Cambridge, England

I went to visit my daughter when was stationed there. It was her birthday as well as Mother’s day; she’s my mother’s day baby. I flew into Heathrow and she walked me through taking transit to get to her. She lived in a tiny town just outside of Cambridge. It was very walkable with grocery stores, shops, and pubs all a short distance from one another. Once you made the maybe half mile-ish walk downtown. From there you could take the train to Cambridge. It was a historic city with massive museums. Wear comfortable shoes cause there’s a lot of walking, I’ve noticed that theme throughout Europe. Walking, bicycling, public transit just about anything but riding solo.
We had high tea and I had clotted cream for the first time. It was so good! It’s like fresh butter but thick and a little sweet. Like if butter was the cutie from high school who grew up put on weight in all the right ways and places. There were finger sandwiches, pastries, and of course tea. [I do not recommend cucumber sandwiches. Who’s idea was that 🫥]We’re definitely doing it wrong over here. Imagine afternoon tea at your job. Just taking 30 to sit with snacks and tea. The last part of the workday would be so much more enjoyable.
We also had the best Indian food I’d ever had! I don’t eat meat and a lot of Indian food is vegetarian and vegan so there were so many options. Which, by the way, the McDonald’s also had a lot of vegan options. We ordered Domino’s pizza one night and they had plant based pizzas. I could even get vegetable pep’roni. It was really good. It’s like they’re actually accommodating to various diets or something. Weird.
My last night we went to her local pub. People were cool, funny. Not a lot of melanin in her area but they didn’t make it awkward. It was a nice evening. Oh, and so much gin. I’m not a gin drinker so it was easy to notice but they really like their gin.
Tipping culture isn’t a thing there. Tips are appreciated but not at all required or even expected. It’s really just a way of showing how much you appreciated the service.
I would definitely recommend visiting the UK. There’s so much to see and do.