Week 3 Observations.

We have officially lived in the UK for 3 weeks.  Here are our observations:

1. Traffic circles are the devil.
   

   Oh Noooooooo!

   Traffic circles are scary. I am sure they are great and all once you get used to them (In fact, they are shown to improve the flow of traffic once people are adjusted to using them) however, we find them to be a little intimidating and we try to avoid them whenever we can. Here is the problem. In a busy traffic circle, it is very hard to figure out when cars are going to enter or leave the circle. This is compounded by two things A) Blatant disregard for turn signals and 2) Whole forests of plants growing in the centers of the circles. I can’t not tell you how many times we have stopped to let a car go through that didn’t, or had to stop mid stride to let a car go past when we thought it would turn. To avoid this, some places put up gates around the traffic circles and make you walk half a mile down the road to find the crossing. In other cases, they make you walk down a flight stairs though a recessed pavilion underneath the circles  to ensure there are no pedestrian casualties. It’s a big hassle, and that is just walking. We dare not drive though them.

2. The pedestrian crossing signals work!

Get this. When at a cross walk, if you push a pedestrian crossing button the light will change usually within 5 seconds or less and allow you to cross. Amazing! I am convinced that the ones in the U.S. are there just to give people something to occupy their time while they wait for the light’s natural cycle to take it’s course. I guess they had to make up for all the traffic circles some how.

3. Old cat ladies rejoice!

You can’t throw a cat in this city without hitting another cat. The English really seem to love their fuzzy feline friends. We went for a walk this evening and saw 11 cats within a 3-4 block radius of our house. Eleven! We were only out for about 20 minutes. That is 1.81 CPM! (Cats per minute) And they all seem to be well cared for with nice dispositions.



Cat number 2. I see this one all the time.



Cats 6 and 7



Cat number 8



4. These pigeons are huge!


Like a freakin' albatross he is!

There seem to be 2-3 main breeds of pigeon in Bournemouth and one of them is gigantic. I am talking small duck sized pigeons. What do they feed those things, Mexicans? That would explain why we haven’t seen any. They are also prettier then the average pigeon.  At least Courtney thinks so. Dave still thinks they are dirty sky rats.

5. Have a little priest…


Scotch Egg

The Brits love just about all their foods  encased in a flaky pastry crust. Pasties, meat pies, sausage rolls. Its all good, and Dave is loving it. They like to deep fry things too. At the local fish and chips shop, you can buy “Spam Fritters.” Yes folks, those are battered and deep fried slices of spam. You can also buy them at the grocery store. Another fried meat concoction that Dave has come to enjoy is the Scotch egg and its tinier cousin, the savory bite. A scotch egg is a hard boiled egg that is rolled in sausage meat then breaded and fried. Savory bites are the same thing only smaller with egg salad in the middle. Its the sort of thing that you would see on This Is Why You’re Fat.

(by the way, if you got the “have a little priest” reference you are full of win.)