle Garden Bazaar), a neo-Renaissance style promenade near the Royal Palace and Danube riverfront in Buda. The historic site was closed in the 1980s and sat neglected until a beautiful restoration in 2014.
For arriving in first place at this Pit Stop, Eric and Tucker won a trip to BOLIVIA ๐ง๐ด including stops at the city of La Paz, the largest salt flat in the world (↗) (Uyuni, also known as Tunupa), and Charquini Mountain. Meanwhile, teams carefully steered a carriage with two horses along a figure eight course in less than 45 seconds. Next, teams arrived at the House of Houdini to unlock a chained wooden container — reminiscent of Harry Houdini’s escapist stunts but without the danger. Finally, teams chose either the “Juggling Act” or “Balancing Act” Detour task. For Juggling Act, teams juggled five rings and had to keep them dangling in midair for ten seconds. For Balancing Act, teams practiced and performed a folk dancing routine. One team member balanced a bottle on his or her head, while the other teammate maneuvered a large stick. Kat had trouble completing her routine but nevertheless persisted even though she was the last performer at the Detour. Therefore, Alex and Kat arrived last at the Pit Stop and ended their Amazing Race journey.
The next episode was on Wednesday, October 22nd at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time on CBS. The episode 5 recap will be posted in several days.
In this third episode of The Amazing Race, teams started in the ๐จ๐ฟ CZECH REPUBLIC’s national capital (Prague) and went eastward to Kutnรก Hora. Teams quickly encountered the Driver’s Seat; Natalie and Stephanie was the first team to arrive. Therefore, they decided which teams would be assigned one crate (Hannah/Simone and Izzy/Paige), two crates (Alex/Kat, Kristine/Rubina, Kyland/Taylor, Matt/Megan, and themselves), or three crates (Adam/Joseph, Chelsie/Jack, Eric/Tucker, and Jag/Jas). Teams visited an over 450-year-old Kutnรก Hora Municipal Brewery to complete the “Tapped Out” task. Teams first had to fill pilsner lager beer bottles — but making sure to let bubbles subside so there would be plenty of liquid in each bottle. After filling, teams placed about a dozen or so bottles in each crate. Rubina sprayed beer onto herself multiple times since the nozzle was tricky to operate. She was able to “laugh it off” despite being kind of drenched! To receive their next clue, teams visited the historic Church of Saint Anne in the village of Novรฉ Dvory northeast of Kutnรก Hora.
Teams then plowed a field with a ruchadlo for their next clue. The ruchadlo is a traditional Czech plow that was usually pulled by an especially strong animal such as a horse, mule, or ox but this is The Amazing Race, so one team member was in front to pull while the other steered. After being outside on a rather pleasant and sunny day, teams went indoors to a hockey stadium in or near Kutnรก Hora. A member of each team had to score a goal in hockey. The puck had to be chucked far away from the goal area — and within several small holes in a cardboard cutout covering the whole goal space. Thankfully they were able to play without a vicious hockey team barreling at them, although some hockey players were in the goal area for blocking. Like with the ski bowling in episode 1 (↗), some teams completed this task rather quickly while one team took a lot of tries (24) before scoring.
The referee gave teams a souvenir token depicting a building (↗) known as Zร mek Kaฤina (Kaฤina Castle) which is home to a National Agricultural Museum (Nรกrodnรญ Zemฤdฤlskรฉ Muzeum). Natalie and Stephanie arrived at the Kaฤina Castle Pit Stop second after Jag and Jas, but the brother team graciously gave the first place to Natalie and Stephanie! Natalie was celebrating her birthday the next day, so she and Stephanie won a nice prize to celebrate: $2,500 each. Matt and Megan were the last team to arrive — they ran out of time to complete all challenges — and ended their journey on The Amazing Race with very positive attitudes and completely in love. The next episode will be Wednesday, October 15th (tomorrow) at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time on CBS and soon streaming on Paramount+.
In the second episode of The Amazing Race (U.S.) Season 38, teams train-travelled from the NETHERLANDS ๐ณ๐ฑ through GERMANY ๐ฉ๐ช and into the CZECH REPUBLIC ๐จ๐ฟ. Several teams got off at the wrong train stop in Berlin. They exited the train at Spandau instead of the Gesundbrunnen stop that they needed. After arriving in Prague, teams quickly proceeded to the ลฝiลพkov TV Tower to tackle the height-defying “Who Wants a Breath of Fresh Air?” Roadblock challenge. One member of each team had to carefully walk on a scary, narrow plank over 100 feet above the city below and grab a clue at the plank’s end. They were harnessed for safety, but of course it is still scary to be at that height and having to walk a narrow surface.
Amazing Race did not mention this, though: completed in 1992, the tower was unfortunately and haphazardly placed in a part of a historic Jewish cemetery in Prague. One competitor said something like “oh no, not above the cemetery” because his plank was high above the cemetery directly below. The ลฝiลพkov Tower has been ridiculed by residents of Prague for being so modern in a historic section of the grand city. Fun Fact: David ฤernรฝ sculpted multiple crawling baby statues that were attached to the tower. Strangely though, these metal babies have a barcode punched on their faces instead of the usual eyes, mouth, and nose!
The next challenge was the Detour task. In one of the two detours, teams gathered four dozen (48) colorful Bohemian glass goblets — then moved the goblets carefully and gave them to three different vendors. In the other detour, teams found Czech city crests on restaurant chairs and learned the pronunciations of each crest’s respective city. Teams then marveled at a statue of renowned painter Josef Mรกnes and found their Pit Stop clue. They arrived at ลฝofรญn Palace and found host Phil Keoghan waiting for them at the Pit Stop. Jag and Jas arrived first again and therefore received a trip to SRI LANKA ๐ฑ๐ฐ. Angela and Lexi arrived last and were eliminated from the competition. The next episode will be Wednesday, October 8th at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time on CBS and soon streaming on Paramount+.
Season 38 of The Amazing Race (U.S. Edition) rolled off to a good start; teams enjoyed playing a NETHERLANDS ๐ณ๐ฑ version of bowling! One teammate was positioned on a sled, and the other teammate pushed him/her into the ten bowling pins. Some teams earned a strike right away, while others took many attempts before knocking all the pins down. Kyland and Taylor earned an Express Pass for completing the task first. They were also given a pass to give to another team, so they chose Jag and Jas. Other teams were puzzled given that Jag and Jas were known as strong competitors on CBS’ Big Brother show and therefore wouldn’t necessarily need help in this competition — indeed, they finished first in this leg of The Amazing Race!
I found it interesting that teams completed the first task before meeting with show host Phil Keoghan. Usually teams would meet Phil first, then after “ready, set, go” they would run (or drive, or fly, etc.) to the first challenge. Enzo and Jack were the last team to accomplish a strike, so Phil gave them a Hazard card. This rarely seen feature was last used in Season 19 (2011) and gives the team a penalty, sort of like a Speed Bump. Enzo and Jack had to complete two penalties: eat a herring (some folks wouldn’t mind it but it is an acquired taste, after all) and ride an interesting clog bike that was hard to steer. I was very intrigued by the clog bike… part of it is a big yellow wooden clog shoe. What’s more Holland than that ๐? Jack was seated in the clog, while Enzo struggled to steer the clunky bike.
Teams drove to the Port of Volendam; some teams easily found it, while others took practically hours before arriving at the correct place. They rode a tandem bike to the canal-facing Edam Cheese Market where they had to stack Beemster cheese spheres on a platform that both teammates carried. As he often does, Phil gives us a factoid. However, this one might not be totally surprising if you know anything about Holland or Amsterdam: people of the Netherlands are #1 in the world when it comes to bike riding. I sometimes wonder how globally ranked facts are figured out — “how would you know for sure?” — but this one makes total sense. After cheese-stacking, teams visited Van der Wilt Gerberas, a massive greenhouse with possibly hundreds of thousands of gerbera daisies! Out of 42 different varieties, teams had to choose the correct nine colors and arranged 36 flowers (four per color) in a pattern. Finding the correct color out of many subtle color variations would be difficult enough, but the greenhouse facility actually turned on huge shades that blocked the sun. Teams literally had to wear a head lamp — as if they were searching for gold instead of flowers! Jag and Jas completed this challenge relatively quickly and arrived first at the Pit Stop: Museum Square. They earned $2,500 each and proved once again they are winning competitors like they were as Big Brother contestants. Jack and Enzo were the last to arrive out of 13 teams and could not proceed to the next episode.
The next episode will be Wednesday, October 1st at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time on CBS and soon streaming on Paramount+.
This Google Maps aerial image depicts a BerryPepper “mascot” painted on an intersection in downtown Creighton, Nebraska in Knox County. What is a BerryPepper?
A — Spice combo featuring peppercorns and strawberry flavoring
B — Frozen drink combining Dr. Pepper and Nehi Strawberry soda
C — Strawberries and cream milkshake
Answer:
B — Frozen drink combining Dr. Pepper and Nehi Strawberry soda. The BerryPepper mascot is also used to celebrate the annual BerryPepper Days in Creighton.
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
1) Which of the following is not a city in NORWAY?
A — Stockholm
B — Oslo
C — Bergen
D — Trondheim
2) In late summer 2024, over 20 silver Roman denarii coins were discovered inside a wall hole at an acropolis on the Mediterranean island of Pantelleria. The Italian island is located between ITALY and which country in Africa?
A — CAMEROON
B — TUNISIA
C — ETHIOPIA
3) Which two states in the UNITED STATES have more than 80 counties each?
A — Arizona and Nevada
B — Michigan and Minnesota
C — Connecticut and Rhode Island
D — North Dakota and South Dakota
ANSWERS
Question 1:
A . . . . . Stockholm which is the capital of Sweden (↗)
Question 2:
B . . . . . Tunisia
Question 3:
B . . . . . Michigan and Minnesota
1) Situated in the extreme northwest corner of British Columbia, Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park is wedged in a triangular area between Alaska to the south and west and which territory of CANADA to the north?
A — Northwest Territories
B — Nunavut
C — Yukon
2) True or false: The state of Georgia in the UNITED STATES has two towns named Mountain Park.
3) Tanbaly (Tamgaly) is an archaeological UNESCO world heritage site situated in the historic Zhetysu region of southeastern KAZAKHSTAN. Tanbaly is featured on an interestingly shaped 500 Tenge coin (↗) from the year 2012. The landscape is particularly notable for having about 5,000 ____________.
A — hieroglyphs
B — petroglyphs
C — buildings
D — vases
ANSWERS
Question 1:
C . . . . . Yukon
Question 2:
True . . . . . a small Mountain Park town is in Fulton County, and a Census-designated place with the same name is in Gwinnett County.
Question 3:
B . . . . . petroglyphs
1) Which answer choice is not a traditional name and meaning of Mount Everest?
A — Pittiputhisetrimadayinokki (“towering pillar of the cosmos”)
B — Sagarmatha (“head of the Earth touching heaven”)
C — Chomolungma (“goddess mother of the world”)
2) True or false: Minted in the year 1999, a gold commemorative coin issued by TรRKIYE displays a denomination of 60,000,000 Lira.
3) Which gemstone is oftentimes the top export of the CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC?
A — topaz
B — diamond
C — emerald
D — sapphire
ANSWERS
Question 1:
A . . . . . Pittiputhisetrimadayinokki (“towering pillar of the cosmos”)
Sidenote: The technically correct pronunciation of Mount Everest should be “eve-rest” instead of “ever-est,” based on how George Everest’s surname was pronounced. Therefore, the first syllable would rhyme with “sleeve” rather than “never.”
Question 2:
True
Question 3:
B . . . . . diamond
December’s GeoFact of the Day Blog quiz centers on the mighty and wonderful continent of Africa. After testing your African trivia prowess, you can further test your geographic knowledge (↗) with other geography quizzes from GeoFact of the Day. The answers to this quiz are listed below; enjoy and good luck!
1) Fill in the blank: the Tsodilo Hills in northwestern Botswana are nicknamed the “_________ of the Desert” for having more than 4,500 ancient rock paintings in the area!
A — Louvre
B — Lascaux
C — Paint Palette
2) True or false: the “official car” of the SEYCHELLES is the mini-moke, a Tonka Truck-style Jeep powered by the engine of a Mini brand car.
3) Fill in the blank: at the civilization’s societal peak, the kingdom of Meroe in present-day ___________ geographically stretched all the way to LEBANON and SYRIA.
A — BENIN
B — SUDAN
C — TANZANIA
4) In 2002, Swaziland’s parliament voted against a government request to buy a $50 million USD luxury jet for which of the following kings (two of the names below are fictional)?
A — King Mbabane XII
B — King Mswati III
C — King Mhlambanyatsinhlangano
5) During its heyday, the renowned university at Timbuktu gave approximately 25,000 scholars of all ages opportunities to study and learn. Where is Timbuktu?
A — MALI
B — LIBYA
C — EGYPT
D — MAURITANIA
6) Which of the following is not a typical ingredient in a slow-cooked stew known as calulu, the national dish of SรO TOMร AND PRรNCIPE?
A — eggplants
B — prawns and smoked fish
C — turnips
D — spices
7) The DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO (DR Congo) is Africa’s second largest country, containing a geographic area that is 36,330 square kilometers lower than ALGERIA’s area. DR Congo is also 80 times larger than neighboring BURUNDI and which other relatively small country?
A — CAMEROON
B — CHAD
C — NAMIBIA
D — RWANDA
ANSWERS
Question 1:
A . . . . . Louvre, named after the famous Paris art museum established in 1793
Question 2:
True
Question 3:
B . . . . . Sudan
Question 4:
B . . . . . King Mswati III
Question 5:
A . . . . . Mali
Question 6:
C . . . . . turnips
Question 7:
D . . . . . Rwanda
“Rock Bottom” Episode Description: Racers leave no stone unturned while looking for a clue in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Episode Airdate: Wednesday, February 23rd, 2022 on CBS
In the penultimate episode 9, teams stayed overnight in a hotel of their choice in the area of Nรฉa Kallikrรกteia in northeastern GREECE. Their first task of the day was to drive about 30 miles (48.3 kilometers) or so north to the city of Thessalonรญki in search of the Forest Theatre (Theatro Dassous). The show furnished each team with a map of Thessalonรญki and required teams to navigate with this map instead of a GPS, although this map centered exclusively on the city and did not include the surrounding area’s highways. As with teams in every season of The Amazing Race, teams in this episode had navigational difficulties. If finding Thessalonรญki was not difficult enough based on the map provided, navigating within the city certainly proved to be a challenge for these English-speaking teams since much of the city’s signage is in Greek. Once they finally arrived at Theatro Dassous, teams encountered a…
● Roadblock (“Who Will Leave No Stone Unturned?”): At first, this Roadblock seemed to be an idyllic setting for the competitors. Kim mentioned the place “feels like a spa” mostly thanks to the serene harp music. Once realizing the herculean assignment of this Roadblock, Kim quickly changed her tune: “This is the worst spa ever.” As the Roadblock title aptly indicates, one member of each team was tasked with overturning practically every large stone — among thousands scattered on the outside amphitheater stage — until they found one of four gold coins stuck underneath a stone. He or she would then deliver the stone with the embedded coin in exchange for a clue handed out by a woman sitting on a throne: a cosplaying Oracle of Delphi. Raquel found the first coin, followed by Kim and then Arun. Dusty found the fourth coin after an excruciating three hours of searching as well as helpful motivation from Ryan, his teammate.
● Teams visited the Trigonion Tower to listen to the proverbial words of wisdom of a cosplaying Socrates. After the wise “Socrates” impersonator said, “there’s only one good, knowledge — and one evil, ignorance,” teams received the clue for this episode’s…
● Detour, choice between “Bring ‘em” or “Break ‘em”: this is one of the relatively rare Detours in which every team chose the same option (Break ‘em). If teams otherwise chose the first option, they would have brought 300 plates up the steps to Cafรฉ Jasmine. Since they chose the second option, all teams smashed a towering pile of plates in search of a mini clue hiding in a random plate. The tiny clues were about the size of the slip of paper used in fortune cookies. Teams were allowed to smash plates while the music was playing but had to refrain when the music paused. If teams smashed plates without music playing, they had to switch to a new plate pile to smash — no teams had to switch. Kim and Penn completed the destructive duty first, followed by Cayla and Raquel, Arun and Natalia, and Dusty and Ryan.
● Pit Stop: White Tower (Lefkรณs Pรฝrgos) in Thessalonรญki
● The two-hour season finale of The Amazing Race involves rowboating, piรฑata hitting, flag finding, mural painting, etc. and will be recapped and summarized in the GeoFact of the Day Blog’s next post.
Season 33, Episode 9 Results
1st — Cayla and Raquel
1st place prize — vacation to Kauai in Hawaii
2nd — Kim and Penn
3th — Arun and Natalia
4th — Dusty and Ryan
Eliminated from the competition? No; non-elimination leg
Episode Info: While racing through Scotland in February 2020, teams receive shocking and unprecedented news — for the first time in the show’s history, “The Amazing Race” suspends production due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Episode Airdate on CBS: Wednesday, January 12th, 2022 at 9 PM
The Amazing Race’s episode 3 brought teams to Glasgow, a west-central Scottish city. You likely know that Scotland is considered a country within the larger UNITED KINGDOM. Before arriving in Glasgow, teams departed from the Easton Station near London and travelled by train for about 400 miles; the journey was long enough that they took advantage of resting on the train’s bunk beds!
● Once they arrived in Glasgow, teams continued onto the NCP Car Park in search for a clue on a Renault car’s windshield. Several driving team members had difficulty with the car’s stick shift, considering they are more familiar with driving a vehicle with an automatic shift. They drove to the West End and found the รran Mรณr building, an entertainment venue and former church named after the Gaelic phrase translating in English to “great melody of life” (“big song”).
● Roadblock (“Who Thinks They Have This One in the Bag?”): At รran Mรณr, one member on each team was tasked with joining a Scottish pipe band, but first he or she had to assemble the iconic bagpipe with the help of a “bagpipe anatomy” illustration. A correctly assembled bagpipe is then approved, so the team member then tried to blow out a song (sometimes discordantly) with the bagpipe band to receive the next clue.
● This clue brought them to the black-and-bronze Walter MacFarlane Saracen Fountain in Alexandra Park. Expertly sculpted by David Watson Stevenson in 1901, the ornate fountain initially appeared in Kelingrove Park for the 1901 International Fair and was relocated to Alexandra Park in 1914. The clue box at this location contained Detour clues.
● Detour, choice between “Kilt” or “Rebuilt”: teams choosing the Kilt option visited the Panopticon Music Hall to rehearse and recite “Donald, Where’s Your Troosers?” — while wearing a kilt, of course! Teams choosing the Rebuilt option visited Fishers’ Cooperage to hone their potential craftsmanship skills as a cooper. They had to fix the head/top of two whiskey barrels, a process involving lots of hammering and prying to loosen and properly reposition the barrel rings. Arun and Natalia’s whiskey barrels were giving them prolonged trouble, so they decided to switch Detours. Since no other team switched Detours in this episode, the father and daughter duo’s switch likely cost them precious time — and the chance at $1 million dollars in The Amazing Race Season 33 competition. Completing the Detour task(s) brought teams with clues in hand to the…
● Pit Stop: under The Cloisters (The Undercroft) archways at the University of Glasgow
Season 33, Episode 3 Results
1st — Kim and Penn
1st place prize — vacation for two to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA
— lodging, spa day, and golfing
2nd — Dusty and Ryan
3rd — Anthony and Spencer
4th — Connie and Sam
5th — Caro and Ray
6th — Cayla and Raquel
7th — Lala and Lulu
8th — Isaiah and Taylor
9th — Akbar and Sheri
10th — Arun and Natalia
Eliminated from the competition
After waiting since the December 16th, 2020 finale of The Amazing Race season 32, I and my fellow American viewers of the globetrotting show eagerly turned our TVs, apps, or streaming devices on to CBS for the two-hour season 33 premiere on January 5th, 2022. Indications of the coronavirus pandemic’s effects on TV production were felt right away on this season — all teams were virtually connected and therefore did not line up at the starting line in a physical location such as Los Angeles. When fan-favorite host Phil Keoghan announced that teams were able to commence the competition, they flew from their various places of residence to London, England in the UNITED KINGDOM. Once they arrived in London…
● Teams proceeded to Trafalgar Square in search of someone dressed in a red phone booth costume. Their clue card took them to the richly ornate Canada Gate near Buckingham Palace. Teams then encountered a…
● Detour, choice between “Artist Den” or “Digiben”: teams choosing the Artist Den option used wallpaper paste to assemble an artwork mural "puzzle" of the Union Jack flag. Several teams had difficulty determining the artwork’s correct orientation on the wall. The major difficulty of the Digiben detour is figuring out what (or who) a “bobby” is. Teams choosing the Digiben option had to find a bobby — a blackly uniformed London Metropolitan Police officer — who handed them a clue taking them to Parliament Square. At the square near Victoria Station, teams were on the lookout for Little Ben, a miniature version of the Big Ben clock tower (Elizabeth Tower). The final detour clue took them to the Underground subway’s Piccadilly Circus train station where a deejay played music and offered the next clue.
● Teams visited The Chipping Forecast restaurant in Soho. They found "Queen Elizabeth II" and "Boris Johnson" lookalikes seated at a table having a "nosh" — of course, they were eating fish and chips! The queen and prime minister impressionists gave teams their Pit Stop clue.
● Pit Stop: National Museum of History, London
Season 33, Episode 1 Pit Stop Results
1st — Anthony Sadler and Spencer Stone (childhood friends)
1st place prize — vacation for two to the Turks and Caicos islands
— resort, spa day, and snorkeling
2nd — Dusty Harris and Ryan Ferguson (best friends)
3rd — Cayla Pratt and Raquel Moore (flight attendants)
4th — Kim Holderness and Penn Holderness (social media-savvy couple)
5th — Caro Viehweg and Ray Gantt (dating couple)
6th — Akbar Cook and Sheri Cook (educator couple)
7th — Connie Greiner (store manager) and Sam Greiner (coach and teacher)
8th — Isaiah and Taylor Green-Jones (YouTuber couple)
9th — Arun Kumar and Natalia Kumar (father/daughter duo)
10th — Lala and Lulu Gonzalez (quarreling twin sisters)
11th — Michael Norwood and Moe Badger (singing police officers)
Eliminated from the competition
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