Magic Carpet Ride Trivia Quiz

Answer: Berber

It probably makes the most sense for me to buy berber because it's more resistant to wear-and-tear and can be bought cheaper than a more plush rug. Because of the loops of fabric used for typical berber, it may be tougher to the touch than knotted shag or a tufted, plush carpet, but it holds up, especially if I decide to use it for international flight. Berber is named after the Berber people of North Africa.

Although there was no country specific to the Berber ethnicity, they have spanned everywhere along the Mediterranean from Morocco to Egypt. Presumably they traveled on carpets.

Answer: LAX

The IATA airport code system is used for a number of different things involving air travel, most importantly to make sure your luggage gets from destination to destination. The vast majority of airports around the world make use of the system with smaller, less-commercial airports use a different, more unofficial system with the same basis.

LAX is the only North American one listed-- It's Los Angeles, California. SVO refers to Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, CDG refers to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, and LHR is London Heathrow. I wanted to claim KAA (Kyle's Apartment Airfield) but, wouldn't you know it, KAA is used by an airport in Kasama, Zambia.

Answer: Golf clubs

Large, blunt objects are not allowed as carry-on items because they can be used as weapons. Due to heightened security for flights in recent decades, anything which could potentially be dangerous is a no-go. Laptops and iPhones (heck, almost all phones) are allowed on flights, by all means, but any electronic carry-ons need to be checked when heading through airport security checkpoints, and wireless devices are often turned off (or in airplane mode) for the duration of the flight.

Insulin needles, being a necessity for diabetic fliers, are not banned. Prescription medication often needs to be proven with a prescription to travel.

Answer: Vodka

Duty-free shops are often found on international grounds (like airports) and facilitate the sales of items, usually alcohol, for cheaper-than-usual prices. This is done by eliminating duty taxes normally imposed by countries by shipping their items across borders. This means that you could buy a bottle of vodka in one country, bring it back on the plane (or have it ready to be picked up) and claim it back at home.

Of course you can't drink it on the flight. I'll allow it once we reach cruising altitude.

Answer: No

Although inflight smoking is a possibility, it's not allowed due to health concerns and common decency. Nowadays, non-smoking signs are still visible on airlines, but it's commonly accepted knowledge that smoking is strictly prohibited. In fact, smoking on a plane could result in an emergency landing.

To be fair, smoking on a magic carpet would be fine because it's obviously well-ventilated. I'm still not going to allow it. You know how smoke sticks to fabric...

Answer: Vista window

Vista window makes very little sense unless you flip it; Windows Vista was released as a Microsoft operating system in 2006. All of the other options are windows, though their construction may vary. A skylight is a window installed in a ceiling to let in natural light. A clerestory window is a window installed above eye level; again, it's created to let in natural light; they're commonly seen in larger buildings (like churches). Casement windows are probably the most accessible since the term simply refers to a window with hinged doors on the edge of the frame, allowing them to open like doors.

Regardless, all of them provide easy access, sending me off into the skies.

Answer: Ten kilometers up

To get up to the jet stream, I would need to fly up into the troposphere, likely between five and twelve kilometers up into the sky. Unfortunately, going ten kilometers into the clouds would be frigid-- the temperature would drop more than fifty degrees Celsius, not to mention the pressure would be unbearable. Looks to me like I'll need to rely entirely on magic, which is a bit of a downer. Nothing to take the wind out of your sails like botched travel plans, eh?

Answer: A single olive

With rising gas prices in the 1980s, airfare rose dramatically in price. In an effort to save costs, American Airlines ended up turning their attention to in-flight meals. What they found was that the removal of a single olive from each first-class salad saved them, over the course of a single year, $40,000 (USD). Twenty-five years later, that would've been the equivalent of double the dollar amount-- $80,000.

It just goes to show that something so small can amount to so much. Luckily, I hate olives anyways.

Answer: Romania

The Carpathian Mountain range, despite its name, was not called such because of carpets-- I can tell you that much. It was actually named after a small tribe living in the mountains centuries ago. The range extends from Poland all the way down to the middle of Romania, crossing through the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia and the Ukraine; Romania actually holds half of it.

Although the range is usually split into eight smaller regions, the Carpathians are the second-longest chain of mountains in Europe.

Despite how much of Romania actually contains these mountains, you'd have an easier time reaching them from Krakow, Poland or Vienna, Austria than Romania's own capital city, the southerly Bucharest.

Answer: A steering wheel

The Club was designed by an American inventor in 1986 as a means of preventing criminals from breaking into cars and driving off with them, mainly by blocking the steering wheel from being used. The device, a metal bar which can be adjusted to fit on the edges of the steering wheel, then lock into place, could only be unlocked with a key possessed by the owner...or, as was later discovered, by freezing and hammering the lock...or by removing a layer of the steering wheel.

Either way, I feel like I could just roll up the carpet, put it into storage, and be on my way.