A few months ago, Panda and I made plans to go out on a UK trip for the summer and I could hardly wait! There are so many things there that I wanted to share with him. I studied abroad there back in 2006-2007 and I’ve only been back once since. We were hoping to try to go for the London Olympics last year, but that got a little crazy and we opted for a different trip instead. This year is still a great time to go though, since it’s the 50th anniversary of the University of York where I studied and while we’re at it, I figured we might as well find some fun Prince George memorabilia too. 😛
Here are a few things I’ve missed about living in the UK!
Sunday roast
~British food – There are a variety of things I loved eating, especially Yorkshire pudding. I also love how they put sweet corn in their tuna sandwiches. Yum!
Cobblestone streets
~Cobblestone streets – I don’t know what it is about cobblestone – perhaps because oftentimes it’s pedestrian traffic only and if cars do drive on them they tend to go slower… and the slower, quieter life is quite alluring.
Quiet living
~Quieter lifestyle – I like the more peaceful pace I find in European towns and I love how there is a lot more walking and generally a cleaner air quality.
Cute little towns
~Cute little towns – tying in many of the other things I mentioned, I enjoy the overall atmosphere and lifestyle you find in smaller towns. So adorable!
Celebrations & Quality Street
~European candies – I love Celebrations and Quality Street the most, but there are also a bunch of other amazing delicious candies I treat myself to while there (like Crunchies!). I find European milk chocolate to be much creamier and oh so smooth.
Digestives
~Digestives – When I first heard of these I thought they sounded like Pepto Bismol. Luckily, they are nothing of the sort and taste delicious! I guess you’re supposed to drink tea with them but I just eat them like cookies!
Sensations & Hula Hoops
~Sensations & Hula Hoops – The Brits seem to enjoy two extremes: heavily meat flavored stuff and sweet flavored salty stuff. I love the sweet and salty combo for sure and I sometimes like the meat taste. As for Hula Hoops, I can’t get enough of their super crisp texture.
Well, that rounds up the things I craved about life in the UK. Apparently it was pretty much all lifestyle and food. 🙂 What’s your favorite foreign good?
Of course the best type is free and I really appreciated The Cloud while traipsing around the UK! They provide free wifi services at a variety of coffee shops, train stations, markets and even drug stores. Every block or so in London, you’ll probably come across some place that has a signal. I spent quite some time standing outside these establishments connecting to the internet and it sure did make my life easier not worrying about data usage and being relatively free to hop online as I pleased. Wifi at home, in lounges, on trains, and throughout buildings has empowered us to get online without being tied down to some socket in the wall. It has truly freed us up and I love it. Wires can be annoying and even worse is the fact that it tethers you to something. With wifi, you’re not bound to those restrictions and that is simply great.
