Answering London's Call

Friday's post, with bullets about why I looked forward to being in an English speaking country, neglected one hugely important point: In England I was able to chat with everyone.

Granted, I was traveling with an outgoing friend, whose energetic spirit encouraged friendly banter. But I think that even her personality was not soley responsible for the wonderfully warm and welcoming spirit of (almost*) ever Londoner we met.

Bar tenders were happy to give samples and recommendations. Venders at Portobello Market offered the providence of their wares, explain markings and techniques, and in one case regaled us with stories about famous clients. When we weren't able to get a table at one restaurant, the hostess looked up the address and information about other places that we should try. At the Lanesborough Hotel, they weren't able to seat us in the dinning room for high tea, but served us in their lovely library instead.

But perhaps the best example of the friendly experience we had was, after being allowed to use the restroom in a restaurant were we didn't eat or order a drink, a waitress came out on the street with us to give directions to the nearest tube stop.

* There was one horrible woman at dinner on Friday night who didn't have one nice thing to say about Germany, and an apparently crazy lady yelled at us for walking to slowly.