I'll drink to that! It seems that the farther you go east the worse the barbeque gets. The first (and only) time I ate Eastern Carolina "barbeque" I thought the meat had spoiled!

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I thought the UK was run by the EU these days .

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Not sure about that Matt: one mans terrorist is the next guys freedom fighter would be one consequence.
A question for anyone down the local pub on a Saturday night is:- Which country are you prepared to die for?

Anyway, I should have added "language" to that last list of mine!! Welsh, Gaelic etc etc. How about Corsica, Brittainy (anyone seen the flag for Cornwall, UK which has the same colours as the Brittainy version?), Basque country or Catalunya - I have seen many flags of these "countries" (more or less by Matts definition) on the panniers of touring bikes and in those regions you may find the regional flag flying in preference to the national flag of the relevant country.
Take another look at McGregor: makes his money in the capital of the UK but flies a Scottish Saltire as his preference on the road.

I suppose I am saying that the "trappings" of countries are relevant, symbolic and of importance.

I had an interesting conversation with a guy a few years ago; he had duel fluency in English and German from his upbringing. So I asked him which language he thinks in - as such, doesn't matter what the answer was (in fact English) but that is where his allegence lies, although he was serving with the German armed forces at the time with an oath of allegience to that country I would imagine.

Finally, the best single demonstration of national unity I have personally experienced was on 1st July 1998 when "Oh Canada" was sung in the streets of BC (and I guess a lot more places there) - all very spontaneous and natural as far as I could tell, but you won't see that in the "UK".

Hanging up my political boots now; as I say, I've tried to keep a biking theme!

Dave

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Dave

All you have to do now is pick one. The proper England.

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I have the Catalan flag on my left side pannier box (because I lived there, and speak the language a little).. but believe it or not, one of my Catalan friends called me a "Nazi" for having the Spanish flag on the other box! you just can't win.

Wow, what a discussion! To simplify your answer to the original question, I would divide the UK into countries; after all, you said it was an argument with your son and it was for your ego--you may or may not be embellishing, but hey, it sounds better the more you have visited....

When I was sailing from SA to OZ I met a guy who had been sailing for about 4 years, as he was retired. I asked him if he was sailing around the world. He got quite annoyed and said "NO! I am sailing around in the world!"
I think he hit the nail on the head.
To all those bikers on the road today who gave me the nod...Cheers!

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The ego thing was meant to be humorous. I don't really have much of an ego. I lost that when I got married. I am just a lowly third grade teacher that enjoys the two months I get off every year by travelling. I understand how the Scots feel about their "country", after all I am originally from Texas!!

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in olimpics there is only Great Britain

in football, there are Englang, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
By OZhanu

I presume what you were supposed to say was
in football there is England, Scotland, NORTHERN Ireland and Wales

Ireland (the republic that is) as we all know is a separate country entirely from the United Kingdom ( and we even have our own Olymic team).
Sorry if it sounds bitchy Ozhanu but Irish people (from the republic and approx 44% in the North) generally take a very dim view of being linked to United Kingdom,,,
But for what its worth i reckon Kurt I would definately call Wales Scotland and Northen Ireland separate countries.
Barra

I see from your map there is Wessex, Sussex, Essex.
What happened to No ssex?
Yip.. I would have left too!

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I found that map online and at first I thought it was one of Terry Gilliam's, but it was from a historical site.

United Kingdom - MSN Encarta

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"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

Well, that answers that question!! Thanks!

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I'll go with that, so I think I can include an extra three for Brandenburg, Bavaria and the Palatinate (not sure how many I passed through in getting to them though) and what about the United provinces of the Netherlands? I think I've visited most of them too. Then there are the Italian states, and Swiss cantons. If you are keeping score to claim something you would probably be best advised to use an accepted list such as the UN or perhaps the CIA world factbook. If they list it as a country you can claim it, otherwise not.

One Motorcycle
One car
Two bicycles
and a high mileage pair of walking boots (feet being the original, and still the best means of transport)

i'm welsh and we think we're a different country. the english cant play rugby! i carry welsh and french signs on my bike. Fiere d'etre gallois!