Czech Republic Castles

Like multiple countries throughout Europe, the CZECH REPUBLIC is home to many stoically spectacular castles! Over twenty notable examples include Bezděz, Bouzov, Český Krumlov, Český Šternberk, Děčín, Hluboká nad Vltavou, Jindřichův Hradec, Karlštejn, Kokořín, Konopiště, Kost, Křivoklát, Kunětická Hora (Kunetice Mountain), Ledeč nad Sázavou, Lednice, Loket, Orlík, Pernštejn, Rabí, Raduň, Sovinec, and Trosky. Lovely pictures, an interactive Google map showing castle locations sprinkled throughout the Czech Republic, and many details about twenty of these castles are found in this Road Affair post (↗). There is a particularly picturesque photo of a castle at sunset with over a dozen hot air balloons floating in the sky! The Czech words that translate from castle include hrad and zámek. At least three UNESCO World Heritage Sites feature majestic Czech castles. Including the Lednice and Valtice castles, the Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape (↗) was inscribed to the Heritage List in 1996 and underwent a recent boundary update in 2025. The Kroměříž Gardens and Castle (↗) site was inscribed in 1998 and Litomyšl Castle (↗) was inscribed in 1999.

April 2026 Geography Bee Quiz

Learn more about the Earth with the help of a GeoFact of the Day Geography Bee Quiz (↗) like this one! Whether you are preparing for a geography bee, wanting to impress folks at a trivia contest, or just want to learn, I hope you enjoy these morsels about the world. The answers to this quiz are listed below — enjoy and good luck!

1)      True or false: according to 2018 data from UNESCO's Institute for Statistics, LESOTHO's youth literacy rate is 95.2%.

There is a town named Bratsberg near the center of ____________________.
A — NORWAY
B — GERMANY
C — LATVIA

3)      Which of the following is not a city in Lebanon?
A — Beirut
B — Tyre
C — Riyadh
D — Tripoli

4)      Being home to an interesting red-and-white 1800s lighthouse (↗) and having a namesake current, Cape Agulhas is located southeast of Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA. The southernmost point of Africa, this cape is known as a separation point between the Atlantic Ocean and __________ Ocean.























ANSWERS

Question 1:
True

Question 2:
A . . . . . Norway

Question 3:
C . . . . . Riyadh which is in Saudi Arabia (↗); Tripoli (D) is a city in Lebanon and also in Libya (↗)

Question 4:
Indian

The Amazing Race Season 38 Finale

Season 38 Episode 12 (Wednesday, December 10th, 2025) “One Million Cookies” Finale Info: “The final three teams race through New York City where they rappel down the Empire State Building, and host Phil Keoghan crowns one team the winners.”

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 🇫🇷 Paris, FRANCE Pit Stop 🗼 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 🗽 New York City, USA 🇺🇸 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 💵 to spend in this episode, presumably for taxi rides, food, and maybe some souvenirs. Teams met and chatted with the Cookie Monster 🍪 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 🎥 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 🏁 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. 🥇 Jag and Jas arrived first and won the $1 million! 🏆 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) 🥈, the third-place team (Adam and Joseph) 🥉, Izzy and Paige 🏅, and pretty much every other team are also to be commended for excelling at Season 38 of the The Amazing Race!

New Year 2026 Geography Bee Quiz

New year, new geography quiz! Learn more about the Earth with the help of a GeoFact of the Day Geography Bee Quiz (↗) like this one! Whether you are preparing for a geography bee, wanting to impress folks at a trivia contest, or just want to learn, I hope you enjoy these morsels about the world. The answers to this quiz are listed below — enjoy and good luck!

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!

The Amazing Race 38, Episode 11

Season 38 Episode 11 (Wednesday, December 3rd, 2025) Info: “The final four teams race through Moulin Rouge, the Eiffel Tower, and other iconic Paris locations.”

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 🇮🇹 to Paris, FRANCE 🇫🇷. They visited the famous Moulin Rouge (“Red Mill”) and performed a fast-paced choreography to the tune of Orphée 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 🛑 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 🚧 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 🗽 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” 🧩 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 🌉, to the Jardin du Luxembourg garden ⛲ (colloquial name: le Luco), and to the Musée des Arts et Métiers (Museum of Arts and Crafts) 🖼️.

The particularly picturesque Pit Stop of this episode occurred at the Place du Trocadéro which is an ideal vantage point to view the Eiffel Tower 🗼. 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 🇫🇯. 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.

The Amazing Race 38, Episode 10

Season 38 Episode 10 (Wednesday, November 26th, 2025) Info: “Racers visit Milan, Italy where one team faces a major setback when they're forced to travel an hour behind the pack; heat exhaustion threatens to end the race for another team.”

In this tenth episode of The Amazing Race Season 38 (U.S. Edition), teams traveled from Athens, GREECE 🇬🇷 to the world-class fashion city of Milan, ITALY 🇮🇹. 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.

The Amazing Race 38, Episode 9

Season 38 Episode 9 (Wednesday, November 19th, 2025) Info: “Phil sends the team off to race through Athens, Greece. The live Double U-Turn vote returns.”

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.

The Amazing Race 38, Episode 6

Season 38 Episode 6 (Wednesday, October 29th, 2025) Info: “The race intensifies in Croatia where one team reconsiders their alliance and another team’s Roadblock strategy falls apart.” 🌍

First of all, I want to express my thoughts and well wishes for everyone in JAMAICA 🇯🇲, HAITI 🇭🇹, CUBA 🇨🇺, and other places in the Caribbean dealing with Hurricane Melissa and its destructive aftermath.

In the sixth episode of The Amazing Race Season 38 (U.S. Edition), teams drove a manual stick-shift vehicle northwest from Dubrovnik, CROATIA 🇭🇷 (HRVATSKA) to the town of Trsteno. Here, they visited the Trsteno Arboretum featuring trees that are over 500 years old. 🌳 Teams found a clue near the arboretum’s Neptune statue then drove further northwest along the Adriatic Sea coastline to the partially walled town of Ston. They encountered the “Bag It Up” versus “Pull It Up” Detour challenge. In “Bag It Up”, teams filled ten bags of local raw salt — each bag weighing slightly over 20 pounds each. In “Pull It Up”, teams visited a major oyster harvesting area known as Mali Ston Bay. They rowed a boat to find buoys with oysters attached; the teams then gave those oysters to a local restaurant known as Bota Sare. 🦪

Overview map of Trsteno — a town northwest of Dubrovnik and known for its arboretum

Remaining in the town of Ston, teams visited Park Komarda for the “Who Knows Their Way Around Croatia?” Roadblock. 🚧 With the navigational help of a 3D relief map of Ston, a member of each team visited several locations throughout the town to find and remember Croatian (Hrvatskan) facts. These facts involve multiple topics: letters not featured in the Croatian alphabet (Q, W, X, and Y), one of the several mottoes of Croatia (“As long as there is heart, there is Croatia”), highest mountain in Croatia at 6,007 feet* (Dinara), famous poet in Croatia (Ivan Gundulić), original length of the Walls of Ston (22,965 feet*), the date when Parliament proclaimed independence from Yugoslavia (June 25th, 1991), first king of Croatia (King Tomislav) 👑, and Croatia’s coastline length (3,625 miles*). Amazing Race contestants arrived back at the map and were tested with three questions asked by a Croatian. Contestants who did not answer the questions correctly had to answer a different set of questions for their next attempt, so some of them went back to the locations to memorize all facts.

Overview map of Ston — the second town featured in this episode

Prapratno Cove was the Pit Stop for this episode. 🏁 Eric and Tucker arrived in first place and both won another trip — this time to various locations in EGYPT 🇪🇬 including Cairo, Alexandria, and the famous pyramids. Tucker excitedly mentioned that Egypt was always on his bucket list, so it is awesome that he can check that one off! ☑ Kristine and Rubina were the eighth and last team to arrive, so they were eliminated from The Amazing Race.

* 6,007 feet equals 1,831 meters, 22,965 feet equals 7,000 meters, and 3,625 miles equals 5,834 kilometers.

The Amazing Race 38, Episode 5

Season 38 Episode 5 (Wednesday, October 22nd, 2025) Info 🚧: “Teams travel to Croatia; a frustrating Roadblock brings some teams to tears.” 💧

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 🇭🇷. I looked on an interactive map of Dubrovnik and noticed an island 🏖️ 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 📷 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 Gundulić. Teams found the Detour and chose between 1) lugging a heavy fishing net 🐟 and chum bucket for a ½ mile to the Old Port or 2) preparing and filleting one slimy monkfish (grdóbína) 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! 😱 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 Buža 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 Ploče 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+.

The Amazing Race 38, Episode 4

Season 38 Episode 4 (Wednesday, October 15th, 2025) Info: “Racers travel to illusionist Harry Houdini's birthplace, Budapest, Hungary, where a puzzling Fast Forward puts one team to the test; a horse drawn carriage has teams racing against the clock.”

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 🇦🇹 or western SLOVAKIA 🇸🇰 in order to reach Budapest, the national capital of HUNGARY 🇭🇺. Teams arrived at the Széchenyi 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: Várkert Bazár (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 🇧🇴 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.

The Amazing Race 38, Episode 3

Season 38 Episode 3 (Wednesday, October 8th, 2025) Info: “Contestants travel to Kutná Hora, Czech Republic for a beer-filling challenge.”

In this third episode of The Amazing Race, teams started in the 🇨🇿 CZECH REPUBLIC’s national capital (Prague) and went eastward to Kutná 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 Kutná 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 Nové Dvory northeast of Kutná 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 Kutná 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 Zàmek Kačina (Kačina Castle) which is home to a National Agricultural Museum (Národní Zemědělské Muzeum). Natalie and Stephanie arrived at the Kačina 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+.

The Amazing Race 38, Episode 1

Season 38 Episode 1 (Thursday, September 25th, 2025) Info: “The racers kick off the season in Amsterdam, where they face classic game pieces and unexpected twists right off the bat.”

Season 38 of The Amazing Race (U.S. Edition) rolled off to a good start; teams enjoyed playing a NETHERLANDS 🇳🇱 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 😃? 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+.

Flag of the Day: Qrendi, Malta

This flag is the flag of Qrendi, a town of about 3,000 residents near the Mediterranean Sea on the southern shore of Malta island in MALTA. Qrendi is home to some of the world’s oldest standing manmade structures — Ħaġar Qim (Hagar Qim) and Mnajdra — which are components of a nationwide UNESCO World Heritage complex known as the Megalithic Temples of Malta (↗). The town’s Latin motto, Tyrium Dirutas Servo Moles, translates into Maltese as “Inhares il-Bini tal-Fenici” and into English as “Conserve the Buildings of the Phoenicians.” An alternative flag in use consists of a white background, topped by a blue coat-of-arms shield with a central white star and yellow/gold outline. Neighboring cities and communities of Qrendi include (Hal) Kirkop, Mqabba, (Hal) Safi, Siġġiewi, and Żurrieq.

The Amazing Race 33 Finale Recap

“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

The Amazing Race 33, Episode 9 Recap

“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 Néa Kallikráteia 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 Thessaloníki in search of the Forest Theatre (Theatro Dassous). The show furnished each team with a map of Thessaloníki 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 Thessaloníki 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 Café 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 (Lefkós Pýrgos) in Thessaloníki

● The two-hour season finale of The Amazing Race involves rowboating, piñata 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

The Amazing Race 33, Episode 2 Recap

● Episode info: Eleven teams begin their journey and travel to London.

This post recaps the second hour of The Amazing Race season 33’s two-hour premiere episode on January 5th. Teams continued their journey in London, England, UNITED KINGDOM. After the episode 1 Pit Stop at the National Museum of History, teams then visited the Royal Mail Center (Mail Rail) in Clerkenwell. That facility has sorted and delivered mail by train for over 75 years. The current mail transporting vehicle resembles a modern, domelike version of a small train that an amusement park might have. At Mail Rail, teams encountered a…

● Roadblock (“Who Still Gets Mail?”), in which a team member searched among hundreds of letters and other mail to find the The Amazing Race clue. While the clue cards’ coloration was not as vibrant as usual, the clues were relatively straightforward to discover compared to most tasks in the shows’ extensive history of clue-finding tasks. An example of a task on the other extreme of the clue-finding scale would be the season 31, episode 9 (CROATIA) Detour in which Bret and Chris took hours to find a goblet and three rusty medallions underwater; they gave up the task after struggling to spot the two remaining medallions! Therefore, finding the season 33 clue among several large bins of mail was a relative cake walk compared to the season 31 clue. With relatively few motions of rustling through the mail, Penn and Ray found their clues right away but did not redeem their clues right away; they second-guessed themselves due to how easy the task was! Penn and Ray searched some more to see if there is something else to find, but this allowed other teams to catch up. Let’s just say that the other teams did not second-guess themselves upon finding the clue, so a couple teams found an opportunity to surpass Penn and Ray.

● Teams redeemed their “snail mail” clues and subsequently travelled to Leicester Square (Theater City) to find the episode’s Detour.

● Detour, choice between “Bull’s-Eye Mate” or “Decorate”: teams choosing the Bull’s-Eye Mate option visited the Flight Club Victoria pub and had to throw three darts per team member in each round. Within a round of three throws, each member has to throw one dart that hits the bull’s-eye to advance to the Pit Stop. Teams choosing the Decorate option visited a bakery that displayed fruit-topped cakes resembling the flags of about a dozen or so countries. Before advancing to the Pit Stop, teams were tasked to figure out the flags of two European Union member nations then decorate their cakes — to the best of their artistic ability — to resemble those flags. Flag possibilities included Chile, France (correct), Germany (correct), Hungary (correct), Italy (correct), Jamaica, Lithuania (correct), Norway, South Africa, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. Some teams initially decorated their cakes based on the flags of Norway and/or the United Kingdom, but all Decorate Detour teams eventually chose France and Germany. France’s flag cake was topped with blueberries and raspberries, while the top of Germany’s flag cake featured blackberries, peach slices, and raspberries.

● Pit Stop: Russell Square Metro Station area

● At the sort-of “Pit Stop,” contestants arrived on a double-decker bus parked near the Russell Square Metro Station and enjoyed a cup of tea. Since Phil Keoghan told them to continue their Amazing Race journey right away with a trip to Glasgow, Scotland, no prize was awarded to Dusty and Ryan who arrived in first place. Continue watching The Amazing Race on CBS and/or stay up to date with these recap posts! The next episode is coming very soon: Wednesday, January 12th.

  Season 33, Episode 2 Results

  1st — Dusty and Ryan
       1st place prize — nothing

  2nd — Connie and Sam

  3rd — Arun and Natalia

  4th — Cayla and Raquel

  5th — Kim and Penn

  6th — Caro and Ray

  7th — Anthony and Spencer

  8th — Akbar and Sheri

  9th — Isaiah and Taylor

  10th — Lala and Lulu
       Eliminated from the competition? No; non-elimination leg

The Amazing Race 33, Episode 1 Recap

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

What in the World? Riverside Temples

There is a city in Southeast Asia featuring multiple Buddhist temples along or not straying very far from the Chao Phraya river. These temples include Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn, which contains over one million colorful ceramic tiles), Wat Khrua Wan Worawihan, Wat Molilokkayaram Ratchaworawihan, Wat Nak Klang, Wat Phitchaya Yatikaram Worawihan, Wat Phra Chetuphon, Wat Phraya Tham, and Wat Prayurawongsawat Worawihan. What in the World is the city containing these magnificent sites? Choose an option and find out below!

A — Yangon, MYANMAR
B — Bangkok, THAILAND
C — Kolkata, INDIA





















Answer:
B . . . . . Bangkok, Thailand

The Amazing Race 31, Episode 11, Part 2 Recap

The exhilarating finale episode of The Amazing Race season 31 on CBS (April-June 2019) continued in Part 2. Teams travelled from Camden Market in the UNITED KINGDOM to Detroit, Michigan in the UNITED STATES. Three teams competed in this episode: couple Christie Woods and Colin Guinn, cousins Jamal Zadran and Leo Temory, and best friends Korey Kuhl and Tyler Oakley. Which one won the one million dollars? (Say that three times fast!) Find out at the end of this GeoFact of the Day post! Sorted by chronological order, here were the challenges and happenings encountered by the three remaining teams during this episode’s 12th and final leg:

● Departures: Since teammates Jamal & Leo arrived at the Camden Market Pit Stop first in part 1 (GeoFact of the Day’s previous post) of episode 11, they were allowed to begin this leg of the race before the two other finale teams at 3:53 AM Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in the night — or morning if you are an early bird! Korey & Tyler departed from the United Kingdom at 4:13 AM, followed by Christie & Colin at 4:29 AM.

● After flying to the most-populated city in Michigan, teams found clues at the Spirit of Detroit — a brilliant bronze statue with marble and gold-plated accents — and soon at the Guardian Building.

● Roadblock: Once the three teams arrived at the Guardian Building, one member of each team rappelled about 500 feet down the building’s glassy outer wall. This fear-of-heights challenge is formidable as it is, but the Roadblock participants (Colin, Leo, and Tyler) had to rappel downward facing toward the ground, so it was difficult for them to avoid how high up in the sky they were! On several spots of the wall during the descent were combination-lock numbers to be used to unlock a bank vault. These numbers and instructions regarding how to properly turn the vaults’ wheel back and forth allowed the teams to find and take their clue from the modern treasure chest.

● Teams played fowling — an outdoors/indoors sport combining American football and bowling — at the Fowling Warehouse in nearby Hamtramck, about four miles from Downtown Detroit. Teams attempted to throw a football at all of the bowling pins to achieve a strike score and proceed in the competition.

● Teams participated in another fun activity, this time at Third Man Records. Here at this vinyl records manufacturing center, teams pressed a total of five colorful records containing red and yellow vinyl as an homage to The Amazing Race’s iconic clue cards.

● The next task (Route Info 5) was not aired on CBS, likely being cut for time in the show’s episode editing procedure. Teams visited an outdoor art installation known as the Heidelberg Project. Among the myriad of boxes scattered on the premises, teams looked for a box with a clue contained inside.

● Officially opened in 1975, the Philip Aloysius Hart Plaza (or simply Hart Plaza) served as the setting for the season finale’s final challenge. Teams looked on top of a drum for a clue, which required them to perfectly cobble together a drum set matching a fully assembled example. Nearby, musicians loudly played Seven Nation Army (2003) by The White Stripes, a distraction that provided anguish to team members as they tried to give guidance to each other in properly assembling their drum kit. Once teams finished the set according to guidelines, they received the final clue that led them to the Pit Stop and Finish Line…

● Pit Stop and Season 31’s Finish Line: Detroit’s Fort Wayne historical site — not to be confused with the fort in Fort Wayne, Indiana

● After over 25 seasons since competing on season 5 of The Amazing Race, Christie Woods and Colin Guinn crossed the Finish Line first and won $1 million!

  Season 31, Episode 11, Leg #12/12
  First, Second, and Last Places at the Pit Stop

  1st (Season 31 WINNERS!) — Christie Woods and Colin Guinn
       1st place prize — $1 million

  2nd — Korey Kuhl and Tyler Oakley

  Last (3rd) — Jamal Zadran and Leo Temory

The Amazing Race 31, Episode 11, Part 1 Recap

In the exciting finale episode of The Amazing Race season 31 on CBS (April-June 2019), teams hopped from Amsterdam in the NETHERLANDS to several places in the UNITED KINGDOM (especially London, England), and later to Detroit, Michigan in the UNITED STATES. Competition legs 11 and 12 were combined together in the 2-hour 11th episode of season 31, with leg 11/part 1 (this post) concentrating on the United Kingdom and leg 12/part 2 (next post) featuring the United States.

This Season Finale episode is suitably named “This One is for One Million Dollars” as a direct quote from contestant Christie Woods, whose fellow team member is Colin Guinn. The three other teams competing in this episode are Nicole Franzel with Victor Arroyo, Korey Kuhl with Tyler Oakley, and Jamal Zadran with Leo Temory. Sorted by chronological order, here were the challenges and happenings encountered by the four remaining teams during the competition’s 11th leg in this June 26th, 2019 episode of The Amazing Race, UNITED STATES series:

● Departures: Since teammates Christie & Colin arrived to the Bovenwijde Lake island Pit Stop first in episode 10, they were allowed to begin this leg of the race before other teams at 10:13 PM Central European Time (CET) at night. In chronological order, the following teams were able to depart after Christie & Colin: Korey & Tyler at 11:35 PM, Jamal & Leo after midnight at 1:20 AM, and Nicole & Victor at 1:55 AM.

● After flying to London, teams visited the Gatwick Aviation Museum and then found out the location for helicopter rides. Once in a helicopter, teams took a scenic journey over the prominent English Channel chalk cliffs known as the Seven Sisters and flew to Dover Castle.

● Roadblock: Upon arriving at Dover Castle, one member of each Amazing Race team — Christie, Korey, Leo, and Victor — deciphered an alphanumeric code by listening to a Neville Chamberlain speech and detecting the fourth, fifteenth, and thirtieth (4th, 15th, and 30th) words he spoke. The letters from these words are then decrypted into specific numbers, and these numbers correspond to three-letter groupings. Teams had to rearrange these final letters to form a sentence: “The Dunkirk evacuation has begun. We will never surrender.” This wartime message was then printed on a typewriter, and teams handed the message over to a military official outside the Dover Castle.

● Teams flew back to London via helicopter and walked (or ran) to the Masthouse Terrace Pier, located on the Isle of Dogs in the Thames river.

● Teams sailed on the Thames in a speedboat to Savoy Pier then found their way to the Piccadilly Circus, a road junction and public space in the borough/city of Westminster. A “queen” clad in gold attire gave the teams their clue to arrive at the Detour.

● Detour, choice between “Know” and “Row”: Jamal & Leo, Korey & Tyler, and Nicole & Victor chose the Know Detour. They took a taxi and, according to the taxi driver’s instructions, memorized fifteen streets and seven landmarks. They found the Master of carriage drivers along Kensington Road and had to correctly recite these locations to him. Christie & Colin chose the Row Detour, in which they rowed a double scull boat for 200 meters. They had to complete this exercise within one minute to receive a clue.

● Pit Stop: Teams visited the Camden Market in search for the Pit Stop, but they had to recreate a window display using items they bought from market stores. When their displays are determined to be accurately copied, teams were able to check in to the nearby Pit Stop. Engaged (and soon to be married) couple Nicole & Victor were eliminated from The Amazing Race competition due to arriving last at the Pit Stop.

● Interesting trivia notes: Jamal & Leo were celebrated for becoming The Amazing Race’s first team ever to achieve a final four placement and complete the penultimate race leg three times; this is their third season of competition. Both men also passed Rachel Reilly-Villegas’ record of playing the most legs (episodes) of The Amazing Race. After Brendon & Rachel and Cody & Jessica from previous seasons, Nicole & Victor became the third CBS Big Brother team to reach the season-finale episode.

  Season 31, Episode 11, Leg #11/12
  First, Second, Third, and Last Places at the Pit Stop

  1st — Jamal Zadran and Leo Temory
       1st place prize — nothing, unfortunately

  2nd — Korey Kuhl and Tyler Oakley

  3rd — Christie Woods and Colin Guinn

  Last (4th) — Nicole Franzel and Victor Arroyo
       Eliminated from the competition? Yes