Journey to Spice World Fri, Jul 06, 2018

To start off this morning, I'm going to let you in on a little insider about me: I am not your average American. In fact, I am technically a British-American – sailing the ocean blue in 1999. As I will be visiting the motherland in a couple weeks, I thought I'd give a few tips for traveling across the pond.

1) Stand on the right: This is essential if you’re using the London underground. Never, ever stand on the left when traveling on an escalator as people in a hurry will be rushing past on the left and do not take kindly to people standing in their way.

2) Go for a “cheeky Nando’s”: Nando’s to England is like Chipotle to the U.S. – it’s everywhere and always being craved for. Even though there are much better eating establishments than this grilled chicken chain, I still highly recommend a visit. And don’t forget the Peri Peri sauce!

3) Starbucks is not universal: Don’t go into a Starbucks in England (if you can find one that easily) and order your favourite frou frou beverage. You will only be received with weird looks from the baristas.

4)Train prices are expensive: England may have the U.S. beat when it comes to accessibility of public transportation, but that doesn’t mean that rail fares come cheap. Sometimes, it might even be more reasonable to look into renting a car or taking your journey by coach if you want to save on pricey train fares.

5) Mastering the use of two taps: In the U.S., we usually have one tap that fuses hot and cold water to the temperature of your liking. However, in England, be prepared for freezing cold water streaming from the cold tap and scalding hot water rushing from the hot tap - which is kinda a pain to get the water just right.