Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts

Monday, May 10, 2021

Wales


We just learned about the country of Slovenia

Let's learn a little about the country of Wales!

Just like Ireland, England and Scotland, this is a country that is a part of the United Kingdom.

Wales is part of the same island as England and Scotland, just west of where England is.
It is only about 8,000 square miles, but has over 3 million people living there.


(from: wikipedia - wales)

The flag of Wales is white and green, with a red dragon on it.
There are ancient stories about a dragon that lived in Wales, and is buried under one of the big hills in the country.


(from: wikipedia - flag of wales)

To eat in Wales you might have Welsh Cakes, which are small cakes a few inches wide, and usually flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg.


(from: wikipedia - welsh cake)

Visiting Wales you might go see Caernarfon Castle built in 1283.

(from: wikipedia - caernarfon castle)

The Cardigan Welsh Corgi is a type of dog that came from Wales.

(from: wikipedia - cardigan welsh corgi)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Vernadsky Research Base

Monday, May 3, 2021

Slovenia


We just learned about the country of Slovakia

Let's learn a little about the country of Slovenia!

This is a small country in eastern Europe, bordering Italy, Austria, Hungary, and Croatia.
It is about 8,000 square miles and about 2 million people live there.

People in Slovenia usually speak Slovene, Italian or Hungarian.


(from: wikipedia - slovenia)

The flag of Slovenia is stripes of white, blue and red with the coat of arms of Slovenia.
On the coat of arms is a white mountain for Mount Triglav, wavy lines for the sea, and three golden stars for the old rulers of the land.


(from: wikipedia - flag of slovenia)

To eat in Slovenia you might have Potica which is a type of rolled pastry with ground up walnuts.


(from: wikipedia - slovenian potica)

Visiting Slovenia you might go see the mountain Triglav, which is about 10,000 feet high.


(from: wikipedia - triglav)

In Slovenia there are famous old stories from 1858 of a fairy tale hero named Martin Krpan, who was so strong he would do things like carry around his own horse.

(from: wikipedia - martin krpan)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Palmer Research Base

Monday, April 26, 2021

Slovakia


We just learned about the country of Serbia

Let's learn a little about the country of Slovakia, also called the Slovak Republic!

This is a country in eastern Europe that borders Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic.
It is about 19,000 square miles, and over 5 million people live there.
People in Slovakia speak either Slavic, Hungarian or Rusyn.


(from: wikipedia - slovakia)

The flag of Slovakia is white, blue and red, with the coat of arms on the front.
A few countries in eastern Europe use these same colors, and they are called the "Pan-Slavic" colors.

The coat of arms is a double cross for Christianity, and three mountains for the three main mountain ranges in the country.


(from: wikipedia - flag of slovakia)

To eat in Slovakia you might have Bryndzové Halušky, which is dumplings served with cheese and bacon.
You would also have a glass of Žinčica with it, which is like a creamy milk drink.


(from: wikipedia - )

Visiting Slovakia you might go see Bojnice Castle, which was built before 1200 AD.


(from: wikipedia - bojnice castle)

In Slovakia there is a large group of over 700 caves called Domica Cave.
These are caves made out of limestone that go on for over 3 miles.

(from: wikipedia - domica cave)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Palmer Station

Monday, April 19, 2021

Serbia


We just learned about the country of San Marino

Let's learn a little about the country of Serbia!

This is a country in Europe that borders Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro.

It is about 34,000 square miles and about 7 million people live there.
Most people in the country speak the language Serbian.


(from: wikipedia - serbia)

The flag of Serbia is three sideways stripes of red, blue and white.
In the middle is the coat of arms, with the Serbian Eagle and Cross.


(from: wikipedia - flag of serbia)

Pie is very popular in Serbia, and they make pies with everything from apples, cherries and pumpkins, to meat, potatoes, walnuts, cheese or mushrooms.

(from: wikipedia - )

Visiting Serbia you might go see Stopića Cave, a 5,000 foot long cave that has waterfalls, rivers and hot springs.


(from: wikipedia - stopića cave)

Serbia was the home to ancient Roman emperors, and there are ruins of a palace called Gamzigrad that was built around 300 AD.

(from: wikipedia - gamzigrad)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: ANSMET Station

Monday, April 12, 2021

San Marino


We just learned about the country of Portugal.
Let's learn a little about the country of San Marino!

This is a very small country that is inside of the country of Italy.
It is only 24 square miles, and has over 30,000 people living there.


(from: wikipedia - san marino)

The flag for San Marino is a white stripe over a blue stripe, with the coat of arms of San Marino in the middle.
The coat of arms has a picture of the famous three towers of San Marino, a picture of an oak, a wreath, and the words LIBERTAS which means Liberty.


(from: wikipedia - flag of san marino)

To eat in San Marino, you might have bustrengo, which is a type of fruitcake.


(from: wikipedia - )

San Marino is famous for its three towers on the mountain, which are shown on its flag.
One of those towers is calle the Fortress of Guiaita.
It ws built in before the year 1100 AD.


(from: wikipedia - guaita)

Visiting San Marino you might go see the Basilica di San Marino, which is an old church built around the year 600 AD.


(from: wikipedia - )


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station

Monday, April 5, 2021

Portugal


We just learned about the country of Montenegro

Let's learn a little about the country of Portugal!

This is a small country on the south west part of Europe, bordering Spain and the Atlantic ocean.
It is only about 35,000 square miles and has about 10 million people living there.
In Portugal they speak the Portuguese language.


(from: wikipedia - portugal)

The Portuguese flag is red and green, with the Portuguese coat of arms in the middle.
Green on the flag stands for hope, and red stands for the people who died to protect the country.


(from: wikipedia - flag of portugal)

To eat in Portugal you might have bacalhau, which is the Portuguese word for the Cod fish.
Because Portual is right on the ocean, they eat fish a lot, and people say they have so many ways to cook bacalhau that they could have a different recipe for every day of the year.

(from: wikipedia - bacalhau)

Visiting Portugal, you might go to the beach called Praia da Marinha. It is on the Atlantic ocean, and is surrounded by orange limestone cliffs.

(from: wikipedia - praia da marinha)

Soccer is also very popular in Portugal, as one of the most famous players in the world Cristiano Ronaldo is from Portugal.


(from: wikipedia - cristiano ronaldo)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: McMurdo Stations

Monday, March 29, 2021

Montenegro


We just learned about the country of Monaco

Let's learn a little about the country of Montenegro!

This is a small country in Europe, bordering Bosnita and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and Albania.
It is only about 5,000 square miles, adn about 600,000 people live there.

People in Montenegro speak either Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, or Croatian.


(from: wikipedia - montenegro)

The flag of Montenegro is red with gold around the edge, and the coat of arms on the middle.


(from: wikipedia - flag of montenegro)

To eat in Montenegro you might have pasulj, which is a soup with beans, bacon, sausage and ham.

(from: wikipedia - pasulj)

Visiting Montenegro you might go to the Bay of Kotor, which is a bay of water on the Adriatic Sea.


(from: wikipedia - bay of kotor)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station

Monday, March 22, 2021

Monaco


We just learned about the country of Moldova

Let's learn a little about the country of Monaco!

This is the second smallest country in the world, just after Vatican City, and it is less than 1 square mile.
Only about 38,000 people live there, making it the 6th least populated country.
Even though it is small, with that many people there it is the most crowded country in the world.

People in Monaco speak either French, Italian, English or Monégasque.


(from: wikipedia - monaco)

The flag of Monaco is a red stripe above a white stripe.
These are the colors of the royal house of Grimaldi, the old royalty of Monaco.

(from: wikipedia - flag of monaco)

To eat in Monaco, you might have Anchoiade, which is a paste made from anchovies, olive oil and salt, usually spread on bread or other food.

(from: wikipedia - )

Visiting Monaco you might go to the Monte Carlo casino, which has been a world famous casino for over 150 years.

(from: wikipedia - monte carlo)

The Monaco Grand Prix is a famous race that goes all the way from one end of the country to the other.
Because it is such a small country, it has some sharp turns and is a very hard race to win.

(from: wikipedia - monaco grand prix)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Orcadas Base

Monday, March 15, 2021

Moldova


We just learned about the country of Malta

Let's learn a little about the country of Moldova!

This is a small country in the south east part of Europe, bordering Romania and Ukraine.
It is about 13,000 square miles, and about 2.6 million people live there.
The people there speak Moldovan, which is the same as the Romanian language, they just call it Moldovan in this country.


(from: wikipedia - moldova)

The flag of Moldova is blue, red, yellow just like the flag of Romania, and the coat of arms of Moldova is in the middle yellow stripe.


(from: wikipedia - flag of moldova)

To eat in Moldova you might have sarmale, which is stuffed cabbage rolls, usually served with sauerkraut and a porridge called mămăligă.


(from: wikipedia - moldova cuisine)

Visiting Moldova you might go see Soroca Fort which is a castle made around the year 1530.

(from: wikipedia - soroca fort)

One of the things Moldova is famous for is making wine.
They have a famous wine cellar in mileștii mici, which is over 150 miles long and has over 2 million bottles of wine, and is the largest wine collection in the world.

(from: wikipedia - mileștii mici)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Antarctic Territories

Monday, March 8, 2021

Malta


We just learned about the country of North Macedonia

Let's learn a little about the country of Malta!

Malta is a small country made up of a group of islands, which is called an archipelago.
There are three main islands that people live on, Malta, Gozo and Comino.

There are about 500,000 people living in Malta, and the land area is about 122 square miles.
People in Malta speak either Maltese, Italian, English or Sicilian.


(from: wikipedia - malta)

The flag in Malta is red and white, with a cross on the white part known as the George Cross, from King George IV.


(from: wikipedia - flag of malta)

To eat in Malta you might have kwareżimal, which is a type of baked treat made with flour, sugar, orange rinds and almonds.
This was a type of bread made during Lent because it did not need any eggs or milk.


(from: wikipedia - kwareżimal)

Visiting Malta, you might go see Ġgantija, which is an ancient temple made of stone that was built over 5,500 years ago.
It is called a megalithic temple, which means it uses giant rocks.
This was before the wheel was even made in this area, so when they moved these giant rocks they put small round stones on the ground and rolled the stones over them to get them together.


(from: wikipedia - ggantija)

In the town of Comino, there is a bay with white sand and deep blue waters, called the Blue Lagoon.
There are a lot of ocean fish living there, so a lot of divers and swimmers go to visit and see the Lagoon and the nature living there.


(from: wikipedia - comino)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Robert Falcon Scott

Monday, March 1, 2021

North Macedonia


We just learned about the country of Luxembourg

Let's learn a little about the country of North Macedonia, also sometimes just called Macedonia!

This is a small country in Europe, about 10,000 square miles where about 2 million people live.
People in this country might speak Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish, Romani, Serbian, Bosnian, or Aromanian.


(from: wikipedia - north macedonia)

The flag of North Macedonia is red with a yellow sun on it with eight sun rays.
In the country's national anthem it talks about the New Sun of Liberty as they became independent from Yugoslavia.


(from: wikipedia - flag of north macedonia)

To eat in North Macedonia you might have Tavče gravče, which is beans, onions, peppers mixed into a kind of chili and cooked.


(from: wikipedia - tavče gravče)

Visiting North Macedonia you might go see the ancient Greek ruins at the city of Heraclea Lyncestis.

(from: wikipedia - heraclea lyncestis)

In North Macedonia there are musical bagpipes called gaida

(from: wikipedia - culture of north macedonia)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Roald Amundsen