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 that every citizen of England lives within 70 miles of the sea! Bottom line: England …
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 ordered the Lamb in Lavender sauce that was on the menu. While …
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 were not sure about how those hotels provided service compared to the major hotel chains. …
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 get are more substantial and tipping is not essential to their financial survival.
So, the …
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 get to The George until the third day. Being Americans who tend to eat dinner …
(UPDATE: I have updated this article to get the most recent schedule for flights and to add multi-leg journeys. The original article only considered non-stop flights.)
Let’s take a look at the subject of flights from the US to London. We live near the Washington, DC area so the focus will be on that area as we know it pretty well, but we have looked at other cities (Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Denver and …
Not every trip to England is all about London. Don’t miss an opportunity to get outside of London to visit some fantastic sights: Windsor Castle, Winchester for the cathedral; Portsmouth for the D-Day Tapestry; Bath for the Roman Baths, the Abbey, the Royal Crescent and Jane Austen Museum; the city of York for Yorkminster and the Shambles; the Yorkshire Downs, Lake District and the Peak District for scenic beauty; Land’s End, Penzance, Salisbury, Stoke-on-Trent, Chester, …
(UPDATE: This post was made back in 2018 and since then the economic culture in the UK has shifted quite a bit. Today, in 2024, cash is used much less than before. In fact, some businesses are now cash-free, that is, they ONLY accept credit/debit cards. And virtually everywhere now takes credit cards, using the “tap and pay” cards with smart chips in them for speed. However, you will use some cash for things like …
Let’s talk electricity. It is something that we think we know, but then it turns out maybe we don’t know so much after all.
Here in the US the standard electricity in home use is 120v/60Hz. (Hz is the standard abbreviation for “Hertz,” which is a measure of frequency.) What that standard means is that the voltage varies between plus 120 volts and minus 120 volts 60 times each second. So, devices made for use …
A few years ago the common thought was that British cuisine was bland and drab and, for some simple reasons, that was true, then. The UK suffered greatly during World War II, with rationing starting in September of 1939, and not ending until July 4, 1954. Rationing was briefly reintroduced in 1956-57 during the Suez crisis. Even after rationing ended, some foods remained scarce, particularly cheese, which remained so into the 1980s. As a result …