What are your favourite things about/from the UK?

[Kiwigirl]

OMG I could write a book on what I miss.....hubby goes mad because these things are so insignificant compared to the benefits of living here.

Marks and Spencer's food
Curry
Next
Decent Dept. store
Greggs
Boots
Pubs
Sunday Roasts
Central heating
Nice sandwich shops
Nice bread at an affordable price
Lurpak
Good bacon, sausages, pate
Cheese that doesn't come shrink wrapped
The NHS
Public transport
Easy access to Europe

 

[working9-5]

I often buy the red box Sainsbury’s tea now for a builder’s cuppa.
It used to be hard to get decent tea bags in Paris (don’t know what it’s like now) and I used to visit an English friend there frequently and was always instructed to bring boxes of Yorkshire tea over for her.

I’m not usually bothered by brands apart from HP sauce and now tea, it seems

 

[AngryBird101]

It’s the little things we would miss about our amazing kingdom!! I am so proud to be a Brit

 

[rainbowlemon]

The rain.
Oxford street christmas lights.
Mince pies.
M&S- my favourite shop besides ikea. I get all my clothing, towels, odd bits from them.

 

[Kim Mild]

Castles

 

[Barb]

I should have clarified that I just miss British supermarkets in general. There are 'normal' supermarkets here, but not as much choice. There's a duopoly with just 2 major supermarket chains. You also can't buy alcohol in a supermarket here, you have to go to a dedicated off-license which is called a bottle shop here in oz.

We miss the giant tesco superstores where you can find everything under one roof, and also waitrose and M&S for treats and quality produce.

Ah, gotcha. Yes, I love a mooch around clothes, home stuff and snacks all in the same pace

 

[annagerda83]

their earl grey tea!

 

[grumpy-nosy-cow]

TFL is amazing for the amount of space it covers and how frequently the tube comes, it is just insanely expensive, if you want to see a bad transport network go and live in Rome where buses are so old they regularly catch fire

TFL tube wise is great but TFL (now elizabeth line) is dire especially now every train is an all stopper !
I feel your pain re Italy public transport ..ive heard about the buses from my MIL and Last time i was in Rome (2019) a huge part of their underground was out of service (very annoying as the line in question was the one we needed to use to get to a relatives house) ! it was kind of the equivalent of central line from epping to Liv st being out of service. we had to get a taxi which thankfully wasnt to horific cost wise!
one thing we did note was that they ddont allow Uber there

 

[bubbletea123]

I wonder when they left Canada? I know they were in Paris and then left but I think they’ve returned.

I like going to Panera the last time I was in the States. Are they in Canada? I also like old fashioned delis and diners to eat in. I also love rye and pumpernickel bread for sandwiches as it’s less sweet than a lot of US bread is.

I just googled and apparently they left in 2000. Panera is in Ontario but not the province I live in.

 

[Platypusfattypus]

I should have clarified that I just miss British supermarkets in general. There are 'normal' supermarkets here, but not as much choice. There's a duopoly with just 2 major supermarket chains. You also can't buy alcohol in a supermarket here, you have to go to a dedicated off-license which is called a bottle shop here in oz.

We miss the giant tesco superstores where you can find everything under one roof, and also waitrose and M&S for treats and quality produce.

I miss the drive through bottle shops in Australia. I loved those

 

[EllenDeGenerate]

Greggs.

I'm not a snob.

 

[bubbletea123]

Do you have any Marks and Spencer stores there? I grew up in the US near the Canadian border and we frequently went to the local M&S there to get essential provisions.
I’ve always had to bring my own tea bags when returning to North America just so I can get a nice cup of tea whenever I want. I’ve even had to instruct wait staff on how to put boiling water directly into a tea bag instead of bringing me off the boil water to the table.

Marks and Spencer's isn't in Canada. Pret is in NYC as is Primark so if visit there, I will take advantage. We can get decent teabags but only because they now have a British aisle in some supermarkets.

 

[grumpy-nosy-cow]

Been living outside the UK for four years and I miss:

Nandos
M&S food
The many different types of crisps
TfL
British customer service
Pub quiz
Wetherspoons
Bluewater
Westfield in Stratford and White City
Canary Wharf
My cat
My friends
Inexpensive but delicious and plentiful Indian food
Fish & chips

blimey you must live somewhere with horrific public transport if you wistfully miss TFL

 

[Barb]

This thread is great! My partner and I are from the midlands originally but we have lived in Sydney for almost 8 years now. We miss home a lot and we are hoping to come back at the end of 2020 - let's see if we can manage it with Covid : (

We often talk about what we miss from home:

The weather - I never in a million years thought i'd say this but I am now so sick of the intense Sydney summers. I just want normal, temperate seasons
Cosy, rainy days in the house
Bonfire night (not a thing here at all!)
The weekend newspapers
The architecture and history
National Trust membership
Sport (my fella has to watch the premier league at 2 in the morning, with the time difference)
Supermarkets
Radio 4 (and the BBC in general)
The countryside
The small size of the country - Australia is so vast it takes ages to get anywhere
Brit humour, sarcasm, friendliness
The NHS
A decent curry/chinese
Culture & arts (Sydney is beautiful but there's not much going on behind the eyes, if you know what I mean)
Country pubs
Chocolate
Fish & Chips
Decent clothes shops!!
Fast internet (it is SHIT here)
Sky TV - tv in general

I bloody love the UK and I hope we can get home before too long

Supermarkets? What is it like instead? Hope you do manage to get back.

 

[Kiwigirl]

I've been in NZ 15 years now and yeah I still miss English Christmases! I almost don't bother with Christmas now because it just feels like any other summer day, bbq and drinking lol. I'm going to start making more of an effort now since i had a baby this year but it will nevet be the same atmosphere and excitement as England (the main thing is obviously the weather difference lol which can't be helped!)

OMG me too......

Yes I get a bit sentimental around Christmastime......but found myself wondering last year if I should even bother with the tree/decorations etc.
Don't worry I have no "littlies" or grandies at my house. so not being the Grinch that stole Christmas lol.

 

[Mustard]

I wonder when they left Canada? I know they were in Paris and then left but I think they’ve returned.

I like going to Panera the last time I was in the States. Are they in Canada? I also like old fashioned delis and diners to eat in. I also love rye and pumpernickel bread for sandwiches as it’s less sweet than a lot of US bread is.

 

[LT31514]

I also live abroad:
1. just the fact that everything is in English.
2.Macaroni in cheese in a can .
3.The rain.
4.Salt & vinegar crisps + prawn cocktail crisps
5.Free evening standard newspaper

I love your first one! Couldn’t agree more, Dutch will be the end of me

 

[Barb]

They don’t have pre mixed squash. They basically just have pop (fizzy drinks), fruit juice, ice tea and things like Gatorade. And water of course. But it’s all just so sweet and strong!

Poor Americans. First tea, now this.

 

[working9-5]

Thornton’s toffee.



Lipton’s is diabolical!

Worse than the 20p Sainsbury’s tea I would drink at home