To have not realised that Cuba is in the Caribbean?

[MeMyShelfandIkea]

Watching Blind Date tonight and one of the couples is on their date in Cuba. I commented to DH did he ever fancy visiting somewhere like that? He said what, the Caribbean? I said no, South America. DH then informs me that Cuba is a Caribbean island and despite showing me on the map I still can't get my head around it!

Tell me I'm not the only one whose geographical knowledge is hopeless

I assume everyone knows Calais used to be English. I didn't until relatively recently.

A colleague one told me she was going to Tosca that night. I wished her a good holiday. Turned out Tosca was not in Italy, but an opera.

we needed to rescue all those soldiers from the Germans at the start of WW2 from Scotland, did we?

I wasn’t alive then and not interested enough in ww2 to research it so how would I know.

Clearly you have never watched scar face !

I thought until recently that Costa Rica was an island and in the Caribbean area

You were thinking of Puerto Rico.

My DS's partner is Swedish, and lots of people think she's from Switzerland....

Yabu. That's a pretty basic bit of geography.

Unhomme I'm not sure Calais used to be English as such, but it was ruled by the same king as was ruling us.

It's how we have the Channel Islands. When the King lost Normandy, the CI decided to stay loyal to the British crown rather than the French one.

I think.

I was surprised to realise that Berlin wasn't on the border of E & W Germany, though it explains the Berlin airlift.

For those who may not know, Cuba has the best health provision and treatment on the planet. So far.

@scardeycat2016
Belgium is not a country, it’s sign posted in France
There is a sign post in Scotland that says England, one in England that says Wales, one in Portugal that says Spain.
So by your “logic” none of these are countries either?

Mexico is not South America. It's North.

I thought my friends were joking. Latin America yes but South America No.

OMG what the F are you all on at the minute? LOL.

Oh, my hairdresser once asked me if she could drive from California to Hawaii.....

I think it's an ok mistake to make because politically it's so different to the Caribbean.

When I was a kid I always thought of Jamaica being off the coast of France till I realised that I was confusing it with Jersey.

That's exactly it.....in a similar way to Wales/Scotland/n. Ireland being the United Kingdom

In my head it's the same for Belgium/France lol

Re Dunkirk, why had you heard of it at all unless in association with the rescue of British troops? It's not famous for anything else.

I thought Billericay was in Scotland until recently. Sounds Scottish to me...

@Firesuit yeah, I blame Jurassic Park tbh

I can't get my head around Cornwall/Wales/England! Is Cornwall part of England or Wales? All the place names sound a bit Welsh? But then Wales is beside Liverpool isn't it?

Cornwall is part of England, but the Cornish language is closely related to Welsh which is why the place names are similar.

Mexico is confusing though, because "North America" can mean 'The US+Canada (+sometimes Greenland)' whereas 'Central America' refers to the countries between the US and South America, which includes Mexico. But Mexico and the other Central American countries are part of the continent of North America. So either is correct, depending on whether you're speaking purely geographically or geo-politically. South America is incorrect, but I think that comes from people conflating South America the continent with 'Latin America' the group of countries in the Americas who speak Spanish or Portuguese, of which Mexico is one.

Brilliant thread, have also learnt that Skegness and Dunkirk are NOT in Scotland 🙈

I am intrigued enough by Dunkirk to look it up. I knew the French spelling was Dunkerque which sounds a lot less Scottish. What I didn't know was the Dutch /Flemish link, dun kerke (church in the dunes).

I echo EllenJanethickerknickers - those of you who thought that Dunkirk was in Scotland, in what context had you heard the place mentioned? It is really never ever talked about other than in connection with the D day landings...

PS it’s actually called Dunquerque. It was anglicised by the British for ease of storytelling. A bit like how we say Vienna and not Wien.