Laura's List: Things I'm Going To Miss

I'm going to miss the time I had with my husband and my little girls. I'm going to miss our wonderful flat. I'm going to miss my friend Kristin. And, last but not least, I'm going to miss the British Museum and Boots cosmetics. And I'm definitely going to miss the wonderful education that London afforded me on a daily basis. Here are some of the things that struck me.

11. The British are the most polite subway riders I've ever experienced (at least in comparison to Tokyo, New York, D.C., Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Paris). In particular, the women are very likely to give up a seat to an elderly person, a pregnant woman or a little girl who appears in danger of being accidentally trampled during rush hour.
10. The Brits definitely have a "glass half empty" attitude. I'd call them pessimists (though they would say "realist"), while we Americans are basically optimists.
9. London women are wonderfully fashion-forward. The men? No so much.
8. England is not known for its food. Nor should it be.
7. You can understand American culture and attitudes better for studying British history, culture and attitudes.
6. The iconic red phone booths were modeled after a tomb! Giles Gilbert Scott was inspired by the mausoleum that Sir John Soane designed for his beloved wife when she died in 1815.
5. Queen Elizabeth I and her half-sister, Queen Mary I, so different and so estranged in life were actually buried together (though not by choice) in a side chapel of Westminster Abbey.
4. Most of the museums in London are free. The British Museum, which boasts the Rosetta Stone, the largest collection of mummies outside of Cairo and the Elgin Marbles (which the Greek government would dearly love to have back) is an especially good bargain with zero admission!
3. The weather in London in March is fantastic -- moderate temperatures and sunny days. We didn't believe the guidebooks, but they were right. And with tourism at its lowest point in the year, it's an ideal time to visit.
2. The British do not talk to strangers. It's simply not done. If you trip and smack your head on the pavement, they will politely step around you. But they won't talk to you. Trust me. This is not a hypothetical.
1. The Brits love to queue. Seriously. It's in their blood. If you stop anywhere, pretty soon, you'll have 3 or 4 people lined up behind you. I've seen folks with one item wait 20 minutes in a grocery check-out line. In the U.S., we'll put that item down among the checkstand magazines and walk out after about 90 seconds. As one woman said to me, "Well if you wait in line, there must be something really fantastic at the front."