Transcript of Premium Bonus 74- Transcript

Charlie:
Hello and welcome to another episode of the British English Podcast with me, your host Charlie Baxter, and sat opposite me is my wife, Stacey Benson still. Still a year on, she's a Benson, not a Baxter. But we won't go there. You could be asking, why am I not a Benson, Charlie? Oh.

Stacey:
Exactly.

Charlie:
Yes, exactly. Um, but today we're going to be talking about London. Um, what title would we give this episode?

Stacey:
Oh, that's putting me on the spot.

Charlie:
The pros and cons of London? Something like that.

Stacey:
Hopefully you'll think of a better title by the time this gets published.

Charlie:
Yes we will. And if you see pros and cons of London, then we're not very imaginative at BEP. At the British English Podcast. Um, so we're a year in now.

Stacey:
Yeah, exactly. Pretty much. Yeah.

Charlie:
We moved to London, to south west London in October 2023. And yeah, it's now nearly the end of October 2024. So we've got a year in us. We hadn't lived in London before this.

Stacey:
Nope.

Charlie:
I had commuted in and out of it when I was ten years younger. Um, but we've lived around the world. We've lived in different cities, obviously, and, um, we've got some comparisons to make.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
So we're going to give you guys the lowdown. Yeah. The pros and cons of London. So, um, we'll do that. We'll do it in three sections. Firstly, I want to give you a sort of an understanding of what a typical weekend might look like for you if you were Stacey. So Stacey is going to tell us her weekend.

Stacey:
This weekend?

Charlie:
Uh, yeah. Yeah. This is I mean, this is quite a typical weekend, isn't it?

Stacey:
It is quite a typical weekend. Yeah.

Charlie:
Minus the podcast.

Stacey:
I think also though, we should mention that we are mid 30s, so I feel like this is a typical weekend for a mid 30s person living in London that perhaps doesn't have children.

Charlie:
Yes. Yes. Accurate. Yeah. Important to say. So what else are we to label you? So you're 34? Nearly 35.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
Um, yeah. No children. Um, do you want children?

Stacey:
Are we answering this on this podcast?

Charlie:
Well, they might want to think about. Okay, if I want children, if this person doesn't want children and they're enjoying London, maybe I won't enjoy London.

Stacey:
Okay, I see, I see where you're going.

Charlie:
I'm clutching.

Stacey:
Are you. Are you wanting some clickbait? Mm.

Charlie:
Yeah. Straight away. Get to the real questions.

Stacey:
Do I want children? Do you want children, Charlie?

Charlie:
Uh, yes, I do.

Stacey:
I want children, too. But not yet.

Charlie:
Not with me. Yeah. I was thinking how some of my friends have partners like 5 or 6 years younger than them.

Stacey:
That'd be quite nice for you.

Charlie:
For me. Yeah. Not for you. That'd be terrible for you. God, you would have had to have children, would you?

Stacey:
No. I'm still the same age.

Charlie:
Same age. But my friends are my age. So you would be 40 something?

Stacey:
Yes. Oh, I see, I see.

Charlie:
It's all around me.

Stacey:
Oh, yeah. Of course. It's your podcast.

Charlie:
It's my podcast Stacey!

Stacey:
I get it, I get it. Sorry, I did not understand.

Charlie:
But we are talking about your weekend now.

Stacey:
Okay, back to my weekend.

Charlie:
But I feel like we skipped. How are you?

Stacey:
Oh, I'm good, thank you. I've had a nice weekend so far.

Charlie:
Yeah?

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
Why?

Stacey:
Um, because we did some exercise together, which it's taken me almost. It took me ten years to persuade you to participate in exercise with me.

Charlie:
Yeah. There was a lot of trial and error.

Stacey:
Yeah, and a lot of error.

Charlie:
A lot of error. And there was a lot of complaining from me. Yeah. Sometimes I would actually leave the gym. I would finish the class, but I would be angry, wouldn't I?

Stacey:
At me.

Charlie:
Yeah. I was furious at the amount of exercise that I'd had to. I had to do. But yeah, we did some spinning.

Stacey:
Yeah. So today was a lie in. We actually, in the start of the weekend is technically Friday, I think.

Charlie:
Okay.

Stacey:
So last night we went to the pub. We went for a dog walk at about 5 p.m. after work.

Charlie:
On the dot.

Stacey:
Yeah. 5.15 actually. You had some homework to mark.

Charlie:
Goodness me. Hopefully it's going to get better than this, guys.

Stacey:
5.15. We did a walk to the pub and we had one pint and we came back.

Charlie:
You had a half.

Stacey:
I had a half. True. Sorry. Yeah. Fact check. I had a half a pint. You had a pint of Guinness and we came home and made fajita bowls.

Charlie:
I thought you were about to say love then. Made sweet, tender love then made sweet, tender chicken thighs?

Stacey:
Yes.

Charlie:
No. They were breasts.

Stacey:
They were definitely breasts.

Charlie:
Yeah. We ate some breasts and then sat on the sofa and watched, um, that twister film, didn't we?

Stacey:
Yes, it was very good. Highly recommend.

Charlie:
But we're we're going in.

Stacey:
But that's a typical I would say that's a typical walk to the pub. Quick pint. If we're not going out for dinner. We didn't go out for dinner because we were doing dinner tonight. So we came back, made dinner, watched some some film.

Charlie:
Yeah. Went watch some Netflix. Yeah. So.

Stacey:
And this morning we had a lie in. I'm keeping this quick because I feel like this is dull.

Charlie:
So yeah, it is, it is. But so are we. Are we doing this weekend as your typical weekend?

Stacey:
I think so. I think this is pretty standard.

Charlie:
Because I thought we were in the how are you?

Stacey:
Oh, sorry.

Charlie:
Okay. We can do that.

Stacey:
Well, this is I feel like this is a very typical weekend. So this morning...

Charlie:
We're too far in.

Stacey:
Had a little bit of a lie in, went and did spinning, which, if anyone lives in south west London, shout out to RH Studios because the spinning there is insane.

Charlie:
I nearly vomited then. Shout out.

Stacey:
It's insane! Isn't it the best spinning you've ever done? And we've been to such bougie, bougie spinning places. And this place is super reasonable and just incredible. And every time we leave, the endorphins are through the roof.

Charlie:
Correct. All correct. Yes. So shout out to Uwa?.

Stacey:
You're correct.

Charlie:
Yeah. Yeah.

Stacey:
I'm going to send her this podcast.

Charlie:
Add some resistance! She makes us say add some resistance. Like she points to you specifically. And then you have to shout out to the group. Add some resistance to your spin bike. And we all have to crank it up.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
And then by the end, you're very high up on the scale and. Yeah.

Stacey:
You want to die?

Charlie:
Yeah. It's good fun.

Stacey:
It is. It's good fun.

Charlie:
Okay. So we do some exercise in the morning.

Stacey:
And then I feel like normally we maybe do some brunch. But we didn't do that today. We came home and made brunch. We.

Charlie:
So we would go out to brunch, maybe with some people.

Stacey:
Maybe once on a weekend with another couple. Yeah. We do love a double date, so I feel like that's pretty standard. I feel like our weekends are revolving these days around. I think this is quite typical for London around walks like dog walks and food, brunch and dinner, which is a very privileged weekend to have.

Charlie:
Yeah. It does require a dog.

Stacey:
It does require a dog. Yes. If you don't have a dog, you can still walk.

Charlie:
You can still walk, but you can't call it a dog walk.

Stacey:
Walking is not exclusive to.

Charlie:
Can't call it a dog walk. No. Um, so let's give some London based content. So if we were to go out for brunch, where might we go?

Stacey:
Um, I mean, we're south west.

Charlie:
Like, would we go to a pub?

Stacey:
Not for brunch. No. Oh, that's a yes. Very, very true. We would go to typically we would go to a coffee shop I feel like.

Charlie:
Yeah. I mean I would say it's not a specifically a coffee shop. I would say it's very much a brunch cafe. Kind of.

Stacey:
Yeah. However, I feel like in London specifically, there's a lot of greasy spoons that would only really offer, like a filter coffee or a tea. Like a cup of tea. So we go to places that I feel like are very coffee focused. Because you want a coffee.

Charlie:
I want a coffee? You want a coffee. You don't want a tea at this point in your day.

Stacey:
If I have a fry up, I'd like a tea.

Charlie:
A fry up. But you don't really have a fry up that often. You don't. If you're hungover, you might want a fry up. But I don't think you want a fry up that much.

Stacey:
No. That's true.

Charlie:
You would only have a fry up if it's a it's a bad place.

Stacey:
Yes. Or. No, sometimes I'd say some places don't offer a fry up because they're more. Uh.

Charlie:
I think most places are leaning towards that Aussie brunch, which is avocado on sourdough with poached eggs for £15.

Stacey:
Correct.

Charlie:
That's what we like, isn't it?

Stacey:
That's why we aren't rich. Yeah.

Charlie:
Don't have any savings left after the month. Yeah. Um, okay. And then a dog walk. Now, this is leading into the pros and cons list, but there's a lot of parks. Yeah. For us to choose and enjoy.

Stacey:
I feel like sometimes that's a problem that we face on the weekend.

Charlie:
There's too many parks.

Stacey:
There's too many choices.

Charlie:
Over analysis paralysis. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Charlie:
Too many parks.

Stacey:
Within, like, a 20 minute drive for us. I feel like we have probably, like, eight really nice parks to walk around.

Charlie:
Yeah. Yeah.

Stacey:
Really, really nice.

Charlie:
Really big as well.

Stacey:
Big. Interesting.

Charlie:
Like an hour of walking. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Stacey:
London is surprisingly green for being such a. Is it a mega city? Yeah.

Charlie:
Uh, it's close to being a mega city. Yeah, because it's 9 million. Yeah. Nearly ten. So I think that's what makes it a mega city, right? 10 million. Yeah. Uh, yeah.

Stacey:
Cool.

Charlie:
I would never say mega city.

Stacey:
Really?

Charlie:
Would you? I mean, you just did, but did you do it because there's a microphone in your face?

Stacey:
No, I think I do differentiate the cities between being a mega city, but London feels like a mega city for me.

Charlie:
Right.

Stacey:
Like I feel like any other mega city I've been to.

Charlie:
Other than saying it in these in this conversation, how would you use Mega City? I went to a mega city.

Stacey:
No, no, you'd be like, uh.

Charlie:
It's almost only when you fact check, isn't it? Is Chicago a mega city?

Stacey:
Yeah. I guess it's like just wanting to know the population of a city.

Charlie:
So is it because you don't want to say how what's the population of. Because that. That's a bit nerdy.

Stacey:
No, I don't think so. I think it's just the mega cities I've been to feel quite different to non mega cities.

Charlie:
Just cities.

Stacey:
Just regular cities. Yeah.

Charlie:
Okay. Um, so it's a big city.

Stacey:
It's a big city.

Charlie:
Big old city.

Stacey:
But it's surprisingly green. Lots of parks. It's actually protected those green spaces.

Charlie:
So it's actually the biggest. Um, sorry. It has the most amount of parks. I googled it.

Stacey:
Really?

Charlie:
Yeah. It is the most green city in the world.

Stacey:
Interesting.

Charlie:
Says one quick Google.

Stacey:
Interesting that it says it's the greenest because I disagree that it's the greenest.

Charlie:
I may have just turned that from the most amount of parks.

Stacey:
I agree with the most amount of parks.

Charlie:
Okay, so guys, after ten minutes of this bit of the conversation, London has a lot of parks. Yes, actually, we're only 12 minutes in.

Stacey:
That's not too bad. That's not too bad. That's like shorter than a voice note.

Charlie:
So. Yours. So we're we're towards the end of Saturday now in your typical London weekend.

Stacey:
Yeah. I mean I then generalised and said we just revolve around dog walks, some form of exercise, maybe brunch and maybe dinner.

Charlie:
Hey, that is called cutting corners.

Stacey:
Oh, sorry.

Charlie:
On The British English podcast. We do not do that.

Stacey:
Okay, well, actually, one thing that I would say as a, as a generalisation for a Sunday, which we do not do enough.

Charlie:
What about Saturday night!

Stacey:
So Saturday night, if we've done brunch, we're back in because we can't be bothered to go back out again.

Charlie:
So we're only doing one thing.

Stacey:
We are. Yeah.

Charlie:
Am or PM.

Stacey:
If we've been out for a significant amount of time, like upwards of four hours, then we want to come home.

Charlie:
We want to come home because I like a lot of me time and Stacey likes to just work. But you're you're a year and a half, nearly two years into your own business.

Stacey:
Correct.

Charlie:
Which is doing very well. And you're on a coaching program that you, you, you try to utilise at any moment that you're not actually working. And you do have quite a busy schedule. So fair enough, fair enough.

Stacey:
So we want to come back home. Yeah. But I was going to say that on a Sunday... Typically for Brits of our age and older and younger, I would say that a Sunday roast is a part of the Sunday, and it's something that I actually don't think we do enough, and I would like to do more of.

Charlie:
Okay.

Stacey:
So I'm using this part of the podcast as a wish.

Charlie:
A wish list.

Stacey:
A wish list to go do more Sunday roasts.

Charlie:
Okay, okay. We can do that. Yeah. Um, yeah. So one of our friends, Holly, she loves a Sunday roast, and she would often link that at the end of a dog walk if we go in the morning with her. Yeah, yeah. Um, would it feel weird. Would it feel weird to do a roast on a Saturday?

Stacey:
Yes.

Charlie:
Okay. And would you be cooking, or would you be going out for a Sunday roast?

Stacey:
I personally like to go out for a Sunday roast. It feels worth it because Sunday roast is quite a bit of work and quite a lot of washing up, and for two people I don't know whether it's worth the hassle. So for just us to have a Sunday roast on a Sunday, I think it's nice to go out for a Sunday roast.

Charlie:
Nice. Very nice.

Stacey:
That's what I want to do.

Charlie:
Yes, yes. Okay, okay. And, um, then after our Sunday roast, what would you do?

Stacey:
Come home.

Charlie:
Come. Come home.

Stacey:
Come home.

Charlie:
A lot of the weekend is home.

Stacey:
Come home and prepare for the week ahead. I feel like most people actually in London, I guess because the city is a very busy and maybe career focused city. I think a lot of people on a Sunday evening are prepping for the week. Okay. Meal prep. Laundry, mental prep.

Charlie:
Laundry in British English is washing. Washing the clothes. Washing. Doing the washing. But we like laundry, don't we?

Stacey:
Laundry.

Charlie:
I quite like that word. An American word. Uh, okay. So chores. Towards the end of the weekend.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
A bit of roast on the Sunday morning. Potentially.

Stacey:
Definitely lunchtime.

Charlie:
Oh, yeah. Yeah. That was. Yes, yes. Sorry. Don't know. I thought of brunch on the Saturday.

Stacey:
What's your optimal time to have Sunday roast?

Charlie:
1?

Stacey:
2 p.m.

Charlie:
That was very weird. Okay.

Stacey:
That's when I want my roast.

Charlie:
Okay. What time are you going to bed on Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Do it quickly, please.

Stacey:
Friday, Saturday and Sunday?

Charlie:
Yeah.

Stacey:
Um. 11. 11. 10.

Charlie:
11.11 on Friday?

Stacey:
11. 11. 10. Friday. Saturday. Sunday.

Charlie:
Oh, I see. Not a very specific time on Friday.

Stacey:
Yeah. Although it's actually more like 12, 12. 10.

Charlie:
12. 12. 10.

Stacey:
Very irresponsible.

Charlie:
Goodness me. Okay. Okay. And Stacey is 34 years old.

Stacey:
Almost 35.

Charlie:
Almost 35. Um. And no children.

Stacey:
So.

Charlie:
And one little sausage dog.

Stacey:
Yes.

Charlie:
And a husband.

Stacey:
Hello little sausage. Can you.

Charlie:
Can you see her?

Stacey:
She's. She's hiding.

Charlie:
She's hiding. Okay. So typical weekend done. Now let's move on to the pros and cons of London. A year in to living in southwest London. Specifically in Tooting. Tooting? A funny name means to fart, doesn't it? To toot. Lovely.

Stacey:
I never think of it like that.

Charlie:
No, nor do I actually. But yeah, we're in fart zone Tooting. It's fairly close. It's zone three. Which means what? 20 minutes to the centre of London.

Stacey:
Mm. Yeah. Around that, I think.

Charlie:
Yeah. On the train and. On the tube. Sorry. Yes. Okay, so what would be your first major pro of living in London?

Stacey:
First major pro I think is quite easy. And that is that there are endless options for incredible food of every cuisine that you could ever imagine. And we have it all very accessible to us in a short travel distance.

Charlie:
Yeah, I really, really agree with that. Well, hang on a short travel distance.

Stacey:
We have the market. Tooting market, which is quite famous within 15 minute walk from our front door. Yeah. And it has every possible cuisine and a reasonable price. Yes. For London prices especially. Yeah. Um. And yeah, you can literally just walk there, rock up, get whatever you want.

Charlie:
Yeah, and f off. Uh, yes. That's true. So, loads of different foods. Um. Really good quality food.

Stacey:
I think it has to be because it's such a competitive city. It's like the food has to be really good, otherwise you don't survive. Which from a consumer standpoint is great because we get to have pretty good standard of dining experience.

Charlie:
Yeah that's true. And that encourages us to socialise around food more.

Stacey:
Definitely. Yeah I think so. Yeah. Yeah.

Charlie:
Yeah. Because we're keen to go and see that place that we haven't tried.

Stacey:
Like a bit of a bucket list of. But I mean there's so many options and so many new, new options. I feel like new places open on the. Well, definitely on the daily. But for us like we're kind of spoilt for choice.

Charlie:
Yes, we are spoilt for choice. Now that leads into a con for me.

Stacey:
Being spoilt for choice.

Charlie:
Being spoilt for choice. Um, now in non mega cities, in smaller cities, I feel like you hear about a particular place that has popped up and you might be excited to try it out.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
And we live a fairly mundane life, and we don't have the capability to see everything that London has to offer.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
So it feels a bit like there's so much there that I can't complete it. So I'm not going to try.

Stacey:
Wow. That's so negative.

Charlie:
But if I was in a smaller place.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
I would.

Stacey:
I get that.

Charlie:
Would be more motivated.

Stacey:
Because the last three cities that we've lived in have all been significantly smaller. Under the what have they been in population wise? I'm looking at you. Population man.

Charlie:
Sydney. I'm going to guess 4 to 5 million?

Stacey:
Okay. And Nuremberg is under a million.

Charlie:
Half a million?

Stacey:
Half a million. And Columbus?

Charlie:
Was around the same.

Stacey:
Okay. And, yeah, I feel like when there was a new opening of, like, a bar, restaurant, brunch place, we knew about it because it was interesting. And we would go to it and then check it off. So it's like we could complete the task, which felt quite satisfying. Yes. And there are still places in Sydney that we didn't manage to go to. But we were, we weren't. It wasn't like just endless sea of options, I guess.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah, but it is of course a pro. Yeah. Endless amount of opportunities and exciting things. Not only food, but really cool, like different experiences.

Stacey:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Charlie:
Like the immersive theatre. Yeah. The bar that we went to that was kind of like a saloon that had a story behind it. Actors.

Stacey:
Yeah. I feel like compared to other cities in the UK as well. They maybe don't have so much of that because maybe because the population is less. But yeah, there are endless options of like really fun, kind of weird untraditional experiences.

Charlie:
Yeah. Non-traditional.

Stacey:
I would say. Yeah, sorry.

Charlie:
And a speakeasy. We went to one called Cahoots in Soho. That was fun. You had to say a secret little password to get through, and then it's like a London Underground.

Stacey:
Yeah, it was really good.

Charlie:
Cocktail bar.

Stacey:
Yeah, I think that's. I think that's back to a benefit, though.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah, but I was saying that it's more than just food. It's loads of different experiences.

Stacey:
Yeah, yeah, yeah for sure.

Charlie:
To not sound such a negative Nancy. Yeah. Right from the start.

Stacey:
Yeah. Debbie Downer.

Charlie:
I was about to say get go. And I know that you don't like that phrase.

Stacey:
My ick.

Charlie:
Ick. Yeah. Okay. So that's a pro. A big pro for you. What's a big con for you?

Stacey:
Um, I mean, all of these cons are going to sound very.

Charlie:
Yeah. I'd like to just state we know that this is a blessed life. Yes. We are very lucky. Yeah. Um. And we do love our life.

Stacey:
Definitely.

Charlie:
Very happy.

Stacey:
I'm happy you disclaimed that.

Charlie:
Yes. But just comparing and commenting on. Yeah. The little things.

Stacey:
This one is the, I think, the biggest one for me. And it is linking to what you just said is that London for me feels a little bit too big in that whenever we are invited anywhere, I would say on average we travel around 50 minutes to an hour and a quarter to get somewhere. Um, and that's quite common. I mean, we've got a couple of friends that are southwest. I guess only Holland.

Charlie:
I just thought also, it doesn't it doesn't it doesn't matter your level of wealth. Like if we were stinking rich, you would still have to do that. Wouldn't you?

Stacey:
Yeah yeah yeah. Because we I mean, we get the underground and that's probably the quickest, the quickest mode of transport. Yeah. Um. And. Yeah, it's always like a, it's it's really about an hour to, to get somewhere and it just feels a bit, a bit of an effort, I guess, because if the weather's also really bad during the winter and stuff, it's like an hour to get there and the cold just feels a little bit like a bit of a resistance. So it maybe makes me feel like more of a hermit than I have in other cities.

Charlie:
Very, very well put at the end there. Yeah, it does make you feel a little bit more like a hermit and it encourages you to enjoy your home. Mhm. Um, we were quite, um, lucky with having this, uh, this flat through a mutual friend. But I would say. Would you say that most people's flats in London are a bit smaller and not as nice as they would like?

Stacey:
Um, I guess it depends on their financial position.

Charlie:
Yeah, but like everyone.

Stacey:
I think everyone's.

Charlie:
Everyone's slightly unhappy with their home.

Stacey:
I don't know about that. No, I don't know if I agree.

Charlie:
Generally.

Stacey:
In our peer group perhaps, I don't know.

Charlie:
Actually no our peer group, no most.

Stacey:
They're quite satisfied.

Charlie:
Most of them are satisfied.

Stacey:
Yeah. There is a lot of very small, cramped, living living conditions in London based on cost of living.

Charlie:
It's really. It's really expensive.

Stacey:
For sure.

Charlie:
So what you pay for, you get a matchbox.

Stacey:
That was going to be my next negative.

Charlie:
Oh, dear.

Stacey:
Charlie.

Charlie:
I stomped all over that one, didn't I? Okay. Um, so. Yeah, it's very expensive.

Stacey:
Yeah. It's, it's by far the most expensive city we've ever lived in. And I think that is a negative.

Charlie:
Yes. I don't think it's a positive. So we lived in Sydney before and our expenses have almost doubled. We did get a car. We didn't really. We had a second hand car in Australia.

Stacey:
Mhm. And now we pay monthly for our car. Yeah. So but yeah I mean the big one is, is the rent and a mortgage here in, in London I feel like.

Charlie:
Rent or mortgage. We're not, we're not doing both. Yet. Hopefully. Um yeah. Okay. So it's expensive. Yeah. Um, what about another pro? Actually, I want to add.

Stacey:
Yeah. You're allowed to talk. It's your podcast.

Charlie:
Yeah. It is. Thank you. A lot of home friends are here. This isn't really helpful for anyone.

Stacey:
No, I don't think you can use that one. It's got to be. It's got to be audience specific.

Charlie:
Okay. Um. Good airports.

Stacey:
Oh, great airports.

Charlie:
Great airports.

Stacey:
Lots of options.

Charlie:
Lots of lots of options. And lots of free, not free. Cheap flights.

Stacey:
To other places.

Charlie:
To other places.

Stacey:
Yeah, I agree, and very. You're just very well connected because it is a mega city.

Charlie:
It's a mega city. If you're on the underground somewhere, if you're on one of the zones in one of the zones, you can get to most of the airports quite easily.

Stacey:
That is correct.

Charlie:
Cash back. Yeah. So that's that's a pro.

Charlie:
We have come to the end of part one. So feel free to take a break from your listening practice. But if you're happy to keep going then we're now moving on to part two of this episode. Thanks so much for being a premium or Academy member and enjoy the rest of the show.

Stacey:
Another pro definitely is that London has an insane amount of historical landmarks and kind of historical sights to see.

Charlie:
Attractions.

Stacey:
Attractions! Are they attractions? I guess. Yeah, yeah. True. Yeah. And I mean, even for, um, like, non-British people, um, and I was gonna say British people, actually, because my auntie has just visited and they love to come here for their.

Charlie:
Yes.

Stacey:
Historical.

Charlie:
There's lots of things to do to host people.

Stacey:
Yeah. And anyone that's interested in history, it's their dream.

Charlie:
Yeah.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
Yeah. Were you going to say the other dream?

Stacey:
What dream?

Charlie:
No. The naughty, uncensored dream.

Stacey:
No?!

Charlie:
No, no. Okay, that's a phrase, though, isn't it? To exclaim that it's it's their heaven.

Stacey:
Is it?

Charlie:
Somebody's wet dream?

Stacey:
Oh, I would never say that.

Charlie:
No you wouldn't. You're too nice.

Stacey:
Have you forgot who you're featuring on this podcast?

Charlie:
Yeah. Um, yeah. So they went to Westminster, they went to...

Stacey:
Trafalgar Square. They went to, um, like Covent Garden, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, the mall. Yeah. Um, all over the place.

Charlie:
Yeah. Big Ben. Um, so lots of things to see, which is great. Yeah. Yeah. And lots of things to do to show them around. To have a good time. Endless, endless sea of opportunities. Mhm. Um. What else?

Stacey:
I think, uh, well, shall we go negative again?

Charlie:
Yeah.

Stacey:
A negative for me. And actually it was highlighted by going to those places, those places of historic impressiveness.

Charlie:
Significance.

Stacey:
Significance. That's the word I was looking for. Um, is that London is very busy.

Charlie:
Mhm.

Stacey:
Insanely busy.

Charlie:
Oh isn't it just.

Stacey:
Even though it's so big, it's just still like just too busy sometimes in some places to walk around. Um, I know going to Covent Garden at 3 p.m. on a Saturday is obviously going to be busy, but to walk down a street. It was kind of like being stuck in kind of. I can't say human traffic. It's kind of just being. Yeah, just held up by all of the people that are there. And it just takes like 20 minutes to walk 100m.

Charlie:
Yeah. Yeah. I went to Soho about a year ago on a Friday night, just for a casual beer with a friend, and it felt like I was in a music festival trying to get through the street.

Stacey:
Yeah. The crowds are insane.

Charlie:
So busy.

Stacey:
I went for dinner the other night, and I had to walk up Oxford Street for maybe, like, two, like, blocks, and I thought, that'll just take me five minutes. Like, it's really not that far. Yeah. And it honestly, I want to say took 15 minutes just because I couldn't cross and people would cut onto the road to, like, try and take over.

Charlie:
Naughty.

Stacey:
People. So yeah, sometimes it's just a bit too busy.

Charlie:
And it takes the magic out of it. Doesn't it? Yeah. When you're wrestling to just get five foot forward.

Stacey:
Yeah. But I would say with that, which is kind of a pro, is that London, maybe because it is so busy and there is a lot going on. It feels very alive and like it has a real like. A real like heartbeat and a real like. I don't know, like a real energy about it. Like London always feels exciting, I guess.

Charlie:
I'm glad you said that. It reminds me of times when, yeah, I'd been invited for drinks after work. I work from home, so I feel like a bit of an imposter. But we go into the sort of centre of the city and yeah, especially on a Thursday like the. Yeah, Thursday is quite.

Stacey:
Thirsty Thursday.

Charlie:
Thirsty Thursday. Um, the pubs are sprawling spew people are spewing out of the entrance of the pubs.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
Not that. You wouldn't say that. What would you say?

Stacey:
You might say that.

Charlie:
Um, bursting with punters.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
Um, even even to the point where they're on the on the kerb, they're on like the side of the road.

Stacey:
I think that's quite nice, though. I like that. And actually, I went to a brewery last night. Did I go out last night? Was it last night? Night before, night before. And, um, there were more people on the outside, literally on the streets, on the pavement and like, yeah, rolling onto the streets than on the inside of the brewery. So I feel like there's something about London that just they really like to...

Charlie:
Stand on the outside.

Stacey:
Stand on the street.

Charlie:
Stand on the street and drink a pint.

Stacey:
Maybe because it's legal here. Is it legal here? I think it's legal here.

Charlie:
I'm just going to let you freefall there. Thanks. Um, the last one I went to that we did this. It was a bit silly. They had this yellow tape on the on the kerb, and if we stepped over it, they would come and tell us to get in a bit.

Stacey:
That's very responsible.

Charlie:
Yeah, very responsible, isn't it? But a bit annoying. Um, but yeah, it's nice atmosphere and you get. And you're part of a city that has great architecture and you and you feel like you're in a culture rich environment.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
When you're out standing there with your pint.

Stacey:
Yeah. Impressive buildings.

Charlie:
Impressive buildings.

Stacey:
Whilst you enjoy your pint.

Charlie:
Yes.

Stacey:
Yes.

Charlie:
Yeah. Nice. I think we should leave it there. Okay. Leave it on a high. So we enjoy the architecture whilst drinking a pint on a Thirsty Thursday. Yeah?

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
We have come to the end of part two now, so again, feel free to pause the episode, to take a break from your listening practice and come back to the last part when you're ready. Alright, so moving on to part three now. Enjoy.

Charlie:
Let's go into the final part of the episode now where we do a quick fire round.

Stacey:
Okay.

Charlie:
And I ask you your favourite, your best, your superlative thing. Okay. Of London.

Stacey:
Can I, can I pass if I don't know?

Charlie:
No. You have to answer it.

Stacey:
Okay.

Charlie:
No. Yeah, you can pass, I suppose, but, um. Are you ready?

Stacey:
I'm ready.

Charlie:
Steady?

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
Best season.

Stacey:
Oh. Summer. Vibe.

Charlie:
Best park?

Stacey:
Oh, um, is Richmond Park in London, or is it in Surrey? Actually, no. No, no,

Charlie:
It's technically Surrey but I'll allow it.

Stacey:
Um. I'll say, what's the dog one?

Charlie:
Which dog one?

Stacey:
Battersea.

Charlie:
Battersea park.

Stacey:
Yeah. I quite like Battersea Park.

Charlie:
Battersea Park is good. Yes, I highly recommend it. Uh. Best pub.

Stacey:
I mean, we live south west, and if anyone's in South west, I think the Wheatsheaf is really nice.

Charlie:
Oh, wow. Just right next door. Yeah. Yeah.

Stacey:
I really like it.

Charlie:
I do like the vibe.

Stacey:
It's. And it's beautiful. It's high. It's high ceilings. It's a true British London pub, but because it's like, a little bit outside of the centre, it doesn't get quite as hectic. And it's, like, not super touristy either, which is quite nice. Like some of the pubs in the centre and in more touristy spots like Notting Hill don't seem quite as authentic. They feel like they're trying to put on the London charm rather than just having the London charm.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah. Okay, okay, so for the listener, if they did want to go to the Wheatsheaf.

Stacey:
It's in Tooting Bec.

Charlie:
Well just don't expect anything unbelievable. I mean every.

Stacey:
It's just authentic.

Charlie:
Yeah. Most pubs aren't unbelievable. They're just cosy and nice. Yeah, but I would say that there's nothing stand out about the Wheatsheaf. It's just inviting.

Stacey:
Oh it's lovely.

Charlie:
It's really inviting. Yeah I did, I did really enjoy it yesterday. Yeah, it was nice. Okay. Uh, best cafe.

Stacey:
Uh. For what in particular?

Charlie:
For, um, drinking vodka. For having a brunch.

Stacey:
For having a brunch? Um, again. Can I go local?

Charlie:
It's your. It's your life, love. Um, you can do whatever you want.

Stacey:
There's too many options. I do really like Juliette's.

Charlie:
Juliette's. Oh, right.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
Not for brunch. You can't eat brunch there. What are you doing? This is crazy talk. You can have. You can have.

Stacey:
Okay. Fine, fine.

Charlie:
You can have bloody banana bread with a loaf of butter. Or.

Stacey:
There's loads of brunches there!

Charlie:
Not that many.

Stacey:
Okay, fine. Um. Oh, but there's too many options. I mean, I like Milk in Balham.

Charlie:
Okay, that's that's not brunch. It's a pastry with a cafe.

Stacey:
No! That's Milk Run. That's Milk Run.

Charlie:
Oh, okay.

Stacey:
Okay, there's two different ones. But if you ask me when my next bakery is, that would be.

Charlie:
Okay. Best bakery!

Stacey:
For like, a croissant?

Charlie:
Yes.

Stacey:
Milk Run!

Charlie:
Milk Run.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
Okay.

Stacey:
Which is epic. Everyone should go.

Charlie:
Sunday roast. Best Sunday roast.

Stacey:
Oh, the Bermondsey one that we went to with Holly. That once. The Kings.

Charlie:
That is in the London Travel Guide, guys.

Stacey:
Oh. Shameless plug. Yeah. That Sunday roast, though, is super authentic. And honestly, before I'd had that Sunday roast, I hope my dad's not listening. I would always claim that my dad's Sunday roast is the best of the best, whereas that that Sunday roast competes.

Charlie:
Wow.

Stacey:
It was heavenly.

Charlie:
He won't hear that. He won't. You're safe. Best market.

Stacey:
For food or for.

Charlie:
Just for milling around.

Stacey:
Mhm. You need to pick food or quick fire. Back to you. Food or like. Interesting things like clothes.

Charlie:
Milling around.

Stacey:
Yeah but food or clothes.

Charlie:
Clothes.

Stacey:
I like Spitalfields.

Charlie:
Okay. Food.

Stacey:
Uh. Borough market.

Charlie:
Very nice, very nice. Okay. Best burger.

Stacey:
Um, I don't know, because I haven't had many burgers here. Um, but can I say where I want to try? Yeah, I want to go to Bleecker Burger. I've heard great things.

Charlie:
Okay. I can't think of a single non-chainy one. Five guys is an American one.

Stacey:
You like Honest Burger, don't you?

Charlie:
I do like Honest Burger, but Five Guys is way better.

Stacey:
Okay. Fair.

Charlie:
I'm upset with that.

Stacey:
Let's go to Bleecker.

Charlie:
Bleecker. We're going to Bleecker. Um, I need to. I need to go to more burger bars.

Stacey:
Okay. Cool.

Charlie:
That is, I don't know.

Stacey:
On the wish list on the wish list of this podcast?

Charlie:
It's going on the wish list.

Stacey:
So I'm going to more Sunday roasts and you're going to more burger bars. Yes. Okay. We'll report back.

Charlie:
We're both going to be very thin. Best view.

Stacey:
Oh um, it's really cliche, but the shard is pretty epic.

Charlie:
It's expensive though.

Stacey:
Is it?

Charlie:
Yeah!

Stacey:
I can't remember. Did we pay?

Charlie:
You didn't pay. I paid for you.

Stacey:
Did you though?

Charlie:
Um, I think I may have. No.

Stacey:
Must've been free.

Charlie:
Oh, wait. Is it free? No, it's not free.

Stacey:
A view that I would quite like to see that again. I haven't seen, but I think now that we've lived in London. Can we do this? Because we're technically not tourists. But I've heard the view from the Eye.

Charlie:
Did you just blend into another sentence from the question?

Stacey:
No, no. No. No I didn't. I would like to see the view from the Eye because I feel like it's got the river...

Charlie:
The London Eye?

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
Have you not done that?

Stacey:
No. Never.

Charlie:
Okay. Sky garden is a good view, and I think that might be free.

Stacey:
You have to buy a really expensive cocktail.

Charlie:
Probably. Yes.

Stacey:
I'd like that.

Charlie:
Yeah, we should do that. There's so many things we should do. This is what I was meaning. It's so overwhelming. Like we will never complete London. Boo hoo. Um, best. Um. Oh, and we didn't even mention West End. The West end.

Stacey:
Oh, that is epic, actually. Great. And we are trying to do that a bit more.

Charlie:
And we have. We have seen quite a few shows.

Stacey:
And I would say actually, top tip for anyone coming to London that wants to go to the West End. I really think that because the West End, most theatres are quite small, other than like The Lion King or whatever theatre that's in or like Wicked, those theatres are a bit big, but because the theatres are historic and a little bit smaller, you can get cheaper seats and still really clearly see the stage. Like when we saw Michael Jackson, we got kind of the cheapest seats in a way, and it was epic. We could see perfectly. Yeah, yeah.

Charlie:
Nice. Yeah. I'm going next week with Matt to a show called The Play That Goes Wrong.

Stacey:
Oh, I like it.

Charlie:
Where everything goes wrong. Nice. It's a comedy.

Stacey:
Oh. Not for me.

Charlie:
No, Stacey doesn't like to laugh. Stop laughing. Okay. Best day trip from London.

Stacey:
From London.

Charlie:
Should we skip that?

Stacey:
Um, again, this is not one that I've done.

Charlie:
And loads of live music. Just a separate thought. I just thought, as another pro.

Stacey:
Did I give you a gin? Did I make your gin a bit too strong? Because this is really, really chaotic. That was not even a question. Okay, back to the question. Which was the best day trip. Again we haven't done many day trips from London other than when we fly out of London. So I would say one that we want to go see is Rye.

Charlie:
Rye.

Stacey:
Apparently that's really nice. And apparently a lot of people that used to live in London move to Rye.

Charlie:
Rye is on the coast. South west, south. South east, south east coast. Yeah. And it's a very sort of.

Stacey:
Yeah. Quintessentially.

Charlie:
Quintessentially English.

Stacey:
English seaside.

Charlie:
In East Sussex.

Stacey:
Lovely. Um. Next one.

Charlie:
Well, we've kind of come to the end now. Best shopping experience. Best shopping area.

Stacey:
Oh, it does depend on what you want. But I think the Westfield's in White City is commercial. It's very commercial. I'm a very aware bad for the planet, blah blah blah.

Charlie:
Um, another commercial one that's just popped up in the last five years is Battersea.

Stacey:
Oh yeah, both of them. Both of them are...

Charlie:
She bloody loves a commercial area, doesn't she?

Stacey:
I don't actually, but for shopping that you want to go to? Yeah. If you come to London. Fair enough. White city.

Charlie:
Any vintage areas? Do you know any of those good ones?

Stacey:
There are so many. I'm not cool. And also, I just don't have time to shop through vintage stuff. I just go on Vinted instead. Vinted is a great app.

Charlie:
Vinted is very good. We're not going to talk about it.

Stacey:
Not sponsored.

Charlie:
No, but it's very good. Okay, that concludes the last round, the last part of the episode. And that concludes the end of the episode.

Stacey:
And that is because we are one minute overdue for dinner.

Charlie:
Yes we are. How do you know?

Stacey:
I just guessed.

Charlie:
You're good. 7.31. Oh, brilliant. We're one minute late. Okay. Okay. So thank you very much for listening to the end of this. Um, it wasn't quite drivel. Um, I think that's rude to say for you, because you were the one that spoke the most.

Stacey:
Oh, thanks.

Charlie:
I don't know if you did. Actually, I spoke quite a bit, but, um. Yeah, I hope you guys enjoyed that. And thank you very much for listening to the end. Uh, thank you, Stacy, for giving up an hour of your time on Saturday on the weekend.

Stacey:
You're very welcome.

Charlie:
Not a typical weekend for us. But yeah. Until next time. Goodbye, Stacy.

Stacey:
Goodbye, Charlie.

Charlie:
Goodbye, listeners. And, um, yeah, thank you very much for listening. All the best. Bye bye!

Stacey:
Bye.

Charlie:
There we go. The end of part three. Meaning the end of the episode. Well done for getting through the entirety of it. Make sure you use all of the resources available to you in your membership. Thanks once again for supporting the show, and I look forward to seeing you next time on the British English Podcast.