Overseas visitors
Discussion
Me mum and brother are coming over from South Africa for 2 weeks. This will be the first time they have ever left the country.
I can't wait to show them around , I live in Kent and have my new RX8 to scoot about in.
Can the PH collective suggest some must-see sights?
Spank you in advance,
Craig
.
I can't wait to show them around , I live in Kent and have my new RX8 to scoot about in.
Can the PH collective suggest some must-see sights?
Spank you in advance,
Craig
.
Leeds Castle isn't massively entertaining in my view - I do think it's overpriced too. The gardens are nice but I just found it a little too "manicured".
Port Lymphe Wild Animal Park down near Hythe is great - mind you South Africans probably see much wilder wildlife in their own back yards!
The grandeur of London is a must for any visitor from overseas, but it can be tiring and expensive to get the best out of the capital. My favourite places in London:
- Highgate Cemetary (read up on it before you go, it really is a proper Victorian wonderland in the best "Narnia" tradition)
- St Paul's Cathedral
- Borough Market on a Saturday morning followed by a walk along the South Bank, trip on the London Eye then a wander over to the other side of the river for a dim-sum lunch at Joy King Lau's Chinese restaurant in Leicester Street (behind Leicester Square) - absolute top-notch dim sum at very, very reasonable prices. Then an afternoon matinee of "The Woman in Black" at the Fortune Theatre in Russell Street (quaint little Victorian theatre, long running show that's really quite creepy and thoroughly entertaining).
Hope that helps!
Port Lymphe Wild Animal Park down near Hythe is great - mind you South Africans probably see much wilder wildlife in their own back yards!
The grandeur of London is a must for any visitor from overseas, but it can be tiring and expensive to get the best out of the capital. My favourite places in London:
- Highgate Cemetary (read up on it before you go, it really is a proper Victorian wonderland in the best "Narnia" tradition)
- St Paul's Cathedral
- Borough Market on a Saturday morning followed by a walk along the South Bank, trip on the London Eye then a wander over to the other side of the river for a dim-sum lunch at Joy King Lau's Chinese restaurant in Leicester Street (behind Leicester Square) - absolute top-notch dim sum at very, very reasonable prices. Then an afternoon matinee of "The Woman in Black" at the Fortune Theatre in Russell Street (quaint little Victorian theatre, long running show that's really quite creepy and thoroughly entertaining).
Hope that helps!
If near brands hatch Lullingston Castle is open with the new gardens which there son has "made". He is minor celeb person around here because he was captured in Cuba I think by Gurrillas and escaped or got let go. The house is also open at moment. Top place that and Eagle Heights is down the same road (recently escaped bald eagle) beware poor people clogging up the roads and boozing by the ford.
This may sound simple, but overseas visitors always want to see the big, well known sights, in my (extsnive) experience of entertaining visitors from abroad.
This means, for sure, a day in London, visiting all the tacky tourist sights, showing them Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, London Eye, Bank of England and so on. Just grit your teeth and bear it, and tell them that this is not England as you know it.
Oli.
This means, for sure, a day in London, visiting all the tacky tourist sights, showing them Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, London Eye, Bank of England and so on. Just grit your teeth and bear it, and tell them that this is not England as you know it.
Oli.
zcacogp said:
This may sound simple, but overseas visitors always want to see the big, well known sights, in my (extsnive) experience of entertaining visitors from abroad.
Not entirely true. I much prefer more local oriented things such as the pub that Dazren and I had lunch at (thanks again, mate - I owe you) or the curry house that a few PHers took me to.
Viewing the well known stuff is good, but you get a better feel for the people when doing the local stuff.
Orlando is a prime example. If you think that you "get" Orlando by visiting Mickey and friends, it just isn't so. There are a lot more things to do around town than view pixies and sprinkle fairy dust (subjectively speaking of course)...
ErnestM
ErnestM said:Ernest,
Not entirely true. I much prefer more local oriented things such as the pub that Dazren and I had lunch at (thanks again, mate - I owe you) or the curry house that a few PHers took me to.
Viewing the well known stuff is good, but you get a better feel for the people when doing the local stuff.
Orlando is a prime example. If you think that you "get" Orlando by visiting Mickey and friends, it just isn't so. There are a lot more things to do around town than view pixies and sprinkle fairy dust (subjectively speaking of course)...
ErnestM
I'm glad to read your post! I'd class you as "Unusual", and would suspect that I fit into the same category. Getting a feel for local people is exactly what I like to do when abroad, but unfortunately most people don't see it the same way.
(OK, I know I'm weird, but I love foreign supermarkets. Any country in the world, I am not happy until I have been for a good snoop around their local supermarket. Why? Because that way you see real people, doing real things. And if the supermarket is actually held on a muddy street, with bamboo stalls, so much the better.)
In fairness to people visiting the UK, I think that some of the big London sights are so well known that they have become iconographic. For instance, I couldn't visit a certain Italian city without visiting the cistine chapel. Because this was an example of the local area? No, becuase it is world-famous, and I simply couldn't miss it. (But I'd been to an Italian supermarket the day before, so the paintings weren't at the top of my tourist list!)
Oli.
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