When I am in England, I like to stop by about every pub I pass for a pint of a dark porter and shoot the breeze with the locals no matter where I am going. Sometimes, it can take me hours just to move a few blocks.
I call it foreign because it's likely the Brits are the minority there. It's the old joke - What's black and doesn't work? Half of London.
I used to view Camden as the place to get all the coolest clothes. I was young, that video game The Urbz, Sims in the City was out, and, I likened London to this game, where Mayfair's the posh nice bit, Camden, was where to get some cool clothes. etc.
As a native of London, I can only remember with glee coming home from day drips to the coast, like South End on Sea, and it being like 7 in the evening and things in London's still as ever. I remember as a child passing pizza places and stuff on the way in thinking... London's awesome.
I believe in England, we should have English culture, French in France and Spanish in Spain. This multiculturalism crap doesn't work. A world city, lol.
I think that all big cities are pretty much the same, as TROL said. The flavour of a country will be found away from the city. I think it's impossible for a big city to remain momocultural.
Hence the source of most troubles. When the fanatics bleat on about American v UK violence, notice it's New York v London !!
England has warm beer, steak and kidney pie and beef wellington. Good luck with that, I'm going to keep my Purple Haze that the Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded on Dean Street, Soho, City of Westminster, and thank God we have this city. It's my part of the UK, don't think for one second I pine for Pikeys and Chavs and fat people.
You might not believe in multiculturalism, but, nobody invited you, don't fix what isn't broken. @Nonnie
Yeah, I found that out in NYC when it was like home, got back to London and I was like 'well what is England'? Then later I found out England is a place where shops close before 7 pm and everyone's poor or ignorant because of some rich poor divide making them vote Brexit and UKIP marching in their EDL parades because they think England's different than South Holland or Flanders.
New York City's just UK hype these days, it's not even America's 100 most dangerous cities. Now, when London gets worse than Detroit, then we can cry.
Food from the UK that's edible that's not Scottish because, believe it or not, Scotland is some of the best UK foods... (Scotch eggs, scotch whiskey, shortbread, even Haggis)... I like: Shepherd's Pie Cottage Pie Fish & Chips Full English Breakfast Sunday Roast with Yorkshire Puddings Cornish Pasties Lemon Sherbert Skittles (I swear we gave the world Skittles). [this list was bigger than I thought]. Bottom line is; If it's Beef Wellington or Steak and Kidney Pie, please; stop making it, it tastes awful, pie and mash too, ****ing eel pies and green gravy, nothing to be proud of, you can buy it in Covent Garden but why would you? See a chicken shop instead, it's cheaper it's what the people in the UK are eating too, all that traditional muck is really for German tourists. I've never gone out of my way for Bangers and Mash or ever sought Toad in the Hole.
If you've been served warm beer, steak & kidney pie and beef wellington all the time, get out more. As for music, different tastes. I never listen to Hendrix, The Beatles, Elton John and Elvis (to name a few) because I think they're crap. On the other hand, some of their songs are actually better when sung/played by someone else. So music is subjective.
My pub does BBQ Jerk Chicken on Sundays (according to their chalk board). I mean, welcome to Thornton Heath.
Why should I feel patriotic? British history is institutionally racist. We're brave and we war and we have so many war statues and monuments here, but, c'mon, you see it today in government not rectifying or granting us more freedoms, it's the oppression of the state and the terrible food if it isn't the music and the pulse of a globalised culture which is a mix of cultures and one on to it's own found places the world over with momentos all made in China with whatever city you're in's badge on and businesses you know from home and logos and everything. You see things you thought was unique to London in other countries and cities, like Madame Tussaudes. I worked in promotion in Soho, I've worked in promotion in Piccadilly Circus too; I went to Amsterdam, fresh off the boat from Vauxhall in London, first time in Amsterdam, and, I feel like I'm in Croydon with the shops and the trams/trolleys, and I see people doing my job in promotion in Amsterdam, that was surreal. Sure, I'd like to think the world now speaks English, but it doesn't, but, that doesn't stop me loving the English speaking countries too, that and London being London and the music being global from Soho (like, WOW)... are sources of patriotism to me, but each to their own, sorry you and your children didn't like London, but don't you dare change it into Ipswich, Bournemouth, or Birmingham. 24/7 Global culture is what makes my Union Jack and local landmarks, like home. That and like sports cars like that Ferrari dealership right. Austin Martin, that's a British car, but, I'm from London, why not like Austin Martin and Ferrari and Porsche wherever you are? But, shout out to Austin Martin for being for/from the home team down both here and abroad, bringing UK to the world like that, like the cars too. Lotus Exige Elise is cool, saw one of those carbon fibre beauties in Denmark Street, I saw two hotties flirting with these two policeman who were just having a chat/doing their job and all of that, but those girls were fine like that ride, two young women having fun in a black drop top convertible one night; I saw some Rolls Royce owner get out and kick someone's ass in the street because that person was a dick and poured champagne all over it, it was a new Rolls Royce too, in Soho, a lot of cool rides in the city actually, with interesting paint jobs, bikes too. Stratford Upon Avon (NOT IN LONDON) has some nice motorbikes and William Shakespeare; that's cool, but the town felt like Disneyland for William Shakespeare when I last went.
