¶ Differences in UK Travel for Americans
Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast . Your host is the founder of the UK Travel Planning website , tracy Collins . In this podcast , tracy shares destination guides , travel tips and itinerary ideas , as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation .
Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages , from historic castles to beautiful islands , and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns .
Hi and welcome to episode 66 of the UK Travel Planning Podcast . This week's episode , I am really happy to talk to Catherine Johnson , who you may remember from episode 56 , chatting about her trip to the UK in May of this year .
In this episode we are going to do a follow-up to episode 55 , where I talked about differences between the UK and the US Many , because the inspiration for that post actually came from Catherine , because we met in London and she told me she was starting to make notes of things that struck her as different as an American visiting the UK .
I thought it would be great to invite Catherine onto the podcast so we can expand on that episode 55 , where I talked about some of the differences . Hi , Catherine , glad you could join us today .
Hey , tracy , it's always fun to talk with you , so I'm happy to be back .
You sent me all your notes because you made some fantastic notes when you were in the UK .
I'm going to use all of that in an episode we're talking about today , but in episode show notes , and then I'm going to actually do a whole article based on it as well , so that people can actually go through , because obviously there's a lot of things on the list , so we're not going to be able to talk about all of the things today , otherwise we might be
here for a few weeks . Right , just hit the highlights . But I thought , yeah , we could talk through some of the definite things that really struck you at the time when you were there and you've sort of reflect on thought actually , these would be really useful for people to know .
So would you like to kick off and think about some of those things that you want to share ?
Yeah , I will say that overarching what I think I've mentioned to you before is it felt very familiar to be in England because it's an English-speaking country and it's a different culture .
But it wasn't completely foreign and I had to really slow down and pay attention to some details that are definitely different and highlighted our differences , and even crossing the street I'm very glad that in London they always have look right , look left , because I was naturally looking the wrong way for being in London . I was used to America .
But also in London . I'm just going to interject on this one because even with me , who I'm used to driving on the left-hand side , so technically should look the correct way . To start with , I nearly got flattened by a bicycle , because you've got to watch out London for the bicycles , because they seem to come whizzing from anywhere .
And there's a lot of intersections that are not four streets yes , it's three streets or four streets . So you have traffic coming from potentially five or six directions and you don't know who's going to have the light , when Exactly , and then the bikes go whizzing past you . Yes , yes , we really paid attention to the do not walk or the walk .
Really , we relied on those pretty heavily , but it was just good to slow down and read details and it's easy to get caught up in the rush of the city and we live near a big city so we are used to going at a quicker pace .
But I would say that's when I made some mistakes and that's when I didn't read signs and that's when things happened like we didn't pay attention to the do not take the stairs . Please take the lift , because it's a lot of stairs . That's got to be Covent .
Garden .
Covent Garden . That was us walking down 192 stairs .
We wish we were walking up . Yeah , it was , I was walking up on it .
I think it's just there are differences , and that's when I started writing them down because I thought oh , I don't want anyone else to make this mistake . Don't make my mistake . Learn from us . Learn what we did wrong . Learn what we did right .
I think it's what's really useful and we've had some really good feedback on kind of that . Episode 55 of the podcast . It's just preparing people for things that you may not expect and , like you say , there's going to be things that are going to be different .
And there's enough small things that Americans can do to prepare before coming to England . That makes all the difference in the world From a comfort standpoint . You can survive without any of this , but strictly from a comfort standpoint .
Yeah , and just so that it doesn't take you by surprise when you get there and kind of go oh there's no washcloths . Ooh , there's no washcloths .
Yes , and on that , I did travel . I did . In your group . People were recommending getting some little disposable washcloths , which I did , and they were fantastic and I'm so glad I had them Because , again , that's something I'm used to , so I wanted to keep doing that .
I also traveled with a very small bar of soap , because none of our accommodations had a bar of soap . They all had liquid soap and that's just something I prefer a bar of soap for my skin , so little things like that .
Yeah , you could prepare with and bring that . So , tell us about some of the things that happened , which made you think oh .
Okay , so bottled water , that's one of them . We our first accommodation that we stayed at they must have a lot of Americans there because they had an ice cube tray . So we made ice cubes every night and then filled our water bottles with ice cubes and water .
But then when we would be out during the day frequently , we just it was a little warm so we wanted , we wanted cold water . And we were actually in the cusswolds with Victoria and I just Grabbed water and sat down . I grabbed two wide but two water bottles .
I knew I was very thirsty and I opened my water bottle and it started to fizz and I was very not , I was not expecting that . And she laughed and she said oh , you like sparkling water ? I said no , I just wanted plain bottled water .
In America it's not common to get sparkling water at your local convenience store or a gas station , or you have to purposefully go out of your way to get it . And I just didn't pay attention . There were two different color caps , one was still , one was sparkling . I just grabbed two water bottles bottom and went and sat down . So small things like that ?
Yeah , not , but I've opened it . I can't return it . Yeah , so I was stuck with that water . It's a no , no , yeah it was . It was just a . Obviously it's a small thing , but I I looked after they read you kind of knew every single I knew I knew to look .
Yeah , I also knew when we went to a restaurant and I would order , or a pub , I would order water . I would always ask for a tap water , yeah , because otherwise they would bring you a bottled water and try it correct , correct . So that was very Um , yeah , so we do , we do just to ask for tap .
Yeah yeah , and then they would hear accents , and then they would say do you want ice ? Because Apparently that's not a common thing , and we always said yes . No , it's not some ice , because we are Americans .
Yeah , it's not so big . I mean we'll have maybe one ice cube or something , but not a full glass full , mainly because I like the drink . I don't want it too , darling All right , that's a good thing . I was always fine a bit , but anyway , yeah , everybody likes to read different things . But you will not get a glass full of ice in the UK .
No , you will not .
Yeah , and also in , I think in every restaurant we went to . You also don't get refills on your soft drinks . So if you order a coke , you get a coke , yeah . Or a cup , you don't get read . There are no refills . You can get them , but you will buy them .
Yes , you can get them , but you have to ask for them . So , places , you know , if you go to Nando's , for example which is we really like to go to , nando's woman in the UK and you can get a bottomless drink there , so you can go and refill it as many times as you want . But , yeah , don't assume that that's what you're gonna get anyway .
You actually have to ask and a lot of places won't have that , correct , you have to go and buy each individual drink .
Yeah , yeah , so that's a good one and I was gonna ask you in in America , when we have a waiter or a waitress , they are assigned to you and they are your waiter or your waitress . They bring you the , bring you your food , they take your order , they bring you the bill and everything , it seemed .
Our experience in England and also in Scotland was kind of everybody kind of helps everybody and they all jump in . Is that ? Oh , it doesn't tend to be how it works .
It depends where you go . I mean some restaurants , yes then . Then the waitresses await this will have certain tables that they're in charge of . But in other places , if you go to a pub , for example , it's , they'll just bring out to your tip , so it's . I guess it's whoever's in the kitchen , they'll just bring it out to that table , so it'll depend .
So I think to that effect , we sat in a few places where we were waiting for our Bill , our check , to be brought to us , and I think restaurant experiences Tended to be a little more relaxed than they are here in America . You know , we eat , we're done , get the bill go .
We had to always ask for our bill and we at first were looking for what I would say was our Waitress or waiter , and then I started looking around and realizing Everyone kind of helps everybody . So we just asked anybody . Yeah , ask yeah they were like yeah , no problem , yeah , brought it to us . It was no problem at all .
It just wasn't something that we were used to . We learned then after a couple times to be proactive .
Yeah , that's a gear , because you could sit there for a while I mean it's just catching one of the way to waitresses .
I was just to say that and they were always so kind about it . They were . No one ever made us feel bad about asking , or that we were rushing or nothing , and nothing along those lines .
No , they could , they would expect me to ask really most of the time that expected us because it's not as rushed and I was talking to somebody the day and she was saying that it's like they loved the fact that it was far more relaxed in the UK .
Oh , it was wonderful . You gotta get in out , get out , you know yes .
You can just sit and enjoy your meal it's just you know a pub and just sit and enjoy it . And I mean some places you go to they might book you in a sitting . So they might say you know you can have the table from six to seven , thirty or something to nine . So especially if they're doing two sit-ins .
But but a lot of times you know , if you go to put it's very much more relaxed , you can sit it was , and even our sittings that we had the one was two hours , the other one was three .
Yeah , so it was , we were fine . We were fine on time
¶ Etiquette and Tips for UK Travel
. I I will say also that Most places , actually almost every place , if they had straws they were paper . Yes , I don't think we had any plastic straws in the UK , which again I don't . I don't care either way , but some people in America feel very strongly about their straws . So I would just recommend travel with a straw .
If you don't want a paper straw , bring one . Bring your own metal or Silicone or something .
Well , doug does that because in Australia as well , they're not allowed . There's no plastic straws allowed , and you cannot know plastic straws . So it's obviously but the environment , so there's no plastic , so sure .
So , doug , he doesn't like paper straws at all at all , and also he'll say often I don't need a straw , I could drink out the glass , it's fine , correct . But what he does do is he has a , he has a bamboo straw that we bought in Bali , that he takes and he just uses that . Always got a , a metal one that he takes and he uses that .
So , yes , he takes that . I've got one as well . So we take those and often it's just kind of saying to them before they put a straw and I don't want a straw , or you know and is just say if you don't like paper straws , take something with you , take something that can use instead .
Absolutely , absolutely . And I I know we were going to talk about tipping . Yeah , that's a big thing in in America it's . It's at least 20 percent for the meal . Um , almost every restaurant that we went to had a built-in 10 or 12 percent like a service charge , which was like a tip . Yeah , but nobody asked us for any tip beyond what was already built in .
Yeah , that's becoming more common now , that that service charge of 10 or 10 percent , 12 and a half percent we saw that a lot actually in a lot of places . That that's just included now and that is basically your tip . That's included in your bill , which is , I say , that's a relatively new thing . It's not something okay .
I think we saw that London a few years ago , but definitely in London that you will see that included . So there's no expectation that you're gonna tip in a restaurant . Obviously , if you go into a bar or something , you don't tip when you order drinks , you don't tip there .
One thing I will say , and this is just really an appeal on behalf no , I did it at a lovely , lovely tour and some beautiful , lovely American guests on this tour that I was on , but they tipped the guide at the end of the tour in US dollars . That's not helpful , which was really .
It was really strange and and they said , or they don't really ever get the currency of the country that they visit , which I anyway , but it was very so the poor girl was kind of stuck with this $20 tip that she couldn't do anything with , right ? I mean she could , she'd have to go and exchange it .
So then , but she said to just put it in a drawer home with the last one that she got . So it's just considering that if you're gonna tip , just take some some currencies , take some pounds and tip in . That it's just better .
That is the only reason we brought cash or that we even needed cash in our experience was just to do , just to be able to give some tips . Yeah , absolutely yeah , which we were glad we did , but even some of the street buskers , they had a QR code that you could Venmo them or Cash App or whatever .
Absolutely yeah , it made me laugh but good for them For knowing know your audience .
I guess Moving with the times , because a lot of people don't carry cash anymore . I mean , I did get called out a couple times so I did the cash challenge and and I did spend money because I needed it in when I was in Lincoln because the machine for the taxi guy wasn't working , so he needed cash In London as well .
At Covent Garden I bought a scarf and the guy would only take cash there and then obviously , sometimes using some of the bathrooms we'll talk about toilets , like bathrooms in a minute that you needed to tell if like 50p , so you needed a little bit of cash . So I would say , do take some .
If you want to take some , please don't tip in American dollars and you know have have a little bit of cash around just in case you need it . You know don't need much , but take some . We always had some just in case .
Yeah , so I just want to talk about bathrooms because this somebody mentioned in the Facebook group actually about the difference in the bathrooms .
Okay , I'm just gonna say from an American standpoint , I'm gonna talk about two things . I love that there's actual privacy in the actual toilet stall . I was just in an airport last weekend and I could have fit my entire cell phone through the gap between the door and the part that you hinge the door to . There was no privacy . I did not like that .
And in America when there's a waiting line for the bathroom , they tend to wait in the bathroom right in front of the stall and I'm not a fan of that . No , I wouldn't be either . There was so much privacy . All your doors actually closed like wall to wall . It was wonderful . I love that .
I will say what was different and Americans should know this is most of the bathrooms are very small , yeah , and they are not a place where you go . In America , a lot of times we go to the bathroom and you stop and I've seen people brush their teeth in the airport or they brush their hair , they touch up their makeup .
The bathrooms in the UK the majority of them I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule the majority of them were very tiny . It's go in , do your thing , wash your hands .
If you have .
If you are traveling with someone , leave your jacket , your purse , your bag , leave everything with the other person because there is no room to put your stuff .
That's a really good tip . I usually give everything a dog and then I go yes , yeah , we take turns .
So much , that's how we went . We took turns , yes , much much easier .
Definitely , yes , definitely . Let's talk about I need to talk about dates and times . Now I have oh golly , I struggle , I really struggle with this . Okay , so I'm now asking the entire population in North America why do you write the dates the way that you do ?
You know , it's what we're always so used to is we write to the month and then we write the date and then we write the year , whether the month is written out in word form or numeric form , but it's always the month . So you know , june 1st is 6-1 . But you would read that as January 6th . Yeah , yeah , that had to . I have to think .
Well , it confused me . The time , the time confused me so much when we were reading the language . Oh , my word .
It's so what you used to , because our look and then you know when we do it at any console . So I have to look and go , okay , if I look for the bigger number , that's bigger than 12 , and then I know , right , okay , we're looking at .
That's going to be the days , that's the days where I can figure out which way round it is , because that's the only way I can do it , because I go , oh , is that the fourth or the fifth , or is it the fifth or the fourth ?
Yes , and it's Americans really need to know that , because when you're making reservations months in advance , you have to know what you're getting . You have to know what date you're getting . I also had a difficult time with the time . It was just a roadblock in my brain . There's no other reason for it . I just was making reservations at St Paul's Cathedral
¶ Travel Tips in the UK
and our entrance . They give you a window , an entrance window , and I quickly read it and I saw 4 to 6 pm . Great , no problem , you know 4 to 6 pm . And then I realized it closes at 5 . I'm like how is my entrance 4 to ? It was something like that where the time didn't work out .
And I went back and I looked and it said 14 to 16 was my entrance time . That meant 2 to 4 pm In American time . I had to email them and say I am so sorry I cannot tell time . Apparently they were very gracious and very wonderful , but I just I had such a hard time with that . It's just a difference . It's just a difference .
But it's again slow down and pay attention , otherwise you are going to lose out on tickets and reservations .
And it's because it's just not what you used to and not what you expected you actually will find the 24-hour clock is very much used in . Doug uses it all the time . That's what he will . If we talk about train times , he will say it's at 16.05 , or what it gets in it . So that's what I'm used to .
I'm used to that as well , but I know that that can be a bit of a . If you're not used to that , then use the am pm to differentiate rather than using the 24-hour clock . Yeah , that can be a bit of a tricky one .
It was for me and my family teased me about it . You know what ? It was just one of the things we laugh about now . It's just one of the things we laugh about . But again , it's another reason to slow down and pay attention to time and don't rush , because as soon as you rush you can start making mistakes . Because it's yeah , slow down , that's it .
Slow down and don't make the mistakes .
There's another one that I want to bring up because it's another fun one for me . It's the difference between the ground floor and the first floor .
Oh , my word .
Yes .
Yes , we had a first floor unit when we rented and I thought , oh , okay , I don't love first floor , but I'm fine with that . And we got our keys and she said , okay , take the elevator up . And I said , well , you said we're on the first floor . And she said , yeah , you are . And I'm like , then why am I taking an elevator ? I don't understand .
And she looked at me like I had three heads . I looked at her like she had three heads and she said you're on the ground floor . I said , right , the first floor . Oh , no , no , no , ground floor . Then one , yeah , then two , then yeah , yeah .
We learned yeah , we learned that's one of those ones that it's . Yeah , if it can catch you out , because , as you say , you think , first floor , second floor , third floor . You think you're standing on the first floor when you know that's a ground floor , so it's not .
And honestly that does matter for people that maybe are traveling with children or you have a stroller or someone who's disabled . You need to know that in advance . That is true . Also , we learned to ask and to read the fine print everywhere .
Find out if there's an elevator there are so many old accommodations that are historic buildings and they can't put or a lift they can't put a lift in . So it's just good to know . Just slow down and read the fine print , because that matters for some people . Yeah , I think that's absolutely true .
Be absolutely sure when you are booking a hotel , if you want the ground floor or what you consider the first floor , that you inquire and make sure and if you specifically want to be on the ground floor , then you request that if you've got a reason .
And I will say we found that the UK was very , very aware and accommodating for disabilities . So tell the people up front . Here's the issue . You don't have to go into detail . I have a walker , I have a wheelchair , I have crutches when I walk . They're very accommodating .
We also found that in restaurants they always asked are there any allergies , Are there any gluten-free options ? Everywhere . My daughter does have a tree nut allergy which is different than a peanut allergy . People in America don't get it . People in England did . They totally knew they were great . I would say it . London was great A little less .
The further out you got , the more country Very accommodating , just not as proactive with having a separate menu for somebody with allergies . But if you're gluten-free , there are so many options for you in the UK , so many options .
I know that's been mentioned , yeah , by quite a few people . And just how hot they are and asking in the UK about they're so good about it . Yeah , do you have .
And , for example , we talk a lot about afternoon teas and I've got an article in our list kind of what the different afternoon teas , if they're gluten-free , what they're for , and you can say a lot of them . If you let them know , they will then make up that option for you . They'll do the best .
I will say one of the highlights of our trip when we went in May was my daughter had never had a macaron . Oh yes , the French is like a macaron , because it's usually made with almonds . There's almonds in there and she can't have them , but we had told them in advance when we made the reservation that she could not have tree nuts .
They made some without , so she was able to have her first one ever . She was so excited . As a matter of fact , she asked them are you sure this doesn't have any tree nuts ? They said no , no tree nuts , you have an allergy . These are tree nut free . Oh , my goodness , oh , that's no good . That's .
One of the highlights of our trip was that she got to have one of those . Yeah , oh , that's so nice . She's never had one before I'm going to photo it . We'll put that in the show , of course . I have a picture of her holding them . She was so excited about that . She was so excited . We'll get that in the show notes next episode .
Yes , we have that Definitely . So what are the things kind of struck you is that it would be really good to let Top sheets .
Ah yes , the bedding . We may have spoken about this before , but we decided to travel with our own top sheet , and I'm glad we did . I know that the UK typically doesn't have one and they have a duvet instead , and there will be a lighter weight duvet in the summer . But I'm a middle-aged woman . I don't want a duvet .
I don't care how lightweight it is , I just want a tiny little thin sheet . So we chose to travel with one . I'm glad we did Just know in advance . Consider that in your packing If you don't want a whole duvet on you and it's easy to put in your packing , isn't it ?
It's easy to take it's very easy .
And then you're not just Especially in those compression . Oh my goodness , those compression cube packers , those were lifesavers .
Those are my new best friends .
Catherine , oh , I love them . I loved them . Yes , that in our air tag we left an air tag in our suitcases which I don't . Did it help ? It gave us peace of mind .
That's what it helped with , and we did take the train up to Scotland for a few days , but we did not bring all of our luggage , and it was very cool for us to realise that there are so many luggage drop-off places that you can utilise for relatively inexpensive .
There are .
There are actually , and I've actually got it on my list to write an article about the different places , the different companies in London that you can , because obviously at the train station you can leave it , but there are a few companies as well that cover London , actually the UK and the world , that you can leave your luggage at , and it makes such a
difference , doesn't it , to do that .
Yes , we did that . We loaded it with tons of stuff Nothing obviously irreplaceable we're not going to . We didn't leave anything like personal identification in there or money , but we left an air tag . It was affordable . We Google searched it . That's how we found it . I think it had 50,000 five-star reviews , so we felt pretty good about that .
It was right outside King's Cross station and it was so worth it . So worth it . That's something that I've ever utilised before . I had no problems with it . I would do it again in a heartbeat . Oh yeah , it's great .
It made our travel easy you had gone up to , and I'm going to come back down again , so why not ? Yes , just take what you needed up there .
Absolutely , absolutely . I was also okay , I was and our travels . The other thing that I was thinking about was shopping .
Stuff closes earlier in the UK stores , specifically when they do in America , and even restaurants close earlier and pubs will be open , but often the kitchen closes earlier , so you'll be hard-pressed to go into a restaurant at 10.30 at night and think you can order a full meal .
It's not common that we found no , you won't be able to do that . No , I mean , you could go into a fast food place absolutely like anywhere in the world . And that's what we ended up doing . Fast food , Like the pubs , yeah , the kitchen will be open between certain hours .
So if you want to go and eat , then unless you go into , there are some where that open all the time , but generally they'll be open between certain hours and quite often as well I am saying as well to people just to book ahead quite often If there's somewhere specific you want to go to , like book it .
Unless you can go to Borough Market , you can go to Camden Market and get food there . If you've got the markets in here , you don't have to book anything there . You can obviously just buy a street food , what you want .
But you can't go there at seven o'clock at night , no no .
Is there clothes ? That's true , that is true , but during the day , yes , but exactly when it gets to late , no , you're going to have to book something or go to a like .
Find a fast food , so I think that's just something good to take into consideration . We did a lot of day trips out to the country and we would come back on a train that would get us into a station at like 7.15 pm I'm going to try to pretend I know what time that is .
We didn't get in 20 or 24 hour clock and we would have to take that into consideration . We can't go to dinner right now at a place . We're going to have to do something fast .
So , honestly , we frequently would take a later train and we would just eat dinner where we were during our day trip , because otherwise there's only so much Pizza Hut , mcdonald's , you can't do that stuff . I don't want to do that . I'm in England . I don't want to do that .
I'd rather eat at a pub before I leave Bath or wherever we were , and a perfect , great idea . Absolutely , and also we chose to stay at locations that had little refrigerators , so we got food that we would keep at our place , and in London specifically , I was surprised when we didn't get a bag when we purchased our food a few groceries .
So one thing that we do , just because this is how we travel , is I always have a foldable bag with me . So glad I did so , if that's something . If you're going to the UK for the first time , I recommend always having one with you .
I've got one , actually , that clips on . I've got ones on each of my bags , just clips on . So I've got it Same in . Australia . You have to take your own bags , you have to pack your own bags in the UK which you don't in Australia , which always gets me by surprise when I first go back to the UK , Because I've got my bag but I stand there .
Right right .
And I forgot I actually have to pack this thing myself .
Yes . So pack it yourself Take your own bags and a lot of places would ask us so would you like a bag ? I would say sure , and then you realized you're paying for it . It's not necessarily a lot of money , but it's unnecessary . If just bring a bag , yeah , just bring it . Just bring it .
I don't need to pay for something for my loaf of bread and my cheese the wonderful , wonderful cheese that you guys have in England . Oh my goodness , we could have eaten cheese sandwiches all day and been happy . It was so good there .
Well , I'm happy to go into Marks and Spencer's food hall every day when I'm back and just buy the gorgeous sandwiches and the lovely food and the lovely meal .
Yes , yes , and I again . When we travel , we like to eat where we are and eat what would be not considered American , because we can do that every day of our life here . I'd rather experience it , experience it there . I will also say okay , we're going to say something I was going to say about coffee . I was going to mention about coffee .
Oh gosh Coffee , yeah .
I know you're not a coffee drinker . It's really difficult for me to talk about coffee , and this comes up a lot in a bit . And also for Doug , because neither of us drink coffee , neither of us like coffee . Okay , so we can't get into this whole kind of coffee debate about who has the best coffee in the world . I don't know . I don't know .
Certainly they have , but I don't know . So tell me about the coffee .
Okay , I will , because I tried a lot . I felt the coffee Again . What I experienced was very different than America . I felt like it was a little weaker than American coffee , than what I'm used to . I will say I had done my research in advance . There is no half-and-half in what we as Americans call half-and-half .
It doesn't exist or it's not what you guys call it .
¶ American and British Coffee and Tea
I think the closest thing I was told was single cream . It's called single cream but you don't get that at an average coffee shop , that's more at your high-end posher places , restaurants .
I think , yeah , they won't give you cream . I don't think so . With coffee they have milk ?
Yeah , they'll just say milk .
It wouldn't be cream Right .
So I learned that I mean , there are Starbucks . I did try a lot of the chains that you guys have because I wanted to try them . Some I loved , some I didn't . And I did also find that it didn't seem super common to just drink brewed coffee , which is what I drink . I just drink plain old coffee with a little bit of half-and-half .
Everyone seems to drink lattes and Americanos . Those are really big .
The .
Americanos are a big thing , so when I was there , I just thought I'm going to do it . People in London do . I'm drinking an Americano every day , so I definitely . I tried everything . I found my favorites . I returned to my favorites .
So which was your favorite ?
Can I ask ? I really loved a place called FCB .
OK .
It's a chain . I saw it in some train stations . They were excellent for Americanos . On Cannon Street there was a place called Rosslin . They had excellent , excellent coffee . They were really good . Cafe Nero and not my favorite . What's the other one ? It's called Pretta Pretta manger . Yes , that one . It was OK In a pinch .
I'd just go to Starbucks and I'd get a cold brew in a pinch and that always worked . But you managed to get by . I did Totally , totally and honestly . That wasn't the goal or the focus or the purpose of our vacation .
So I just knew in my head for two weeks we're going to do an experiment and I think a lot of it is just setting your brain expectations .
But you know what ? I'm going to confess it . So Doug and I are exactly the same when it comes to tea , really , so to the point that we take our own tea bags with us on home . Oh gosh , oh gosh . So you know , we all have our things that we really love .
We all have our things and we love our tea , and doesn't matter where we go , we end up we like our tea , we just like our tea , and I like the tea the way I make it . So I never , ever , actually buy tea when I go out Never , because I never do how I want it .
But you're also talking hot tea , correct ? Yes , because I don't think iced tea is a thing in England at all .
Well , iced tea . It is . It is , but it's different to what the American iced tea is . So iced tea you can buy it in there . If you've got the supermarkets or to like corner shop , you'll get iced tea . And you can get peach , you can get mango , you get lemon , you get raspberry .
Oh , so , like the tea drinks , the flavored tea drinks , it's more , no , it's like a cold drink with and it's mango flavored With juice in it , but it's juice , it's more like a mango iced tea juice ? It's not . I wouldn't say tea . Yeah , it's not , it's called iced tea , but it's not what I believe . You guys call iced tea , correct ?
Ours is literally brewed tea that is just chilled and then served over ice . So it's exact stuff that you drink , as hot is what Americans drink . I personally don't drink it , but it's what a lot of people in America drink .
Yeah , ok , ok , no , no , that's not iced tea , it's not , it's the same thing . When you go to a cafe and they might have iced tea on the menu . It will be fruit , it will be like a lemon . You probably want that . It won't be tea , right , you won't get the same thing . No , it won't be made of tea leaves or tea bags . Tea , no .
¶ UK and US Culture and Travel
Yes , no , no no , no .
Yeah , so just know what you're getting in advance . Know what you're getting , yeah , yeah , there are some definite differences . Yeah , I know .
It's really good . Well , it's been so good to chat to . We've gone through quite a lot of stuff and I know we've got quite a few more we could have talked about , but I think what I'm going to do is use your article .
I'll put some of these things in the show notes , but definitely write and post an entire article using your reflections and the things that kind of struck you , katharine , when you were in the UK , because I think this would be very useful , as I say , to prepare people for those differences .
So we know you're going to go to a different culture , it's going to be different , but it's just good sometimes to just have that little bit of knowledge . So , like I say , if those things comfort , things that you need , just take them with you .
Know what matters to you . Do your research . Yeah , google exists for a reason , and I think that reason is to enlighten us about where we are going , and I made a list of what was important to me and to our family and that's what I researched . The rest of it we agreed we're going to go with the flow .
Yeah , and we weren't going to make a big deal out of it Perfect , no , so thank you so much , katharine , for coming on the podcast again , so it's always a pleasure to talk to you . We could talk power . I love talking to you . Yes , yes , we could , and we do . We generally do yes , so I'm going to .
Yeah , so everything we're talking about today will be in this episode . Show notes . This is going to be UKTravelPlanetcom forward slash . Episode 66 . Again . Check out episode 55 for some more information about the UK versus US info , and episode 56 to hear Katharine again talk about her trip , so you can find out what she did when she was over in the UK .
But for this week , this just leaves me to say , as usual , happy UK travel planning from me .