er... ff, if you went to France would you know where to visit other than Paris?
We're a dinky little island by most other countries' standards, what we do have that the Americans don't is a lot of stuff of a historical nature, that's why they want to go to London and see Buckingham palace, the Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, St. Paul's Cathedral etc.
What do you suggest they do, take a train to Ashford and visit the wonderful sights of the shopping mall and the local park? You know quite well what public transport is like in this country too, it's not exactly easy for them to zip off to other parts. Otherwise, cities like Edinburgh and Bath would be a great place to visit and would have far more tourists than they currently do.

"gee honey we're going to Ashford, England. Where the King of England lives, it's soooo historical.."

it's not the King of England, it's the Sultan of Spamarkand, and it's not historical, rather hysterical!

lots of foreigners only come for a few days, so they're pretty much slimited to Londona nd the other big attractions like all that Shakespeare crap, Warwick Castle, Windsor. We get q a few up here for the pottery, but other than scenery and themed factory tours what else has the North got? Until you get to Scotland, that is.

If you had a week or so in the States, where are you gonna spend it? NYC, DC, maybe LA, poss Florida or Texas, and how much would you see in that time? I spent a whole morning just queuing for the Empire State!

I used to get annoyed about how ignorant foreigners were, now I don't mind, I accept it, after all we're exactly the same; of the hundreds of thousands of British holidaymakers that hit Spain and the Balearics every year, how many are goign for a gentle appreciation of Spanish culture, and how many are going for a week of boozing, fighting and cheap casual sex?

..how I dearly wish I was not here..

Actually you reminded me of this one tourist I overheard on a train, her daughter was asking where they were going this time and she said "We're going to Buckinghampton Palace, honey"

when I was at uni we went off to War-wick Castle to do some architectural studies, I was up one of the towers sketching away, and this family came up, and the "mom" said "omigod Frank he's A N A L ysing the landscape, that's so wonderful!" I nearly p*ssed myself

a few years later, me and me then bird were in Italy povving about on the trains, we were at Roma Termini just getting on the chuffer for Firenze and Venezia (love Italian trains I do - always on time ) when I heard this clip-clop behind me and this shrill voice cries out "scusate Signor, Signoria, is this-o il tren-o per Venitisia?" I looked around and there's this wo-man in her late 40s/early 50s with this huge blonde beehive, short pink safari-type suit, pink highheels and carrying a bloody poodle under her arm! My bird turns round to her and says in her best plummy English accent (dead posh bird she was) "yes it is actually" to which this woman screams with delight, "omigod that's so wonderful you're English I've been to England Ive seen blah blah blah do we know princess Diana, do you live in London, have we met Margaret Thatcher etc etc?"

yeh luv they both come round for tea but only when the Queen and Winston Churchill have finished playing cards with us...

We had to put up with this woman gabbing on all the way to Florence, yak yak bloody yak, talk about rabbit, she had more rabbit than bleedin' Sainsbury's. She'd done Paris (2 hr walk off the train) and Strasbourg and a zillion other places; toilet stop travel.

..how I dearly wish I was not here..

*Starts munching popcorn* And? Is that all you've got? I want some more of "Taw's Traveller's Anecdotes" .

1) You folks drive on the wrong side of the road. We Amurrricans are used to renting a car and driving around to where we want to go.... if, that is, we're not already driving around in our own cars.

2) Because we generally drive around in our own cars (with the exception of a f ew of us who live in the Northeast and understand that mass transit is something more than riding a bus), we don't understand appreciate or consider using mass transit as all that much of an advantage.

3) If you land at a London area airport, you're pretty much stuck in London as a result.



Honestly guys, there are plenty who leave London. When Wimbledon is in full swing, you will find quite a number of Americans at the tournament.

There are legions who are repeat visitors to the Lake District, etc.

This having been said, however, please also refer to the above.

Edited by - Indy11 on 5/28/2004 3:18:11 AM

*We* drive on the wrong side of the road? Yep, the US has it right; it's every other country that's wrong .

Taw, here in Ga, we get ads on TV from alabama, south Carolina, ect advertising vaction spots that people don't usually go to. You should put togeather the "Hot Spots" list to visit when folk come to ngland and get a tour business going. You ould make a killing at it.

@Esqy,

Do you really want to count the list of countries that drive on the left and compare that to the ones that drive on the right?

"When Wimbledon is in full swing, you will find quite a number of Americans at the tournament."

Wimbledon is in SW London; just ask a Womble.

Years ago me and me fayther were doing some gardening, and this car pulled up and this American woman leant out and asked us if this was the Lake District.. "err no you're short about 70 miles luv..." and the absence of large expanses of open water might have been a clue as well.

as far as travel anecdotes are concerned, almost everywhere I go i meet someone who has a connection with Stoke-on-Trent, they have a relative here or used to live here or even did their National Service here, it's true, it's everywhere I go.





..how I dearly wish I was not here..

Edited by - Tawakalna on 5/28/2004 3:35:50 AM

Yeah but Taw. To us.... it isn't London. Oh. And to many of us it 's Wimbleton.

Edited by - Indy11 on 5/28/2004 3:34:09 AM

No thanks Indy, I'll stick to my unconfirmed belief thank you .

"Taw, here in Ga, we get ads on TV from alabama, south Carolina, ect advertising vaction spots that people don't usually go to. You should put togeather the "Hot Spots" list to visit when folk come to ngland and get a tour business going. You ould make a killing at it. "

what? Stress myself even more by mollycoddling tourists? you're joking, I'd be the worst tour guide in existence! I'd just be incredibly rude to them and abandon them in some scumhole like Moss Side or Toxteth while I went boozing/shopping. They'd be like that tourist who wandered into the skagheads' bar in Trainspotting.

and then I'd charge them extra for holding me up.

I met an american guy in Poland a couple of years ago, we were getting on well and over a beer he suddenly asks me...

"hey, I know this is a long shot, but you live near london right?"

"well, about 50 miles away"

"yeah thats what I thought - pretty close. Anyway, you wouldn't happen to know Dave Ryan would you?"

I almost fell off my barstool in hysterics.

ff, I think to say that ALL americans think that is being really stereotypical. I like to think that a decent portion of our friends over the pond actually do realise that london is not the only thing in england. You have to understand though that we are really a WEEEEENNNY country in comparison to most of their states! Quite seriously, if you live somewhere as huge as the US it must be a real head**** to grasp the idea that england, as small as it is, has over 20 distinctly different regional accents, and cultures to boot.