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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!
What is the capital of PORTUGAL? The correct answer is listed further below!
A — Évora
B — Lisbon
C — Porto
D — Sintra
E — Viseu
ANSWER
B . . . . . Lisbon
“No Room For Error” / “In The Hands Of The Amazing Race Gods” Episode Description: After traveling to seven countries and 17 cities, one team will be crowned the winner.
Episode Airdate: Wednesday, March 2nd, 2022 on CBS
This concise yet still enjoyable season of The Amazing Race has come to a close. In Episode 10, teams journeyed from GREECE to PORTUGAL and then to the UNITED STATES in hopes of arriving first at the finale Pit Stop to win $1 million. Teams travelled westward about 1700 miles (over 2730 kilometers) from Thessaloníki, Greece to Lisbon, the national capital of Portugal. Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Christ the Redeemer statue has a “little brother” replica in Lisbon named Cristo Rei, the location of this episode’s first clue box.
● Guided by the clue found near the Cristo Rei statue, teams knew to visit a fortress known as the Fortaleza de São Filipe in the city of Setúbal, a small to medium sized city with a residential population of over 120,000. The clue mentioned that there are two Roadblocks in Part 1 of this episode and that teams should “choose wisely” regarding which teammate will complete which roadblock. The clue also said to “take in the view; look for your next destination.” From the top of the Fortaleza, teams peered out to the seaside to find a vertical-striped flag flying near the port. The tricolor flag features yellow outer stripes and a red center stripe — somewhat resembling the appearance of an archetypal clue envelope of this show. Teams hustled down to the flag and found their first…
● Roadblock (“Who Wants to Go Exploring?”): one team member was tasked with finding a rowboat emblazoned on the back with the name of a Portuguese explorer. If the boat finder chose a correct example and rowed the boat to the marina’s other side, he or she received a clue. Incorrect boats had the names of national celebrities, so the Roadblock participant had row back until he or she found an explorer boat. Kim correctly completed this Roadblock first.
● Teams then made their way to Mercearia Confiança de Troino, a grocery store established in 1926. In this “Paint the Town” Route Info task, teams chose a colorful sardine can and brought out their inner artistic abilities (or lack thereof) to enlarge the can-label design into a colorfully painted outdoor mural. Teams then drove to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Cape Espichel (Santuário de Nossa Senhora do Cabo Espichel) where they encountered the second…
● Roadblock (“Who’s Down for the Count?”): in Season 33’s final Roadblock, one team member counted the columns on both sides of the church’s courtyard and had to recite the correct number of columns (106). Cayla was the first in this Roadblock to figure it out, which benefited her and teammate Raquel since they arrived first at a Pit Stop for the first time in this season of The Amazing Race. While the Part 1 Pit Stop at the Farol do Cabo Espichel lighthouse did not award Cayla and Raquel with $1 million, they won a likely enjoyable and invaluable vacation to SAINT LUCIA. Kim and Penn arrived second, followed by Dusty and Ryan in third. Since Arun and Natalia was the last team to arrive, they were eliminated from the competition and did not score a spot in the top three.
● In Part 2 of the finale episode, teams left Portugal and flew to Los Angeles. The City of Angels is the largest metropolis by population in California, the United States’ second most populated city, and will welcome athletes from around the world to the 2028 Summer Olympics — the 44th anniversary of the city’s 1984 Olympics. You might know that the LA Rams won the Super Bowl last month. Anyways, the two Roadblocks in Part 1 gave way to the Route Infos (no Detours or Roadblocks) in Part 2.
● Once arriving in Los Angeles, teams found their way to the Westin Bonaventure Hotel which has four towers with a locked clue box atop each tower. While going up and down the outdoor elevator, teams had to look out the window to spot the wall with a number, hinting of the lock combination that unlocked the clue box.
● Teams visited the historical monument known as El Pueblo de Los Ángeles, “the birthplace of Los Angeles.” They found three portions of the next clue by smashing an assortment of piñatas. One team member was blindfolded and of course did the piñata hitting, while the other teammate directed him or her on where to hit. In addition to the colorfully wrapped pieces of candy falling from the piñatas, teams were treated with three pieces of the Route Info clue and combined them to reveal the next assignment.
● The “Become a Foley Artist” Route Info brought teams to S.I.R. Hollywood where they learned how to perfect their Foley-style sound effect abilities by recreating classic scenes from The Amazing Race. Teams used a variety of materials to recreate audible sounds from the following scenes:
● The squeakiness of running bull inflatables.
● The shuffling of hay in search of a literal needle in a haystack.
● The catapulting “whoosh” of a watermelon slingshot.
● The throwing of a pie in the face.
● The sloshing in the mud of the infamous “My ox is broken” moment.
● In the final Route Info and challenge of Season 33, teams visited the 8,000-seat tennis stadium of Dignity Health Sports Park, a multi-sports complex prominently known as the home of the LA Galaxy soccer team. As with most of the final tasks in previous seasons, this task involves memorization of happenings throughout the season. The task involved tennis rackets with imagery from previous legs in the competition in addition to tennis balls labeled with corresponding riddles. Teams matched a scene/racket with the applicable quote/ball and were able to proceed to the finish line once every combo was correct. As an example, a tennis ball notes that “He joined you throughout the leg” while the corresponding racket depicted a “selfie” of the Travelocity Roaming Gnome. While Cayla and Raquel arrived first at the Part 1 Pit Stop, that was not the case with the final Pit Stop. Instead, the team (Kim and Penn) who won four previous legs reclaimed their spot and won 1 million dollars!
● Pit Stop: LA Galaxy’s 27,000-seat soccer stadium
Season 33, Episode 10 Finale Results
1st — Kim and Penn, winners
1st place prize — $1 million!
2nd — Cayla and Raquel
3rd — Dusty and Ryan
4th — Arun and Natalia
People all across PORTUGAL recently celebrated their country's Restoration Day on Tuesday, December 1st. Portugal restored its sovereignty from Spain in 1640. Happy belated Restoration Day!
Spot the Spelling Error #5! One word within this post was misspelled on purpose; it could be a country or product. Can't find it? Click the "1 - Post Comment Here" link below (on a computer) or scroll to the bottom of this post (on a mobile device) for the answer.
According to National Geographic MapMaker (mapmaker.nationalgeographic.org), the following items are major exports of PORTUGAL: animal hides, ceramics, chemicals, clay, clothing and textiles, copper, corks and wood, dairy products, equipment and machinery, footwear, gold, grain, grapes, gypsum, iron ore, leather, machinery, marble, meat, olives, packaged food, paper, petrola products, plastic, potatoes, rubber, salt, seafood, ships, silver, tin, tomatoes, tools, tungsten, uranium, vehicle parts, wine, wood pulp, and zinc. According to the International Monetary Fund (data.imf.org), countries and territories buying and importing most of those exports (February 2017 statistics) include Spain (top importer), France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, Italy, Angola, Belgium, China, Morocco, Brazil, Poland, Switzerland, Romania, Sweden, Denmark, Tunisia, Turkey, and Mexico.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for PORTUGAL in Western Europe and its associated island territories — the Azores and Madeira — lists 4 extinct species (Canarian Oystercatcher bird, Euphrasia mendoncae flower, Madeiran Land Snail, and Pseudocampylaea loweii land snail), 60 critically endangered species, and 77 endangered species. Portugal's critically endangered species include the Balearic Shearwater, Desertas Wolf Spider, Lisbon Arched-Mouth Nase fish (discovered in 2007), Madeiran Large White butterfly, Monkfish, Northern Bald Ibis, Rueppell's Griffon, Slender-Billed Curlew, Sociable Plover, and Vicia costae flower. One of the world's largest wolf spider species, the Desertas Wolf Spider lives in the Vale (Valley) da Castanheira on the deserted, isolated Deserta Grande island. This skinny island is located southeast of Madeira island. The Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, Azores Bullfinch, Azores Noctule Bat, Black Right Whale, Cahow bird, Canary Island Juniper tree, Giant Devil Ray, Leptaxis minor land snail, Madeira Petrel bird, Madeiran Brimstone butterfly, Madeiran Speckled Wood butterfly, Pardel Lynx, Pollack Whale, Sandy Skate, and over sixty other species are endangered in Portugal and its islands. Species named after Portugal include the Portuguese Blenny fish and Portuguese Dogfish. Then there's also the Portuguese Water Dog breed, which is the breed of Bo and Sunny — dogs belonging to U.S. President Barack Obama and family.
Bound on the west and south sides by the Atlantic Ocean (Oceano Atlântico), PORTUGAL in western Europe boasts plenty of beaches ideal with its Mediterranean climate. Algarve, Portugal's beachside region in the south, attracts beachgoers and surfers to at least 50 public beaches. From north to south, named beaches on Algarve's western coast include Aivados, Malhão, Franquia, Furnas, Brejo Largo, Grande, Tonel, Pedra da Bica, Nossa Senhora, Zambujeira, Alteirinhos, Carvalhal, Odeceixe, Esteveira, Barradinha, Samouqueira, Vale dos Homens, Canal, Carriagem, Amoreira, Monte Clérigo, Arrifana, Penedo, Vale Figueiras, Bordeira, Murração, Mirouço, Mouranitos, Barriga, Cordama, Castelejo, Águia, Ponta Ruiva, and Telheiro. Meanwhile, the southern coast of Portugal and the Algarve region have even more beaches. From west to east, some of these beaches include Meia Praia, Alvor, Prainha, Vau, Rocha, Caneiros, Afurada, Mato, Benagil, Barranquinho, Cova Redonda, Baleeira, Cavacos, Manta Rota, Verde, and Vila Real de Santo António. Michelin's online interactive map, ViaMichelin, displays these beaches and other ones in Portugal and beyond with umbrella icons.
PORTUGAL and SPAIN, Western European countries that are both located on the Iberian Peninsula, possess several islands and island groups. The Azores and Madeira belong to Portugal, while Spain boasts the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands. While the Balearic Islands are in the Mediterranean Sea, the rest are situated in the Atlantic Ocean.
PORTUGAL is located in Western Europe on the western part of the Iberian Peninsula. Therefore, it is west of Spain. The capital is Lisbon, also spelled Lisboa in Portuguese. The currency is the Euro, and the previous currency before 1999 was the Portuguese Escudo. The Escudo's ISO 4217 currency code was PTE.
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