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An Insider's Guide of Britain, part 2 by Greg Dobbs First, a helpful hint : when you’re in London, you’re in England ... and Great Britain ... and the United Kingdom. Here’s why: once upon a time, there were three independent countries on the island: England, Wales, and Scotland. Now, all three are part of Great Britain. But the United Kingdom constitutes more than just Great Britain because of Northern Ireland, which is on the island west of Great Britain, the one called Ireland. Actually, Ireland is both an island and a country, the Republic of Ireland. However, north of the Republic of Ireland, on the very same island of Ireland, is Northern Ireland, which once was Ireland’s (the country called Ireland’s) six northern counties (still referred to as Ulster), but today is a British province--- troubled, as you may have read! So, in summary, Ireland and Northern Ireland are both on the island of Ireland. The island of Ireland and that of Great Britain (east of Ireland) constitute the British Isles. Meanwhile, Great Britain and Northern Ireland constitute the United Kingdom. There will be a test tomorrow. And if you like, I’ll explain the British Commonwealth, and the pesky little Isle of Man, up there in the Irish Sea between Ireland and Great Britain, which has ties to Britain but is in fact an independent country (with the world’s oldest continuously running parliament). The Isle of Man has casinos too. But save that for when you get back!!! Three things to recommend outside of Central London: - Hampstead, where we used to live. It is most easily reached by taking The Northern Line of The Tube, getting off at the Hampstead stop, (the deepest point in the tube’s tunnel system). It has one of the best "high streets" in London. Every neighborhood has one; High Street simply means neighborhood shopping street. Hampstead also is the highest point in London, which is one of the features we liked best – not that the view is spectacular, but as you look south toward London, it’s a meadow of Mary Poppins rooftops. (If you want to see the enormous plaque they installed to commemorate our five years there, we lived in Heath Mansions, the back of which you can reach by climbing the high street about 200 yards uphill from The Tube, and the front of which you can reach by climbing the small road just across the street from The Tube, and about a hundred yards along, forking to "Hampstead Grove" on the right.) - Kew Gardens, the best (and biggest) of English gardens, and nobody gardens like the English. It may or may not be worthwhile though, depending on the time of year. Ask someone. - Hampton Court. Old
palace, on the Thames, with the world’s greatest English maze. If
someone tells you to "get lost," you can. - The Cotswolds. This is a charming, almost intimate little mountain range about an hour-and-a-half away. Drive west to Oxford (and pull off to see Oxford’s campus if it interests you), then turn "north at the roundabout". The Cotswolds are full of wonderful little ancient towns, many of which are full of antiques and galleries. Towns with names like Broadway, Stow-On-The-Wold, Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter. You get from one to another on narrow little roads lined with hedgerows. We’d often go antiquing just for the day, and sometimes spend the night spontaneously at some bed-and-breakfast or another. Everything in this region is the color of limestone. (Shakespeare’s Stratford-On-Avon is up at the north end of the Cotswolds. Our opinion is, the town is kind of touristy and you’ll get a better flavor of Ye Olde Englande further south.) - Cambridge. This is England’s best university campus. Go hear the organ (and if you’re lucky, the choir) in the chapel of King’s College. And if the weather’s nice, and they’re open, go rent a "punt" and row "the backs", which means go rent a flat bottom boat and row up and down the river behind the colleges. Wonderful great fun, but take off your shoes if you don’t want to get them wet. Last but not least: there are two British Breakfast traditions -- One is "Kippers", which are fish-prepared-to-be-eaten-with-eggs. Takes a bit of getting used to, but awfully good once you do. The fact is, you haven’t really visited Britain without kippers. The other one is cold toast.
That’s because your morning toast will be served the traditional way: on
silver racks, which permit the toast to lose its last degree of heat
before it ever reaches your table! Why the Brits don’t change their
ways, we never understood. They joke about their cold toast, but that’s
still the way they serve it. |
