It's a good time to ponder travel questions

7/29/2001

The Dog Days of Summer are clearly upon us. Stretch out in the hammock, a glass of freshly squeezed lemonade at your elbow, and try your hand at this year's travel quiz:

1. Amtrak is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Can you name its new train that runs between Washington and New York City? For a bonus point - how long is the journey?

2. Germany's leading port on the River Elbe is what?

3. Match these travel writers with their books:

a. Bruce Chatwin

b. Paul Theroux

c. Bill Bryson

d. Eric Newby

e. Jan Morris

1.) A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush

2.) Songlines

3.) Fifty Years of Europe

4.) The Great Railway Bazaar

5.) In a Sunburned Country

4. True or False: The most popular of The National Park Service's 376 recreational areas, which include not only parks but certain battlefields, monuments, and memorials, is the Grand Canyon.

5. Which country is farther south, Guatemala or Nicaragua?

6. Match these national dishes with their country:

a. Feijoada

b. Chapatti

c. Paella

d Fish and Chips

1.) India

2.) Spain

3.) England

4.) Brazil

7. Name three continents that have no landlocked countries.

8. True or False: Mt. Vesuvius is a volcano on the island of Sicily.

9. Which state has the largest budget for tourism/travel development and promotion?

a. Florida

b. California

c. Nevada

d. Hawaii

10. Beginning in the Pacific Ocean, put these capital cities in geographical order from west to east: Reykjavik, Pretoria, Ottawa, Bangkok

11. Name the country associated with these mountain ranges:

a. Grampian

b. Urals

c. Balkan Mountains

d. Southern Alps

e. Serra do Espinhaco

1.) Russia

2.) Brazil

3.) Scotland

4.) Bulgaria

5.) New Zealand

12. There are currently how many languages spoken around the world?

a. 250

b. 1,000

c. 6,800

13. More than half of the world's languages are found in just eight countries. Which of the following is not one of those countries?

a. China

b. Australia

c. Papua New Guinea

d. India

14. Route 66, immortalized by a TV series and a famous song, runs between which two major cities?

15. In 2002, how many European countries will adopt the Euro as their currency? Name a country that belongs to the European Union that won't be making the change.

16. True or False: The Galapagos Islands straddle the equator.

17. Of the world's “Big Three” waterfalls - Victoria, Niagara and Iguassu - which:

a. is the highest?

b. the widest?

c. has the greatest flow of water?

18. True or False: There are five standard time zones in the 48 contiguous United States.

19. Match these cities with their famous opera houses:

a. Berlin

b. Milan

c. Paris

d. New York City

e. Venice

1.) Metropolitan Opera

2.) La Scala

3.) Staatsoper

4.) Opera Bastille

5.) La Fenice

20. Mt. McKinley is the highest peak in North America. By what other name is it known?

21. If you traveled the Danube River from Vienna to Belgrade, in what direction would you go?

22. Four Wings and a Prayer, a recently published book by Sue Halpern, is the story of what epic voyage?

a. Lindbergh's solo crossing of the Atlantic

b. Amelia Earhart's last expedition

c. The Wright Brothers' first flight

d. The annual journey of the Monarch butterflies to Mexico

23. The Tate Modern, the Eye, and the Globe Theatre are all popular new attractions on the banks of what river?

24. Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded what important midwestern city on July 24, 1701?

25. Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?

Next week - the answers.

Readers may write to travel advisers Roger Holliday and Claudia Fischer at P.O. Box 272, Bowling Green, OH 43402. If a reply is desired, please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope.