Greetings from the Finger Lakes Region of New York State! Anyone out there a trivia buff? My husband is a junkie who rarely misses a Wednesday night at the local VFW. His team, Hometown Kids, is pretty good (and lots of fun) so I’ll join them about once a month for hot wings, cold beer, and questions about every topic under the sun. Referring to myself as the “one trick pony” of the group, I have a habit of not answering unless I’m absolutely certain I’m correct. However, when I am, it tends to be an obscure piece of information that no one else knows.

Not-so-surprisingly, our US and Canada trips have provided a fair share of answers. For example, “How many states start with the letter “N”? Having both been to all 50, we were able to tick them off on our fingers and score! And, as a writer and frequent traveler, I was the only one who could spell Honolulu correctly! International travel served me well on other occasions. Recalling this, I made a point of jotting down unusual facts about Sardinia on our recent trip. I may never use them but it was a fun way to pass the time and definitely deepened my powers of observation and knowledge about this lesser-known Italian island.

Here we go!

Some regions of the world are called “blue zones” because they have a disproportionally high number of centenarians (People who live to be 100 or older), as well as lower rates of cancer and heart disease. Both Japan and Sardinia fall into this group (https://www.bluezones.com/explorations/sardinia-italy )

Sardinia is known for its honey, particularly Strawberry Tree honey. The strawberry tree grows wild in coastal Mediterranean countries and has a late blossoming (October) making it more difficult for the bees to gather pollen and the honey rarer than some types. It has a bitter aftertaste so isn’t very appealing to those who prefer a sweeter honey but gourmands and honey connoisseurs love it!

The Griffon Vulture is a rare Old-World vulture. In Italy these birds are found only on the island of Sardinia. Griffon’s eat carrion, a practice that has led to a decline in their population as they feed on poisoned (illegally) bait left out by farmers and others. Wildlife conservationists have focused on using education to change this practice and the griffon numbers are slowly on the rise.

Four bandaged Moors heads are on the Sardinian flag, one in each corner, along with St. George’s Cross. This red, black, and white flag represents the years of bloody conflicts between Islam and Christianity.

And, for my grand finale, Grazia Deledda! Grazia, from Sardinia, was the second female writer, and the only Italian woman, to win a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1926. When she began to write her stories people in her village were very angry with her, but nonetheless she persisted, writing over 40 novels (https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/efts/IWW/BIOS/A0014.html ) Her childhood home is now a museum.

As you can see, new information and adventure often go hand in hand! Trivia can give you ideas for future trips and travel can expand your knowledge of different countries and cultures. Good luck with both!