By the Sea...

Sometimes it is hard to remember that England is entirely surrounded by the ocean...although every Brit I have met seems consciously aware of that fact (they keep telling me that England is NOT part of Europe...how on earth do they expect me, an American, to believe them). So, last Monday, we took a trip with another set of twins to the seaside, to a town called Margate. It was very lovely. We all took off our shoes and socks and went wading, or padding as the English would say, around in the Channel. (Funny, they insist on calling it the Channel when it looks like it's part of the Atlantic.)We wandered around the coast for a bit and then Laura and I checked out some of the historic sites in town. There wasn't much to see besides the beach. Margate has a nice beach, but the town is kind of shady. I wouldn't want to be there at night.

As souvenirs, we brought home some shells from the beach. When I got home, I noticed a creature in one of mine...oops! He was already dead, but I still had trouble plucking him out of his shell. I also found a really cool oyster shell.


When we got home, I was dead tired. We walked at least five miles around the town. That evening one of our housemates was having a party at a local pub called the Jolly Sailor, so we went for a short bit. Pubs in England look really cool. They are not like bars we have back home. Pub Grub isn't bad either. I'm really very fond of Fish and Chips. By the way, "chips" are actually thick fries (not like the McDonald's fries we have at home...more like steak fries that require lots of ketchup, hence a slight difficulty). Then what are potato chips? Crisps. It's beginning to feel a little like "Who's on First?" We had an interesting discussion with our British friends. Some of us wanted to go out for chips and salsa. When we told our friends, they gave us the weirdest expressions and then told us we meant crisps. Well, not exactly. How on earth do you explain the concept of a tortilla chip to people who have never had a taco? They made us promise to make them Mac 'n Cheese and tacos and Thanksgiving dinner.

They actually sell taco shells here. I was impressed. We made some for dinner. It was good, but not like homemade tacos back home. The beef here tastes different and I'm not sure I like it. The seasoning packet from the kit was alright, but rather mild. It tasted better than the Cornish pasties we tried a few days ago (those were good, I just don't have a craving for them). More on food later.

Cheers!
--Mary