Dr. Do Good, What is my nation? Please explain.

applepie,
go to scotland, their accent is so thick you probably won't know their speaking english.

applepie,
i went to London ten years ago near christmas. i had always wanted to go to new york. walking down the street in earls court during rush hour, i felt as though i had finally seen new york, but in a different country.
then, i woke up early in the mornings and ran through the city, over the bridge, to the local residential markets.
i went to an outdoor antique flea market, in the dead of winter. freezing i walked with the locals through the isles of antiques.
it was obvious that i was in a different country, amoung the locals, enjoying their city.
i am going back next week.
although, overcast skies and dreary weather is not my personal favorite, i cannot wait to get there!
are you going to pass up london from your lifetime experiences.

Note - the Dutch speak better English than the English.

I'm with zippo

England was our mother country -- so of course there will be a higher level of familiarity -- and we are a separate country now because we rejected some of what they were "back then".

As for language -- the accent we associate with London is far from the only one -- we are used to the London accent from PBS and Alec Guiness movies -- but I remember being completely defeated by a Lancashire accent in a store in Canterbury

I find it interesting that the Londonm responders feel things such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and MacDonald's somehow makes the city feel like what? The US?

To me, that's like saying Phantom of the Opera and a french restaurant make New York feel like Paris..yeah, sure!

I never knew these places in London were so well-sustained by "foreigners" enough so that they remain viable, business-wise...but then again, you Londonites have your own very special "institution" that you keep supporting, don't you? That fabulous "family" living in Buck House and just up the road in the wonderful pile of "old stones."

Applepie's post is the reason I would recccomend that most first-time visitors to Europe visit the UK first--it's foreign, it's European, but there is still a comfort attached to being in an environment where you can communicate.

Applepie, since you are already well past the "foreign"-ness by being to countries and places outside of many tourists's "comfort" zones, I would suggest you go to the UK when you want a relaxing, as opposed to exhilarating, vacation.

Go to Ireland to play golf, drink beer etc., go to London for the history of the castles and the Tower of London. But from what you described of what you've already seen, at this point, I don't think you'd get that same sense of foreign-ness.

I live in a German speaking country, and I look at the UK as a vacation from the rest of Europe because I can communicate clearly. It doesn't feel foreign to me at all--it's comforting and relaxing.

rickmav and ben -

Fear not - not all Americans hit those spots. I was in London in January for 10 days, and I did not go to any of the places rickmav mentioned except for a 1 hour stop at Harrod's food market. Nor did I wait in line for the London Eye.

"Madame Tussaud's, the Lion King, Chicago, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, McDonald's, the Hard Rock Cafe" - these things are not London to me.

London to me was wandering the streets, visiting little pubs, and seeing historical (and yes, touristy) spots - the Tower, Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's etc.

I avoid "American"-type things when I am abroad, no matter what country!

Karen

This is a bit tangential, but I'm just wondering what makes Chitty Chitty Bang Bang so American. The original book was by Ian Fleming (yes, as in James Bond), and the composer, adapter, director, and cast are British, too. Is it American because so many American tourists go there? Wouldn't that make the Tower of London and the British Museum American, too?

London and England is nice but we much prefer going to other countries all over Europe.

London does feel European... now (it didn't ten or fifteen years ago). It's been heavily continentalised, without losing its Englishness, so the culture shock is not as big as it used to be for us Continentals (good food, expresso, people kissing each other ! ). Paradoxically, whereas the UK is not the warmest advocate of European integration, London is the de facto capital of Europe: you get 200 to 300 000 strong contingents (usually young professionals) of each of the main continental countries (Germany, Italy, Spain, France), plus a large Central European community. It is a bit to Europe what Miami is to Latin America: an extra muros business capital.

On the issue of whether speaking the same language (but with strong differences in accents and specialised vocabulary) makes it less exotic, I wouldn't agree. As a francophone, I find Quebec or francophone Africa very exciting, because it's the same language, but with so many different nuances, and applied to a cultural enviroment that's quite distinct from France's. But I also enjoy going to hispanic or lusophone countries for the more sensual pleasure of speaking and hearing Spanish or Portuguese, so each situation has got its pluses. That said, I must confess that I try to avoid countries where none of the above mentioned languages is at least a bit practiced, because I - probably wrongly - feel that I am missing a lot. That's my own little travel disability...