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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 🇷🇴 and arrived in Athens, GREECE 🇬🇷 and quickly proceeded to Pnyx (Pnyka) Hill near the National Observatory, Parthenon, and Acropolis. This area of ancient Greek civilization 🏺 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 🚧. 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” 🎶 and “Olives Everywhere”. In “Music in the Air,” team members chose to carry or took turns carrying a Greek laterna piano 🎹 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 💶 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 🔭 stargazing and learning about the cosmos 🌌. Visitors accessing the Amazing Astronomy Blog may notice lowercase Greek letter symbols (α, β, γ, δ, ε, ζ, η, θ, 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 🇰🇭 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 🏁 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 🇷🇴! 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 (Piața 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 café. 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 ( Mogoșoaia) Pit Stop location. Built in circa 1700, the palace is in the village of Mogoșoaia across the Colentina river northwest of Bucharest. Jag and Jas arrived at the Pit Stop in 1st place and won a trip to BERMUDA 🇧🇲 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 seventh episode of The Amazing Race Season 38 (U.S. Edition), teams travelled eastward from the southern Croatian city of Split — the second most populated city (after Zagreb) in CROATIA 🇭🇷 — to the southern Romanian city of Bucharest, the capital and the most populated city of ROMANIA 🇷🇴. Natalie and Stephanie — known as the “Yin Yang Sissies” according to Natalie — were the last team to depart from Croatia since they finished second to last in the previous episode. Teams arrived in Romania and slept overnight in bunk beds to do a thrilling and height-defying “Who’s Ready to Jump in the Race?” Roadblock. They achieved the highest skydive in Amazing Race history at 13,000 feet!
Teams flew from Croatia and arrived in Bucharest.
After landing in a grassy field and relishing the amazing experience they just had, teams went to a sheep farm to meet shepherds known locally as ciobhani. Teams were tasked with moving five sheep from one pen to another. This was occasionally difficult because the sheep had a herd mentality; teams tried to move one or two sheep without the whole herd following. Eric and Tucker successfully completed this task in relatively little time. Teams later built a floating pontoon raft by attaching empty blue water jugs to the bottom. They navigated the craft south of Bucharest through Delta Neajlovului and arrived at the Detour challenge.
For the Detour task, teams chose either “Brick Builder” or “Mask Maker” — both located northeast of the delta near the Debarcader Lebǎda canoe and kayak rental service. In “Brick Builder”, teams formed ten bricks using a mixture of water, straw, and mud manure! Teams were definitely grossed out by having to shovel manure then forming said manure into sloppy, gooey bricks. Some of the manure conveniently landed on their shirts! Taylor joked about being “Miss Congeniality” to later becoming a “manure shoveler”. In the relatively tidy “Mask Maker” challenge, teams tried to replicate a winter mask purportedly said to ward off evil. This task required precision, craftiness, and sewing abilities, but at least did not require poop!
Teams crafted a floating pontoon raft and navigated it through Delta Neajlovului located about 9 miles (14.5 kilometers) south of Bucharest and closer to the border with BULGARIA 🇧🇬.
With mixed success, teams accomplished the Detour and then arrived at the King Carol I Park (Parcul Carol) Pit Stop. The expansive 89-acre park is situated in the south side of Bucharest; use the top map above to locate Parcul Carol below the Sectorul 4 label. Amusingly, two locals were dressed in brown bear costumes and danced in homage of bears — which are rare in some European countries. For the fourth time in a row, Eric and Tucker arrived first at the Pit Stop! They won $5,000 each. Jag and Jas (with unused Express Pass) arrived second, followed by Adam and Joseph in third, Kyland and Taylor (also with unused Express Pass) in fourth, Chelsie and Jack in fifth, Izzy and Paige in sixth, and Natalie and Stephanie in last. The “Yin Yang Sissies” were eliminated from the The Amazing Race.
Here's to a New Year's Resolution of learning about our amazing planet!
1) Which of the following is not a city in ROMANIA?
A — Bucharest (București)
B — Timișoara
C — Belgrade (Beograd)
2) Which state in the UNITED STATES has exactly 100 counties? Some of these counties include Durham, Mecklenburg, Orange, Pitt, Wake, and Watauga.
A — Vermont
B — North Carolina
C — New Mexico
3) BANGLADESH is mostly bordered by INDIA but also shares a border in the southeast with _____________.
A — MYANMAR
B — NEPAL
C — PHILIPPINES
ANSWERS
Question 1:
C . . . . . Belgrade (Beograd) which is the capital of Serbia (↗)
Question 2:
B . . . . . North Carolina (↗)
Question 3:
A . . . . . Myanmar (↗)
ROMANIA celebrates its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877 annually with a national Independence Day on May 10th. If you live in Romania, I hope you had a celebratory day!
Name at least two countries that directly border the Black Sea in Eastern Europe.
All possible answers are listed below!
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Possible answers:
BULGARIA
GEORGIA
ROMANIA
RUSSIA
TURKEY
UKRAINE
(MOLDOVA does not quite border the Black Sea, although it does have access to the Black Sea via a port along the Danube River.)
According to National Geographic MapMaker (mapmaker.nationalgeographic.org), the following items are major exports of ROMANIA: automobiles, barley, chemicals, clothing and textiles, construction materials, corn (maize), eggs, electronics, equipment and machinery, footwear, grapes, iron ore, metal alloys, metal products, natural gas, packaged food, petroleum, petroleum (small amounts), potatoes, salt, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, and wheat. According to the International Monetary Fund (data.imf.org), countries and territories buying and importing most of those exports (February 2017 statistics) include Germany (top importer), Italy, France, Hungary, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Turkey, Poland, Czech Republic, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Russia, Slovakia, Belgium, the United States, Greece, Moldova, China, and Serbia.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for ROMANIA in Eastern Europe features 2 extinct species (Gasterosteus crenobiontus fish and Romanogobio antipai fish), 13 critically endangered species, and 19 endangered species. Romania's critically endangered species include the European Eel, European Mink, Great Sturgeon, Heleobia Dobrogica snail, Russian Sturgeon, Scardinius racovitzai fish, Slender-Billed Curlew, Star Sturgeon, and Thorn Sturgeon. The aforementioned snail species is only found in one cave (4 sq. kilometers in area) in southeastern Romania, not far from the Black Sea. To help protect this species, the cave has been re-sealed to prevent oxygen from altering the cave's microclimate. With an area of occupancy smaller than 1 km², Scardinius racovitzai fish live in one hot spring in north-central Romania. Endangered species include the Big-Bellied Glandular Bush Cricket, Black Nerite aquatic snail, Common Aldrovanda plant, Egyptian Eagle, Goldstreifiger beetle, Huchen fish, Mediterranean Monk Seal, Pannonian Black Hawthorn (Hungarian Thorn) tree, Ropalopus ungaricus beetle, Saker Falcon, Steppe Eagle, Striped Nerite aquatic snail, Thick-Shelled River Mussel, and White-Headed Duck. Species named after Romania include the Romanian Darter fish (critically endangered), Romanian Hamster, and Romanian Loach fish.
The important Danube River stretches for almost 2,000 miles in Central and Southeast Europe. It begins its journey in Southern GERMANY and then flows eastward, passing by German cities like Ingolstad, Regensburg, and Straubing. The Danube then crosses AUSTRIA, passing by cities like Linz and Vienna (Austria's capital). Next, it forms part of SLOVAKIA's southern border and HUNGARY's northern border, passing cities like Győr, Komárom, and Esztergom in Hungary and Slovakia's capital, Bratislava. The river takes a 90 degree turn towards Budapest (Hungary's capital) and heads straight down through Hungary until meeting up with SERBIA's northwest border. It then travels east through the northern part of Serbia, running by cities like Backa Palanka, Novi Sad, and Belgrade (Serbia's capital). The Danube then forms most of ROMANIA's southern border and BULGARIA's northern border. Finally, it crosses the eastern part of Romania and ends at the Black Sea delta.
As seen on page 145 in Maphead, a wonderful book by Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings...
TIMIŞ county, the westernmost county in ROMANIA, gets its name from the Danube River tributary (Timiş River) that flows through it. My extra input: Timiş County is located east of Vojvodina (region in northern Serbia), southeast of Hungary, south of Romania's ARAD county, and north of Romania's CARAŞ-SEVERIN county. The largest city and capital of Timiş County is Timişoara.
Largest Lakes in Southeast Europe
Lacul Razim (Lake Razim), located in ROMANIA in the Danube Delta, is the largest lake in all of the countries that I've previously listed (the true definition of SE Europe varies from source to source and atlas to atlas); Lacul Sinoie, which is south of Lake Razim, also belongs on the list. Lake Scutari, also known as Lake Skadar, is located on the border with ALBANIA and MONTENEGRO. Lake Ohrid, in eastern ALBANIA and southwestern MACEDONIA, and Lake Prespa (also known as the Great Prespa), situated on top of the ALBANIA, GREECE, and MACEDONIA border, are close to each other (Lake Ohrid is northwest of Lake Prespa). Lastly, there are a few remarkable lakes in stretching across northern GREECE, like Límni Vólvi and Límni Kerkinitis. Now you know the largest lakes in Southeast Europe!
Transylvania, the homeland of the fictional Count Dracula, is a region located in north-central ROMANIA in Eastern Europe. As you probably know, Count Dracula appears on/in everything from cereal boxes (Count Chocula) to halloween costumes and is associated with Transylvania. The Romanian counties that are located within Transylvania include Alba, Bistriţa-Năsăud, Brașov, Cluj, Covasna, Harghita, Hunedoara, Mureș, and Sibiu. The largest cities in the region are Cluj-Napoca and Mureș. Other communities include Alba Iulia, Mediaș, Odorheiu Secuiesc, Reghin, Sibiu, Sighișoara, and Turda.
Also known as Delta Dunarii, the Danube Delta in eastern ROMANIA is one of the most ecologically important, if not the most important, wetland areas in Europe. Various rare and locally endangered species call the delta home. These species include the Danube Delta Dwarf Goby fish, Danube Sturgeon, European Pond Turtle, and Great White Pelican (of least concern globally). Nearby towns include Babadag and Sulina. The closest major city is Tulcea, which has a population of almost 100,000 (June 2011).
DOBRUJA is a fertile grasslands region in northeastern BULGARIA and southeastern ROMANIA. The Wild Balkans episode of PBS's Nature showed amazing scenes of vibrant wild poppies and other wildflowers mingling beside and inside cornfields and wheat fields. Farmers in Dobruja do not use pesticides. They also refrain from applying artificial fertilizer because this land is fertile as it is. To learn more about Dobruja and other points of interest in the Balkan Peninsula region, visit this link: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/wild-balkans/introduction/5485/.
ROMANIA, located in Eastern Europe, has access to the Black Sea and has a famous river (Danube River) flowing through the southern part of the country - mostly along the southern border line. Romania is north of Bulgaria, east of Hungary and Serbia, west of Moldova, and south and southwest of Ukraine. The capital and largest city of Romania is Bucharest (Buchareşti). The currency is the Romanian Leu, and its ISO 4217 currency code is RON.
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