Before we came here, I was warned to expect the natives to be a little reserved, standoffish even, in comparison to the general friendliness of Americans. Case in point: Americans invite you to their home if they want to make friends; the English make sure they want you as their friend before inviting you to their home. I think both make equal sense. Anyway, I was told that the English would have to be certifiably crazy before talking to a stranger of their own free will.
So imagine my surprise when a very nice Englishwoman directed me to the delicious jelly beans that M&S carries when she saw that I was hesitating among the many sweets that were available i.e. Percy Pigs, M&S rocky road mini-bites (unbelievably, addictively good) and chocolate covered caramels.
And imagine my absolute shock when two very nice English gentlemen sitting at the table next to ours at Pizza Express in Leadenhall Market advised us that it may be easier to pick up the slices of pizza that we ordered as opposed to trying to eat it with a knife and fork like everyone else. Our table was pretty wobbly and shaking all over the place while we tried to eat our pizza English style, and I think they felt a wee bit sorry for us. We told them that we enjoyed the excitement of wondering whether our water glasses would tip in our pathetic attempts to detach a forkful of cheesy goodness, but J gave up halfway through and went New York style. By the bye, the pizza here is pretty good - I actually prefer it to Domino's or Pizza Hut or any of the pizza chains in the US, the dough is much less doughy.
Oh, and I found a late night cookie delivery service so J and I shared cookies, a brownie, and a jug of milk while watching the last two episodes of "Lost in Austen" last night.
Food, it's what brings people together.
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