Latest / UK Travel Planning / UK versus US Part 2 - Exploring Cultural Differences from an American perspective

Transcript

UK versus US Part 2 - Exploring Cultural Differences from an American perspective · UK Travel Planning

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Your host is the founder of the UK Travel Planning website, tracy Collins.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: 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.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: 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.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Hi and welcome to episode 66 of the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: Hi, Catherine, glad you could join us today.
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: Hey, tracy, it's always fun to talk with you, so I'm happy to be back.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: You sent me all your notes because you made some fantastic notes when you were in the UK.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Right, just hit the highlights.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: So would you like to kick off and think about some of those things that you want to share?
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: I was used to America.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: But also in London.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: And there's a lot of intersections that are not four streets yes, it's three streets or four streets.
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: Yes, yes, we really paid attention to the do not walk or the walk.
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: Please take the lift, because it's a lot of stairs.
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: That's got to be Covent.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: Garden.
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: Covent Garden.
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: That was us walking down 192 stairs.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: We wish we were walking up.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was, I was walking up on it.
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: Don't make my mistake.
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: Learn from us.
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: Learn what we did wrong.
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: Learn what we did right.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: I think it's what's really useful and we've had some really good feedback on kind of that.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: Episode 55 of the podcast.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: And there's enough small things that Americans can do to prepare before coming to England.
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: That makes all the difference in the world From a comfort standpoint.
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: You can survive without any of this, but strictly from a comfort standpoint.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: Ooh, there's no washcloths.
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: Yes, and on that, I did travel.
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: I did.
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: In your group.
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: I also traveled with a very small bar of soap, because none of our accommodations had a bar of soap.
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: They all had liquid soap and that's just something I prefer a bar of soap for my skin, so little things like that.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you could prepare with and bring that.
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: So, tell us about some of the things that happened, which made you think oh.
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: Okay, so bottled water, that's one of them.
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: We our first accommodation that we stayed at they must have a lot of Americans there because they had an ice cube tray.
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: So we made ice cubes every night and then filled our water bottles with ice cubes and water.
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: And we were actually in the cusswolds with Victoria and I just Grabbed water and sat down.
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: I grabbed two wide but two water bottles.
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: And she laughed and she said oh, you like sparkling water?
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: I said no, I just wanted plain bottled water.
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: And I just didn't pay attention.
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: There were two different color caps, one was still, one was sparkling.
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: I just grabbed two water bottles bottom and went and sat down.
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: So small things like that?
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: Yeah, not, but I've opened it.
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: I can't return it.
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so I was stuck with that water.
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: It's a no, no, yeah it was.
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: It was just a.
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I also knew when we went to a restaurant and I would order, or a pub, I would order water.
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: I would always ask for a tap water, yeah, because otherwise they would bring you a bottled water and try it correct, correct.
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: So that was very Um, yeah, so we do, we do just to ask for tap.
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, and then they would hear accents, and then they would say do you want ice?
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: Because Apparently that's not a common thing, and we always said yes.
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: No, it's not some ice, because we are Americans.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's not so big.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: I mean we'll have maybe one ice cube or something, but not a full glass full, mainly because I like the drink.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: I don't want it too, darling All right, that's a good thing.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: I was always fine a bit, but anyway, yeah, everybody likes to read different things.
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: But you will not get a glass full of ice in the UK.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: No, you will not.
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and also in, I think in every restaurant we went to.
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: You also don't get refills on your soft drinks.
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: So if you order a coke, you get a coke, yeah.
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: Or a cup, you don't get read.
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: There are no refills.
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: You can get them, but you will buy them.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: Yes, you can get them, but you have to ask for them.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: But, yeah, don't assume that that's what you're gonna get anyway.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: You actually have to ask and a lot of places won't have that, correct, you have to go and buy each individual drink.
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: They bring you the, bring you your food, they take your order, they bring you the bill and everything, it seemed.
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: Our experience in England and also in Scotland was kind of everybody kind of helps everybody and they all jump in.
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: Is that?
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: Oh, it doesn't tend to be how it works.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: It depends where you go.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: I mean some restaurants, yes then.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: Then the waitresses await this will have certain tables that they're in charge of.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: I guess it's whoever's in the kitchen, they'll just bring it out to that table, so it'll depend.
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: You know, we eat, we're done, get the bill go.
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: So we just asked anybody.
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: Yeah, ask yeah they were like yeah, no problem, yeah, brought it to us.
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: It was no problem at all.
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: It just wasn't something that we were used to.
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: We learned then after a couple times to be proactive.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: I was just to say that and they were always so kind about it.
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: They were.
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: No one ever made us feel bad about asking, or that we were rushing or nothing, and nothing along those lines.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: Oh, it was wonderful.
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: You gotta get in out, get out, you know yes.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: You can just sit and enjoy your meal it's just you know a pub and just sit and enjoy it.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: And I mean some places you go to they might book you in a sitting.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: So they might say you know you can have the table from six to seven, thirty or something to nine.
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: So especially if they're doing two sit-ins.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so it was, we were fine.
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: We were fine on time.
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: I I will say also that Most places, actually almost every place, if they had straws they were paper.
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: Yes, I don't think we had any plastic straws in the UK, which again I don't.
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: I don't care either way, but some people in America feel very strongly about their straws.
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: So I would just recommend travel with a straw.
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: If you don't want a paper straw, bring one.
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: Bring your own metal or Silicone or something.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: Well, doug does that because in Australia as well, they're not allowed.
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: There's no plastic straws allowed, and you cannot know plastic straws.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: So it's obviously but the environment, so there's no plastic, so sure.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: Always got a, a metal one that he takes and he uses that.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: So, yes, he takes that.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: I've got one as well.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: And I I know we were going to talk about tipping.
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a big thing in in America it's.
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: It's at least 20 percent for the meal.
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, but nobody asked us for any tip beyond what was already built in.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: That that's just included now and that is basically your tip.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: That's included in your bill, which is, I say, that's a relatively new thing.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: It's not something okay.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: I think we saw that London a few years ago, but definitely in London that you will see that included.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: So there's no expectation that you're gonna tip in a restaurant.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: Obviously, if you go into a bar or something, you don't tip when you order drinks, you don't tip there.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: That's not helpful, which was really.
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: 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?
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: I mean she could, she'd have to go and exchange it.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: So then, but she said to just put it in a drawer home with the last one that she got.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: So it's just considering that if you're gonna tip, just take some some currencies, take some pounds and tip in.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: That it's just better.
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: Absolutely yeah, it made me laugh but good for them For knowing know your audience.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: I guess Moving with the times, because a lot of people don't carry cash anymore.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: So I would say, do take some.
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: You know don't need much, but take some.
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: We always had some just in case.
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I just want to talk about bathrooms because this somebody mentioned in the Facebook group actually about the difference in the bathrooms.
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: Okay, I'm just gonna say from an American standpoint, I'm gonna talk about two things.
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: I love that there's actual privacy in the actual toilet stall.
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: There was no privacy.
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: I did not like that.
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: No, I wouldn't be either.
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: There was so much privacy.
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: All your doors actually closed like wall to wall.
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: It was wonderful.
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: I love that.
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: It's go in, do your thing, wash your hands.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: If you have.
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: That's a really good tip.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: I usually give everything a dog and then I go yes, yeah, we take turns.
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: So much, that's how we went.
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: We took turns, yes, much much easier.
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: Definitely, yes, definitely.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: Let's talk about I need to talk about dates and times.
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: Now I have oh golly, I struggle, I really struggle with this.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: Okay, so I'm now asking the entire population in North America why do you write the dates the way that you do?
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: So you know, june 1st is 6-1.
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: But you would read that as January 6th.
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, that had to.
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: I have to think.
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: Well, it confused me.
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: The time, the time confused me so much when we were reading the language.
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: Oh, my word.
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: It's so what you used to, because our look and then you know when we do it at any console.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: 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?
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: You have to know what date you're getting.
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: I also had a difficult time with the time.
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: It was just a roadblock in my brain.
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: There's no other reason for it.
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: I just was making reservations at St Paul's Cathedral and our entrance.
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: They give you a window, an entrance window, and I quickly read it and I saw 4 to 6 pm.
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: Great, no problem, you know 4 to 6 pm.
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: And then I realized it closes at 5.
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: I'm like how is my entrance 4 to?
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: It was something like that where the time didn't work out.
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: And I went back and I looked and it said 14 to 16 was my entrance time.
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: That meant 2 to 4 pm In American time.
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: I had to email them and say I am so sorry I cannot tell time.
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: Apparently they were very gracious and very wonderful, but I just I had such a hard time with that.
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: It's just a difference.
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: It's just a difference.
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: But it's again slow down and pay attention, otherwise you are going to lose out on tickets and reservations.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: Doug uses it all the time.
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: That's what he will.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: If we talk about train times, he will say it's at 16.05, or what it gets in it.
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: So that's what I'm used to.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: I'm used to that as well, but I know that that can be a bit of a.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: If you're not used to that, then use the am pm to differentiate rather than using the 24-hour clock.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that can be a bit of a tricky one.
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: It was for me and my family teased me about it.
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: You know what?
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: It was just one of the things we laugh about now.
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: It's just one of the things we laugh about.
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: Because it's yeah, slow down, that's it.
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: Slow down and don't make the mistakes.
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: There's another one that I want to bring up because it's another fun one for me.
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: It's the difference between the ground floor and the first floor.
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: Oh, my word.
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: And we got our keys and she said, okay, take the elevator up.
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: And I said, well, you said we're on the first floor.
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: And she said, yeah, you are.
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: And I'm like, then why am I taking an elevator?
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: I don't understand.
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: And she looked at me like I had three heads.
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: I looked at her like she had three heads and she said you're on the ground floor.
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: I said, right, the first floor.
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: Oh, no, no, no, ground floor.
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: Then one, yeah, then two, then yeah, yeah.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: We learned yeah, we learned that's one of those ones that it's.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, if it can catch you out, because, as you say, you think, first floor, second floor, third floor.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: You think you're standing on the first floor when you know that's a ground floor, so it's not.
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: And honestly that does matter for people that maybe are traveling with children or you have a stroller or someone who's disabled.
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: You need to know that in advance.
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: That is true.
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: Also, we learned to ask and to read the fine print everywhere.
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: So it's just good to know.
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: Just slow down and read the fine print, because that matters for some people.
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that's absolutely true.
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: And I will say we found that the UK was very, very aware and accommodating for disabilities.
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: So tell the people up front.
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: Here's the issue.
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: You don't have to go into detail.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: I have a walker, I have a wheelchair, I have crutches when I walk.
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: They're very accommodating.
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: We also found that in restaurants they always asked are there any allergies, Are there any gluten-free options?
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: Everywhere.
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: My daughter does have a tree nut allergy which is different than a peanut allergy.
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: People in America don't get it.
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: People in England did.
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: They totally knew they were great.
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: I would say it.
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: London was great A little less.
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: The further out you got, the more country Very accommodating, just not as proactive with having a separate menu for somebody with allergies.
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: But if you're gluten-free, there are so many options for you in the UK, so many options.
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: I know that's been mentioned, yeah, by quite a few people.
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: And just how hot they are and asking in the UK about they're so good about it.
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, do you have.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: If you let them know, they will then make up that option for you.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: They'll do the best.
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: I will say one of the highlights of our trip when we went in May was my daughter had never had a macaron.
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: Oh yes, the French is like a macaron, because it's usually made with almonds.
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: They made some without, so she was able to have her first one ever.
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: She was so excited.
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: As a matter of fact, she asked them are you sure this doesn't have any tree nuts?
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: They said no, no tree nuts, you have an allergy.
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: These are tree nut free.
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: Oh, my goodness, oh, that's no good.
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: That's.
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: One of the highlights of our trip was that she got to have one of those.
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, oh, that's so nice.
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: She's never had one before I'm going to photo it.
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: We'll put that in the show, of course.
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: I have a picture of her holding them.
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: She was so excited about that.
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: She was so excited.
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: We'll get that in the show notes next episode.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: Yes, we have that Definitely.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: So what are the things kind of struck you is that it would be really good to let Top sheets.
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: Ah yes, the bedding.
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: We may have spoken about this before, but we decided to travel with our own top sheet, and I'm glad we did.
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: But I'm a middle-aged woman.
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: I don't want a duvet.
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: I don't care how lightweight it is, I just want a tiny little thin sheet.
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: So we chose to travel with one.
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: I'm glad we did Just know in advance.
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: 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?
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: It's easy to take it's very easy.
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: And then you're not just Especially in those compression.
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, those compression cube packers, those were lifesavers.
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: Those are my new best friends.
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: Catherine, oh, I love them.
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: I loved them.
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: Yes, that in our air tag we left an air tag in our suitcases which I don't.
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: Did it help?
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: It gave us peace of mind.
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: There are.
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: Yes, we did that.
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: We loaded it with tons of stuff Nothing obviously irreplaceable we're not going to.
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: We didn't leave anything like personal identification in there or money, but we left an air tag.
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: It was affordable.
• 26:11
  Speaker 3: We Google searched it.
• 26:13
  Speaker 3: That's how we found it.
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: I think it had 50,000 five-star reviews, so we felt pretty good about that.
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: It was right outside King's Cross station and it was so worth it.
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: So worth it.
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: That's something that I've ever utilised before.
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: I had no problems with it.
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: I would do it again in a heartbeat.
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: Oh yeah, it's great.
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: It made our travel easy you had gone up to, and I'm going to come back down again, so why not?
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: Yes, just take what you needed up there.
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: I was also okay, I was and our travels.
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: The other thing that I was thinking about was shopping.
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: It's not common that we found no, you won't be able to do that.
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: No, I mean, you could go into a fast food place absolutely like anywhere in the world.
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: And that's what we ended up doing.
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: Fast food, Like the pubs, yeah, the kitchen will be open between certain hours.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: Unless you can go to Borough Market, you can go to Camden Market and get food there.
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: If you've got the markets in here, you don't have to book anything there.
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: You can obviously just buy a street food, what you want.
• 27:46
  Speaker 3: But you can't go there at seven o'clock at night, no no.
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: Is there clothes?
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: Find a fast food, so I think that's just something good to take into consideration.
• 28:02
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 28:14
  Speaker 3: We didn't get in 20 or 24 hour clock and we would have to take that into consideration.
• 28:23
  Speaker 3: We can't go to dinner right now at a place.
• 28:26
  Speaker 3: We're going to have to do something fast.
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 28:42
  Speaker 3: I don't want to do that.
• 28:43
  Speaker 3: I'm in England.
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: I don't want to do that.
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: I'd rather eat at a pub before I leave Bath or wherever we were, and a perfect, great idea.
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 29:12
  Speaker 3: So one thing that we do, just because this is how we travel, is I always have a foldable bag with me.
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: So glad I did so, if that's something.
• 29:21
  Speaker 3: If you're going to the UK for the first time, I recommend always having one with you.
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: I've got one, actually, that clips on.
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: I've got ones on each of my bags, just clips on.
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: So I've got it Same in.
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: Australia.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: Right right.
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: And I forgot I actually have to pack this thing myself.
• 29:46
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 29:46
  Speaker 3: So pack it yourself Take your own bags and a lot of places would ask us so would you like a bag?
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: I would say sure, and then you realized you're paying for it.
• 29:55
  Speaker 3: It's not necessarily a lot of money, but it's unnecessary.
• 30:01
  Speaker 3: If just bring a bag, yeah, just bring it.
• 30:03
  Speaker 3: Just bring it.
• 30:04
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 30:13
  Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, we could have eaten cheese sandwiches all day and been happy.
• 30:17
  Speaker 3: It was so good there.
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 30:27
  Speaker 3: Yes, yes, and I again.
• 30:30
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 30:38
  Speaker 3: I'd rather experience it, experience it there.
• 30:42
  Speaker 3: I will also say okay, we're going to say something I was going to say about coffee.
• 30:46
  Speaker 3: I was going to mention about coffee.
• 30:48
  Speaker 3: Oh gosh Coffee, yeah.
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: I know you're not a coffee drinker.
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: It's really difficult for me to talk about coffee, and this comes up a lot in a bit.
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: And also for Doug, because neither of us drink coffee, neither of us like coffee.
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: Okay, so we can't get into this whole kind of coffee debate about who has the best coffee in the world.
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: Certainly they have, but I don't know.
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: So tell me about the coffee.
• 31:12
  Speaker 3: Okay, I will, because I tried a lot.
• 31:14
  Speaker 3: I felt the coffee Again.
• 31:19
  Speaker 3: What I experienced was very different than America.
• 31:22
  Speaker 3: I felt like it was a little weaker than American coffee, than what I'm used to.
• 31:27
  Speaker 3: I will say I had done my research in advance.
• 31:31
  Speaker 3: There is no half-and-half in what we as Americans call half-and-half.
• 31:35
  Speaker 3: It doesn't exist or it's not what you guys call it.
• 31:39
  Speaker 3: I think the closest thing I was told was single cream.
• 31:43
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: I think, yeah, they won't give you cream.
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: I don't think so.
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: With coffee they have milk?
• 31:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, they'll just say milk.
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: It wouldn't be cream Right.
• 32:02
  Speaker 3: So I learned that I mean, there are Starbucks.
• 32:05
  Speaker 3: I did try a lot of the chains that you guys have because I wanted to try them.
• 32:11
  Speaker 3: Some I loved, some I didn't.
• 32:14
  Speaker 3: And I did also find that it didn't seem super common to just drink brewed coffee, which is what I drink.
• 32:22
  Speaker 3: I just drink plain old coffee with a little bit of half-and-half.
• 32:26
  Speaker 3: Everyone seems to drink lattes and Americanos.
• 32:30
  Speaker 3: Those are really big.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: The.
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: Americanos are a big thing, so when I was there, I just thought I'm going to do it.
• 32:35
  Speaker 3: People in London do.
• 32:36
  Speaker 3: I'm drinking an Americano every day, so I definitely.
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: I tried everything.
• 32:41
  Speaker 3: I found my favorites.
• 32:43
  Speaker 3: I returned to my favorites.
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: So which was your favorite?
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: Can I ask?
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: I really loved a place called FCB.
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: OK.
• 32:52
  Speaker 3: It's a chain.
• 32:52
  Speaker 3: I saw it in some train stations.
• 32:55
  Speaker 3: They were excellent for Americanos.
• 32:58
  Speaker 3: On Cannon Street there was a place called Rosslin.
• 33:02
  Speaker 3: They had excellent, excellent coffee.
• 33:05
  Speaker 3: They were really good.
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: Cafe Nero and not my favorite.
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: What's the other one?
• 33:10
  Speaker 3: It's called Pretta Pretta manger.
• 33:13
  Speaker 3: Yes, that one.
• 33:14
  Speaker 3: It was OK In a pinch.
• 33:18
  Speaker 3: I'd just go to Starbucks and I'd get a cold brew in a pinch and that always worked.
• 33:22
  Speaker 3: But you managed to get by.
• 33:25
  Speaker 3: I did Totally, totally and honestly.
• 33:29
  Speaker 3: That wasn't the goal or the focus or the purpose of our vacation.
• 33:33
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: But you know what?
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: I'm going to confess it.
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: Oh gosh, oh gosh.
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: So you know, we all have our things that we really love.
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: So I never, ever, actually buy tea when I go out Never, because I never do how I want it.
• 34:10
  Speaker 3: But you're also talking hot tea, correct?
• 34:13
  Speaker 3: Yes, because I don't think iced tea is a thing in England at all.
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: Well, iced tea.
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: It is.
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: It is, but it's different to what the American iced tea is.
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: So iced tea you can buy it in there.
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: If you've got the supermarkets or to like corner shop, you'll get iced tea.
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: And you can get peach, you can get mango, you get lemon, you get raspberry.
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: 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?
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: It's not.
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't say tea.
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's not, it's called iced tea, but it's not what I believe.
• 34:47
  Speaker 2: You guys call iced tea, correct?
• 34:49
  Speaker 3: Ours is literally brewed tea that is just chilled and then served over ice.
• 34:54
  Speaker 3: So it's exact stuff that you drink, as hot is what Americans drink.
• 34:58
  Speaker 3: I personally don't drink it, but it's what a lot of people in America drink.
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, ok, ok, no, no, that's not iced tea, it's not, it's the same thing.
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: When you go to a cafe and they might have iced tea on the menu.
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: It will be fruit, it will be like a lemon.
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: You probably want that.
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: It won't be tea, right, you won't get the same thing.
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: No, it won't be made of tea leaves or tea bags.
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: Tea, no.
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: Yes, no, no no, no.
• 35:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so just know what you're getting in advance.
• 35:25
  Speaker 3: Know what you're getting, yeah, yeah, there are some definite differences.
• 35:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I know.
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: It's really good.
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: Well, it's been so good to chat to.
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: So, like I say, if those things comfort, things that you need, just take them with you.
• 36:09
  Speaker 3: Know what matters to you.
• 36:10
  Speaker 3: Do your research.
• 36:11
  Speaker 3: 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.
• 36:24
  Speaker 3: The rest of it we agreed we're going to go with the flow.
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: We could talk power.
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: I love talking to you.
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, we could, and we do.
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: We generally do yes, so I'm going to.
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so everything we're talking about today will be in this episode.
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: Show notes.
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: This is going to be UKTravelPlanetcom forward slash.
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: Episode 66.
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: Again.
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: 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.
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: But for this week, this just leaves me to say, as usual, happy UK travel planning from me.