I love England! (greetings from an unabashed American tourist)

[Pacifist Patriot]

I arrived at Heathrow on Monday morning and took a coach straight up to Birmingham. I'm staying in the city centre and finding it absolutely gorgeous -- despite some lads at a local pub last night asking me if I'd sacked my travel agent for sending me to Brum on holiday. Today I took the train to Stratford and met a number of lovely people. Oddly enough because they were asking me for directions. Clearly my ancestry has maintained its hold on my features.

Traveling here is so incredibly easy, of course being separated by a common language is an advantage. In print at least. Signage is brilliant and as a post-partum woman I must congratulate you on the abundance of public toilets.

Wish I could immigrate to the UK but alas your housing prices are nothing short of astronomical as you well know. Also not a high demand for Unitarian ministers either.

At any rate, thank you for your hospitality. It is much appreciated. Cheers!

[D-Notice]

1. Thanks for the kind words...

... but "<...> as a post-partum woman I must congratulate you on the abundance of public toilets."

I must be missing these places that have numerous public toilets...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

2. I'm another convert to Anglophilia

I made one trip many years ago as a teenager with my family and didn't get back till 2006, but I really liked the people, the history, the landscape, the cultural scene, the pubs, the cathedral choirs (I'm a choir geek myself), the fact that I didn't need a car (even though your train ticket pricing system is insane), and the high quality of speech and writing. I was not so crazy about the prices, especially at the exchange rates that prevailed then. Ooh, scary prices. Another trip back in 2007 for a conference was all too short, because I could afford only four days beyond the conference. :-(

[FunkyLeprechaun]

3. Hi there!

Let me tell you about the house prices, they're going down, thank goodness! Demand for rentals have gone up and thankfully I own a house so I don't have to deal with it.