Saturday, May 21, 2016

It's Oh-So-Brittish


We've only been here in London just a few days ~ 

And yes, they are extremely polite.  Dinner service at a high-end restaurant is nearly 1-on-1 wait staff / per guest. The service is astonishing.  I was almost afraid to make eye contact, because to do so brought them right over to see what we needed ~ even though we needed nothing.  If you happen to drop your napkin, which I seem to do with great frequency, they bring you another.  And serve it to you with tongs, so as not to taint it by actually touching it.  And so on & so forth.


And yes, they say things like "Mind Your head" 
(duck for the low ceilings) and 
"Mind the gap" (between the train car and the platform).


And "Quite right".  And "But of course".  
And "I'll bring it round".   (You have to read these phrases with a British accent in your head to get the full affect).


I still haven't heard anyone say, "Cheerio", yet, though....



And yes, the Police Constables are called "Bobby's", 
and are dressed just like in the movies.  But for real. 


And no, you cannot, under any circumstances take your "pram" on the escalator.  Just like back home.  I could never take my pram on the escalator there, either.  



And yes, the little red phone booths exist, and they are everywhere.  But I have no idea if your cell phone works inside there or not :/




You don't take a "detour" here; you take a diversion.


I'm still not sure what this means.  Are you changing the course of your vehicle?  Changing the course of your life? Sounds serious.







And yes, there are chimney's everywhere ~ although I have yet to see a chimney sweep, I assume they exist.


An apartment or office here is not for rent, 
they are "to let".  



And yes, there are really 528 steps to the top of the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral. 
 Both ways.  I counted.  Both times.



And yes, they order porridge for breakfast.  And they serve beans (like our pork n' beans back home) for breakfast.  I haven't figured out why.  But I kind of like it.




And yes, they drive those cute little British cars.  

Feels like I'm in a movie.

And no, the Tower of London is not a tower.  It's a castle.  A "working castle".  Meaning, it's still used for things like storing the crowned jewels, (and thus) it's still manned by members of the Queen's guard.  




And yes, they love their little "cakes" and pastries, particularly for tea time.

And yes, there's a reason Mary Poppins came floating in on an umbrella.  We've yet to see the sun in 5 days.  That's tough on a Hawaiian girl like me.

And finally, God bless the Queen.  And Amazon Prime.  My camera failed me (long story, I won't bore you); I brought along a back-up camera, which also failed me.  Light meter is going out, I think.  My best pictures of Big Ben looked like this:




After a very frustrating day, I switched to my IPhone for pictures.  Better, but........not quite up to my standards. So I jumped online Wednesday night, ordered a new Sony Cybershot RX and by Friday afternoon I was back in business.  So God bless the Queen and Amazon Prime.




And Ben says to tell you all hello ~ 









1 comment:

  1. So glad you took me out of the suitcase, everything is so beautiful

    ReplyDelete

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