SIGHTSEERS
Discovering Britain and Ireland
by Randy Karr

As a People to People Delegation Leader, I will be one of four leaders escorting 37 high school students on a 20-day British and Irish Heritage tour in July.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower founded the People to People Student Ambassador Program in 1956. He, along with many leaders of the day, including Joyce Hall of Hallmark Cards, Walt Disney, Bob Hope, and Olympic athlete Jesse Owens, believed that ordinary citizens of different nations, if able to communicate directly, would solve their differences and find a way to live in peace.

Traveling as People to People Student Ambassadors, these students will experience first-hand the history, government, economy, and culture of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. While there, they will also take part in various educational, cultural and humanitarian activities.

Prior to traveling, each student ambassador attends a minimum of 12-hours of pre-travel orientation meetings with their local delegation. These meetings cover topics such as information about the countries to be visited, travel safety, and team building.

The following travel questions were written to help the Student Ambassadors prepare for some of the places they will visit during this program. How many of these questions can you answer? The answers are listed elsewhere in The Lakeshore Guardian.

1. According to an Irish legend, those who kiss the Blarney Stone receive a gift of eloquence that enables them to obtain, through persuasion, anything they want. The Blarney Stone is located high up on a wall of an Irish castle. Name the castle.
   
   
   
   
2. A 50 foot-long water monster, known as Nessie, was first sighted in a long, narrow lake in the Scottish Highlands about 1400 years ago. This lake is, by volume, the largest freshwater lake in Great Britain. More than 700-feet deep and ice free, it is part of the Caledonian Canal that cuts across the Scottish Highlands. The canal consists of 29 locks and several natural lakes, including Nessie's home lake. Name this lake.
   
   
   
   
3. The British Isles is made up of two large islands and many small ones. Name the two large islands.
   
   
4. True or false? The country of the United Kingdom, which is often mistakenly called England, includes four distinct areas: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
   
   
5. True or false? The Republic of Ireland, or Eire, is a separate and independent nation that occupies the southern four-fifths of Ireland, an island also known as the Emerald Isle.
   
   
6. There is more to the Eye than meets your eye. Strangely out of place, at the center of one of the world's oldest cities, soars a colossal Ferris wheel. At 450-feet high, the bike-like wheel is the world's highest observation wheel and the only cantilevered structure of its kind in the world. Its 32 glass and steel capsules clash with the city's ancient churches, palaces and monuments below and overshadow a famed clock tower located on the opposite side of the river. Name this popular tourist attraction that is sometimes called the Millennium Wheel.
   
   
7. True or false? Some Scottish last names originally described distinctive physical characteristics. Campbell meant crooked mouth, Kennedy meant ugly head, and Cameron meant crooked nose.
   
   
8. This ancient fortress was a royal residence in the Middle Ages. At other times, it was a mint, arsenal and a jail for illustrious prisoners. Many persons were beheaded here. The Yemen of the Guard, better known as "Beefeaters" and dressed in Tudor garb, guard the fortress and Waterloo Block, a former barracks that now houses the British Crown Jewels, the symbols of royal authority, and the Koh-i-noor, a famous large Indian diamond. Name the fortress located on the north bank of the Thames.
   
   
9. By what nickname is the flag of the United Kingdom sometimes known?
   
   
10. Where were the first written rules of golf drawn up?
    
    (a) Ireland
    (b) Scotland
    (c) England
    
    
11. What is "high tea"?
    
    (a) breakfast
    (b) afternoon tea
    (c) combination of tea and supper
    
    
12. Which of the following is not located in London?
    
    (a) Westminster Abbey
    (b) Hyde Park
    (c) Buckingham Palace
    (d) Big Ben
    (e) Tower of London
    (f) Oxford University
    
    
13. This 600-room palace has served as the official London residence of Britain's sovereigns since 1837. The palace also functions as the administrative headquarters of Britain's constitutional monarchy. Name this palace, which is one of the most identifiable buildings in the world.
    
    
14. You can read the original Magna Carta, the English charter that limited the power of the monarch, at the Lincoln Cathedral, the Salisbury Cathedral and at this London museum. Name this museum.
    
    
15. A hilly stretch of parkland in central England, this ancient royal forest was once a royal hunting ground. The great 'Shire Wood', as it was called, was where, according to legend, Robin Hood hid from the Sheriff of Nottingham, and where Robin married Maid Marian. Name this forest.
    
    
16. This small British Isle is well-known for its tailless Manx cats and for its Tynwald, the world's oldest continuous legislative assembly. Name this isle located in the Irish Sea.
    
    
17. This sport is a major winter sport of Scotland and is now an Olympic winter sport. Teams of four play the game on an ice court. Each player hurls a circular stone at goals that are placed 114 feet apart. While the stone is sliding toward its target, teammates sweep a clear path before it. What game is being played?
    
    
18. In September, you can join the British royal family as they attend the most famous of all the Highland Games near Braemar, Scotland (population 500). While here, the royal family stays in their "summer" castle, located on the River Dee, and enjoy panoramic views over the Mountains of Royal Deesid. Name this castle.
    
    
19. This eighteenth century Scottish poet is known for writing poetry and song in the Scottish dialect. His works include "To a Mouse," "A Red, Red Rose," and "Auld Lang Syne." Examples of verses that have become well known include, "The best-laid schemes of mice and men often go astray, " and "Oh, if the good spirit would only give us the power to see ourselves as others see us." Name this Scottish poet.
    
    
20. According to one well-known story, this legendary king of England gained the Throne by withdrawing the sword of Excalibur from a stone, after many others had tried and failed. He then established his court at Camelot, where he gathered around him the greatest and most gallant warriors in Europe, the Knights of the Round Table. King Arthur's knights included Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad, Sir Percival, and Sir Gawain. Name this king who ruled during the Middle Ages.
    
    
21. To what part of United Kingdom would you go to visit Caledonia? This area lies north of the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth?
    
    (a) England
    (b) Scotland
    (c) Northern Ireland
    (d) Wales
    
    
22. The Pilgrims departed from this English city for the New World in the fall of 1620. If you were going to sail on a reenactment voyage of the Mayflower, to what port city in England would you go to board the ship?
    
    
23. In the AD 120s, the Roman Emperor Hadrian ordered the building of a 74 mile-long wall across the narrowest part of the island of Great Britain. Located in England, near the border of Scotland, this wall is one of the largest and most historically significant remains of Roman occupation in the UK. Now a tourist attraction, visitors can walk sections of the wall and visit "mile stations" (stone blockhouses) constructed along the wall every Roman mile, a length equivalent to 1620 yards. Name this wall.
    
    
24. Name the traditional Scottish dish that consists of heart, lung, and liver of a sheep or calf and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for several hours. The flavor is enhanced with the addition of onion, toasted oatmeal, spices, suet and salt.
    
    
25. The 13-ton bronze bell hanging within the 316-foot-tall Clock Tower of the Houses of Parliament is one of the most famous bells ever cast. Its name, however, is frequently used to refer to the huge clock in the tower, not to the bell. Name this renowned bell.

Copyright © 2005 Randy Karr

See answers on page 23.

Sightseers Answers

(1) Blarney Castle, (2) Loch Ness, (3) Great Britain and Ireland, (4) True, (5) True, (6) London Eye, (7) True, (8) Tower of London, (9)Union Jack, (10) (b) Scotland, (11) (c)Combination of tea and supper, (12) (f) Oxford University, (13) Buckingham Palace, (14) British Museum, (15) Sherwood Forest, (16) Isle of Man, (17) Curling, (18) Balmoral Castle, (19) Robert Burns, (20) King Arthur, (21) (b) Scotland, (22) Plymouth, (23) Hadrain's Wall, (24) Haggis, (25) Big Ben.