I’m pretty sure I learned everything I know about Englishmen while reading Pride and Prejudice in grade ten (and by "reading" I mean watching the BBC classic that lead every teenage girl in my class to have a massive crush on Mr Darcy).
I rounded out my education with a crazy cacophony of clichés. Bert from Mary Poppins taught me the best Englishmen men float when they laugh – and have terrible Cockney accents. Bridget Jones Diary showed how silly English men look fighting to especially when set against the backdrop of the classic pop tune It’s Raining Men. I learned what Englishmen consider funny from episodes of Monty Python (my favourite is the Ministry of Silly Walks). My edification would be incomplete without flipping through copies of Hello magazine at the grocery store checkout for juicy stories of Prince Harry and David Beckham. With this as my baseline definition of Englishmen, what could go wrong? Perhaps I unwittingly expected my new flatmates to possess stereotypic quick wit, self-deprecating humour and posh accents while adorned in dinner jackets and wrapped in cloak of cigar smoke like the mythical English gentlemen that the media feeds us. However, the gentlemen of Upper Tollington Park Road are so much more.
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You may have noticed that I glossed right over my trip to Prague with Meagan – the last stop on my summer tour before landing in London. At the time, writing about all the touristy things I saw didn’t hold enough weight to warrant writing about. Type “Prague” into the search bar and images of colourful buildings, ornate architecture (with chopstick-like spires punctuating the skyline) and lush, green parks will pop up. It is a gorgeous, well-preserved medieval city coupled with a rich history, raucous nightlife (for those with more stamina than me!), and a hint of romance. While I could warn seasoned travellers how fantastically underwhelming the dancing figures are at the astronomical clock are or how crowded Charles Bridge can be mid-afternoon, this isn’t a travel blog per se and I didn’t feel like there was a story worth sharing. What could I add except a few touristy pictures of art and food?
But given a little patience, all things can turn into stories; and your patience has been rewarded. It’s been said that serendipity favours the bold, brave or prepared but I’m here to tell you it also favours those who feast. |
Follow AlongNice to meet you...I'm Andi (hence the blog name). I'm a travel aficionado, passionate eater, tireless explorer of internet rabbit-holes, and amateur thinker. Join me as I give it all up (ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration) and go around the world on a mid-career "soul sabbatical" & year-of-learning to figure out what to be NEXT when I grow up. Won’t you grab a cup of chai and stay a while?
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May 2018
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