England
Until recently England was generally thought of as a gentle, fabled land
freeze-framed sometime in the 1930s, home of the post office, country pub
and vicarage. It's now better known for vibrant cities with great nightlife
and attractions, contrasted with green and pleasant countryside.
From Stonehenge and Tower Bridge to Eton and Oxford, England is loaded
with cherished icons of a past era. But it also does modernity with a
confidence and panache left over from its days in the never-setting sun.
Fashion, fine dining, clubbing, shopping - England's rates with the world's
best.
England is looking forward into the new century while trying to forget
many of the developments of the previous 100 years. That period witnessed
the fall of the empire, the loss of its trading base and the nation's
inability to adjust to a diminished role in the modern world - from colonial
empire to member of the EC. But while the Family may have taken a right
Royal battering, many of the other august institutions at the cornerstone of
British life have muddled their way through with a stiff upper lip and a
strong sense of protocol.
Scotland
Honed by long competition with its English neighbours, buoyant Scotland
has survived encroachment, brass-monkey weather and invasion by stand-up
comedians. Its people are feisty, opinionated and fiercely loyal. The
countryside is a wild, beautiful tumble of raw mountain peaks and deep
glassy lakes.
There's a plethora of tartan 'n' bagpipe beaten tracks across this land,
but even in well-thumbed tourist hubs like Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Isle
of Skye it's easy to veer off into one-of-a-kind adventures, usually
involving extroverted locals. The brutal climate adds an edge to the whole
experience.
Scotland is a place where you can watch golden eagles soar over the rocky
peaks of the Cuillin and play golf on some of the world's most hallowed
courses. The landscape heaves a heavy sigh of the past: a moor that was once
a battlefield, a beach where Vikings hauled their boats ashore, a cave where
Bonnie Prince Charlie once sheltered. Like a fine single malt, Scotland is a
connoisseur's delight - it reveals its true depth and complex flavours only
to those who savour it slowly.
Wales
In many ways, Wales is just what you picture it to be: rolling moorlands,
glaciated mountain areas, mellifluous male-voice choirs, tongue-twisting
place names, Rugby Union, 'Bread of Heaven', romantic castles, people with
querying lilts, cheese on toast and old mining towns.
But Wales is more than this. Apart from the fantastic walking and cycling
that's available in the country, there's also a wealth of water and
adventure sports, horse riding and fishing. Add to this some fine festivals
and Cardiff's nightlife, and you have a great destination awaiting you.
Although buzzing with eager expectation, Wales is still a country that's
finding its feet; a place where history is living and traditions, including
the Welsh language, are fighting for their future. Yet its strange mix of
diehard tradition and New World sophistication is one of Wales' greatest
assets. It has a strength of spirit and character which, despite centuries
of neglect and attempted assimilation, remains delightfully defiant.
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