For the autumn holiday we headed to England to catch up with family and friends and had a splendid time doing many typical British things.
1. Taking the p1ss.
I’m never quite sure about the polite way of saying this, laughing at each other, gently mocking each other. In any case, making jokes about each other seems to be a British pastime. If a British person makes a joke about you (and you are there), don’t take offence - it might be their way of showing how much they like you.
2. Eating typical British food
This included a crab sandwich and cream tea in Devon, a full English breakfast at our hotel in Worcester, some of the spiciest curries I’ve ever eaten in Devon and Manchester and pies in Wigan. What a treat.
3. Walking on the beach
Staying on the north Devon coast, most of the beaches we visited were pebble beaches. Apparently Woolacombe has a beautiful long sandy beach but we didn’t go there. It being October, the beaches we went to were sometimes a tad windy but the sea was still relatively warm. Having said that, I didn’t pluck up the courage to take a dip but there were lots of braver people than me surfing and body boarding in the ocean and swimming in the concrete sea-water pool set in the rocks.
4. Spotting the wildlife
Mostly birds. On our first walk in Devon we saw hundreds of pheasants wandering through the forests and across the fields, running away whenever we tried to get close enough to take a picture. The swans we saw on the River Severn in Worcester were not so camera shy.
Apart from the birds we saw the usual animals – sheep next to the beach in Devon, horses near the golf course, squirrels scampering up trees and various very friendly dogs including the rather boisterous Olly in Westard Ho! a border collie mix who kept trying to jump on my knee.
5. Going into a few old buildings
I’m not much of a museumgoer (is that really one word?) but it’s hard to avoid history when you’re in England. Whether it’s alms houses or castles in Guildford, a statue of Elgar or old Tudor houses in Worcester, there’s almost always something old to look at.
6. Wandering around RHS Bridgewater
This might have been my absolute highlight. The award-winning gardens in Salford on the site of the former Duke of Bridgewater estate are simply gorgeous. They only opened in May 2021 and remind me of what England does well.
7. What I wish we'd done
It was the rugby league World Cup while we were in England so I wish I had gone to one of the matches.
Language tips
Did you spot any new words or phrases?
How about…
a tad windy – meaning a bit windy
to pluck up the courage – to get/ find the courage to do something
camera shy – typically a person, rather than a swan, who doesn’t like being in front of the camera
Why don’t you practise using one of the words you’ve learned in this blog post over the next week? After all, the more you practise, the more you’ll learn.
Have a great weekend!
Adi
