Toto stopped for a couple days in England, which is one of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom. The other three are Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Sometimes people mistake England for all of the United Kingdom, when actually England is only one part of the United Kingdom. Another name for the United Kingdom is Great Britain, and people and things from Great Britain are called “British.”
The British flag (above) is actually a combination of the flags of these countries within the United Kingdom. 
Here is what the white and red English flag looks like. Can you see the English flag within the red, white and blue flag of the United Kingdom? The British call this flag the "Union Jack." Nobody’s quite sure where the name “jack” comes from, but the most likely explanation is that it comes from the name for a smaller flag, called a “jack,” which is flown from the front of a ship.
I saw two interesting things in England that I thought you might enjoy seeing or learning about. The first was in an English town called Stamford. I went to visit my friend, Paul, his family and his dog. They live in a house that is 300 years old! It is on the road that used to connect London (the capital of England) and important English cities north of London, like York. So before automobiles, the queen and king used to take their horse-drawn carriage on the road right in front of Paul's family's home, which is across the street on the left in this photo.
When I was there, Paul was showing me the attic in the house and I saw this hole in the wall made by his neighbor's cat. (His dog does not like this cat!) What I found interesting about this hole is that you can see how they made houses 300 years ago. The house is obviously very solid, and the outside is made of a pretty beige stone. As you can see from this photo, the way the craftsmen made the inside walls was to lay some straw and then cover it with plaster made of limestone. I found it so interesting that a 300-year-old house is made of straw-covered walls and that 300-year-old straw is not rotten. So long as you keep the cats away, I guess the walls are fine! The other interesting thing was that I could see that the plasterers (as the craftsmen who make plaster walls are called) used horse hair within the plaster as a way to strengthen it.
Speaking of holes in walls, I thought you would enjoy seeing this famous platform I saw in Kings Cross railroad station. I took the train from Stamford to London, and I arrived at platform 4. Being a Harry Potter fan, I had to go see platform 9-3/4. Can you see the luggage cart that is halfway into the wall? I must be a muggle, as I could not get through the wall to platform 9-3/4 to get onto the Hogwarts Express.
England Travel Questions:
- What are the four countries that make up the United Kingdom?
- What is the nickname of the British Flag?
Global Citizen Questions on England:
- Find out what the flags of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland look like. Draw them.
- What is the capital of Scotland?
- Who is the current Queen of the United Kingdom? When did she start her reign?
- The queen in question 3 is also queen of several other countries from the former British Empire. List three other countries for which she is also queen.
- Can you think of an example of a 300-year-old building in your country? Describe what it was used for and how you think it was built.
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