Bangers and Mash, Anyone?

An American standing in front of a decent pub

I always recommend a trip to the UK for an American's first visit overseas. The language is recognizable, the people friendly, and yet there is so much to see and do that excitement will fill your every moment travelling there.

For a small island, England has a lot to offer. In fact, I'm sure most people would find something to their liking, especially if they just forget all that silly small talk, misconceptions, and 'facts' that everyone assumes to be true. No, it doesn't rain all the time in the UK, and yes, there are many restaurants and pubs that serve some excellent food, and no, beer is not necessarily served warm.

One problem Americans in particular face when confronting England is the food. One joy of travelling is discovering new things, and the best place to start is food. However, the moment we Americans arrive, we right away look for something familiar and comfortable, and this is a mistake. I, as a new traveller my first time to the UK, learned these things the hard way, and would like to steer you right.

England is more culturally diverse than America, by far, and so there is a wide variety of foods to choose from. However, this is England we're talking about, not some remote forest village. The water is safe to drink, and I doubt anyone is serving crunchy catepillars, so why the fuss?

First off, true British food, what I would call Pub Grub, is fabulous. Shephard's pie, fish and chips, and surprisingly many vegetarian options are offered by pubs, along with some terrific beer. All fairly safe foods, so don't be intimidated.

It is true that some British folk overcook their veggies by our standards, but I think you'll see this less and less in restaurants. Also, what may be familiar in America may not be familiar in the UK. My first meal ever in the UK was served in an 'Italian' restaurant. Suffering a wee bit of jet lag and culture shock, I looked for something familiar, and regretted it. The veggies were overcooked, and the pasta was soaking in way too much oil, and the cheese was overcooked until it too became unrecognizable and the spices were different than I was used to. Blech. Another meal, found along the vein of seeking comfort, was nachos in a trendy sports pub. How can you go wrong with nachos, right? Cheese and salsa on chips, toasted until the cheese melts. Well, fortunately my brain has forgotten the details of that frightful meal.

Every country has specialties, and their own versions of things. In England, stick with a real pub, not one of the trendy chain pubs that are taking over the old pubs too rapidly. Or find a restaurant that looks crowded... a good tip for any trip. What is familiar here is not familiar there, where ever you go. Unfortunately for me, I went to places that just wanted tourist money, and tried to cater to tourists. Thankfully I learned to go with the flow, and do as the locals do.

When you are feeling more adventurous, try some other places. It's best to have recommendations from friends or up to date guidebooks. I would recommend some places, but things are changing too fast for that. Some of my favorite places have disappeared or changed too much. Indian food in England is usually very good, especially in established restaurants, or some of the new fusion places. There are some bad places, but again, those were aimed at tourists, and gave you little for your money.

Most places in the theatre district are pretty good from my experience, and there is a Chinatown not far away. Chinatown, though, is like Chinatown in other big cities, and should be approached cautiously by the unadventurous. You're not going to find the Americanized Chinese food we have here. My experience in New York and London is that this food is very authentic, and not for the faint hearted. A dim sum experience in London revealed foods that I could not identify by sight, and some, like fried chicken's feet, were too identifiable. If you're seeking adventure, that's the place. :0)

European food can also be found, in restaurants that specialize in Swiss style eating, or Belgian, French, etc. One place I can recommend is My Old Dutch Pancake, which is not too far from the British Museum, but I always get lost trying to find it. The first time I went there it was a family friendly place, but the last time I went it was an upscale cafe with much higher prices. The food, service, and atmosphere is always nice, though, and something unique.


A different American standing before My Old Dutch Pancake

In any country, it's best to go where the locals go, or to a slightly more upscale place. Noone is going to deliberately serve bad food, but there are some places it's best to avoid. A place looking to accumulate tourist money is not going to be aiming for repeat business... they'll take your money, and then the next guy's, and the next, for as long as they can get away with it.

If a place is known for something, then it's safe to aim for that. In England, go for the Fish and Chips or other pub food. We've all heard about the Brits eating Fish and Chips, right? Then again, I've had the best Chinese food... in India!

Which just goes to show what an adventure travel can be. Just be sure the surprises you find are good ones!

Cheers, JOHN :0)

Around the World in 14 days

Sometimes you don't need to leave the house to travel. You can watch the travel channel, look through old photo albums, or exchange letters with a pen pal from overseas, although, sadly, that last one seems to be fading away. The internet is another way to travel, but when all is said and done, there is no replacement for the real thing. Instead, all of the above should inspire one to make plans and actually get out there.

As an illustrator, I have the option of drawing or painting far away places, which is another form of stay at home travel. Researching a foreign port, learning about new places, and seeing a hint of their beauty is also very inspirational. One of the benefits of Freelancing is that I never know what a client may want from me, and sometimes that takes me in unexpected directions.

Recently, Freelancing took me around the world... in only 14 days!



Yes, a client came to me to provide artwork for an Annual Report, which is a big deal for an illustrator. Unfortunately, by the time we decided I would illustrate ports from around th globe, we had about two weeks left until the artwork had to go to the designer, and the print ready files go to the printers!!

Thus began an incredible challenge that kept me from sleeping for two weeks, but also kept me very inspired and excited. Thanks to my well-travelled client, I starting learning about places I had never been to, and some I only knew very little about.



I'm not going to show you everything I did, because I ended up doing 10 or 11 illustrations in those two weeks, and several of them were two page spreads. However, I will share a few with you, and maybe even inspire you to learn more about these places, or encourage you to one day visit.

Cheers, JOHN :0)


PS The illustrations above are London, Venice, and Istanbul... although you probably already guessed that. :0)

PSS Artwork belongs to the American Club, so don't even think of borrowing it.

On my iPod? Fish, Sunsets on Empire

Serendipity

All right, that last post was a little rough on the nerves, so let's head into something a little more light-hearted, eh?

One nice thing about travel, of course, is discovering new things. Discovery, however, falls into many categories, and serendipitous surprises can add a little something special to a trip.

One example of this occured during my third trip to London. I don't remember when I became a fan of Red Dwarf, or even where, but it's one of the funniest television shows that I have ever seen, and very creative. Anyways, I was about to say, "let's go to my travel journal for the story", and... honest to goodness, no lie... the story continues on the very next page from my earlier journal entry about Cardiff! Talk about a serendipitous moment!

For you, it's like continuing where we left off, so let's do it.

"A short while ago I finished the new Red Dwarf book: The Last Human, by Doug Naylor.
"Oh", I hear you say. "You DID find it, then?" Well, yes, and as is usually the case with me, there's a story.
So, as promised, we got up Saturday morning with the plan of me showing Marty around town for the day, and getting some shopping done. I wasn't yet sure how I was feeling, so I could not commit to anything yet. So, first thing we went for our complimentary breakfast which consisted of one sip of orange juice, a fresh roll, and coffee powder to take back to our room, so we could make our own coffee. We then exchanged some traveller's checks and headed for Oxford Street.
Sure enough, at Forbidden Planet, they had lots of the new Red Dwarf book - Right next to the sign announcing the book signing at 3:00! Wow!
So not only could I get the book I came for, but I could get it autographed too!"

All right, from that entry, you can probably tell that we were staying in a very 'affordable' little place... almost a hostel. The place had it's charm, though, although wait until I tell you about the morning I stayed there, and had to get up early for a flight to Switzerland.. Yikes!

I was also younger then, and a bit more excitable. Still, going all the way to London to get a book, and getting to meet the Author on the one day you're there is pretty lucky. It's also amazing that this random story follows on the very next journal page after the last page I shared with you - quite accidently.

So, you can find serendipity anywhere, when you're not even looking for it, which I suppose is part of the definition, huh?

Thanks for visiting, JOHN :0)