The Brexit spirit

[iolo]

As long as Britain is still there next year when we will be visiting again, I am happy!

Seriously, the last time two times we visited, we ended up with extremely good exchange rates due to political activity, so hopefully, it happens again next year.

Better learn the Hitler salute, and how to kiss boots - and such - the way things are going.

 

[gmbteach]

Folks,

Haha! Dog and cat in gentle disagreement. All is right with the world.

BTW - I've been finding independent coffee spots and suppliers, more than 20 in Bristol alone. All is not lost. It is surprising how close the backwoods are to a city though, in our crowded country.

A good Martini may be more of a challenge, but have found a French couple who run a small liquor specialist shop. I have glasses, ingredients and recipe in hand.

Alex.

Alex,

We have all the making in our bar here at home. You are welcome to come and try it out. Followed by a spirited game of Cards Against Humanity.

cheers
Gaynor.

 

[gmbteach]

Folks,

Haha! Dog and cat in gentle disagreement. All is right with the world.

BTW - I've been finding independent coffee spots and suppliers, more than 20 in Bristol alone. All is not lost. It is surprising how close the backwoods are to a city though, in our crowded country.

A good Martini may be more of a challenge, but have found a French couple who run a small liquor specialist shop. I have glasses, ingredients and recipe in hand.

Alex.

Alex,

We have all the making in our bar here at home. You are welcome to come and try it out. Followed by a spirited game of Cards Against Humanity.

cheers
Gaynor.

 

[TSwizzle]

Hi,

We are in an English seaside town. We go into a posh hotel and ask for Martinis in the bar. The Brit barman says “What’s a Martini?” before going off to find out what we are talking about and how to make them. We leave.


Later we go into a seafront cafe and I ask for a black Americano with milk on the side. The Brit waitress gives me a white Americano with extra milk on the side. This drink contains precious little coffee but much milk.

In desperation, we go to a coffee chain, Costa. I ask for the same and the Brit ‘Barrister’ shouts ‘White Americano’ to his colleague. It tastes like sludge.

I have been abroad in Europe. I know that this would not happen in any other EU country, or even here if the employee was an immigrant from anywhere. But in Brexit Britain it is a short step back to the 1950s, a time of poor food, worldly ignorance and terminally bad service. What’s not to like?

A.

Nothing to do with Brexit, these things can happen just about anywhere in the UK. Some places seem stuck in the past, limited choice of beers and spirits, inexperienced bar staff made up of students working part time, possibly Eastern European. They can pour a pint of lager and get you a vodka and coke but are struggling beyond that. Sounds like 1970s Torquay/Paignton. It's quaint.

 

[Deepak]

I'm pretty certain an American didn't come up with that particular name. Most people stateside just drink 'coffee'.

'Americano' appears to originate in Italy; It was the derisive term the locals gave to the watered down coffee consumed by Americans (particularly soldiers stationed in Italy during and after WWII).

Most of the different styles of coffee have Italian names in the English speaking world, but these took a long time to be adopted in England itself, where certainly until the middle 1990s when I left for Australia, there were only two types of coffee you could order - 'Coffee', which was weak white coffee; and 'Black coffee' which was the same thing, but without the milk.

On arriving in Australia for my first time in 1994, I arranged to meet some people at a cafe in Brisbane; I got there a little early, so I went to the counter and said "Hello, could I have a cup of coffee please?". "No problem" said the lady behind the counter.

Then we both waited.

It took a surprisingly long time for me to realize that she was waiting for me to place an order; While I was waiting for her to fill the order I believed that I had already made

The reverse occurred to me a few years later, when I returned to the UK for a visit with my family; I had to change planes several times on the trip, and after some 40 hours in transit in various cheap airline seats, my last change was at London Heathrow. Half asleep and in desperate need of refreshment, I slouched up to the counter at the Terminal 1 cafe (Terminal 1 was for domestic UK flights only at that time), and said to the large Afro-Caribbean lady behind the counter "Could I please get a flat white?". This was interpreted as a racial slur, and did not make me popular AT ALL.

I don't know when the English finally decided to adopt the international convention that one should at least attempt to serve decent coffee, and a variety of styles at that; But it was certainly a recent event. At my most recent visit, last year, I noticed a significant improvement in both the quality of food and drink available, and in the attitude of those selling it. I suspect this improvement has largely been driven by the free movement provisions of EU law; And it would be a dreadful shame if Britain were to slip back to the 20th Century 'The customer is always wrong' style of "service" that I recall from my youth.

I've heard that story, but it's almost certainly apocryphal - for one, what were the US troops in WWI drinking? For two, considering the automatic espresso machine was still patent protected during The Second World War II (as far as I'm aware) I doubt everyone in the entirety of Italy only drank espresso. And it all assumes that somewhere between the Mayans and Modern Italy people forgot how to pour water through a metal screen over ground coffee beans (or perhaps a press instead).

Even more curious, most of the original plotting of how to acquire tea from the east was done over coffee in London coffee-houses - and in fact, cafes are the origin of the English financials & insurance industries.

 

[Philos]

Nothing to do with Brexit, these things can happen just about anywhere in the UK. Some places seem stuck in the past, limited choice of beers and spirits, inexperienced bar staff made up of students working part time, possibly Eastern European. They can pour a pint of lager and get you a vodka and coke but are struggling beyond that. Sounds like 1970s Torquay/Paignton. It's quaint.

TSwizzle,

This is just personal experience, but I have found East European chefs, waiters and barstaff to be excellent and widely skilled in their trades, all with perfect English of course. The ones that I know are worried about the 'Brexit' mess and many are applying for UK citizenship or planning to move back into the EU proper.

They will be missed!

A.

 

[TSwizzle]

Nothing to do with Brexit, these things can happen just about anywhere in the UK. Some places seem stuck in the past, limited choice of beers and spirits, inexperienced bar staff made up of students working part time, possibly Eastern European. They can pour a pint of lager and get you a vodka and coke but are struggling beyond that. Sounds like 1970s Torquay/Paignton. It's quaint.

TSwizzle,

This is just personal experience, but I have found East European chefs, waiters and barstaff to be excellent and widely skilled in their trades, all with perfect English of course.

Well you have been fortunate. Most of the Polish bar staff I have encountered have been average at best. Pleasant enough but pretty crap behind the bar.

And the building trade is full of them, shite at hanging wallpaper and can't tile to save their lives. But to be fair, they weren't tradesmen to begin with.

 

[bilby]

TSwizzle,

This is just personal experience, but I have found East European chefs, waiters and barstaff to be excellent and widely skilled in their trades, all with perfect English of course.

Well you have been fortunate. Most of the Polish bar staff I have encountered have been average at best. Pleasant enough but pretty crap behind the bar.

And the building trade is full of them, shite at hanging wallpaper and can't tile to save their lives. But to be fair, they weren't tradesmen to begin with.

I don't think that reading about people thousands of miles away on the Daily Mail website really qualifies as an 'encounter'.

 

[Philos]

Folks,

Talking about good service from immigrants, I was surprised to find a middle aged American man working at our local supermarket checkout. He was amazingly quick at recognizing Krispy Kreme doughnuts prices from a picture chart (Yes, we have KK over here).

It is highly unusual to come across a Yank working in our small town. Anyway, I asked what part of the US he came from. He said "Alaska". Well, that makes sense, as SW England is an improvement on that, just from the weather point of view. Making conversation, I said "Governer Palin".

He beamed "Not any more!! I never liked her very much. " I said "Agreed".

What an unexpected encounter.

A.

 

[TSwizzle]

The perceived trouble with service in the UK and indeed the food is down to the perspective of the American tourist and their expectations. American tourists just don't seem to appreciate the quirkiness of the UK bar experience. You can go into one city center boozer and bamboozle the bar staff (Polish or otherwise, pre or post Brexit) by asking for something as simple as a Maker's Mark Collins. They may not even have a glass for it. But down the street, a trendy bar will have top notch trained bar staff that could fix all but the most obscure cocktails. Cocktails are a pretty recent thing for some pubs. Some bar staff are brilliant, I have been in boozers, five deep at the bar and bar staff know exactly who to serve next. Other times I have been in a boozer that is almost empty and the ignorant bastard behind the bar sees you coming in and doesn't move off their arse or take their eyes off their phone until you shout down at them. And you can forget about a cocktail in these shitholes. It's a uniquely British experience I find. Avoid Wetherspoons establishments.

 

[gmbteach]

The perceived trouble with service in the UK and indeed the food is down to the perspective of the American tourist and their expectations. American tourists just don't seem to appreciate the quirkiness of the UK bar experience. You can go into one city center boozer and bamboozle the bar staff (Polish or otherwise, pre or post Brexit) by asking for something as simple as a Maker's Mark Collins. They may not even have a glass for it. But down the street, a trendy bar will have top notch trained bar staff that could fix all but the most obscure cocktails. Cocktails are a pretty recent thing for some pubs. Some bar staff are brilliant, I have been in boozers, five deep at the bar and bar staff know exactly who to serve next. Other times I have been in a boozer that is almost empty and the ignorant bastard behind the bar sees you coming in and doesn't move off their arse or take their eyes off their phone until you shout down at them. And you can forget about a cocktail in these shitholes. It's a uniquely British experience I find. Avoid Wetherspoons establishments.

I wouldn't go into a typical English country pub for a cocktail! I would go for a wine and good old fashioned pub food! The traditional pub is great for friendly service, good beer, and good food IMO!

And yes, Wetherspoons should be avoided, though it was good when we visited Blackpool recently.

 

[bilby]

The perceived trouble with service in the UK and indeed the food is down to the perspective of the American tourist and their expectations. American tourists just don't seem to appreciate the quirkiness of the UK bar experience. You can go into one city center boozer and bamboozle the bar staff (Polish or otherwise, pre or post Brexit) by asking for something as simple as a Maker's Mark Collins. They may not even have a glass for it. But down the street, a trendy bar will have top notch trained bar staff that could fix all but the most obscure cocktails. Cocktails are a pretty recent thing for some pubs. Some bar staff are brilliant, I have been in boozers, five deep at the bar and bar staff know exactly who to serve next. Other times I have been in a boozer that is almost empty and the ignorant bastard behind the bar sees you coming in and doesn't move off their arse or take their eyes off their phone until you shout down at them. And you can forget about a cocktail in these shitholes. It's a uniquely British experience I find. Avoid Wetherspoons establishments.

I wouldn't go into a typical English country pub for a cocktail! I would go for a wine and good old fashioned pub food! The traditional pub is great for friendly service, good beer, and good food IMO!

And yes, Wetherspoons should be avoided, though it was good when we visited Blackpool recently.

Good, for Blackpool. That's not a very high bar.

 

[gmbteach]

I wouldn't go into a typical English country pub for a cocktail! I would go for a wine and good old fashioned pub food! The traditional pub is great for friendly service, good beer, and good food IMO!

And yes, Wetherspoons should be avoided, though it was good when we visited Blackpool recently.

Good, for Blackpool. That's not a very high bar.

True!

 

[TSwizzle]

And yes, Wetherspoons should be avoided, though it was good when we visited Blackpool recently.

Full of chavs getting plastered on cut price beer. Absolute shitholes. Although, I did have a decent breakfast in one of them.

 

[Philos]

Folks,

Synchronicity. Today I stopped in for breakfast at a country pub, a regular haunt.

British barmaid and British cook. Ordered coffee and beans on toast. The grub turned up suspiciously quickly. Toast was hot, but the beans were stone cold, straight from the can. This has to be a first.

I told the barmaid and she blanched. Then I said "I like cold beans." She replied "Oh, thank God for that!"

Your couldn't make this stuff up.

Alex.

 

[Rayschism]

I do not understand this thread at all.

What does Britain leaving the EU have to do with the content of this thread?

 

[gmbteach]

I do not understand this thread at all.

What does Britain leaving the EU have to do with the content of this thread?

Then you don't understand the purpose of Brexit then.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Then you don't understand the purpose of Brexit then.

Somehow, i find that very easy to credit...

 

[Rayschism]

I do not understand this thread at all.

What does Britain leaving the EU have to do with the content of this thread?

Then you don't understand the purpose of Brexit then.

The purpose of Brexit was to leave the EU over what some British citizens claimed were draconian socialist policies the EU was imposing upon Britain that some British people didn't want.

I've been following the issue, so I do know something about Brexit, and your comment smacks of dishonesty.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Then you don't understand the purpose of Brexit then.

The purpose of Brexit was to leave the EU over what some British citizens claimed were draconian socialist policies the EU was imposing upon Britain that some British people didn't want.

I've been following the issue, so I do know something about Brexit, and your comment smacks of dishonesty.

Man, there are a LOT of dishonest people posting responses to your posts, aren't there?
Seems like every other person strikes you as dishonest.

Logically, that would be most easily explained as you being the problem, though, not half the regular posters on this board.

But i really think it's likely you don't understand 'the Brexit Spirit,' because elsewhere, you've made it clear that you don't understand taxes, or insurance, or science, or basic English grammar... A pattern of fucking ignorance really seems to be developing, here.