Some things common to Russia and UK

A little warm-up after the long absence :).

A phrase I heard today on Russian TV:

There are two countries in Europe, where people, when saying "Europe", mean all European countries but their own: Russia and Great Britain.

Which reminds me of a recent dialog. A friend of mine who just finished reading The Great Game by Peter Hopkirk, summed up his impressions: "Britain and Russia are enemies forever. It's a huge mystery how we managed to become allies in both world wars". I replied: "Look from a different angle. Russia and Britain always desired the same: to get a grip of Middle Asia, Afghanistan and Persia in the 19th century and to beat Germans in the 20th." We agreed that we would wait for the two countries to become the best friends in the 21st :)