National flowers from around the world
Different countries choose different flowers to represent them as a nation. England has the rose, Wales has the daffodil, Scotland has the thistle, and Ireland has the shamrock. I have to admit, that’s pretty much as far as my knowledge goes when it comes to national flowers, so I decided to do a little research and tell you all about my favourites.
Matryoshka dolls: The story behind the nesting Russian dolls
When we travel, a most of us will bring home a small souvenir to remind us of our time away. One of the most popular souvenirs bought by tourists in Russia are Russian nesting dolls, or matryoshka dolls.
Bari Cathedral: Midsummer’s window
Well, it’s all downhill from now, isn’t it? Last weekend, we had the longest day of the year. It was grey and cloudy; daylight hours well spent, then! Let’s hope it wasn’t cloudy in the Italian city of Bari, though.
Surströmming: Sweden’s very, very stinky fish dish
Surströmming is a dish from Sweden that really doesn’t sound very appetising at all. First off, “surströmming” is Swedish for “soured herring”. So if you thought herring was stinky enough as it is, this is soured herring.
What a handsome boy: A little bit about toucans
We’ve got a few TV ads on at the moment and we’ve had some really good feedback, so we’ve started to write about the things we feature on them.
Naypyidaw: Burma’s new, empty capital city
Our capital city is London and, at the moment, everyone seems to be OK with that. There aren’t currently any plans to move it somewhere else. Although, I suppose we’ll have to wait to find out who the new mayor’s going to be before we make any assumptions. But a country suddenly moving their capital city elsewhere isn’t completely unheard of – it’s exactly what they did in Burma almost a decade ago.
Gregory of Nin: The Croatian statue with a lucky big toe
In Split, Croatia, there is a statue that is meant to give people good luck. The statue is of Gregory of Nin (Croatian: Grgur Ninski) who was quite the legend back in his day.
Tea from around the world
Like many Brits, I simply cannot function properly in the morning until I’ve had at least two cups of this caffeinated nectar.
7 things you might not know about dolphins
I have been fascinated by bottlenose dolphins since I was in the womb. Well, I can’t actually remember that far back so I don’t really have any idea what I was thinking about or doing, if I’m completely honest. I was probably too busy doing the backstroke or playing football, if what my mum told me was true!