I recently returned from a holiday in Turkey. While there I visited the ancient ruined Roman city of Ephesus. At its peak in the 1st century AD it had a population of over 250,000, but there is not a great deal of evidence for that extent now. Although it did feel like there are nearly that many people present when we visited.The best photos are now a set on Flickr, available here.
When I first arrived in London, one of the great mysteries I faced was the difference between England, the UK , and Great Britain. This is of no small concern to the people of Wales and Scotland. I almost found myself attacked when I accidently (and mistakenly) referred to a famous Welsh footballer as English - only claiming a foreigner's ignorance saved me. After a while I learnt the difference: England, Wales and Scotland are all countries; the UK is the international state (thus it is the UK government); and Great Britain is the name of the island.
When I arrived in Turkey on holiday I saw the following sign. Initially I couldn't find the UK, as it is out of alphabetical order. Then I realised that it would be in alphabetical order if the label was for England. If you look closely you can see the United Kingdom label is actually a sticker. I would bet that underneath is England. Good to see my confusion is shared by some governments. I can just image the regular rants from Scottish and Welsh people that led to them correcting the name!
