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Okay, let's not get into a "our mountains are nicer than your mountains" discussion here.
When I lived in West Virginia, I teased a native about the Appalachians, saying they really didn't count as mountains compared to what I'd grown up around (in Utah). The response was
quote:You may laugh at our mountains, but we laugh at your rivers.
Of course that shut me up, because the only river we have in the West that can begin to compare to eastern rivers is the Columbia, so Elan wins because she lives near real mountains AND a real river. (And I'm jealous.)
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I really jealous of those of you who live in England. Besides the free healthcare and all--I'm trying to write a story in an alternative 12th century, but unfortunately, Virginia doesn't have much in the way of medieval ruins. I really need to get the sense of things in person. I'd love to take a day's drive take a tour of a castle, have a tourguide explain things bit by bit.
Posts: 1275 | Registered: Mar 2004
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quote:I really jealous of those of you who live in England. Besides the free healthcare and all
Nothing, I repeat, nothing is free. The Brits do indeed pay for their healthcare, they just pay for it differently than the way people on the otherside of the pond do.
[This message has been edited by snapper (edited July 02, 2008).]
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England is the perfect place to live if you enjoy making slightly less than it costs to survive. Have you ever wished you could pay a 65% tax on petrol, making a US gallon cost close to nine dollars? Then England is your kind of place. Yes England, a great place to be from.
This message was paid for by the French tourist board.
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lol. I should've known my heresy would get somebody worked up.
What the sound of the invisible hand doing the one hand clap? Wave, wave, wave, chop, chop, chop. My coworkers last day was Monday, the reward for all his hard work. Sooner or later, that'll be me.
Oops--I better duck out before I commit further blasphemy...
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I lived in England for about 18 months. I absolutely loved living there, but it was entirely not affordable. With the VAT adding hugely to the cost of everything, to the insane amount of taxes taken from my paycheck to pay for the "free" national insurance, we found that the cost of living there was about 70% over what it was in the US. Basically, whatever something cost in dollars, it cost in pounds.
Back in '95, we were paying about $1.40 per liter for gasoline, which is more than I pay now in these "hard times". My wife worked at the Royal London Hospital, as the P.A. for the head of the Trauma and Orthopaedics department, and heard enough that we would have flown back to the US rather than take advantage of the "free" health care. Suffice it to say that anyone who made any money had their own supplemental insurance, to avoid the free stuff.
All that said, though, I miss it. The history and the country are wonderful, and the people are great. I enjoyed driving on the right side of the road, and I love being only a few hours car ride (and a hovercraft) from France and the continent.
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Precisily, the hands-on access to history was the real point I was getting at. Of course, I've never been there, but it has to more informative in person than through google. If you live there and, and not taking advantage of that as a writer, shame of you!
[This message has been edited by ChrisOwens (edited July 03, 2008).]
Seriously, it's ridiculous the extent which you end up taking stuff for granted. I live in the suburbs of London and within four miles of my home there's one of Henry VIII's hunting grounds (no palace - it burnt down in the 17th century), a house where Anne Boleyn lives, remains of a roman villa, a town where 6 anglo-saxon kings were crowned (and the coronation stone - although as this was only 'redsicovered in the 19th century its probably a great big fib), the remains of Richmond palace, Hampton court... I could go on, but the point I'm making is that I take it ridiculously for granted. Hence the
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It's never too late to repent! I do envy you.
I'm trying to place my story in Sheen. And of course, the only online map I can find is several centuries after the place had been renamed and built up. And even that map doesn't convey that much to me. My quick-and-dirty solution? Have the protagonist find it a pile of rubble... ruins are ruins...
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You know historical settings can be very inspiring and other times their not. I did some work near the steeple on the Gettysburg battlefield. You could just feel that something big happened there. It was easy to see where the battlelines were drawn and imagine soldiers advancing and men fleeing. Such a magical moment. I was at the Alamo the week previous. I didn't have the same feeling there. Maybe because what is left of the structure sits in the middle of downtown San Antonio. Maybe because it felt more like a city park than a battlefield. Maybe because they sold plenty of trinkits within the walls of the historic site. Whatever the reason, I didn't feel it there when I felt it at Gettysburg. Other places invoked the same imprecise feelings. A roadside sign marking where Daniel Boone did battle with indians that kidnapped some woman in Eastern Tennessee meant little. An old custom house from 1730 in Maryland did. Perhaps its the same way in Europe.
[This message has been edited by snapper (edited July 03, 2008).]
posted
Chris, I am currently two miles away from what's left of Shene Palace (Henry VIII changed the name of the area to Richmond after his estates in Yorkshire - sorry if you knew that). I think after work I may very well be sat outside a pub, overlooking Richmond common and -imagine what it would have been like when they held jousting there and the palace still existed.
I may not make the most of the history around me, but I'm still a history geek.
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I grew up in North London and like you, Badger, took the history for granted. I never visited the Tower nor many of the other "tourist traps".
When I returned from nine years of living in Orlando, Fla, I found myself staring up at St Paul's Cathedral and said to my daughter, "Wow, look at that. It's old."
My daughter winced and said, "Dad, you sound just like an American tourist." (Sorry guys, in London that's not a compliment. It goes back to the second world war "over paid, over sexed and over here" thing. But, we love y'all really.)
When I lived in Florida I pined for English beer, sausages, bacon and a sense of connection to old, old culture. Now I'm back in England I long for Florida's weather, American steaks, shops that are open when you want to buy stuff and a society that expects and delivers customer service.
I think that we always want and appreciate what we don't have--which for most of the English these days is enough money to live in comfort!
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