But on the other hand...

...it still is your grandfather's England.

(Slight divergence for RPOTD:


Mike was here! We met up in Salzburg where he was attending a prion conference, then we took a quick swing through Munich to drink beer by the liter, then he hung out with us (and my mom!) in London for a day. It was excellent!)

But back to your grandfather's England. In many ways, England still exhibits that quaint, slightly stodgy charm that Americans expect from the home of Shakespeare and Jane Austen. For example, last week I took a day off work to explore the southwest edge of London with my mom. First we explored the truly magnificent Kew Gardens, which features some of the oldest greenhouses in Europe, all full of flowering plants and other greenery from all over the world. There is also an excellent butterfly room. There is nothing that makes you appreciate the fragility of living things like looking at a butterfly up close.

What really struck me about this day, however, was the visit to Richmond, where we walked along the Thames and got afternoon tea. Here we were, sitting within the bounds of London, a city of 8 million people, and we had this view:
Okay, so it's hard to tell because of the glare of the window, but there are cows in that field. Cows! In London! My mom wanted to experience the English countryside, and it turns out we could get there on the tube.

Also amusing were the two men in suits discussing Somerset's unfortunate season in county cricket (despite another solid season from Trescothick), while enjoying coffee with biscuits. And they ordered the biscuits specifically. If there's one thing that ties all Englanders together, it may be a love of biscuits. All hotel rooms come with a small packet of these crunchy treats. At my conference in Oxford there was a break for tea and coffee every 90 minutes (!), which was always accompanied by a wide assortment of biscuits. The cafe around the corner served Danny a solo cup of tea, then came around to the table to offer him several fresh-baked ones when they came out of the oven. I've heard grown men grumble when their tea is served without an accompanying biscuit. And so on.

This is just a few small examples, but I think the love of biscuits and the proximity of cows to central London are good examples of how England has maintained a delightfully antiquated charm while still galloping along with the pace of the modernizing world. And just for the record, lest anyone think I am being judgmental, I love biscuits, too. I also love afternoon tea!

UPDATE FROM DANNY: For, perhaps, the best bit of biscuit humor I've ever seen, here's Rob Brydon on Would I Lie to You.