England For All Reasons

Destinations

What Shall We Do In London? Why, Leave It, of Course! (Part one)

When you are planning to visit the UK, you don’t have to stick to London all the time. England is not that large (50,301 sq. miles), about the same size as the state of Louisiana (52,378 sq. miles). When looking at a map of England, remember the overall size and take that into consideration. Jake once read an amazing statistic…

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On August 4, 2018
By Jake & Marsha

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Pub Grub & More

This Pub is Older Than the United States…but the food is fresh!

When we stayed at the Octon Lodge the first time, we asked the landlord where we could get dinner, having arrived fairly late in the day. He pointed out two pubs, each about the same distance. One of them was the Greyhound Inn, in Staple Fitzpaine. The pub was only 5 minutes from the Lodge, so we headed there. Being adventurous, Jake…

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On August 3, 2018
By Jake

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Accommodations

Fawlty Towers It Isn’t, and That Is a Very Good Thing!

If you are a fan of the comedian John Cleese, you may know about his hilarious series on Brit TV entitled “Fawlty Towers.” John played the part of Basil Fawlty, the owner of a small hotel in the seaside town of Torquay. Having lived in England, we were well aware of the number of smaller hotels in the country but…

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On August 2, 2018
By Jake & Marsha

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Travel Tips

Have I Got a Tip for You!

We were asked by a visitor to the site about the issue of tipping in the UK. Americans are known as generous tippers. I think it’s because we think people who serve us in restaurants, hotels, garages, etc., don’t get a sufficient wage, and that thinking is probably correct. However, in other parts of the world the wages those folks…

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On August 1, 2018
By Jake

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Accommodations

Up? Down? Updown Cottage on an Up-Down Street

Our first foray into cottages was a few years ago when another couple travelled with us to England. We decided that it would be better for us to have a two bedroom cottage than to have to pay for two hotel rooms. So with that in mind, Marsha went on a search. She found Updown Cottage and we knew by the…

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On July 31, 2018
By Jake

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Destinations

If I’m in London, Why Don’t the Signs Say So?

Take a look at this typical street sign from London. Notice anything? That’s right, it doesn’t say London! How can that be? I’m in London, right? Well, yes and no. London is not a “planned” city with everything neat and tidy. According to legend, as told by Geoffrey of Monmouth, London was first founded by Brutus of Troy in about…

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On July 30, 2018
By Jake

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Travel Tips

Money: Why Is My Pocket So Heavy?

Let us talk money, in particular, currency. We don’t mean the actual expenses of the trip but, rather, the current currency in the United Kingdom. We’re talking pounds and pence. The currency of the UK is the British Pound Sterling, or just the Pound. Another slang term for it is a “quid.” The symbol for the Pound is “£.” The…

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On July 29, 2018
By Jake

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Travel Tips

Wait? You Mean the Airport Is Not Actually IN London?

You are in England, at the airport, have passed through His Majesty’s Customs and have entered into the Arrivals area of the airport. What will you see? What is next? First, you’ll see a couple of hundred people holding up signs with names of people, or companies, or organizations, written or printed on paper, or on an electronic tablet. If…

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On July 28, 2018
By Jake

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Pub Grub & More

The George Restaurant & Bar, Molash, Kent

On one of our journeys in 2016, we wanted to spend some time in Kent, a county in the South East of England we had previously only visited briefly. Arriving at our rented cottage we asked the owner where we could get a good meal and she recommended The George, in Molash. Having some sightseeing to do first we didn’t…

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On July 27, 2018
By Jake

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Travel Tips

Winging over The Pond (Part 2)

In Part One we covered two options on when to fly to London Heathrow airport. The two options are what we call the “lost day” and the “red-eye” flight. For the details, go back to that post. Bottom line, if you fly all day, you end up losing that day just in travel. But the good news about the lost…

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On July 26, 2018
By Jake

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