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Going over to the UK over the summer.


Billy Bob the Sniper

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Well I figured I should ask here...

 

 

I just got informed of a trip were taking to England mainly but I think we might go to other places. What are some Do's and Dont's that I should keep in mind. I would love to hit up a airsoft game but I don't know how I could manage that. Sorry if I am just another one of those annoying 'tourists'.

 

 

Thanks guys!

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Where abouts are you going exactly? http://www.airsoftmap.net/UK/Skirmish That will show you where all the skirmish sites are so you can pick and choose of the ones you're going to be near. I'm not sure on the laws regarding taking guns over temporarily, it'll probably be a lot less hassle to just rent one from the site you play at. Most places I know of have their games on Sundays but there are few which do Saturdays

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London has a stupid number of museums most of which are free entry as well. Try and go on a week day. Week ends get rammed with local kids. The days you said your going I think are during school terms so you will probably find things are quieter any way (lucky you)

 

Imperial war museum. You'll probably need about half a day. Not huge but being an airsofter your probably going to find this interesting.

Science Museum. You'll need a day. Its huge. And does exactly what it says on the tin.

Natural history Museum. Just around the corner from the science museum (dinosaurs) again really big you'll probably need a day.

British Museum is pretty huge too. Not been there since I was a kid must go back some day.

 

If your not a museum fan there are a few shops which are worth seeing

Hamleys and unleash your inner child

Harrods and see how the other half live. Just don't buy any thing. If you think the rest of England is expensive wait till you have seen this.

 

As for airsoft The Mall in Reading has games every week end and is half an hour by train out of Paddington station, at the other end its right by the station so worth looking at.

 

Good luck, Have fun, and don't try and swim in the river :P

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Do

- order some real ale, and say you like it even if you don't :D

- mock the french (as thewallhitme said)

- go to some free museums, natural history museum especially IMO is brilliant

 

Don't

- say you take the side of the IRA

- claim to be irish/scottish (as skarclaw said)

- say you saved our asses in WW2 :D

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Err...

 

Moe 'we saved your asses in WW2'

English guy 'yeah, well we saved your asses in WW3'

Moe 'that is true...'

 

Is how that joke actually went... ;)

 

But yeah, enjoy the local grub (food) if you get the chance, even pub-grub is really nice if you find a decent place to have lunch whilst you're out. Just avoid the upmarket places that charge £4 for a pint ( find a proper old pub with lots of older guys in vs a 'young' pub full of noisy idiots ).

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If you want to see England, don't go to London is the simple answer. Yeah, great for a couple of days maybe, but it irritates the hell out of me when foreigners go to London and then tell me they understand what I am talking about because they have been to Britain.

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I'd heartily recommend getting your *albartroth* down to Cornwall, through Wales, up to the Lakes, Yorkshire and all the way up to Scotland. Probably the best countryside the UK has to offer.

 

London is a very, very big city and has loads to see but as others have said isn't really that representative of the rest of the UK (except the larger cities) which is a lot more quaint in comparison. Bristol, Birmingham, Machester and Glasgow are all worthwhile visits.

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Be sure to go to a pub and order a Guinness and talk loudly about how cause you once went to Boston, you are Irish.

 

You crack me up. :)

 

Advised:

 

- Be polite - smile a lot, remember to say 'please' and 'thankyou' and show your appreciation for good service - this doesn't have to be a tip, contrary to what most Americans believe - just some sign of acknowledgement / respect can often go a long way and sadly is where I have found our American brethren, often like the Japanese, paradoxically often fall down.

 

- Try Fish and Chips and also go to an Indian Restaurant - they are the national delicacies.

 

- Marvel at our inadequate border controls as you get your wallet stolen.

 

- Go to a pub - try to find one off the beaten track and away from the usual tourist traps like Covent Gardens, where you will be drinking with more of your countrymen than with locals - and try ale, assuming it is stocked - you may not like it, but it's a pleasant change from the ice-cool watery lager that most Americans drink. If you opt for one of the standard lagers (Carling / Carlsberg, Heineken), don't be surprised if what you get is horrid - Britain's more characteristic beers are ales, stouts and bitters.

 

- Remember that London is a city like anywhere else. The people invariably ruder, more impatient and have less time for you than you will find elsewhere in the country - this is true of pretty much every city around the world.

 

- Don't expect an entirely different culture. Remember that globalisation has lost much of the cultural identity of most major international cities, and that we have been Americanised far longer than many other nations.

 

- Try to get out of London if you can. Windsor (site of the castle, another of the Royal homes), Stratford Upon Avon (Shakespeare's birthplace) and York (Minister and oldest street in Europe) are popular tourist locations. You'll also find the people generally grow proportionally more friendly the less weary they are of having brash American tourists around.

 

Not Advised:

 

- Say to every Brit you meet 'SO WHERE IN LONDON ARE YOU FROM?' In a bellowing New-Yorker's voice - surprising as it may seem outside of London is not the desolate inhabitable wasteland many urban Americans believe, and if we do live in London we will generally be a) black or B) not British.

 

- Expect everyone in London to be pleased to see you. They really won't.

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Come to Leeds, we'll show you a proper Yorkshire night out.

 

End up sleeping with some slapper while on the borderline of becoming semi comatose all the time wondering why you are wearing fancy dress and what exactly a 'clusterbomb' was, or your money back.

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Yeah I would prefer to see more country side than the city. I am from the south so the Yes sir, yes mam, please, thank you is second nature to me. I would love to see the country and less concrete than I have to.

 

 

I also get annoyed by tourists in Atlanta, so I will try my best to not be one of them cause I know how it really ###### off the people that live there. haha.

 

 

Well I will try to make my way out to some of those places mentioned. I also REALLY want to hit up some airsoft, so closer to the time of the trip i will check on here and see if any of yall are going to any games I could make it to.

 

 

Also would it be worth it to me to try and make it to Normandy France? That has been some where I have always wanted to see.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks guys, I am trying my best to not be one of the annoying tourists. haha

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the battlefields and graveyards of northern france are well worth a visit, take the ferry to caen from portsmouth and while you passing you could try a game at UCAP..

they have 2 unique sites, a ww2 bunker, and a disused hospital.. have a looky..

 

http://web.mac.com/crackingday/UCAP-UGHQ/Welcome.html

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London is a cheap tourist trap. Half the people are rude and don't speak the Queen's English - the other half are foreign..

 

Aye, it really is a horrid place at times.

 

I'd heartily recommend getting your *albartroth* down to Cornwall, through Wales, up to the Lakes, Yorkshire and all the way up to Scotland. Probably the best countryside the UK has to offer.

 

I agree. I've been trying to convince my yank colleague and his wife to visit the UK and check out some of these areas as they really are amazing. In the Go Sport in Khobar, there is a wall with a massive print of the English countryside and he was shocked when I told him it was England. He thought it was all built up and horrible.

 

One of the other yanks just wants to go to England so he can ask an English girl if he can see her fanny. He seems to think it would be funny.

 

London is a very, very big city and has loads to see but as others have said isn't really that representative of the rest of the UK (except the larger cities) which is a lot more quaint in comparison. Bristol, Birmingham, Machester and Glasgow are all worthwhile visits.

 

I agree on Manchester. A very nice place and not as up it's own *albartroth* like London. I love Bristol too! A lovely city!

 

- Be polite - smile a lot, remember to say 'please' and 'thankyou' and show your appreciation for good service - this doesn't have to be a tip, contrary to what most Americans believe - just some sign of acknowledgement / respect can often go a long way and sadly is where I have found our American brethren, often like the Japanese, paradoxically often fall down.

 

I've found Americans to be very polite. I come across bloody hundreds of them each week and the only ones who are rude seem to come from New York.:S

 

'SO WHERE IN LONDON ARE YOU FROM?' In a bellowing New-Yorker's voice

 

I've heard it called Britland by a yank from Utah who was in London.

 

 

Come to Leeds, we'll show you a proper Yorkshire night out.

 

End up sleeping with some slapper while on the borderline of becoming semi comatose all the time wondering why you are wearing fancy dress and what exactly a 'clusterbomb' was, or your money back.

 

How true! I've always had great nights out in Leeds! :D

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I come across bloody hundreds of them each week and the only ones who are rude seem to come from New York.:S

 

 

 

 

Ugh, why am I not surprised. Good ole New York :rolleyes:

 

 

Well thanks for all the help guys, I am excited about this trip, I just hope I can do half the stuff mentioned on here. I really want to play some airsoft, just cause yalls places to play are amazing.

 

 

So its not to hard to get over to normandy and the surrounding little towns? Whats the best way to get over there?

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I've found Americans to be very polite. I come across bloody hundreds of them each week and the only ones who are rude seem to come from New York.:S

 

 

When I lived in VT everyone was exceptionally friendly and polite to one another - amazingly so. However, this was because I was in the NE Kingdom miles away from anywhere, where Newport was considered a thriving metropolis. The moment you got closer to major urban areas the manners of the people invariably declined.

 

My comments however were referred more towards the attitude of many Urban Americans towards service staff, which I've seen frequently was awful. It was unbearable in Mexico 2 years ago to see how they were talking to staff in bars, hotels and other such service industry locations. The patience of the Mexican staff in dealing with what frequently seemed to be highly disrespectful, impatient and often downright childish American clientele was shocking, and I was appalled that a nation I had grown to love from my time in VT could produce such vile individuals.

 

That said, I know all places have their share of muppets - I have noticed often though that certain cultures (such as Yanks and Japanese, as discussed) certainly are more inclined to act in such a manner towards service staff.

 

 

 

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