Trivia Tuesday!

A double mirage called the fata morgana is sometimes observed over the Strait of Messina, which is also home to a natural whirlpool that may have inspired the Scylla and Charybdis of myth. Where is this strait?

1. between Corsica and Sardinia
2. between Crete and Cyprus
3. between Italy and Sicily
4. between Morocco and Spain
5. between Rhodes and Turkey


ITALY and SICILY. Spain and Morocco, of course, are separated by the Strait of Gibraltar, whose name is an Anglicization of Jebel Tariq, or Mount Tariq, named for the Berber Muslim general Tariq ibn-Ziyad who conquered Spain in 711. The Brits got here in 1704, and have held on ever since, much to Spain’s annoyance. (This being said, on the African side of the strait is an Spanish enclave called Ceuta, which the Moroccans want back.) The Rock of Gibraltar and Abila, a peak in Ceuta, were the ancient Pillars of Hercules.

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~PVPeeved