Once, I got invited to a party I didn’t particularly want to attend. I got out of it by saying ‘I’ll be in Europe that weekend’.I actually spent the weekend mowing my lawn, and doing some odd jobs around the garden. But, I wasn’t lying … I was in Europe that weekend; it was just that my would-be host assumed I meant mainland Europe?

But, where, actually, is Europe? Is Iceland in Europe? What about Turkey? They’ve applied to join the EU, but the greater part of the country is in Asia. Or, let’s take the Dodecanese Islands. Geographically, they’re in Asia, but politically, they’re part of Greece, and therefore in Europe.

It’s the same with other continents, though. I’ve had articles about Egypt regularly filed under ‘Middle East’. And, one book I read postulated that the divide between Africa and Asia should be the Arabian Gulf, not the Red Sea.

The editors of European Journal and hidden europe both tell me they regularly receive pitches for articles about Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and even, once, the United States, so it would seem that some people have a very vague idea of where Europe is.

And, what brought this on? Believe it or not, my insurance company! I tried to buy travel insurance for my upcoming trip to Tunisia, and was told the European policy I already had would be sufficient.

Last time I looked at a map, Tunisia was in Africa, I said.

But, the insurance people were adamant. As far as they were concerned, ‘Europe’ was all EU countries, Switzerland and all countries bordering the Mediterranean! No wonder there’s some confusion.

However, they tell me that, from where we’ll be staying, you can see the island of Lampedusa … which is a part of Italy. So, maybe just being able to see Europe qualifies?