Lest anyone thinks that we long exhausted potential destinations in or around London, let me assure you that that is not true. Our target list has certainly dwindled down from several dozen point of interest to less than a dozen, but that less than a dozen remains. Today, we used…
The notion that we might have exhausted travel destinations by now could not be farther from the truth. Still plenty of places to go and see. So, today, we made a visit to Canterbury, the medieval spiritual center of England. The chief attraction is the soaring cathedral that dates back…
Sometimes, a small and fairly inconsequential thing happens, which makes me think: “Hey, I can’t imagine this being handled so efficiently and positively for me in America”. Natasha received a parking violation ticket a couple of weeks ago. That was before our recent discovery of mobile-phone-enabled payments, but it occurred…
I have just finished reading Merde Happens, which is the third installment in Stephen Clarke’s series about a young Englishman’s experiences with foreign cultures. Unlike the first two installments, A Year in the Merde and Merde Actually (I skipped over the latter by pure coincidence of it not being sold…
Contrary to my recent rant about cell phones, they do come in handy in more than obvious ways. For instance, more and more parking lots around England allow you to pay your parking fee by calling an automated processing service, so you no longer find yourself in a pickle when…
Say, you browse a store, any store, and come across an attractive item that is on sale. You’d be lukewarm to the idea of obtaining said item at its original listed price, but an ability to buy it at a discount closes the deal for you. Now, suppose, as you…
In America, SATs are used as one of – and, occasionally, determining – criteria for gaining admission to a higher education institution. In England, the functional equivalent is called A-levels, and they carry enough social recognition, so that college graduates habitually list which of these examinations they passed on their…
The weather has been holding up pretty well all week – sunny at intervals, and quite warm, – but turned colder on Saturday. I had an idea all week, of visiting a couple of museums that I would be unlikely to visit in the company of my ladies, and the…
Going through a short backlog of topics that I consider worth commenting on as far as observations of British life go, I am going to address a fairly obscure one today: The seemingly universal recoil towards wearing real fur. Natasha and Becky have both faced this on a few occasions…
The spring showed a bit of skin today, and I could only look out the window for so long before deciding that I’d better get up and go out. One of the first thoughts was a round of golf, but my last round in December managed to dampen my enthusiasm…
I could only be stealthy for so long. A speed camera finally caught me in the act. As far as I can tell, I ran afoul of one of the weirdest of the speed limits. In a “built-up urban” area, the national limit is 30 mph, unless posted otherwise. And…
In one of my very first posts, I noted that adjusting to driving on the left side of the road is not that hard. I am sure anyone who ever rented a car in England would agree. You need some initial buffer time to get used to it, but paying…
A quick check of my posts for the last few months reveals that the chronicles of our daily doings have been lately limited to weekend happenstance. I can’t say that I am surprised by that. Sitting here thinking about things to write about, I am quite perplexed to pick something…
Continuing with the threads of road tax, environment and a fight for lower emissions, the newly produced UK government Budget calls for an increase of that tax for the most-polluting vehicles to £425 a year. (among the sources, try this one) The increase will be put in place in April…
Natasha went to the parent/teacher conference at Becky’s school last night. In a manner deserving of the expensive private institution, the conference was smoothly organized as a series of face-to-face meetings with every teacher that Becky has classes with. There are seventeen of them for Becky’s form, so the process…
