Today I toured my first ever castle: Lancaster Castle.  Our tour guide was very informative, and I learned a lot about English history.  I learned that Queen Elizabeth II is also the Duke of Lancaster, and that the county of Lancashire is where she gets 3/4 of her wealth.  I also learned something about county rivalries.  Apparently, there is a deep seated rivalry between Lancashire and Yorkshire.  Our tour guide took every opportunity he could to make Lancashire look better than Yorkshire.  I'm not sure where this rivalry comes from, though.  My theory is it has something to do with the textile industry, since we learned on the tour of the Bronte Parsonage that Lancashire was a cotton-producing center and Yorkshire a wool-producing one.  I'm not sure, though; I should ask someone.

I saw on the tv at O'este (where we ate dinner tonight) that Blackpool's football team beat Cardiff's.  They were interview people on the street, and people were going wild, dressed head to foot in tangerine (as we also learned on our tour today, you can't just call it orange).  No matter what Americans may say to the contrary, I don't think we even come close in our team loyalty and fanaticism, for any sport.  And although I am by no means a sports fan, I appreciate how football brings the British together.  Now, if I could just get someone to explain cricket . . .