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[Samoan]

..

I like to think I'd love somewhere in France or Spain, but it's not always rosy. Italy, the same. There are usually unseen aspects of living that you miss that float to the surface once you've gone beyond the novelty of the new.
..

The weather's shocking in parts of Spain at present. My sister's there right now, she's been in Jerez and in Ceuta (Spanish Morocco) examining ESOL and it's fog, freezing mornings, a bit of sunshine in the day, biting winds, cold nights, raining and raining but the trains are cheap and on time.

[naughty boy]

How far an immigrant should immerse themselves into local culture depends on the perceived and subjective deliciousness of their homeland foods?
I'll be interested to see how far you get with this

Why? I don't think what I've said is at all contentious really. And my point was a lot of Polish food products aren't particularly good, we're not talking one of the world's great cuisines here.
When I was in Turkey, there were the occasional British food products that I'd miss...if you were making a cheese sandwich say, you'd think I'd love some Branston's pickle on this ( and you'd probably be wishing the cheese were Cheddar). However on the whole I was happy to buy their products and, more importantly, discover great stuff you couldn't get in Britain.

How long did you live there, G?

[Minnie the Minx]

How far an immigrant should immerse themselves into local culture depends on the perceived and subjective deliciousness of their homeland foods?
I'll be interested to see how far you get with this

Why? I don't think what I've said is at all contentious really. And my point was a lot of Polish food products aren't particularly good, we're not talking one of the world's great cuisines here.
When I was in Turkey, there were the occasional British food products that I'd miss...if you were making a cheese sandwich say, you'd think I'd love some Branston's pickle on this ( and you'd probably be wishing the cheese were Cheddar). However on the whole I was happy to buy their products and, more importantly, discover great stuff you couldn't get in Britain.

How long did you live there, G?

Four days.

[naughty boy]

Well it SURE sounds like it

[The Modernist]

How long did you live there, G?

A year.

[Polishgirl]

London
Birmingham
Glasgow
Manchester
Liverpool
Edinburgh
Bristol
Sheffield
Newcastle
Hull
Leeds
Bradford
Belfast
Brighton
Nottingham
Leicester
Wolverhampton
Cardiff
Bournemouth
Portsmouth
Southampton
Coventry
Sunderland
Reading
Preston
Wakefield
Plymouth
Stoke
Derby
Swansea
York
Peterborough
Oxford
Norwich
Cambridge

Ummm hello??? Like, no Exeter?

[Goat Boy]

How far an immigrant should immerse themselves into local culture depends on the perceived and subjective deliciousness of their homeland foods?
I'll be interested to see how far you get with this

Why? I don't think what I've said is at all contentious really. And my point was a lot of Polish food products aren't particularly good, we're not talking one of the world's great cuisines here.
When I was in Turkey, there were the occasional British food products that I'd miss...if you were making a cheese sandwich say, you'd think I'd love some Branston's pickle on this ( and you'd probably be wishing the cheese were Cheddar). However on the whole I was happy to buy their products and, more importantly, discover great stuff you couldn't get in Britain.

I'm not immune to the thrill of being in a British supermarket or seeing British goods in some far flung land. There is something nice and familiar about it. I remember arriving in Kathmandu after 5 long months in India and when I spotted a British supermarket I was like a rat up a drain pipe! Oooo, baked beans! Oooo cadburys buttons! Is that Frazzles in the corner? I walked out that shop with the swagger of Johnny Boy as I held that packet of plain chocolate digestives I can tell you. Man was I happy! You'd think I'd just hopped on Scarlett Johansson or summat.

I've thought summat similar to you G when I've been in these places. I get why people might want that particular Polish sausage that Momma used to make of course but what about all this other stuff? But then, the labels! Is that that brand of pickled onion crisps I loved as a boy in the corner?! It's like being home again and, dammit, I like it! I know I can get Hellmanns at Tesco but then I'm here now so I might as well buy Polish mayo, you know? Maybe, on some level, it's an assertion of their identity. And you know the moneys going to Polish folk obviously instead of Lidl which is nice I guess. I'm contributing to the community! And I know exactly what I'm getting. People can be very boring with food and some habits are hard to break. A mate used to only eat Babybel cheese despite having all that wonderful cheese on his doorstep. Maybe it's different for 1st generation immigrants where the connection to the motherland is closer and most of them in the Uk will be 1st generation. I dunno.

Maybe that Polish mayo is just really fucking good.

[billy]

Canterbury, you grotty herberts

[naughty boy]

Southerners, tho’

[billy]

Southerners, tho’

Yeah, but you can walk around knowing that, if anything kicks off, you could have the fucking lot of them

[naughty boy]

K would. He'd batter the fuck out of them all.

[Belle Lettre]

Would he THO'

[naughty boy]

I keep forgetting about that "tho'"

I can't stop it THO' C. It's hard-wired, deep-rooted.

[Spock!]

London
Birmingham
Glasgow
Manchester
Liverpool
Edinburgh
Bristol
Sheffield
Newcastle
Hull
Leeds
Bradford
Belfast
Brighton
Nottingham
Leicester
Wolverhampton
Cardiff
Bournemouth
Portsmouth
Southampton
Coventry
Sunderland
Reading
Preston
Wakefield
Plymouth
Stoke
Derby
Swansea
York
Peterborough
Oxford
Norwich
Cambridge

Ummm hello??? Like, no Exeter?

Beat me to it - as did billy with Canterbury. Both with something more to them than Reading & Bournemouth, neither of which are cities. The redeeming grace for both Reading & B'mth are their surrounding areas.

[Polishgirl]

Apparently, Exeter is the fastest growing city in the country. Or something.

[toomanyhatz]

The ones I've been to in order of preference:

Guildford - It's the closest I have to a "home" in the UK as I've stayed there for extended periods of time. A bit of a sleepy town, but in a good way - it compares to London very similarly to how Camarillo compares to LA - similar distance, similar amenities, just less of them, similar lack of traffic. Also love the White House pub. It feels like my 'local' though I haven't been in years.

Liverpool - Beatle-goggles on, of course, but I like a lot of other things about it as well. I think of it as an Irish city, find most Liverpudlians witty and engaging, and then there's the Phil. The outskirts are a bit boring and suburban, I suppose, but the heart of the city is interesting and accessible. And there is something romantic about standing on the banks of the Mersey - which might be the Beatle-goggles talking again, but that is the kind of surroundings I tend to appreciate anywhere in the world.

London - It's great, exciting, vital, of course. It's also dirty, overcrowded, hectic, too expensive, and a confusing mix of ugly and beautiful. So, kind of like New York, then. The perfect place to spend a day or two while en route somewhere quieter. (The free museums are definitely a point in its favor, though - wish the bigger US cities would follow suit.)

Buxton - Not sure how this is perceived in the UK - full of stuffy old tourists, I'm guessing? Spring water and opera houses are in my wheelhouse, so of course I loved it, but must confess I wasn't there long enough to get to know it well.

Ruthin - Pretty surroundings,, nice shops. Apparently where Julian Lennon grew up. Again, wasn't there long enough to really judge, but I didn't care much for where we stayed which was basically surrounded by what we call a trailer park - and there was a very dull performer doing 3 sets of classic rock covers while I was trying to sleep. Reminded me of the kind of California coastal town that I like, but I suspect I didn't make the most of it.

Bradford - Not the heart of excitement, I guess, but it does have the best Indian food I've ever had, so there's that. Again, wasn't there long so can't really say I got enough of a sense.

[Belle Lettre]

Great stuff, hatz!

[Insouciant Western People]

Buxton - Not sure how this is perceived in the UK - full of stuffy old tourists, I'm guessing? Spring water and opera houses are in my wheelhouse, so of course I loved it, but must confess I wasn't there long enough to get to know it well.

It's a lovely place. I used to work for a university that had a satellite campus there (teaching things like tourism, hospitality management and catering), so I drove up there regularly for meetings and whatnot. We should really go back soon.

It's the highest campus in the UK. It used to really freak out students from places like Cyprus and India, they'd arrive in September from their warm climates and big cities, and we'd collect them from Heathrow Airport and drive them three hours north to drop them off in a town where the centre architecture was mostly built in the 18th & 19th centuries, on top of a hill in the middle of the Peak District, miles from anywhere and home to lots of rich retired people.

[joklend]

My views on this are relatively non-controversial and already written out on this forum, so instead I’ll give the views of my former bf, an international town planning student from New Delhi who had never visited the UK before.

London – Impressive but oppressive and confusing in ways that a global city should try to avoid.
Birmingham – Quite surprised at how big it was and friendly, but nondescript in relative terms.
Glasgow – Didn’t go but heard some bad stories regarding racism.
Manchester – Stinking, violent and ugly. The architecture has its good moments but a lot of it seemed poorly maintained.
Liverpool – Beautiful in parts and very friendly. Probably his favourite outside of London
Edinburgh – Looked nice but non-functional. Most of it looked shut.
Newcastle – Beautiful in parts; compact.
Sunderland – Cute but underdeveloped. The scenic atmosphere by the port reminded him of Amsterdam.
York – Beautiful and fascinating history.

Durham and Berwick-on-Tweed were others given high compliments.

I don't have that much negativity toward Manchester myself, though I'd easily have Liverpool above it and probably Newcastle too.

[Dr Markus]

Glasgow - I liked it, thought the nightlife round the pubs etc is like a jungle.
Liverpool - I liked it, good banter with the locals. Mention football and you're off basically. Got thrown out of a pub but didn't really mind. Night life is very good.
Edinburgh - Love it. I have a friend settled over there and I try and get over when I can. Again good banter with the locals, and really easy to avoid dougie. Just go to the nice pubs.
Newcastle - Should come with a warning and Newcastle-English dictionary once you step off the plane. The place is just fucking madness at night. Every man for himself type of thing. Didn't do much sightseeing as it was a stage party.
Belfast - It's ok without being brilliant. It seems the most condensed city I've been to.