Showing posts with label scotland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scotland. Show all posts

A History Of Britain For The Visitor

Over many centuries its character has been formed most importantly by its geographic location. hence its status as one of the largest islands! Its has never been successfully totally invaded. Even the Romans could not take Scotland and had to build a wall known as Hadrians wall to keep them out. The roman invasions in AD 43 lasted 350 years, however the britons in built independence borne by island living quickly estinguished the roman influece, although many of their advances such as Roman roads still exist today. This independence of the Brits is also shown by its breaking away from the catholic church in the 16th century.

Today the very chracter of the British is seen by its almost comical participation in the European union. They are still opposed to the Euro currency and still insist on driving on the left hand side of the road. After fighting two world wars the British were very relunctant to cooperate with the French on a channel tunnel. After all wasnt it this that we fought the war for. i.e. to keep the foreigners out!

Yes the British do have their quirkyness, even not been very famous for its culinery skills it has still claimed the crown for making tea! Which in all fairness the continenetals do respect and never challenge! After all, all it needs is to boil some water! Although regarded as rather aloof, they do understand freedom and are the mother of democracy. Their heritage is unbelievable.

From horse racing, i.e. the grand national to its very strange Morris dancers. The wonderful parks and Royal family. The Royal family probably epitimises the british best. Where most countries got rid of theirs, by guillotine and other forms of execution, the British somehow still kept theirs.

The reason for this is their culture of playing the game and the balance of justice. A great example of this was when a Italian prisoner of war was accused of murdering a local Brit. it was widely felt a partisan jury would find him guilty, but no, the verdict was a very stong not guilty, showing the inbuilt fair play of the British. Although a small island, the diversity of its geography is quiite amazing. From the flat lands of East Anglia, where by the way Cambridge and its famous universites lay. To the great lakes of Windermere to the unbelieble mountains of Scotalnd Ireland and Wales.

Hopefully if you are visiting the UK (United Kingdom) you will be able to visit the diverse cities, with its multi cultural and great shopping. Harrods its a must if you are visiting London. We Brits are great sports fan, inventing Football (soccer) Rugby and of course cricket. Getting back to the great British menu. Britain's most popular food has got to be fish and chips. Fish and chip shops first made an appearance at the end of the 19th century and since then have been a firm favourite throughout the United Kingdom.

The dish is simplicity itself: fish (usually cod, haddock or plaice) is dipped in a batter made from flour, eggs and water and then deep fried in hot fat. Chips are made from thick batons of potato and deep fried. Fish and chips are served over the counter wrapped in paper, and traditionalists prefer to eat them straight out of the paper because they taste better that way, before the EU it would be newspaper. Thats the rebelliousness and quirkness of the Brits!

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The Top 5 Seaside Resorts in Britain

Great Britain or the UK has always had some great seaside resorts and despite the unpredictable weather you can have some really enjoyable breaks along the British coast. Recently the Which holiday magazine conducted a poll amongst it's readers who voted for their top seaside town. Here are the top 5 results in reverse order what do you think?

1. Scarborough

On the North Yorkshire coast Scarborough came fifth but is still my favourite resort. The average summer temperature is 19°C so quite warm. I've been really lucky and whenever I've gone there it's been blazing hot during the day and lively at night! I've sunbathed there, shopped, been fishing, camped at the motorbike road races, stayed in a top hotel, holiday cottage, caravan and boarding house and loved every minute of every visit. Founded by a viking raider, Scarborough has it's own ruined castle, retains some of it's fishing industry and even has it's own annual beach rock and pop festival, a great place to visit.

2. Bournemouth

It's quite a long time since I've been to Bournemouth which is in Dorset on the South Coast of England. My memories are of lots of sand and riding donkeys, but I was a child then. Apart from the normal seaside entertainment Bournemouth now hosts a 4 day flying festival in the summer.  There you might see wing walkers, displays from such as the red devils and memorial flights from Lancasters, Hurricanes and Spitfires, plus flights from modern day aircraft.

3. Whitby

Another resort from the North Yorkshire coast, we in Yorkshire are doing well to have 2 of the most popular seaside towns nearby. The fishing port of Whitby is famous for featuring in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula and even has a Dracula museum for tourists to visit. Every year in August for 3 days is the Whitby Regatta which started out as a rowing competition and has now grown to in clude a fair on the pier, military displays, police demonstration and fireworks. Bi-annually Whitby hosts a gothic weekend especially for goths.

4. Brighton

On the South Coast Brighton attracts 80 million tourists every year and is a great favourite of Londoners in need of a short break or day out.  The resort became popular in the late 18th century when the Prince Regent to a liking to the place and built the Royal Pavillion. Considered to be one of the UK's top places for nightlife Brighton also hosts the second largest arts festival in the UK every May and the Brighton Festival Fringe.

5. Blackpool

On the North West coast the Lancashire town Blackpool is the winner of the most popular seaside resort in Britain. Bold and brash Blackpool became popular as a tourist resort during the 19th century for northern mill and factory workers and is still popular for residents of the north and Scotland. Walk along the golden mile with or without your kiss me quick hat on, see the shows on the piers, go ballroom dancing in the Tower Lounge, have fun at the Pleasure Beach, check out the illuminations. There is something for everybody at Blackpool and for me it's always been an enjoyable time. Whether it's been for a week or a day, when I'm on my way there and see the tower in the skyline I get a feeling of anticipation knowing that I'm going to have some fun.

There we have it, the top 5 seaside resorts here in the UK. Although numbers declined with the onset of cheap foreign travel these places still get busy in the summer. They aren't the only resorts in this country, there are many others all with a different personality and all waiting to welcome you on a visit.

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