QFI 2013 - travel quiz Prelims. by udupa, shiv and ramkey

The QFI Travel QuizPrelims

Around the World in 80 Questions

QFIesta 2013

Thanks to all our sponsors, without whom this would not be possible

QFIesta 2013

Thanks also toIIT Madras,

Dr. L. S. Ganesh and

IIT Madras Quiz Club for their continued support of QFI

We would also like to thank Rajen Prabhu

Rules30 questions, that’s it.All questions are equal. We will worry about

ties only if we have to.Top 8 teams make it to the finalPrizes worth 8500/- for the team coming

first, 5400/- for the team coming second, 3800/- for the team coming third

• Tamil : Vanakkam• Hindi : Namaste• Spanish : Hola• French : Bonjour• Swahili : _____

1. Fill in the blanks for Swahili with the name of the most well-known attraction at Jersey Zoo (established by Gerald Durrell) through the ‘80s.

2. A young journalist from Maine, Michael Paterniti was hired to drive an eighty-four-year-old pathologist named Thomas Harvey across America. This journey was the basis of the critically acclaimed travelogue ‘Driving Mr. Albert’

What were they carrying with them, packed in a Tupperware bowl in the trunk of the Buick Skylark they were travelling in?

3. Identify the airline (formerly known as Air Pacific) by the uniform of its cabin crew.

4. Connect.

5. Which group of islands, today a part of the Philippines, get their name from the Sanskrit word for “victory”?

6. If in a restaurant, if the food is served table d‘hôte, what does it mean?

7. Who described what as a “teardrop on the cheeks of time”?

8. What mountain range in Italy, and a World Heritage Site to boot, did Le Corbusier call “the most beautiful architecture in the world”?

9. Henry Charles Keith-Petty Fitzmaurice was a Governor General of Canada, Viceroy of India, Secretary of State of War and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs who had the distinction of serving under both Labour and Conservative governments. He is remembered in India for lending his name in 1887 to what remains one of the better maintained hill stations in India. Known as Kaudanda (Blackhill) in the local language, this hill station is the regimental headquarters and training centre of the Garhwal Rifles. The fact that most of this hill station is still made up of the cantonment area with British era Army quarters and offices dotting the streets and corners and the fact that the Army is responsible for decisions pertaining to local town planning apparently accounts for this place's cleanliness and unspoilt nature.

Name this hill station.

10. Today it is one of the most common souvenirs European tourists go back with when they visit India. While Lebanese traders had taken them to Europe many centuries ago, they were not really popular until Napoleon gifted one to his wife Josephine, thus sparking a fashion rage in Europe and increasing demand. What item of clothing?

11. Author Henry James famously whined about this French fish stew calling it “a mess of a ___________, a formidable dish requiring a French digestion”

Identify.

12. What, built in 1784 by Nawab Asafuddowlah, was modeled after this structure in Istanbul?

13. These are Linzer Augen, the cookie version of Linzer Torte (claimed to be the oldest-known cake in the world) from the city of Linz in Austria. What does ‘augen’ mean?

14. After whom is the Donetsk airport in Ukraine named?

15. This award is given annually to an Irish or British writer to fund a period of travel in the United States. It is named after a renowned English novelist, short story writer and essayist who is best known for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th century British society.

Name the novelist whom the award is named after.

16. Patan (officially known as Lalitpur) is the lesser-known twin city of which tourist destination?

17. What name is given to the part of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco pointed out by the arrow—a name that one also comes across in reference to similarly shaped parts of Texas, Florida, etc.

18. A mountaineering technique which involves going downhill on your buttocks and looks not even a hundredth as graceful as this ballet move has the same name, coming from Italian for “sliding”. Name the technique.

19. Identify the movie. Which city are Doris Day and James Stewart vacationing in, in this movie?

20. Apart from the kind of literature he is most famous for producing, he also wrote a number of travelogues. Chief among them were Shadow Pictures of a Journey to the Harz, Swiss Saxony, etc. etc. in the Summer of 1831, A Poet's Bazaar, In Spain, and A Visit to Portugal in 1866. Even his autobiographical novel The Improvisatore had many elements of a travelogue to it, talking about the author’s travels through Italy.

Identify the author.

21. This aerial image clearly shows the two things this ‘Pearl of the Adriatic’ is known for—red roofs, and the massive city walls that have protected the city since the 12th Century. Which city?

22. Who accompanied Charley Boorman on these two epic motorbike journeys?

23. In 2005 a film crew arrived in Glod (meaning mud) a dirt poor village in country A . Glod was a stand in for another country B. The inhabitants of Glod were persuaded to play small roles in the film something they thought would go some way in drawing attention to their unknown village and alleviating their poverty. When the film came out though they were furious and initiated legal action against the filmmakers. B, the place which was depicted by A however embraced the attention which followed the release of the film, an attitude which resulted in a significant increase in tourist arivals. B's foreign minister even thanked the filmmakers last year.

Just identify the two countries, A & B.

24. Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research is a travelogue published by a leading American author and his friend Ed Ricketts, shortly after their return from the marine specimen-collecting boat expedition to this water body also referred to as the Sea of Cortez or Vermilion Sea. The American author embarked on this expedition as he was exhausted and looking for a new start after having achieved recognition in his profession by 1939 with the publication of his Pulitzer-prize winning realist novel which was cited prominently when he won the Nobel Prize in 1962.

Identify the author. Also, by what other name is the Sea of Cortez known?

25. This local tourist landmark, situated in a 21 meter-long passageway in downtown San Luis Obispo, California is known for its accumulation of a specific embellishment of all colours, shapes and flavours on the walls of the alley. The history of the wall is unknown, but locals say the display was in full swing by the 1970s. Politicians and shop owners have tried to have the alley permanently cleansed of its smelly embellishment, but it continues to out-stick its critics and attract tourists. It has been featured on a number of television shows, news programs and in newspapers around the world. Weird Al Yankovic name-checked this alley in his 1978 song "Take Me Down".

Name the alley (or) what embellishes its walls?

26. It is a popular festival in the northern Italian city of Ivrea, which includes a tradition of throwing a certain edible item between organized groups. It is the largest food fight in Italy. A popular account has it that it commemorates the city's defiance against a tyrant who attempted to rape a young commoner on the eve of her wedding. His plan backfired when the young woman decapitated the tyrant, after which the populace stormed and burned the palace. Every year the citizens remember their liberation with the _______ __ ___ ________ where teams of Aranceri on foot throw these edible items (representing ancient weapons and stones) against Aranceri riding in carts (representing tyrant's ranks).

Fill in the blanks with the name of the festival.

27. A pristine shade of blue that throws up a lovely contrast against the surrounding terrain, identify this lake near the India-Tibet border.

28. Which 1998 book logs a journey on foot on a route indicated by the red line.

29. Bridge section of which song?

Well goes from St. Louie down to Missouri Oklahoma City looks oh so pretty You'll see Amarillo and Gallup, New Mexico Flagstaff, Arizona don't forget Winona Kingman, Barstow, San Bernadino

30. A panchaloha idol of Subramania Bharathi (called Bharathi Azhvar) amidst idols of Ganesha, Hanuman, Surya, Siva, Mannika Vasagar, the poet Abhirama Bhattar with goddess Abhirami, and even that of a half-Ganesha half-Hanuman form called Ayanthra Mahaprabhu! Where would you find all these deities?

Answers follow…

• Tamil : Vanakkam• Hindi : Namaste• Spanish : Hola• French : Bonjour• Swahili : _____

1. Fill in the blanks for Swahili with the name of the most well-known attraction at Jersey Zoo (established by Gerald Durrell) through the ‘80s.

AnswerJambo

2. A young journalist from Maine, Michael Paterniti was hired to drive an eighty-four-year-old pathologist named Thomas Harvey across America. This journey was the basis of the critically acclaimed travelogue ‘Driving Mr. Albert’

What were they carrying with them, packed in a Tupperware bowl in the trunk of the Buick Skylark they were travelling in?

AnswerAlbert Einstein’s brain

3. Identify the airline (formerly known as Air Pacific) by the uniform of its cabin crew.

AnswerFiji Airways

4. Connect.

AnswerEtymologies of Canadian

provinces/territories

5. Which group of islands, today a part of the Philippines, get their name from the Sanskrit word for “victory”?

AnswerThe Visayas

6. If in a restaurant, if the food is served table d‘hôte, what does it mean?

AnswerSet menu with little or no choice

7. Who described what as a “teardrop on the cheeks of time”?

AnswerRabindranath TagoreTaj Mahal

8. What mountain range in Italy, and a World Heritage Site to boot, did Le Corbusier call “the most beautiful architecture in the world”?

AnswerThe Dolomites

9. Henry Charles Keith-Petty Fitzmaurice was a Governor General of Canada, Viceroy of India, Secretary of State of War and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs who had the distinction of serving under both Labour and Conservative governments. He is remembered in India for lending his name in 1887 to what remains one of the better maintained hill stations in India. Known as Kaudanda (Blackhill) in the local language, this hill station is the regimental headquarters and training centre of the Garhwal Rifles. The fact that most of this hill station is still made up of the cantonment area with British era Army quarters and offices dotting the streets and corners and the fact that the Army is responsible for decisions pertaining to local town planning apparently accounts for this place's cleanliness and unspoilt nature.

Name this hill station.

AnswerLansdowne (Fitzmaurice was the Marquess

of Lansdowne)

10. Today it is one of the most common souvenirs European tourists go back with when they visit India. While Lebanese traders had taken them to Europe many centuries ago, they were not really popular until Napoleon gifted one to his wife Josephine, thus sparking a fashion rage in Europe and increasing demand. What item of clothing?

AnswerPashmina shawls

11. Author Henry James famously whined about this French fish stew calling it “a mess of a ___________, a formidable dish requiring a French digestion”

Identify.

AnswerBouillabaisse

12. What, built in 1784 by Nawab Asafuddowlah, was modeled after this structure in Istanbul?

AnswerRumi Darwaza, in Lucknow (modeled after

the Sublime Porte of the Ottoman)

13. These are Linzer Augen, the cookie version of Linzer Torte (claimed to be the oldest-known cake in the world) from the city of Linz in Austria. What does ‘augen’ mean?

AnswerEyes

14. After whom is the Donetsk airport in Ukraine named?

AnswerSergei Prokofiev

15. This award is given annually to an Irish or British writer to fund a period of travel in the United States. It is named after a renowned English novelist, short story writer and essayist who is best known for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th century British society.

Name the novelist whom the award is named after.

AnswerEM Forster

16. Patan (officially known as Lalitpur) is the lesser-known twin city of which tourist destination?

AnswerKathmandu

17. What name is given to the part of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco pointed out by the arrow—a name that one also comes across in reference to similarly shaped parts of Texas, Florida, etc.

AnswerPanhandle

18. A mountaineering technique which involves going downhill on your buttocks and looks not even a hundredth as graceful as this ballet move has the same name, coming from Italian for “sliding”. Name the technique.

AnswerGlissade

19. Identify the movie. Which city are Doris Day and James Stewart vacationing in, in this movie?

AnswerThe Man Who Knew Too MuchMarrakech

20. Apart from the kind of literature he is most famous for producing, he also wrote a number of travelogues. Chief among them were Shadow Pictures of a Journey to the Harz, Swiss Saxony, etc. etc. in the Summer of 1831, A Poet's Bazaar, In Spain, and A Visit to Portugal in 1866. Even his autobiographical novel The Improvisatore had many elements of a travelogue to it, talking about the author’s travels through Italy.

Identify the author.

AnswerHans Christian Andersen

21. This aerial image clearly shows the two things this ‘Pearl of the Adriatic’ is known for—red roofs, and the massive city walls that have protected the city since the 12th Century. Which city?

AnswerDubrovnik

22. Who accompanied Charley Boorman on these two epic motorbike journeys?

AnswerEwan McGregor

23. In 2005 a film crew arrived in Glod (meaning mud) a dirt poor village in country A . Glod was a stand in for another country B. The inhabitants of Glod were persuaded to play small roles in the film something they thought would go some way in drawing attention to their unknown village and alleviating their poverty. When the film came out though they were furious and initiated legal action against the filmmakers. B, the place which was depicted by A however embraced the attention which followed the release of the film, an attitude which resulted in a significant increase in tourist arivals. B's foreign minister even thanked the filmmakers last year.

Just identify the two countries, A & B.

AnswerA – RomaniaB – Kazakhstan

24. Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research is a travelogue published by a leading American author and his friend Ed Ricketts, shortly after their return from the marine specimen-collecting boat expedition to this water body also referred to as the Sea of Cortez or Vermilion Sea. The American author embarked on this expedition as he was exhausted and looking for a new start after having achieved recognition in his profession by 1939 with the publication of his Pulitzer-prize winning realist novel which was cited prominently when he won the Nobel Prize in 1962.

Identify the author. Also, by what other name is the Sea of Cortez known?

AnswerJohn SteinbeckGulf of California

25. This local tourist landmark, situated in a 21 meter-long passageway in downtown San Luis Obispo, California is known for its accumulation of a specific embellishment of all colours, shapes and flavours on the walls of the alley. The history of the wall is unknown, but locals say the display was in full swing by the 1970s. Politicians and shop owners have tried to have the alley permanently cleansed of its smelly embellishment, but it continues to out-stick its critics and attract tourists. It has been featured on a number of television shows, news programs and in newspapers around the world. Weird Al Yankovic name-checked this alley in his 1978 song "Take Me Down".

Name the alley (or) what embellishes its walls?

AnswerBubblegum Alley

26. It is a popular festival in the northern Italian city of Ivrea, which includes a tradition of throwing a certain edible item between organized groups. It is the largest food fight in Italy. A popular account has it that it commemorates the city's defiance against a tyrant who attempted to rape a young commoner on the eve of her wedding. His plan backfired when the young woman decapitated the tyrant, after which the populace stormed and burned the palace. Every year the citizens remember their liberation with the _______ __ ___ ________ where teams of Aranceri on foot throw these edible items (representing ancient weapons and stones) against Aranceri riding in carts (representing tyrant's ranks).

Fill in the blanks with the name of the festival.

AnswerBattle of the Oranges

27. A pristine shade of blue that throws up a lovely contrast against the surrounding terrain, identify this lake near the India-Tibet border.

AnswerPangong

28. Which 1998 book logs a journey on foot on a route indicated by the red line.

AnswerA Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson

29. Bridge section of which song?

Well goes from St. Louie down to Missouri Oklahoma City looks oh so pretty You'll see Amarillo and Gallup, New Mexico Flagstaff, Arizona don't forget Winona Kingman, Barstow, San Bernadino

AnswerRoute 66, by Nat King Cole

30. A panchaloha idol of Subramania Bharathi (called Bharathi Azhvar) amidst idols of Ganesha, Hanuman, Surya, Siva, Mannika Vasagar, the poet Abhirama Bhattar with goddess Abhirami, and even that of a half-Ganesha half-Hanuman form called Ayanthra Mahaprabhu! Where would you find all these deities?

AnswerMadhya Kailash temple, Adyar

In case of ties…

What is this dapper young lad wearing? In which country is it the national dress for men?

AnswerGhoBhutan

In 1867, JMW Silver released a book titled ‘Sketches of Japanese Manners and Customs’ based on things he saw in Japan the two years he was posted there—and for a lot of people in the Western world, this was their first introduction to many customs of Japan.

What does the sketch above depict?

AnswerPunishment for infidelity