Wales

2.Location and Geography. Wales is a part of the United Kingdom and is located

in a wide peninsula (пайненсиала) in the western portion of the island of Great
Britain. The island of Anglesey (англси) is also considered a part of Wales and is
separated from the mainland by the Menai Strait (менай стрейт). The English
counties (каунтис) of Cheshire (чешер), Shropshire (шропшер), Hereford
(херефорд), Worcester (ворстер), and Gloucestershire (глостешер) border Wales
on the east.
The capital, Cardiff, is located in the southeast on the Severn Estuary
(северн еустери) and is also the most important seaport and shipbuilding center.

3.Symbolism. The symbol of Wales, which also appears on the flag, is a red

dragon. Supposedly brought to the colony of Britain by the Romans, the dragon
was a popular symbol in the ancient world and was used by the Romans, the
Saxons, and the Parthians
(парфиенс).
4.It became the national symbol of Wales when Henry VII ( генри зе севенс),
who became king in 1485 and had used it as his battle flag during the battle of
Bosworth Field, decreed that the red dragon should become the official flag of
Wales. 

What's cultural life in Wales like?

Wales' culture is diverse (дайверс) to say the least. All branches of the arts are
well represented in Wales in both languages. There are galleries, theatres,
museums, concert halls and libraries throughout Wales, to host and support the
many cultural activities taking place.
From the traditional to the modern; from the deep-seated to the cutting-edge; from
an inward-looking (инворд лукинг) search for national identity and art-forms to
the increasing influence and presence of multi-ethnic (молти этник) ideas and
practices (практисис).
Welsh dishes as a whole are generally associated (эсоусиейтид) with simplicity
(симплИсити) . Welsh cookery is thought to be similar to English cuisine
(квизИн) in style. There are few written records (рекордс) of Welsh foods, recipes
(ресепис) were instead held within families and passed down orally between the
women (вимен) of the family.
Cawl Cymrаeg ( ковл кемрейг) can be regarded as Wales' national dish. Dating
back to the 11th century,originally it was a simple broth of meat (most likely
bacon) and vegetables, it could be cooked slowly over the course of the day whilst
the family was out working the fields. It could be made in stages, over a number
of days, first by making a meat stock, then by adding the vegetables on the
following day. Once cooked, the fat could be skimmed from the top of the pot,
then it would be served as two separate dishes, first as a soup, then as a stew
(стью). Leftovers could be topped up with fresh vegetables, sometimes over the
course of weeks. Today, cawl would be much more likely to include beef or lamb
for the meat. Traditionally cawl would be eaten with a "specially-carved wooden
spoon" and eaten from a wooden bowl.

Crempog is a Welsh pancake made with flour (флевор), buttermilk, eggs, vinegar
and salted butter. Traditionally made on bakestones or griddles, crempog is one of
the oldest recipes in Wales. They are also known as ffroes, pancos and cramoth
and are normally served thickly piled (сикли паелд) into a stack and spread with
butter. It is traditionally served at celebrations in Wales, such as Shrove Tuesday
and birthdays.

Cheese on toast is prized dish

Rarebit is a classic Welsh dish which is, essentially, cheese on toast. To make
proper rarebit (рейрбит) you need to make a cheese sauce with melted cheese,
which can include ale, mustard or Worcestershire (ворстершер) sauce.

ART
Welsh art refers to the traditions in the visual arts associated эсосиейтид) with
Wales and its people. Most art found in, or connected with, Wales is essentially a
regional (эсенчьул э риджионал) variant of the forms and styles of the rest of the
British Isles (айрлс), a very different situation from that of Welsh literature. The
term Art in Wales is often used in the absence of a clear sense of what "Welsh art"
is, and to include the very large body of work, especially in landscape art,
produced by non-Welsh artists in Wales since the later 18th century.

Giving a spoon as a token of love

Not that kind of spoon. This old tradition, less customary now, is about giving a
wooden ‘lovespoon’ to your sweetheart as a love token. Today you can buy
lovespoons in gift shops where they’ll likely feature symbols like hearts, anchors
(энкорс), horseshoes and knots (нотс). They often have hidden meanings too; for
example, a dragon at the top of the handle means protection.

Correcting anybody who calls them British

The nation of Wales is distinct from England and the rest of the UK, but it’s often
not treated this way by foreigners (форенерс), which riles (раелс) the Welsh no
end. While someone from England will probably not object to being called British,
a Welsh person likely will, because Britishness is more often than not equated
(экуейтид) to Englishness. There’s a long history of conflict and rivalry
(райверли) between the Welsh and English, so the last thing the Welsh want to be
conflated (конфлейтид) with is the English.

Celebrating beating the English in rugby

They’ll never be a better atmosphere in Wales than when they’ve just beaten
England in the rugby. Rugby is Wales’ national sport, a lifestyle and a game for
the everyman rather than the wealthy as it is elsewhere. Rugby has also
traditionally been a way for the Welsh to get their own back over the English, who
have historical dominated them.
St Davids Day celebrations
сейнт
Wales’ national day is celebrated by wearing an abundance (эбондентс) of
daffodils (дафедолс) and taking part in various festivities (фестивитис), including
parades (перейдс) in the bigger cities. Schoolchildren in particular get into the
spirit by dressing up head to toe in traditional outfits, with tall black hats, red
cloaks, striped (страпд) flannel and shawls (шовлс). Traditional Welsh dishes
which might be served include cawl, roast lamb or rarebit.

Drinking is an unofficial national sport

Forget the Irish, it’s the Welsh who really like a drink. Pub culture is strong in the
country and socialising (соушилайсинг) usually revolves around alcohol. Cardiff
has been called the binge (биндж) drinking capital of Europe many times and last
year it was proven Wales has the highest levels of binge drinkers anywhere in the
UK, after the Office of National Statistics carrried out a survey (сьорвей). The
report found almost one in seven adults (14%) in Wales had on occasion drunk 14
units of alcohol in a single day.

Rain is barely noticed

In Wales it rains so often that it hardly changes anything about people’s day to day
lives. Whereas (вереарс) in typically sunny countries where you’ll see everyone
running and panicking, or the streets deserted as everyone hides away, in Wales
rain is like water off a duck’s back. You’ll see people queueing (кьюинг) up for
rides at a theme (тхим) park in the rain, getting soaked (соакд) on a bicycle on
their way to the office, or pushing their child on a swing. If you’re in Wales during
a downpour it shouldn’t be too difficult to find an umbrella. You could simply ask
in coffee shop or pub if they have one in lost property, they’ll likely have about 20
and be happy to give you one.
interesting facts about Wales
1. Mount Everest, the tallest on the planet, is named after the Welsh explorer and
geographer Sir George Everest.
2. Wales has a city that holds the world record for the longest of its name. The
town, whose name consists of 58 letters, is located in North Wales. It is called -
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. It is translated as
"The Church of St. Mary in a hollow overgrown with white hazel (хейзел) near the
swift whirlpool (вайрлпул) of St. Tesillo near the red cave."
3. Wales is where the number of castles per square mile is higher than anywhere
else in the world. Moreover, Wales is the country of the legendary King Arthur.
4. The number of sheep in Wales is 4 times the number of people.
5. A fifth of Wales is a national park
6. Briton Simon Dale built for his family an amazing house "for the hobbits",
which is located in Wales. It took almost 4 months to build the house. The house
"for the hobbits" is built exclusively from natural and environmentally friendly
materials.