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English Pronunciations for Americans in London

English Pronunciations for Americans in London

Yes, we speak the same language, but not only do we not use the same words for things, we pronounce things differently. There’s like these insider secret pronunciation rules that outsiders just don’t know and locals take for granted. Here are the ones I’ve noticed. 

Looking Forward to Ithaca

Looking Forward to Ithaca

Yes, we’re having a great time in London. And on one hand, I don’t really want to leave. On the other, I’m really looking forward to getting settled into Ithaca. Here’s what I’m looking forward to. Downsizing  Yep, downsizing. We’ll move everything from our storage 

British Cuisine: __ on Toast

British Cuisine: __ on Toast

There’s something going on with British cuisine. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good. We haven’t had a bad meal yet (don’t believe the rumors). Not even close. But there’s this fascination with things on toast. We had grouse offal on toast at St. John Bread and Wine. 

The London Win: Fuse Edition

The London Win: Fuse Edition

We blew a fuse on the electric tea kettle. Not sure how I managed that, but I did. Tripped the breaker in the house too. Finding and flipping the breaker back was easy. The fuse, that was another matter. In Chicago, we lived around the 

Offal Lunch at St. John Bread and Wine

Offal Lunch at St. John Bread and Wine

I cut into it and it spewed, simple as that. Not a bad spew. Just a spew. Didn’t want Lisa to see though, so I mopped it up and shoved it in my mouth. Damn, it was tasty. “What was that?” she asked. “I’ll tell 

The best free / cheap things to do in London

The best free / cheap things to do in London

London is expensive. Finding free or cheap things to do is tricky — you’ve got to be creative. At least the majority of the national museums have free admission for their permanent collections, so you can always duck inside on a rainy day. But maybe 

Things I Love about London

Things I Love about London

London is a great city. Here’s what I’m falling in love with: Free museums. Most museums have free general admission. Special exhibits are extra. Smart. “Real” ale. I asked what “unreal” ale was and got strange looks. So much for that inquiry. Anyway, the beers 

“Direct” Flight to London

“Direct” Flight to London

We wanted a direct flight when flying to London, didn’t want to transfer. Of course, no flight is truly direct. Here’s what we went through to get from A (Lake Geneva, WI, USA) to B (London, England, UK). Drive to Harvard, IL (40 minutes) Our 

The Dogs Are Better In London

The Dogs Are Better In London

We’re just around the corner from London Fields park, one of the seemingly endless London public parks. The parks are wonderful, but the space isn’t the most amazing thing about them. It’s the dogs. Like a lot of parks, people bring their dogs to London 

Drinking is EXPENSIVE in London

Drinking is EXPENSIVE in London

Damn, wine’s expensive here. Booze is expensive too. Let’s do some maths. (Things get pluraled oddly over here. “Horsepowers” is  a legit term.) In California, where we found the cheapest wine on our trip, they sell Two Buck Chuck at Trader Joe’s– a bottle of Charles 

Brighton…looks like all there is to do here is shop, eat, and drink…?

Brighton…looks like all there is to do here is shop, eat, and drink…?

We settled into the train with a sigh of relief. We’d made it: woken up before noon, even gotten out of the house at 9am on the dot, navigated tube closures (damned UK planned maintenance, why can’t you let problems build up then fix them 

A Very Google Summer

A Very Google Summer

Well, we certainly Google’d a lot this last year. Every time we found ourselves in a new town, we’d need to figure out where the grocery store was, where the library was, where they sold tacos, etc. Our first source was nearly always Google Maps.