Things the average American takes for granted- but you can't in England
After our trip to London I learned a few things that I would never have considered. Major cultural shock time!
First, wash cloths are not provided in most three star hotels. Yup, the little ol' washcloth that everyone takes for granted is not a staple item of hotels. The folks who stayed in the four star properties did get them from what I gathered in casual conversation, but three star hotels don't!
Ice machines are also not often found in three star hotels. Forget having the big ice machine on every floor. Our hotel (and from what everyone was saying) most three and two star hotels simply don't have any or at best minimal ice supplies.
Screens on windows. Our hotel did not have air conditioning so we opened our windows. No screens which was a major shock. We found out that there does not appear to be many flying bugs in England! (Gasp!)
Hotel rooms. SMALL. Even when you think you know how small small is, be ready for a surprise. In many hotels if you have a path around three sides of the bed, it is an anomaly. Think in terms of the ship cabins and remove the extra space.
Mass transit. Unbelievable. It is so convenient, is frequent, and seems to go everywhere. Forget about private transportation and cabs. The tube is the only way to go (be prepared for a bit of walking and stairs, though. Say two blocks walking everywhere). And safe. At 11:30 at night we were on the Tube coming back from a play. Lots of people, adults, businessmen, and teens were still taking the Tube around town.
Walking. The English walk. And climb stairs. Get ready for some exercise. But, all considered, that is NOT a bad thing (we saw very few overweight people using the Tube)
Mind the Gap.
London is remarkable! I loved it, such a mix of old and new all intermingled right next to each other.
Pleased you enjoyed my home city (don't live there any longer - no-one can afford to buy a house there), and you've raised some interesting points that I wasn't aware of.
Some hotel rooms are obviously bigger than others in the same hotel as they are often old buildings with quirky layouts. Suggest travellers check with a certain well known website, which often give large/quiet etc room numbers in the reviews.
And always use the tube. Taxis v. expensive, and most of the time you're paying to sit in a traffic jam.
And take your own wash cloth (or flannel, as we call them).
Sorry, guys, mother has spoken and she thinks we are playing a bit too rough. Seriously, fun is fun but when we play too rambunctiously, things can break and Sue does not want the board to degenerate to the point where it is no fun for anyone. Let's try to keep the on topic topics at least mostly on topic.
We can play all we want in the off topic areas as long as we attempt to play nice most of the time (no profanity and only obtuse sexual innuendo, we do have young people to worry about) Thanks!
Sorry, guys, mother has spoken and she thinks we are playing a bit too rough. Seriously, fun is fun but when we play too rambunctiously, things can break and Sue does not want the board to degenerate to the point where it is no fun for anyone. Let's try to keep the on topic topics at least mostly on topic.
We can play all we want in the off topic areas as long as we attempt to play nice most of the time (no profanity and only obtuse sexual innuendo, we do have young people to worry about) Thanks!
Eh? Profanity? Sexual innuendo? Either I missed a post or the US/UK language barrier is more serious than I thought. Did the cat say something?
Sounds logical. I had not thought of that. I for one am a voracious ice chewer and I love cold water at night to partially offset the heat of the day. I had no trouble getting ice in restaurants although come to think of it, I was asked if I wanted ice in my drinks some of the time.
Sounds logical. I had not thought of that. I for one am a voracious ice chewer and I love cold water at night to partially offset the heat of the day. I had no trouble getting ice in restaurants although come to think of it, I was asked if I wanted ice in my drinks some of the time.
OK, this'll probably last five minutes because "ice" is probably American for some unpleasant anatomical feature, but in UK, ice is generally taken in Gin and Tonics and similar, but few other alcoholic drinks. It doesn't feature in most hotel rooms - a pleasant surprise when I visited the US is how you all take it for granted and it's everywhere. Most civilised. However, in bars and restuarants here you only have to ask, and yes, some will ask you. It's there, but not everywhere as in Bushville (which may be a primary sexual characteristic in the US, apologies if so).
If in Scotland, you may ask for ice in your whisky, but one or two lumps - we spent 1000 years perfecting the drink, it would be nice if you could taste it.
Oh, and we don't have any heat of the day. We live in the northern hemosphere.
If hemisphere isn't a sweary-word. Blimey, it's the dark side all over again.
Either I missed a post or the US/UK language barrier is more serious than I thought. Did the cat say something?
No he didn't. Equally baffled I'm afraid; did I blink and miss something? Or have one of us Brits inadvertently said something unsuitable? If so, I apologise, but can't for the life of me see what it was.
A new thread on English/American language differences may be in order)
Sir Martin
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Things the average American takes for granted- but you can't in England
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