JUBILEE JUBILATION WEEK: 60 Reasons Why Britain Is Brilliant

Jubilee Jubilation Week is a special week I am hosting here, celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee - so expect a fun week of all things British!

So, the other day, I picked up the newspaper (it was the METRO - nothing intellectual or anything!) and on the cover in massive letters was: "WHAT MAKES BRITAIN SO BRILLIANT?" Of course, it caught my eye, as I thought, 'Hmmm, what does make Britain brilliant?' (Well, I know that Britain is brilliant, of course, I love it here - but I thought it would just be interesting to see what kind of reasons they came up with.) And so, anyway, there on the front and back cover of the newspaper they had a list of 60 reasons why Britain is brilliant. And because I found it VERY amusing, (although a few things I didn't really get - I think you'd probably have to be older to get/remember them) I thought it'd be nice to share it with all of you! (Oh, and by the way, it turned out this was actually an advert - for Carling - the beer. Just thought I should mention that!) I might not be old enough to appreciate the beer, but I am old enough to appreciate their advert! So, thank you, Carling ;) 

60 Reasons (one for each year of Her Majesty's reign!) Why Britain Is Brilliant! 

1. Marmite. Mmm…yuck.
2 . Our devotion to our wonderfully gripping soap operas.
3 . Vivienne Westwood’s heels. It’s worth the pain.
4 . The Earl of Sandwich’s groundbreaking concept of putting a savoury filling between two pieces of bread.
5 . Glastonbury – mud and all.
6 . Our modesty – we never boast how great we are, apart from today.
7 . The pound and our reluctance to adopt the Euro.
8 . The best selling music artists in the world, are our very own; The Beatles.
9 . Our politeness – no matter how irritated we get, we are always too British to say anything.
10 . Kate Middleton and her sister.
11 . The Great British Summer (don’t forget the brolly).
12 . Driving on the left (the right way to do it).
13 . No matter where you are in Britain, you’re never far from a pub.
14 . Any excuse for a cup of tea.
15 . Curry, the unofficial national dish, with a pint of cold lager.
16 . We don’t moan because we are miserable, we moan because it makes us happy.
17 . Our international language. Travelling abroad is a doodle.
18 . The Queen and her graceful wave.
19 . The Great British countryside, when you’re not stuck behind a tractor.
20 . Freedom of speech.
21 . Deep fried food, Fish, sausages, Mars bars… absolutely anything.
22 . Some of the very best museums and galleries on the planet. Free.
23 . The national tendency to cheer the underdog and ridicule the mighty.
24 . We apologise way too much. Sorry about that.
25 . Crisps. We eat more of them, in more varieties, than the whole of Europe put together.
26 . Shakespeare. When thou can understandeth it.
27 . Sir David Attenborough and his soothing voice on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
28 . British strawberries, perfect with cream.
29 . Our cobbled streets, watch your heels ladies.
30 . Chips with fish, or cheese, or beans, or pies, or steaks, or curries or in a sandwich. Chips with pretty much everything.
31 . We know the importance of a good queue.
32 . Beans on toast, brilliant no matter what your age.
33 . Court room wigs. Our great way of making very smart people look very silly.
34 . Pantomimes. The jokes never seem to get old.
35 . No matter how cold it gets, it will never keep us from our nights out.
36 . HP sauce. Chuck it on everything.
37 . The 3pm Saturday kick off.
38 . Cream teas. In case you are wondering, Cornish is jam first, Devon is cream first.
39 . Jellied eels. And jelly. Though not necessarily together.
40 . Beer gardens. Because we love our beer and we love our gardens.
41 . Saying ‘I’m fine’ no matter how we feel.
42 . A love of mowing the lawn.
43 . Plugs with switches. Amazingly nowhere else seems to do this.
44 . Tolerating nearly everything, but banning hosepipes.
45 . Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysilio gogogoch in North Wales. Just wait till your sat nav tries that one.
46 . World Cup, 1966. We’ll be clinging to it forever.
47 . Egg and soldiers. Those brave and tasty souls.
48 . The BBC. The only time you’re not constantly reaching for the fast-forward button.
49 . Our British seasides. Watch out for the seagulls.
50 . Archie Gemmill’s goal against Holland.
51 . Prime Minister’s Question Time. A no-holds-barred, public bashing for whoever’s in charge. Every week.
52 . The Full English breakfast. Served all day.
53 . The weather. Although we get less of it than almost anywhere, it’s still the major talking point.
54 . The 99 flake.
55 . Morris dancing. We know how to move it 15th Century style.
56 . Allotments. Our very own little patch of the countryside.
57 . Our love of anything pickled.
58 . Carry On films. Oooer Missus.
59 . Our talent. Be it our artists, musicians, directors, actors or just dancing dogs.
(60 . Carling (Well, it was an advert for Carling so I guess they were obviously going to include that as one of the reasons, but here I'm going to substitute my own reason in - one that I think we book lovers will find much more relevant...)
60. (My reason!) We're the home country of Harry Potter!!! (How did they manage to miss that one?!)

Hmm, I just realised, you non-British folk might not have found that as amusing...but still, hey-ho, I hope you did! And I hope you guys all now agree that Britain is brilliant!