What do you love about being in/or back in the UK.

[bristolman]

I have unashamedly copied this from elsewhere before anyone says anything :rolleyes:

 

So what do you love about being here or being back ?

 

For me it's

The beautiful countryside.

The wonderful friendly generous people.

Being able to go for a walk in the countryside and not see another soul.

The glorious pubs.

The fact that our children are still children and haven't grown up before their time.

The wonderful variety and quality of food.

The wildlife.

The history and architecture.

The cider :laugh:

Have I mentioned the pubs ?

[Perthbum]

Weather 4 seasons and the people

[Marisawright]

I love being able to go out for energetic walks without ending up in a puddle of sweat.

 

I love seeing my oh enjoying the outdoors again instead of hiding indoors from the sun. It's nice to see his actual skin again instead of scabs and redness (sun allergy).

 

That's about the sum total.

[bristolman]

I love being able to go out for energetic walks without ending up in a puddle of sweat.

 

I love seeing my oh enjoying the outdoors again instead of hiding indoors from the sun. It's nice to see his actual skin again instead of scabs and redness (sun allergy).

 

That's about the sum total.

 

Well I guess if those are the only things that you like about this country I can understand why you are unhappy.

[bristolman]

Also on my list.

 

The climate, some won't agree but I find the temperate climate here very agreeable.

The mix of cultures and the food it brings with it.

The easy going life in the country.

[Marisawright]

The mix of cultures and the food it brings with it.

.

 

You've commented that you sometimes think I'm living in a different UK from you.

 

You were definitely living in a different Australia from me. It's the mix of cuisines that I'm missing so much here: in Sydney I would eat Vietnamese, Thai, Indian, Balkan, Italian, Greek, Lebanese,Turkish and fusion all the time. In the South of England it seems to be largely a choice between traditional English or Indian/Pakistani. I have managed to spot a couple of Thais but they're rare.

[xxlornaxx]

Good TV. ..that's it

[Perthbum]

You've commented that you sometimes think I'm living in a different UK from you.

 

You were definitely living in a different Australia from me. It's the mix of cuisines that I'm missing so much here: in Sydney I would eat Vietnamese, Thai, Indian, Balkan, Italian, Greek, Lebanese,Turkish and fusion all the time. In the South of England it seems to be largely a choice between traditional English or Indian/Pakistani. I have managed to spot a couple of Thais but they're rare.

Try birmingham all those plus many more....

Birmingham's restaurants represent 27 different nationalities

 

[h=3]Whether you’re looking for Michelin stars or a quick, enjoyable bite; feast on a riot of choice to suit every pocket.[/h]

[h=4]Bocuse d’Or Final[/h]Adam Bennett and commis chef Kristian Curtis from Michelin-starred restaurant Simpsons in Birmingham, reached the highest place ever for Team UK in the world’s most prestigious chef competition, the Bocuse d’Or.

 

As a city packed full of different cultures and nationalities, eating out in Birmingham and the region is like a gastronomic tour of the world. Frankly, it’s foodie heaven. With enticing new restaurants popping up all the time - representing some 27 different nationalities and styles of cooking - if you love to dine out, then you are in the right place.

We’ve got no less than four Michelin Star restaurants and plenty of others to tempt you with (including Lasan Restaurant, pictured), not to mention a whole quarter of the city devoted to creating our very own Asian speciality, the Balti.

And if it’s the comfort of a familiar menu you’re looking for, then the best of the high street is represented here too. A full directory is available in the EXPLORE Birmingham.

Buying food in Birmingham is a real pleasure too, whether it’s from one of our many markets or our decadent food halls and speciality delicatessens. Check out the Food Market section to tantalise your taste buds.

 

View an

itinerary

for foodies.

Lots of the UK’s favourite brands come from Birmingham and the surrounding area. In Local Produce you can find out about the city’s connections with chocolate, sausages, curries, patties and more!

And if you fancy taking some of those raw ingredients and coming up with something tasty then try one of our outstanding cookery schools and courses.

 

Take a look at our fantastic food and drinks offers!

And after all that food you’ll need a drink to wash it down. Birmingham’s pubs and bars are spread across the city centre – in the Drinking section are ideas of places to go for a quiet drink - or the start of a wild night.

- See more at: http://visitbirmingham.com/what-to-do/food-drink/#sthash.ApvFSiMH.dpuf

[Jacaranda]

I love the festivals,live music in pubs,cold winters and cosy houses,the gentleness of the land,the canals,the lack of air conditioning needed in summer and being able to have your house open,ease and affordability of travel from the UK,real connection to the country I was born in,not having to water your garden except on the very odd occasion,long summer nights,and short cosy winter ones!Double glazing,cheap car rego(tax)lovely quintessential villages,the theatre,andbeing able to walk pretty much anywhere in the countryside.

[Jacaranda]

Try birmingham all those plus many more....

Birmingham's restaurants represent 27 different nationalities

 

Whether you’re looking for Michelin stars or a quick, enjoyable bite; feast on a riot of choice to suit every pocket.

 

 

Bocuse d’Or Final

 

Adam Bennett and commis chef Kristian Curtis from Michelin-starred restaurant Simpsons in Birmingham, reached the highest place ever for Team UK in the world’s most prestigious chef competition, the Bocuse d’Or.

 

As a city packed full of different cultures and nationalities, eating out in Birmingham and the region is like a gastronomic tour of the world. Frankly, it’s foodie heaven. With enticing new restaurants popping up all the time - representing some 27 different nationalities and styles of cooking - if you love to dine out, then you are in the right place.

We’ve got no less than four Michelin Star restaurants and plenty of others to tempt you with (including Lasan Restaurant, pictured), not to mention a whole quarter of the city devoted to creating our very own Asian speciality, the Balti.

And if it’s the comfort of a familiar menu you’re looking for, then the best of the high street is represented here too. A full directory is available in the EXPLORE Birmingham.

Buying food in Birmingham is a real pleasure too, whether it’s from one of our many markets or our decadent food halls and speciality delicatessens. Check out the Food Market section to tantalise your taste buds.

View an

itinerary

for foodies.

 

Lots of the UK’s favourite brands come from Birmingham and the surrounding area. In Local Produce you can find out about the city’s connections with chocolate, sausages, curries, patties and more!

And if you fancy taking some of those raw ingredients and coming up with something tasty then try one of our outstanding cookery schools and courses.

Take a look at our fantastic food and drinks offers!

 

And after all that food you’ll need a drink to wash it down. Birmingham’s pubs and bars are spread across the city centre – in the Drinking section are ideas of places to go for a quiet drink - or the start of a wild night.

- See more at: http://visitbirmingham.com/what-to-do/food-drink/#sthash.ApvFSiMH.dpuf

PB I reckon you actually live in Birmingham!You seem to mention it a fair bit?

[Bound4Tassie]

You've commented that you sometimes think I'm living in a different UK from you.

 

You were definitely living in a different Australia from me. It's the mix of cuisines that I'm missing so much here: in Sydney I would eat Vietnamese, Thai, Indian, Balkan, Italian, Greek, Lebanese,Turkish and fusion all the time. In the South of England it seems to be largely a choice between traditional English or Indian/Pakistani. I have managed to spot a couple of Thais but they're rare.

 

We're way up North and even we've got Thai &Lebanese! Please tell me you are not struggling to find an Italian restaurant down south? That cannot possibly be true.....??

[M1cha3la]

I love this time of year as the dark nights start drawing in and the smell of my neighbours log burner as it fires up. The count down to halloween, bonfire night and Christmas. I love autumn.

 

 

 

 

oooh sorry I just noticed this is in the moving back to the uk forum, so maybe not 100% relevant for me as a thread, but I do love Autumn in the UK :cute:

[Perthbum]

PB I reckon you actually live in Birmingham!You seem to mention it a fair bit?

Love the buzz of birmingham...Catch a train into birmingham from stratford, it's only 25 miles away.

[Guest51810]

Seasons, countryside, our comedies and it's quite cheap to travel. Well most of the time. Except trains!

[Perthbum]

Seasons, countryside, our comedies and it's quite cheap to travel. Well most of the time. Except trains!

True stacy unless you book in advance...I can get a return to london for £12 return with advance booking.

[Guest51810]

Everybody says this but I very rarely find a cheap train journey. I got a cheap one for the Lake District last year but it was only for a certain time of the day. I looked for Southampton once and they wanted almost £200. I don't even understand how that sort of price is possible. Anyway I won't ruin the thread but trains definitely suck. The megabus is cheap but it's a last resort. Flights are cheap if you're flexible. When I come back I think I'll just go on sky scanner and go somewhere random when it brings up the cheap option.

 

Like michaela I love autumn. I prefer autumn clothes to summer stuff

[Perthbum]

Everybody says this but I very rarely find a cheap train journey. I got a cheap one for the Lake District last year but it was only for a certain time of the day. I looked for Southampton once and they wanted almost £200. I don't even understand how that sort of price is possible. Anyway I won't ruin the thread but trains definitely suck. The megabus is cheap but it's a last resort. Flights are cheap if you're flexible. When I come back I think I'll just go on sky scanner and go somewhere random when it brings up the cheap option.

 

Like michaela I love autumn. I prefer autumn clothes to summer stuff

Train fares are a rip off in the uk...thats why we need to renationalise the railways again.

[marenmatt1]

I love the weather (the joy of having a proper winter) , the history, the pubs & that Christmas has a distinct smell to it

[Keith and Linda]

Train fares are a rip off in the uk...thats why we need to renationalise the railways again.

 

Yes and Beeching too, don't want the taxpayer ripped off as well as the travelers do we?

[Guest]

Every town should have a rubbish Italian chained restaurant and a curry house. Thai a bit more rare than oz.

[Guest]

The easy going life in the country.

 

Heh, its bloody hard going if you work the land. Good but hard. I think those that just live in a rural area over working it, there is always going to be a different perception of life and how its lived. I loved my farming days in England, it really is a way of life, not a lifestyle.

 

Oh and if don't need to catch a bus more than once a week

[PommyPaul]

when i'm back in the uk i love the access to motorsport venues, the gorgeous countryside and winding country lanes...

[Guest]

I'm not living back in the UK. No plans to atm either. I left in Oct 2013 and was back for a visit over the UK summer for a month this year.

 

When I was there living, the usual things, living rural, working rural, the countryside, nature...

 

Waitrose. Unashamed to say so. M&S, John Lewis and to a degree Debenhams. Mid range clothes shops like White Stuff.

 

Butchers that reared much of their own meat and sold it through their local shops (its not a national thing, this is a very local thing).

 

Country fairs.

 

A true English meadow in full flower in spring and summer (sadly few remain).

 

A good proper village country pub. Not all of them are great or good.

 

The Quantocks, Dartmoor and Exmoor. I lived and/or worked on all 3 at some point in my life.

 

Certain places to visit but honestly, its whats on a persons radar on that day. I can't say I spent a lot of time in or at them just the occasional visit. Like anywhere, a nice day out to one of your favourite haunts or discovering somewhere new.

 

 

 

 

When I visited, what was nice then was all the above if I managed to fit them in (not all of them). Good job I hadn't missed the weather as it was a bit rubbish most of the month I was there. I honestly can't think of other stuff I could add tbh. But then I wasn't hanging out to be back, hadn't been homesick or struggling or wanting to move back to the UK so my enjoyment was what it was, nice to visit, enjoyed it, fine with leaving again.

 

Things that people mention like the cultures and foods, living rural you don't generally get that much choice. For many years our local Chinese was a 45 minute round trip if we were lucky and didn't get stuck behind a slow vehicle on the road for a few miles. Even when we moved and lived near to Bristol, it wasn't like we were suddenly going out more to different places trying all these cusines. Once or twice a year maybe, maybe not.

 

My visit this year, reflecting back and thinking about it at the time, the list of things that annoyed/irked me or I noticed and felt different about (ie in a less positive light quite often) over the course of my visit was quite long. Longer than the list of positives. Many of them minor niggles but like anywhere, nowhere is perfect, everywhere has its faults depending on who is looking. I have niggles here too of course

 

 

 

Oh, one final thing I love about the UK, the NHS. Its bloody brilliant and I am gutted that its being pulled apart and dismantled, sold off and so on as it is now. It'll be gone before you know it. Will be a huge loss to the UK if its loss is allowed to happen.

[Marisawright]

We're way up North and even we've got Thai &Lebanese! Please tell me you are not struggling to find an Italian restaurant down south? That cannot possibly be true.....??

 

I'm not saying they don't exist, but I've only seen a couple of Thais and one Lebanese. There is a Bella Italia...

[bristolman]

 

Oh, one final thing I love about the UK, the NHS. Its bloody brilliant and I am gutted that its being pulled apart and dismantled, sold off and so on as it is now. It'll be gone before you know it. Will be a huge loss to the UK if its loss is allowed to happen.

 

I'm not sure what papers you are reading but the NHS really is not being pulled apart and sold off, at least I'm not hearing anything about it. All the services that were available on the NHS 10 years ago are still available today. That's not to say some sections aren't being privatised but in no way is it being dismantled.