Summer holidays

I still can't quite get used to British summer holidays. They normally kick off with the Spring Bank Holiday (the last Monday of May) and end with the Summer Bank Holiday (the last Monday of August), both of which are national holidays when everyone (or most everyone) has the day off work. Banks are closed and there is no postal delivery. But this isn't what makes the British summer holidays strange.

What makes the British summer holidays strange is that nearly EVERYONE goes on holiday (vacation) during the month of August. Seeing as kids are normally in school from September through June, it does make sense that families take their vacations during August. But when you consider that most people here in the UK get a month or more of annual leave (vacation) and that most people take 2, 3 or 4 weeks off during August, it does seem quite weird. It feels like the whole of the country takes August off work.

And the Brits don't normally spend their vacations at British beaches or even in Britain for that matter. No - they normally take flight to another part of the world. Granted, most head for sunny destinations in Europe like Spain or Italy, but many go further afield to Greece or Turkey or Australia. Many go to Orlando (of all places, for Pete's sake)! You can pretty much guarantee that most will be headed for the sun.

Call me strange, I guess. But I prefer to take my holidays when most others are NOT. I can't handle crowds at the best of times. I'd much rather have a beach or a mountain to myself. And given the choice, I would much rather stay here in Britain where not only is there so much to see and do - but it's much more environment friendly than flying off to some other destination :0)

Where is the logic???

Could someone please explain to me the logic behind why Londoners can't seem to walk consistently on the same side of the pavement??? With a city this size, you'd think there would be some sort of protocol to keep pedestrians flowing smoothly. But nooooooo! Instead, it's like being in an ant colony, with people going in all sorts of directions - some walking on the left, some on the right, some darting back and forth to keep out of the way of others. Inevitably, people are constantly running into one another (saying 'sorry' as they walk along). What's with this? Why can't everyone keep to either the left or right so everyone is moving along with no hassle?

In America, it's just a given that pedestrians always keep to the right. Same as on the road. Whether it's on a staircase, sidewalk, hallway, whatever, everyone automatically knows to keep to the right. Makes perfect sense to me. Over here, even though everyone drives on the left, they do not keep to that same logic when walking. Unless there is a sign posted to specifically say 'keep left' or 'keep right', people just go in all directions. It drives me absolutely insane!

On the escalators in tube stations, you'll see signs posted for people to stand on the right so that those who want to pass can do so on the left. Fair enough. (Even though it is completely opposite from the rules of the road - where the slow movers stay on the left so those passing can do so on the right).

I just don't get it. But then again, perhaps this is just another way for the Brits to 'take the piss.' They must get a kick out of seeing total mayhem on the sidewalks (or as they say here, pavements). But that's another gripe for another day. Pavement (to me) means the road, not the sidewalk!

Wimbledon fever

Wouldn't you know it? After spending around £80 million on the new retractable roof at Wimbledon, the 2-week tournament saw practically no rain this year. Instead, we had a heat wave! (These fans are using their brollies to shelter themselves from the sun, not rain).

Although the officials couldn't resist trying out the new roof at least once - and decided to close it at the first sign of a drizzle one day. Then everyone complained the humidity was too unbearable and said the breeze would have been better!

The biggest attraction this year, however, was Andy Murray. Murray fever was everywhere. Unfortunately the Scot was unable to become the first Brit since 1938 to advance to the men's finals. Instead, Andy Roddick kicked ass to beat Murray, and then put Roger Federer through one hell of a final. At least Federer was able to set a new record to reach 15 grand slam wins, with previous record holder Pete Sampras there to see it.

And once again - the Williams sisters dominated the ladies! Serena beat defending champion and sister Venus.

Heat wave

We've had a heat wave here in England for the past week. (Although, coming from Florida, these people don't know what a real heat wave is)! It has been pretty hot though. The high got to around 90F (32c), albeit 10F below the all-time record of 100F set in 2003.

We also experienced the hottest, driest and sunniest month since July 2006. Keep in mind the average temperature in London this time of year is just 73F. Even worse, air-conditioning is a luxury and certainly not the norm here. Most homes do NOT have it, so you just learn to cope. Thank God this country is as breezy as it is.

The Brits do make me laugh, though. At the first sign of sunshine, everyone starts to dress like they're at the beach. And everyone wears flip flops - even people commuting to work. It's an obsession with these people. Workers flock outside during their lunch hours to get some sun and possibly a glance at some 'posers' like these Chippendale dancers walking through Hyde Park.

Tube strike

Londoners had to endure a 48-hour tube strike this week. Not good when you consider some 3 million people travel by tube here every day. But all-in-all, everyone coped quite well. You certainly saw a LOT more cyclists, walkers, skaters, buses and taxis on the road than normal. And even the ferries along The Thames were carrying around 8,000 commuters PER HOUR, opposed to the normal 1,000 per day. I think in the end only 100,000 were unable to get to work. Although it did cost the city's economy about £100 million.

To make the situation even worse, England was playing in the World Cup qualifier against Andorra at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday. Quite a few people couldn't even get there, and those who did had a real struggle since the best way to get to Wembley is by tube. As many as 70,000 supporters had to travel by car, even though there is already a lack of parking in the area.

The real kick in the stomach was that the strike was party over salaries (as usual), despite the fact that tube drivers average around £40,000 per year (about £10,000 a year more than nurses), plus they only work a 35-hour week and get 43 days' annual leave, not to mention FREE staff travel for themselves and their spouses. Tough life, heh? Personally, I hope people fight back by refusing to travel by tube. Think of how much more pleasure they'll get (not to mention EXERCISE) by walking or cycling instead. Easy for me to say, since I don't have to travel by tube every day. Thank God.

Time for Gordon Brown to go!

There are many facets of British government that I prefer over America's. The ability to get rid of a poor-performing leader is one of them. Gordon Brown has gone from one disaster to another since he took over as Prime Minister from Tony Blair in 2007. But the last few weeks have been nothing short of catastrophic. The expenses scandal was bad enough. Now six of his cabinet ministers have resigned within the past week, followed by several other junior ministers. To top that, in last Thursday's local elections, Labour lost 60% of the county councillor seats held and now hold ZERO county councils.

In the UK, there are a total of 34 county councils (with 2289 county councillors seats). After last week's election, 30 of the councils are now Conservative, 1 is Liberal Democrat and 1 is no affiliation. NONE are held by Labour and only 176 of the 2289 seats are held by Labour. What a joke. And what does Gordon Brown do in response? Shakes up his cabinet. He decides to shuffle people around in order to show that he's doing something productive. Basically trying to position himself ahead of the European election results which come out tomorrow and which Labour are once again expected to lose dreadfully in. He has even offered a job to Sir Alan Sugar to add some star-quality I suppose. All of this, in my opinion, warrants Gordon Brown's removal as leader of Labour (and consequently as Prime Minister).

What's so great about the system here is that if enough members of the ruling party agree that their leader is not performing well enough, they can submit a letter of no-confidence to force a vote for a new leader of the party. For Labour, only 15% of the party members need to show support for no-confidence before it is acted upon (for the Conservative Party, it's 20%). With six of Brown's cabinet ministers stepping down last week, surely this is as good a sign as any of 'no confidence' in his ability to lead the country???

I understand a good number of Labour MPs have already signed a letter of no-confidence. All they need is 71 signatures. Come on, guys, show some balls and do something to reinstate faith in the Labour Party to take a lead on something for a change. Brown needs to go. At least you have the ability to do something about it - unlike in America where everyone is just screwed until another election can be held.

Happy Birthday, Big Ben!

Big Ben turns 150 today! However, to be more exact, today marks the day when the Great Clock started keeping time back in 1859.

Most people think of Big Ben as the whole structure (the Clock Tower, the Great Clock and the Great Bell), but Big Ben is actually the nickname for the bell itself, which didn't start chiming until July 11th that year. And its success was very short-lived. Just three months later the big bell cracked and Big Ben became silent for four years!

The bongs of Big Ben are heard every hour (and chimes ring out every quarter hour). Rarely has Big Ben gone mute. The chimes were stopped for a couple of years during WWI, but then carried on during WWII when Britons observed a minute's silence as the clock struck nine. It was called the Big Ben Minute.

Construction of the tower in 1859 was marred by delays, budget overruns and bureaucratic squabbling. (Nothing ever changes, heh?) It was lambasted in the media as a disgrace and much too loud. But as with the London Eye, all the negativity turned into positives and soon Big Ben became a cherished part of London's landscape. In 1949 it made its first TV appearance on New Year's Eve and has played a starring role in New Years celebrations ever since.

Train travel

Most Americans don't have a clue what it's like traveling by train as the norm. There is certainly lots to love and lots to hate about it.

The good things: it's fast and saves tons of time as opposed to driving; it gives you time to read or sleep or do something productive other than putting up with road rage (either your own or someone else's); it's a LOT more environmentally friendly than driving.

The not-so-good things: cancelled or delayed trains; overcrowded trains; other people can be a big nuisance! Nothing irritates me more than people who use the train to conduct their daily phone calls, or eat their meals, or talk so loudly with fellow passengers that it disturbs everyone else around them. Frankly I think food and phones should be banned from trains.

But there is worse. Drunks, people with horrible BO or those who fart, or trouble-makers who make you fear for your life. And let's not forget the over-zealous train drivers who eagerly announce every station for those passengers who have never been on the journey before. It can certainly get irritating. Thank God for iPods (except for those assholes who crank theirs high enough for everyone to hear).

Paul and I are fortunate though. By catching the 6.25am train into London (and returning to Hertford before 5pm), we are able to avoid all of the crowds and enjoy relatively empty carriages. Except when we travel on the weekends. I have never understood why the train company can run a service every 5 minutes to London on the weekday with trains that are 6 carriages long, yet run weekend services just twice an hour with just 3 carriages. Shit, by the time we get to London, people are crammed like sardines. But then that's not as bad as having to endure loud children and babies crying, which is at least something you rarely get during weekday journeys.

It still beats driving....

Eurovision Song Contest

Last night was the Eurovision Song Contest. This is an annual competition held since 1956 among European countries. Each country submits a song to be performed on live TV and then votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition. Generally around 100 million people worldwide watch it.

The UK has won 5 times and come in second 15 times. They had always been in the top 10 up to and including 1998 but haven't done all that great since then. In fact they got 'nul points' for the first time ever in 2003 and again in 2008. However, Jade Ewen changed all that last night after she came in 5th with the song specially written for her by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Diane Warren called It's My Time. We watched Jade win the competition (to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest) earlier this year on the TV show Eurovision: Your Country Needs You. And Andrew Lloyd Webber even played the piano for her last night.

The last time the UK won was in 1997. We happened to watch it that year while we were on our honeymoon in Kent. Ironically, American-born Katrina Leskanich (Katrina and the Waves) won it with Love Shine a Light. There is no restriction on the nationality of performers, by the way.

Other notable winners include ABBA who won for Sweden in 1974 with Waterloo. (Olivia Newton John came in 4th place that year for the UK). And Celine Dion won in 1988 for Switzerland, although her stardom didn't come til years later and wasn't associated with her win. Cliff Richard has placed twice, once in 2nd place (1968) and once in 3rd place (1973).

This year also marked a new host for the British broadcast of the show. Graham Norton replaced Terry Wogan after 37 years.

Birthday cakes

I can't get my head around the British tradition of celebrating birthdays at work. In America, it's customary for colleagues to bring in a cake or goodies to the person celebrating a birthday. In England, it's up to the person having the birthday to bring in the 'cakes' for everyone else! Not only that, but they refer to the treat being brought in, regardless of what it is (a birthday cake, cupcakes, pastries, donuts, cookies, you name it) as 'cakes' even if they aren't really what I would call cakes! Talk about confusing.

And it doesn't stop there. To the British, 'sweets' refer to any type of candy (chocolate, hard, soft, whatever), while cookies are called 'biscuits'. (Except of course if someone takes some biscuits to work on their birthday and then they are called 'cakes'). And dessert in general is referred to as 'pudding'. So if you're in a restaurant and see 'puddings' on the menu, it can mean anything from ice cream to Spotted Dick - which by the way is a sponge-type steamed pudding made with suet (beef fat) and dried fruit (usually currants) and served with cream custard. It's actually quite good.

Anyway, back to the birthdays. Yesterday was Paul's birthday and because he took the day off work, he couldn't take cakes into the office (and wasn't planning to anyway). Several people actually sent him a message asking if he were planning to bring cakes in today instead!

Cornwall

We just returned from a fabulous week's holiday in Cornwall. What a gorgeous and unique part of England!

Cornwall is England's southernmost county and therefore is its warmest and sunniest. The winters are relatively mild and snow is rare. My kind of place! It is located on the peninsula at the southwestern tip of England and is bordered to the north by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the English Channel and to the east by the county of Devon. As with Florida, you don't just 'drive through' Cornwall. You have to make a special effort to get there. And to make it even more difficult to reach - there are no motorways! Perfect.

Apparently some 30% of the landscape in Cornwall is national recognized and protected as 'Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.' Once you visit the place, you can see why. Cornwall has more ancient monuments than any other county in Great Britain, with over 11,000 listed buildings, houses, churches, mines and castles.

Most of the interior landscape is made up of patchwork fields divided by heath and stone hedges and full of heathland, moorland, yellow gorse, and cattle and sheep (and horses). I read somewhere that there are as many registered sheep living in Cornwall as there are people. Reminds me of New Zealand. Most of the driving is along small two-lane 'B' roads which take you through tiny villages with centuries-old stone cottages, barns, pubs and churches.

Cornwall's northern coastline is made up mostly of impressive rocky cliffs, thanks to the winds blowing off the Atlantic. The south coast, also known as 'the riviera', is a bit milder. There are loads of harbours and beaches located all along both coastlines. The tidal changes pretty much dictate life here though. When the tides are in, all of the harbours of full of water and boats can freely come and go. But when the tide is out, no one goes anywhere, as the harbours are completely empty of water leaving all the boats sitting on top of the sand. It's wild. Likewise, when the tides are out, sandy beaches that weren't there before suddenly appear. Where we stayed in Hayle, there was hardly any beach when the tide was in, but when the tide went out we had 3 miles of wide sandy beach to enjoy.

Cornwall is also full of footpaths for walkers to enjoy the scenery. You can get just about anywhere by foot. In fact, the South West Coast Path runs a whopping 630 miles around the southwestern coast from Minehead (north of Cornwall) to Poole Harbour in Dorset along the south coast.

Old deserted tin mines also mark a lot of the Cornish landscape. These tin mines used to be a huge part of the Cornish economy, although the last mine in Cornwall (and last working tin mine in Europe) closed in 1998. The closure ended a 3000-year history of mining. In the 1800s, Cornwall mined HALF of the world's tin. But this all collapsed when mines that were nearer the surface and easier to excavate were located in places like Australia, South Africa and South America. Cornwall just couldn't compete - even though tin is still quite plentiful in Cornwall. What you generally see still standing are the tall chimney stacks and walls that formed the old engine houses used to anchor the mine engines to the ground and protect them from the elements. Some of these mines contained up to 12 miles of underground workings that descended 1000 feet or more.

These days, food and drink and tourism form Cornwall's biggest industries. The Cornish pasty alone is worth £150 million to the economy. Pasties were originally created for Cornish miners as way of feeding them a hearty and easy meal while there were working in the mines. They are basically meat and veggie meals cooked in a pastry crust with a crimped edge for holding the pasty while eating. You normally get them filled with steak, potato and turnips. They are definitely tasty and filling and weigh a TON.

Cornish clotted cream is another big thing and is used to form local specialities such as Cornish fudge and Cornish ice cream. We were lucky to find a shop in Hayle (called Mr B's) selling home-made Cornish ice cream. It was heavenly.

I could go on and on about what makes Cornwall so unique. Suffice it to say that we love it enough to want to retire here. That has now become our next goal.

St George's Day

America has Independence Day; France has Bastille Day. What does England have? St George's Day!

Yes, folks, today is St George’s Day, also known as National Day, here in England. And yet, if you were to ask most people on the street, they wouldn't have a clue what it is. Maybe because it isn't officially recognized as a national holiday, as you'd expect a National Day to be. Everyone still has to go to work, so no one notices.

For starters, few even know who St George was. He was actually a Roman solider who protested against the Romans' torture of Christians and died for his beliefs. His emblem was the red cross on a white background, which was adopted by Richard The Lion Heart and brought to England in the 12th century. This is now the flag of England.

Many countries the world over celebrate their patron saint, someone who is called upon in times of great trouble to help save the country from its enemies. The Irish have St Patrick's Day, even though it's also celebrated here in England and in America too. The English decided in the 14th century to name St George as their patron saint and declared April 23rd as St George's Day. Several countries celebrate St George's Day on April 23rd, the day St George died in 303 A.D. St George is also known as the dragon-slaying patron of saint of England, even though it’s highly unlikely he ever fought a dragon or even visited England for that matter.

The traditional custom for celebrating St George’s Day is to wear a red rose (the national flower) on your lapel. But I've never seen that in all the time I've been here. More common is to just fly the St George’s flag. Of course most pubs celebrate St George's Day, but I think pubs celebrate most everything.

I’m still not sure why this also became known as National Day, since national days tend to mark a country’s nationhood and patriotism. The English don’t have a special day for that, so they use St George's Day as their National Day. Go figure. Maybe they should just scrap the whole thing and change it to Shakespeare's Day - since William Shakespeare, that much-loved and world-known English icon, was born on this day (April 23, 1564) and died on this day in 1616. Hmmm….a brilliant idea, if I say so myself!

Henry VIII - 500 years

Today marks 500 years since England's most notorious king, Henry VIII, took the throne at the age of 17. Fat Boy (as I prefer to call him) served as monarch from 1509 until his death in 1547. He was just 55. No official cause of death was ever identified, although rumor is he died from syphilis. Which would seem just after the way he treated other people, especially his poor six wives, two of whom he had beheaded.

I remember when I first visited Hampton Court, one of Fat Boy's many palaces, and commented to Paul that I couldn't understand why the English didn't do as the French and revolt against the monarchy and all their extravagant living at the expense of the taxpayers. This of course led into a huge debate (or rather Paul voicing his opinion) about all the good things the monarchy bring to the country. Paul kindly reminded me of our argument when George W was in office and asked, 'So tell me why don't the Americans stand up and revolt against this imperialism???' He has a point there.

Now I'm even reading scary opinions that are comparing Obama to Henry VIII and even Hitler. Frankly, being the liberal that I am, I think this is a bunch of hogwash.

US Tax Day (Apr 15th)

A week ago I wrote about the UK income tax system. What I didn't mention is that, as a US citizen, I'm still required to file a US tax return every April 15th! It's crazy. Fortunately, although we have to report our UK income, we are exempt from paying taxes if we earn less than $87,600 each (this amount rises each year). Somehow I don't think we ever need to worry about reaching that amount unless the exchange rate really goes haywire!

Here's the irony though. Thanks to the 2008 US Economic Stimulus Act, because we filed a tax return in 2007, we too were included in the tax rebates that good ole Uncle Sam sent out last year. We were dumbfounded to receive a check in the mail even though we never paid a dime out in taxes. And you wonder what's wrong with the US tax system?