As a fellow Brit I am endlessly confounded when I talk to foreign people (no offences), particularly Americans, who say they'd love to come swing by for a week or two and enjoy what we have to offer.

...Urm hang on a minute Why here? I've been to Florida twice (probably the "nice side") and it was gorgeous - lovely weather, great food, decent scenery, awesome holiday. My dad's been about and he said it's quite nice in other states. So what makes Britain any better? Food is not as great, the people aren't exactly pleasent (don't lie to yourself), it's rather dreary and wet and there's not alot to do overall besides sight-seeing. You could easily do that in other countries - Russia, Japan, China, heck most countries but not here

So c'mon Internetz, why would you want to come visit Britain?

You don't vacation in the place that you live and a lot of people want to vacation to england because of similar cultural values, lack of language barrier, good rates, and access to the rest of europe.

I think the real question is why you think people would want to vacation in russia.

ShumaGorath wrote:I think the real question is why you think people would want to vacation in russia.

People come to Russia for the ideology, and stay for the gulags.

Because women with British accents are HOT!

The history of Europe. Many of us have some form of ancestral tie there and feel it might be interesting to see the land where we can lay claim to as a bloodline.

Kanluwen wrote:The history of Europe.

I thought we were talking about Britain.

Ahtman wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:The history of Europe.

I thought we were talking about Britain.

Well, we have invaded/fought most of Europe at one time or another, so I guess you could say that our history is the history of Europe

Ahtman wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:The history of Europe.

I thought we were talking about Britain.

We are. Britain is commonly used by many tourists as a jumping off point for a trip of Europe.

Kanluwen wrote:

Ahtman wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:The history of Europe.

I thought we were talking about Britain.

We are. Britain is commonly used by many tourists as a jumping off point for a trip of Europe.

So Britain is now a diving board?

What parts of the UK make up the rest of the diving board?

Kanluwen wrote:We are. Britain is commonly used by many tourists as a jumping off point for a trip of Europe.

They just use us for our duty free

I wasen't aware that Americans had an obsession with Britain over any other country? I've moved around alot in my life as well as having the fortune of visiting a number of other countries as well as meeting people from other countries and I think it's simply a interest in a culture/society other then your own. I lived on Florida for 11 years (Brits are always easy to tell apart down then because you're all bright red ) so to me it isn't that big a deal but to someone not from there it would be great. I have a friend who lives in Melbourne, Australia that I met when she was an exchange student here. I went down to visit her awhile back and thought it was one of the coolest places I've ever been while to her it was same old same old.

Nice music, getting a chance to hit the Manchester pub scene just for the music would be great, but France is nicer.

Fafnir wrote:Nice music, getting a chance to hit the Manchester pub scene just for the music would be great, but France is nicer.

Britain is nice. Lots of historic stuff. Good access to quality beer and whisky (and whiskey). Girls with cute accents.

And most importantly to American tourists, we speak the same language as you guys. This makes it MUCH more accessible and less frightening to our largely-monoglot populace.

Girls with cute accents? Ever been near a Manc pub on a Friday/Saturday night? It's unintelligable garbage with each word emphasised by a fresh spew of vomit whilst their mates old onto the ends of their skirts (you could almost call them belts, I swear they get shorter every day) and revealing tops to stop themselves falling over.

I'm surprised you can even hear the accent through all of that, nevermind think it's cute.

Yeah... Don't go up north if you expect the english to have cute accents.

Don't go to the west country either for that matter, or anywhere near london.

Fafnir wrote:... but France is nicer.

Yes.

Just don't come here Go to Ireland or something, their accents are much better.

Slarg232 wrote:Because women with British accents are HOT!

Amen to that.

And as far as an "obsession" with Britain goes, it all leads back to America's cultural roots. Britain is often seen by Americans as a predecessor, and therein creates a sort of cultural bond between the two.
Coupled with a common language and, (now don't be offended here), way of lifestyle, the similarity between the two nations have kept them together in almost every war since America's secession, and, as a result, the two have become the closest of Allies. Many Americans find this endearing.

Not to mention we're jealous of the accent.

Avatar 720 wrote:Just don't come here Go to Ireland or something, their accents are much better.

That depends on where you go in Ireland though, I have family there and my Grandma dosen't even speak english (she can but she chooses not to because she likes to makes things tough for people ) she speaks Irish Gaelic. And I was in London before I went to Spain to see more family and thought it was fine though I did see the forementioned drunk girl or one close enough to it haha. And personally I liked Britain better then France when comparing the 2

Avatar 720 wrote:Girls with cute accents? Ever been near a Manc pub on a Friday/Saturday night? It's unintelligable garbage with each word emphasised by a fresh spew of vomit whilst their mates old onto the ends of their skirts (you could almost call them belts, I swear they get shorter every day) and revealing tops to stop themselves falling over.

I'm surprised you can even hear the accent through all of that, nevermind think it's cute.

I didn't say that ALL your girls have cute accents. But many of them do.

And even crappy cockney and mockney and Northern accents can be cute to an American ear; provided they're not accompanied by a spew of vomit. Many of us don't mind short shirts or revealing tops, either.

Our lass is American, she loves it here, I think Americans generally like the Brits as they see us as nice relatives.

She loves the lack of traffic, the pubs and the history!

She dislikes the anti American sentiment though, and it annoys me too. The amount of times we have met people out on the piss and ive said "This is Laura she is American" and they say "Ill tell you what pisses me off about Americans...."

Its actually upset her a few times (women eh? She's a sensitive one!) and it proper pisses me off, thankfully though its not that common, its just the beardy unwashed hippy types that loathe the whole country thanks to a couple of wars.

gak, thats the reason I love Americans!

I think it's a little presumptuous to say that they are 'fascinated' by us! Some of them just like coming on holiday. Cool. They're very welcome, as far as I'm concerned.

Don't we have a similar thing with the USA? A lot of Brits go there on holiday... I imagine it's the whole 'same-but-different' thing that brings Americans here.

Slarg232 wrote:Because women with British accents are HOT!

you obviously have not heard the Scouse accent then.

Yeah, you Brits seem nice and all, but if I'm going to spend a lot of money on a vacation South America is WAAAAY more fun.

Ayup mi duck, tha' thread's right gradely.

Manchester United.

And I had a girlfriend from Newcastle, and I agree about the accent

I hate going to the UK for most of the reasons in the OP. The only reason I go is that I've got friends there that tried to immigrate but were denied Visas.

Many people in America have English/Welsh/Scottish heritage too. Visiting these places and knowing the history and seeing the people can be insightful.

I have a strong Irish tradition in my family and I have always wanted to go to Ireland. Maybe not be as leisurely as Florida, but I have been to Florida many times and would like a change of scenery.

I am a Brit living in America. I like it. Many people I talk with (even in situations like the supermarket checkout, or getting on the metro) on hearing my accent will ask where I'm from, and tell me about family or holidays they've had around the UK. So I can agree with the suggestions that there's a sentiment of cultural/historical/personal relatedness.

Of course, it's possible that foreigners from other nations would get the same treatment, I don't know.

Grabzak Dirtyfighter wrote:Yeah, you Brits seem nice and all, but if I'm going to spend a lot of money on a vacation South America is WAAAAY more fun.

Yes nothing is more fun than waking up in a bathtub full of ice and missing a Kidney! Kidding.l.. just kidding.

I love the UK. I have been there a few times. Worst part for me was getting use to driving on the wrong side of the road.
I have to say being a nutter about castles, it great to visit and see then first hand.
Plus Stonehenge was just ... I dont know.. I felt like I should have been in a robe and sacrificing a goat. (agin kidding) It was amazing though.

mattyrm wrote:She loves the lack of traffic

Wait what? Now I can't drive legally yet and even I know UK traffic is TERRIBLE

Juvieus Kaine wrote:

mattyrm wrote:She loves the lack of traffic

Wait what? Now I can't drive legally yet and even I know UK traffic is TERRIBLE

Ah...but is it as bad as traffic in the U.S.?...
I live roughly fifteen minutes from where I work...but it takes me over an hour to get home at night...and that's nowhere near the worst traffic I've encountered.

Wouldn't you just walk or cycle then?

I don't? England is just sort of there. Oh hi England. Uhm. See you later. I'm going to Italy to listen to italian symphonic rock bands (I wish).


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Da Boss wrote:Wouldn't you just walk or cycle then?

Fifteen minutes of DRIVING.

We Americans measure things weirdly. Normally, we talk about distance in terms of how long it takes to drive there, and if we're talking about walking there, we specifically say "walking distance". I live five minutes from one of my school's campus... driving distance. Probably twenty or thirty minutes walking distance. And then the other one is downtown, about twenty minutes driving on a good day. I would not attempt to walk there, downtown is nice, but the places I pass through to get there... not so much.

Well in most places I've been to (Which is to say, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, California, Nevada, Florida... the southa nd west basically). In some places it's even weirder.

Juvieus Kaine wrote:

mattyrm wrote:She loves the lack of traffic

Wait what? Now I can't drive legally yet and even I know UK traffic is TERRIBLE

Mate, we live in Yorkshire, I dont think ive been static in traffic for more than 60 seconds for about ten years.

When we were living in California.... Jesus wept. It used to take her 90 minutes to get to work and slightly longer to get home and it was about 20 miles away.

California traffic is absolutely fething crazy. Im not going back!

@Melissa:I don't really understand that. Because how can it be 15 minutes driving but take an hour? Is that in ideal conditions with no traffic? Does that ever happen?

Like, I was probably 15 minutes driving from the school I worked in in dublin if there was no traffic, but that never happened. So I cycled, and it took me 30-35 minutes, and kept me fit!

I dunno what it's like to cycle in various spots in the US though, maybe the roads aren't set up for it.

Usually the only people who complain about UK northern accents are other Brits, just like people who rip on US southern accents are usually other Americans. This is probably due to cultural bias (perceiving the south/north as backwards and slow)

For myself, hearing familiar words in another accent is either charming (a friendly chat) or frustrating (customer service).

Da Boss wrote:@Melissa:I don't really understand that. Because how can it be 15 minutes driving but take an hour? Is that in ideal conditions with no traffic? Does that ever happen?

Oh sure . It takes me twenty minutes to drive to class if there hasn't been a wreck downtown. This isn't Dallas, so we tend to have a bit safer drivers.

Da Boss wrote:@Melissa:I don't really understand that. Because how can it be 15 minutes driving but take an hour? Is that in ideal conditions with no traffic? Does that ever happen?

Often times people only think of actual driving time, and omit the affair of getting to the car, getting out of the car and walking to the destination, finding the car after parking, etc. It tends to induce surprise at the passage of time.

Da Boss wrote:
Like, I was probably 15 minutes driving from the school I worked in in dublin if there was no traffic, but that never happened. So I cycled, and it took me 30-35 minutes, and kept me fit!

If you don't live in a city, biking is not an option. The US is designed almost exclusively for privately owned cars, mostly because large swathes of it didn't really come into their own until privately owned cars were fairly common.

probably because England has a culture and history, wheras America does not, my house is probably older than it aha.

Excessionary wrote:probably because England has a culture and history, wheras America does not, my house is probably older than it aha.

Right, England has a long history of romantic encounters with sheep! It's something that we Americans lack :(

Melissia wrote:

Excessionary wrote:probably because England has a culture and history, wheras America does not, my house is probably older than it aha.

Right, England has a long history of romantic encounters with sheep! It's something that we Americans lack :(

You are thinking of wales.

Da Boss wrote:@Melissa:I don't really understand that. Because how can it be 15 minutes driving but take an hour? Is that in ideal conditions with no traffic? Does that ever happen?

Like, I was probably 15 minutes driving from the school I worked in in dublin if there was no traffic, but that never happened. So I cycled, and it took me 30-35 minutes, and kept me fit!

I dunno what it's like to cycle in various spots in the US though, maybe the roads aren't set up for it.

Melissa had it right,my 15 minute reference was for driving time,under clear (light) traffic conditions,during rush hour it's around an hour or more.
Riding a bicycle to work just isn't an option , as by and large most of the Highways and Interstates of the American South just aren't set up for that sort of thing...very good chance both rider and bicycle will end up under someones car.

Besides, I like the comfort of having steel protecting my body (I don't drive an aluminum car) as I drive through the shadier parts of a city. Sure it's not much, but still.

Melissia wrote:Besides, I like the comfort of having steel protecting my body (I don't drive an aluminum car) as I drive through the shadier parts of a city. Sure it's not much, but still.

It's not so much "shady" areas that cause me to want to be cocooned inside the safety of a car...it's the absolutely horrible driving of most Georgia citizens.
I swear I've seen more wrecks in the four or so years I've lived here than I have anywhere else....except maybe for Texas.

And even in Texas it's mostly just Dallas and Houston. And maybe near the border, as Mexican drivers are fething nuts (mostly because they drive here without studying our traffic laws).

corpsesarefun wrote:

Melissia wrote:

Excessionary wrote:probably because England has a culture and history, wheras America does not, my house is probably older than it aha.

Right, England has a long history of romantic encounters with sheep! It's something that we Americans lack :(

You are thinking of wales.

Yorkshire's a wee bit shady... they do nice tea though.

Avatar 720 wrote:

corpsesarefun wrote:

Melissia wrote:

Excessionary wrote:probably because England has a culture and history, wheras America does not, my house is probably older than it aha.

Right, England has a long history of romantic encounters with sheep! It's something that we Americans lack :(

You are thinking of wales.

Yorkshire's a wee bit shady... they do nice tea though.

Watch yourself avatar my paternal family are from yorkshire.

So's my maternal family

Who gives a flying feth about britain?

The only case I've seen of it is vapid people being obsessed with the royal wedding. And a few teenagers who believe "when I graduate I'm going to school in the UK because everything is awesome over there everyone is smart I won't have to deal with these dumbasses anymore".

Melissia wrote:

Excessionary wrote:probably because England has a culture and history, wheras America does not, my house is probably older than it aha.

Right, England has a long history of romantic encounters with sheep! It's something that we Americans lack :(

Steady on there, now.
If we ignore the fact that Excessionary is clearly no historian, I think you'll find that Wales and the Forest of Dean are not representative of British attitudes to sheep.

WarOne wrote:

ShumaGorath wrote:I think the real question is why you think people would want to vacation in russia.

People come to Russia for the ideology, and stay for the gulags.

I thought it was for the women.

Juvieus Kaine wrote:As a fellow Brit I am endlessly confounded when I talk to foreign people (no offences), particularly Americans, who say they'd love to come swing by for a week or two and enjoy what we have to offer.

...Urm hang on a minute Why here? I've been to Florida twice (probably the "nice side") and it was gorgeous - lovely weather, great food, decent scenery, awesome holiday. My dad's been about and he said it's quite nice in other states. So what makes Britain any better? Food is not as great, the people aren't exactly pleasent (don't lie to yourself), it's rather dreary and wet and there's not alot to do overall besides sight-seeing. You could easily do that in other countries - Russia, Japan, China, heck most countries but not here

So c'mon Internetz, why would you want to come visit Britain?

I think a lot of people like the idea of seeing another culture, but are put are intimidated by the thought of actually being in another culture. This can be seen by watching The Amazing Race.

So instead they pick a half way point, where they get to see historical monuments, but the people are largely the same as they are back home.


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ShumaGorath wrote:I think the real question is why you think people would want to vacation in russia.

I'd love to go to Russia; it's strict controls on almost everything makes it really quite a safe country, as does its (rather strained) relations with most major countries (allowing any issue to be sorted out eventually and less likely for them to take you hostage for some half-arsed reason). It's not a major holiday destination for gakkers and you're less likely to get raped in an alleyway because it's just too damn cold to get your tackle out.

Avatar 720 wrote:I'd love to go to Russia; it's strict controls on almost everything makes it really quite a safe country

Nnnnnnnnnot as much as you'd think.

Avatar 720 wrote:I'd love to go to Russia; it's strict controls on almost everything makes it really quite a safe country

I hope this is sarcasm.

EDIT: Damn Mel, you beat me to it.

I...uh... happen to like wet and dreary.

While not american I´m always fascinated by the amount of awesome the Brits can pack into certain people they send out in the world.

I´m mostly talking about comedians and actors, but the odd author is in there as well.

Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Terry Pratchett, Christopher Lee, Ian McKellen. Those and more are the names I think about when I hear "awesome" and "britain". Sometimes "awesome" is enough

Yeah, but I doubt that the average brit is really that different from anyone else. I mean, you have less vocal idiots than America, so that's a plus, but I think that some people like to fantasize that the UK is a land of polite smart people who actually read books, or something like that.

Da Boss wrote:Wouldn't you just walk or cycle then?

What are you, some sort of godless hippy communist? Nobody walks in LA!

I think the country side looks awesome... grass is so green

Boss, my missus had to drive to Pasadena for work, it used to take her 90 minutes.. sometimes 2 hours, but it was only about 25 miles!

LA traffic has to be seen to be believed, and exactly the same as you, I said "why not just cycle it?!" I mean, thats only gonna take half an hour right?

You cant do it, there are no cycle lanes mostly. Its just freeways, death, misery and suffering.

She moved to York. She has a bike now.

Melissia wrote:

Avatar 720 wrote:I'd love to go to Russia; it's strict controls on almost everything makes it really quite a safe country

Nnnnnnnnnot as much as you'd think.

Cybronx wrote:

Avatar 720 wrote:I'd love to go to Russia; it's strict controls on almost everything makes it really quite a safe country

I hope this is sarcasm.

EDIT: Damn Mel, you beat me to it.

The whole thing was indeed, sarcastic.

Melissia wrote:

Da Boss wrote:@Melissa:I don't really understand that. Because how can it be 15 minutes driving but take an hour? Is that in ideal conditions with no traffic? Does that ever happen?

Oh sure . It takes me twenty minutes to drive to class if there hasn't been a wreck downtown. This isn't Dallas, so we tend to have a bit safer drivers.

Up here in DFW, turn signals are treated as a challenge to the other driver's position in the lane. Naturally, the usage of signals has atrophied and everyone makes sudden, ninja-like lane changes (whether you're in the way or not).

I had to drive past a grass and tree fire yesterday while on 290. 18 wheeler rolled and caught everything on fire. So had to turn around and take a side road to get out before that whole burn to deathwhile listening to Cosmo on satellite radio thing reared its ugly head. Driving quickly through plumes of smokes and seeing TREEs on fire next to your face is, admittedly, a new experience for me.

Unfortunately thinking about the smoke now makes me hungry for barbeque or at least a good grilled burger. Torture!

micahaphone wrote:Yeah, but I doubt that the average brit is really that different from anyone else. I mean, you have less vocal idiots than America, so that's a plus, but I think that some people like to fantasize that the UK is a land of polite smart people who actually read books, or something like that.

I thought it was because Americans have a obsession with angry brits insulting average people.

Murray wrote:I think the country side looks awesome... grass is so green

I know. All we have over here is this crappy teal stuff.

And we like the accents, and hearing our favorite type of humor, insults/put-downs, ect, in a british accent is oh so entertaining.

I firmly believe if there is a god... he put Great Britain here to take the p@ss out of the rest of the world.

All the Yanks, Canooks (french canadians I was told at length) that have met me have said two words
"Culture shock"

mattyrm wrote:Boss, my missus had to drive to Pasadena for work, it used to take her 90 minutes.. sometimes 2 hours, but it was only about 25 miles!

LA traffic has to be seen to be believed, and exactly the same as you, I said "why not just cycle it?!" I mean, thats only gonna take half an hour right?

You cant do it, there are no cycle lanes mostly. Its just freeways, death, misery and suffering.

She moved to York. She has a bike now.

Also, many businesses don't have facilities for employees to deal with the side effects of exertion on reaching work. No one wants to sit in a sweaty button down all day.

dogma wrote:Also, many businesses don't have facilities for employees to deal with the side effects of exertion on reaching work. No one wants to sit in a sweaty button down all day.

They haven't got a toilet with room enough for people to change?

sebster wrote:
They haven't got a toilet with room enough for people to change?

Some of them don't. I worked at a garage in high school that didn't have a bathroom at all, we had to use the one at the carryout place across the street.

There's also the issue of smell, and some people also have to worry about hair issues.

dogma wrote:Some of them don't. I worked at a garage in high school that didn't have a bathroom at all, we had to use the one at the carryout place across the street.

There's also the issue of smell, and some people also have to worry about hair issues.

Fair enough.

Fasciation
Fasciation
Fasciation
Fasciation
Fasciation
Fasciation

Yeah I told our lass about this thread dogma, she said "try cycling 25 miles when its 110 outside and no shower when you get there!

Being a man I didn't think of appearance, but I'm sure its as big an issue yeah

You know, I never used to care about that type of thing (appearance), then I grew out my hair.

Dublin has bus lanes that you use as cycle lanes for a lot of it, and then cycle lanes in the more civilised regions. LA sounds like hell on earth. I hate sitting in traffic. I bet the public transport sucks ass as well.

I wasn't particularly aware of any fascination...
The UK is like that drawer you have which gradually gets filled with bits and pieces no one wanted to throw away.
We have all of those bits and pieces but it's from the world.
Bits of really old stuff, Romans, Castles, some strange food, lots of weird people, the royal family (under rated but a good target for comedians)

(Bits and pieces you nicked and won't give back you mean )

Me?
Considering Birtain gained its culture from sevearl seperate invasions both cultural and physical i don't really think that's stealing... more like mugging the mugger.

When we visited the British Museum we took my picture next to the Sutton Hoo excavation treasures (yay, vikings!), and my wife's picture (she's a linguist) next to the Rosetta Stone.

Oh yeah...
The Empire, i forgot about that...
Yeah Britain nicked a load of stuff and forgot to give it back... funny how things work out.

purplefood wrote:Oh yeah...
The Empire, i forgot about that...
Yeah Britain nicked a load of stuff and forgot to give it back... funny how things work out.

Psssh. India/Afghanistan/America/Egypt/South Africa/Australia/all the other colonies weren't really using those artifacts, anyway.

WarOne wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:

Ahtman wrote:

Kanluwen wrote:The history of Europe.

I thought we were talking about Britain.

We are. Britain is commonly used by many tourists as a jumping off point for a trip of Europe.

So Britain is now a diving board?

What parts of the UK make up the rest of the diving board?

Come on WarOne, many people had relatives in WW2 who were part of the D-Day invasion. It's something that probably popped into one of the D-Day invader's heads, like: "You know what, if I'm ever on vacation this seems like a good way to get to Europe easily."

The British folk should just be happy that we stopped using Sherman tanks when we decide to go across, the treads totally messed up their yards.

As far as Brits, I had a customer looking for a sheriff's badge for her son that was a cop in England somewhere. Although we usually get a lot more people from Quebec than anywhere else.

micahaphone wrote:

purplefood wrote:Oh yeah...
The Empire, i forgot about that...
Yeah Britain nicked a load of stuff and forgot to give it back... funny how things work out.

Psssh. India/Afghanistan/America/Egypt/South Africa/Australia/all the other colonies weren't really using those artifacts, anyway.

Well they really weren't...
At least this way we can protect them from other Imperial powers and let randomers look at them for a fee...

halonachos wrote:
The British folk should just be happy that we stopped using Sherman tanks when we decide to go across, the treads totally messed up their yards.

But that dishonors the tradition and legacy of general Sherman!

Paternalism! Paternalism! We demand free determination of our destiny! Rargh!

micahaphone wrote:

halonachos wrote:
The British folk should just be happy that we stopped using Sherman tanks when we decide to go across, the treads totally messed up their yards.

But that dishonors the tradition and legacy of general Sherman!

Nah, we keep the tanks in Normandy now. The French don't care as much about their lawns as the British do, and the British don't care about the French anyways so it works out.

Da Boss wrote:Paternalism! Paternalism! We demand free determination of our destiny! Rargh!

Well, you gits shouldn't have taxed our tea!


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halonachos wrote:

micahaphone wrote:

halonachos wrote:
The British folk should just be happy that we stopped using Sherman tanks when we decide to go across, the treads totally messed up their yards.

But that dishonors the tradition and legacy of general Sherman!

Nah, we keep the tanks in Normandy now. The French don't care as much about their lawns as the British do, and the British don't care about the French anyways so it works out.

Well, alright....
But there better be some railroads to bend out of shape!

Slarg232 wrote:Because women with British accents are HOT!

Even Scouse women..(ladies from Liverpool)?????????????????????????????????

Juvieus Kaine wrote: the people aren't exactly pleasent (don't lie to yourself), ?

Yeah, Go Pikies!

Mannahnin wrote:When we visited the British Museum we took my picture next to the Sutton Hoo excavation treasures (yay, vikings!),

Don't you mean 'Yay, Anglo-Saxons?' Anyhow, I loved that exhibition. In fact, I love the British Museum. It's one of my favourite places in the world. It's just full of amazing stuff - 6000 year old Chinese jade pieces, ancient Babylonian tablets, Roman stuff, native American artefacts, not to mention the Egyptians... the list is almost endless. I think my favourite display was the Ashurbanipal exhibit.

GoDz BuZzSaW wrote:

Juvieus Kaine wrote: the people aren't exactly pleasent (don't lie to yourself), ?

Yeah, Go Pikies!

Don't you mean the chavs? They're enought to scare anyone away... or at least cause a nuisance

Juvieus Kaine wrote:

GoDz BuZzSaW wrote:

Juvieus Kaine wrote: the people aren't exactly pleasent (don't lie to yourself), ?

Yeah, Go Pikies!

Don't you mean the chavs? They're enought to scare anyone away... or at least cause a nuisance

Meh, Chavs, Pikies, the same thing, they both nick stuff

Albatross wrote:

Mannahnin wrote:When we visited the British Museum we took my picture next to the Sutton Hoo excavation treasures (yay, vikings!),

Don't you mean 'Yay, Anglo-Saxons?'

I was dumbing it down, yes. If you haven't checked them out already, I recommend Bernard Cornwell's Saxon books for fun historical fiction stories. I actually have no relation to the anglo-saxons, being partially of Swedish descent. But in part thanks to that, and to my having a stereotypical viking name (common among the Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes), I've always liked that stuff, and it was fun to get my picture taken with viking-esque stuff, even if said stuff was actually from a separate but related culture.

Albatross wrote:Anyhow, I loved that exhibition. In fact, I love the British Museum. It's one of my favourite places in the world. It's just full of amazing stuff - 6000 year old Chinese jade pieces, ancient Babylonian tablets, Roman stuff, native American artefacts, not to mention the Egyptians... the list is almost endless. I think my favourite display was the Ashurbanipal exhibit.

It's a jewel. We only spent half a day in it, and talked about how we could make a whole trip to London again JUST spending it at the British Museum.

Although on a substantially lesser scale, we also enjoyed the natural history museum in Vienna a lot. That's the only other such museum we've been to in Europe (otherwise just art museums). I love going though exhibits which themselves are extremely old. The peek into how previous generations looked at antiquities is also awesome.

Like all thing French when compared to all things English, the Louvre is better.

micahaphone wrote:Who gives a flying feth about britain?

The only case I've seen of it is vapid people being obsessed with the royal wedding. And a few teenagers who believe "when I graduate I'm going to school in the UK because everything is awesome over there everyone is smart I won't have to deal with these dumbasses anymore".

2 Things to say here:

1) The Royal Wedding was insane, but only because we brits got a day off school/work

2) Nah mate the USA is where it's at, that's where I'm heading in a few years time

GoDz BuZzSaW wrote:
2) Nah mate the USA is where it's at, that's where I'm heading in a few years time

Say good-bye to universal healthcare, or you know you could move to Canada.

GoDz BuZzSaW wrote:

micahaphone wrote:Who gives a flying feth about britain?

The only case I've seen of it is vapid people being obsessed with the royal wedding. And a few teenagers who believe "when I graduate I'm going to school in the UK because everything is awesome over there everyone is smart I won't have to deal with these dumbasses anymore".

2 Things to say here:

1) The Royal Wedding was insane, but only because we brits got a day off school/work

2) Nah mate the USA is where it's at, that's where I'm heading in a few years time

Well, if I got a day off, I'd be happy too. But us Americans didn't. So why be excited about it?

So, you mean that you guys have the mirrored situation? That we are a country of smart people/a better place?


Well, this reinforces Thomas Hobbes, in my opinion.

We don't generally have that opinion of you, no offence...

Albatross wrote:We don't generally have that opinion of you, no offence...

None taken. We Americans will gladly admit that the other side of the debate (choose one) in our country are godless idiots who barely made it out of high school.


And I am correct in that Britain really isn't that different from the USA in terms of people/manners/intelligence/sophisticated-ness?

micahaphone wrote:

GoDz BuZzSaW wrote:

micahaphone wrote:Who gives a flying feth about britain?

The only case I've seen of it is vapid people being obsessed with the royal wedding. And a few teenagers who believe "when I graduate I'm going to school in the UK because everything is awesome over there everyone is smart I won't have to deal with these dumbasses anymore".

2 Things to say here:

1) The Royal Wedding was insane, but only because we brits got a day off school/work

2) Nah mate the USA is where it's at, that's where I'm heading in a few years time

Well, if I got a day off, I'd be happy too. But us Americans didn't. So why be excited about it?

So, you mean that you guys have the mirrored situation? That we are a country of smart people/a better place?


Well, this reinforces Thomas Hobbes, in my opinion.

We don't think your a country of smart people, we just think America is a good place to go to.

Come on Obama! Get that US NHS

What does the USA have that you don't?


Besides guns.

micahaphone wrote:What does the USA have that you don't?


Besides guns.

Annoying accents, but that's besides the point, well I think, especially Canada, has a more 'community spirit' than England, you celebrate Christmas and stuff proper over there!

GoDz BuZzSaW wrote:

micahaphone wrote:What does the USA have that you don't?


Besides guns.

Annoying accents, but that's besides the point, well I think, especially Canada, has a more 'community spirit' than England, you celebrate Christmas and stuff proper over there!

You mean you're all dour and don't have fun holidays?
I do suppose that you don't have thanksgiving...

micahaphone wrote:

GoDz BuZzSaW wrote:

micahaphone wrote:What does the USA have that you don't?


Besides guns.

Annoying accents, but that's besides the point, well I think, especially Canada, has a more 'community spirit' than England, you celebrate Christmas and stuff proper over there!

You mean you're all dour and don't have fun holidays?
I do suppose that you don't have thanksgiving...

You could say that, On halowee'en no one comes out any more, of course i'm too old for it but still not many kids go trick or treating any more!

That's somewhat of a problem, but I live in a town with a high elderly population. I actually saw some parents driving their kids door-to-door, for the houses they knew were supplying. I mean, I'm all in favor of the parental evac, carrying you away to better, fresh neighborhoods, but that's ridiculous.

micahaphone wrote:That's somewhat of a problem, but I live in a town with a high elderly population. I actually saw some parents driving their kids door-to-door, for the houses they knew were supplying. I mean, I'm all in favor of the parental evac, carrying you away to better, fresh neighborhoods, but that's ridiculous.

Now that is just a shocker

You say people want to go to England to go to school? I want to go to Uni in the USA

micahaphone wrote:What does the USA have that you don't?


Besides guns.

Good food.
Mexicans

You can tell by GODZ replies he is just a young pup.

Having lived in the US, I cant really see any glaring differences, you just like seeing the world when your a young lad.

In a nutshell, its the exact same. Our food is better than it was in 1980, and their pubs and breweries are better. Sadly it seems that everwhere is becoming the same as everywhere else in this global world we live in.

Same brands, same clothes, same food, same music, same cars, same culture.

It varies by state slightly, but basically in CA its sunnier, but has too much traffic, and aside from those two things it aint that different from Yorkshire.

But we have more pubs per square mile, and that's more important to me than weather, so we moved back over here.

Plus, you brought a Mexican back with you, so...

mattyrm wrote:You can tell by GODZ replies he is just a young pup.

Having lived in the US, I cant really see any glaring differences, you just like seeing the world when your a young lad.

In a nutshell, its the exact same. Our food is better than it was in 1980, and their pubs and breweries are better. Sadly it seems that everwhere is becoming the same as everywhere else in this global world we live in.

Same brands, same clothes, same food, same music, same cars, same culture.

It varies by state slightly, but basically in CA its sunnier, but has too much traffic, and aside from those two things it aint that different from Yorkshire.

But we have more pubs per square mile, and that's more important to me than weather, so we moved back over here.

I would like to say that the weather in the US is much better, but this month and April, it's been pretty damn fine here in the UK

In my short but ''colourfull'' existance on this planet i have figered out that nomatter were you go holiday/other the only thing that really changes is the language, life is pritty much the same everwere elce. All ways good to come home to see Yorkshire thou, seeing thous green hills allways makes me smile.

Speaking for myself, my ancestry is Scotch-Irish on my dads side and French on my moms side. I am also a history buff. I would love to go to Britain to see the rich history that we don't have in the USA. I want to see castles and elves. Same goes for France or Italy.

GG

Eddie Izzard wrote: Now I'm from Europe, where all the history is made...

Ketara wrote:

Eddie Izzard wrote: Now I'm from Europe, where all the history is made...

“I saw something in a program on something in Miami, and they were saying, "We've redecorated this building to how it looked over 50 years ago!" And people were going, "No, surely not, no. No one was alive then!"”

SilverMK2 wrote:

Ketara wrote:

Eddie Izzard wrote: Now I'm from Europe, where all the history is made...

“I saw something in a program on something in Miami, and they were saying, "We've redecorated this building to how it looked over 50 years ago!" And people were going, "No, surely not, no. No one was alive then!"”

Kinda weird how new some cities are...

Juvieus Kaine wrote:As a fellow Brit I am endlessly confounded when I talk to foreign people (no offences), particularly Americans, who say they'd love to come swing by for a week or two and enjoy what we have to offer.

...Urm hang on a minute Why here? I've been to Florida twice (probably the "nice side") and it was gorgeous - lovely weather, great food, decent scenery, awesome holiday. My dad's been about and he said it's quite nice in other states. So what makes Britain any better? Food is not as great, the people aren't exactly pleasent (don't lie to yourself), it's rather dreary and wet and there's not alot to do overall besides sight-seeing. You could easily do that in other countries - Russia, Japan, China, heck most countries but not here

So c'mon Internetz, why would you want to come visit Britain?

Not the food, not the women, and the trip is usually incredibly expensive due to the pound v dollar, but we are still obscessed with royalty. When I visited back in 04, I know I went right to Buckingham and starred at the guards and their funny hats like an idiot. Piccadilly Circus was alot of fun, tons of little pubs and the people were really nice. I had my first true culture shock there. I was sitting at a table alone in a pub for lunch while reading the paper and some brochures. By the time I was done eating there were 6 complete strangers sitting with me talking and drinking, it was awesome. You would never see that at a table in the US.

I spent most of my time in London. I would like to see a lot more of the country side, such as going on a tour of some old Lancaster and York sites.

Once upon a time, I nearly got run over by an American tourist driving on the wrong side! Do me a favour and stick to visiting the Alamo instead.

I have no idea why an American would even want to drive in the UK/EU. You guys have great public transportation. I visited 15 countries in 3 months by foot, bus, train, boat.

You guys have great public transportation

You really do like Britain!

I visited 15 countries in 3 months by foot, bus, train, boat.

Gotta love the EU in that regard. I remember standing on the Dutch/Belgian/German border near Maastricht and doing a Homer Simpson a la I'm in Holland, no I'm Germany. etc

Forget all this nonsense about Constitutions, right to bear arms and presidential elections. Come back home America. You know it makes sense.

mattyrm wrote:You can tell by GODZ replies he is just a young pup.

Mainly because it is chav speak 'Nah mate'