Winner: Eric after playoff with TomTwin, Gina, and Pluto
Gina was oh, so close to her very first win tonight. She tied for first in regulation, but in a 4 way playoff only Eric knew that it was that dirty little coward, Robert Ford, who killed Jesse James.
Tonight we learned that Greenpeace is the largest environmental organization in the world, and that Madagascar produces 2/3 of the world’s vanilla. Cheers for Madagascar.
Good Question!: How long did it take Sir Francis Drake to complete the first circumnavigation of the globe in 1580?
Choices: a. 6 months b. 12 months c. 18 months d. 3 years
In April 1581, a few months after he completed a circumnavigation of the globe, the British navigator Francis Drake was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I during a ceremony aboard his flagship Golden Hind. Drake’s round-the-world voyage was a high point in a career that saw him serve as everything from a naval commander and explorer to a statesman and civil engineer, but he was best known as Britain’s most feared “Sea Dog”—the nickname for the ruthless privateers who preyed on Spanish shipping in the New World.
Answer: 3 years
What the hell took him so long! This was barely the same time that Magellan’s crew took to circumnavigate 60 years before and they had to deal with a battle in the Philippines where Magellan was killed with a poisoned arrow.
Let’s put this time in perspective. In December 2017 the French sailor François Gabart in his trimaran set the record for sailing solo around the world, circumnavigating the planet in 42 days. François could have sailed around the world 26 times while Drake was doing his slow boat to China cruise.
If you don’t fancy sailing solo like Francois, but still would like to circumnavigate the globe on a ship, you have some options and it won’t take as long as Drake did. (I hope the Driver and mistress Daphne are listening in Morocco.)
All three of Cunard’s ships – Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria – are in the world-cruise market with 118-125-day world cruises that depart from Southampton. (start @ $24,800)
Oceania can claim the world’s longest world cruise itinerary. The round-trip voyage from Miami lasts 180 days and visits 94 ports. Among the destinations are most of the staples of longer cruises, and plenty more unusual stops (start @ $36,500).
If you don’t have the time to sail, you might want to try National Geographic and their “Around the World by Private Jet” trip. Only 24 days and only $83,000, but you better hurry, some of the trips in 2018 are already wait listed.
mm
When I think of trips, I usually think of National Lampoon’s “Vacation.”
and if you have gotten this far, here is “Sea Cruise.”
Tuesday Night Bar Exam 