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I lived and worked in England for nearly 1.5 years, way back in 1991 - 1992. That seems nearly like ancient history now, so much has happened since.

I lived in a small village in a farming district, and spent as much time as I could touring England, much of it in London.

I found a lot of Ye Olde England. There was Sir Isaac Newton's house, Warwick Castle with its fantastic gardens, Edinburgh Castle and City, Dover castle, and all the Sights in between.

I was also able to find much of the more humble, everyday England. The truck stop cafe on the A-45 West of Cambridge, I suppose it was. One Saturday morning on the way to Warwick Castle we stopped for breakfast.

The menu, written on the blackboard behind the kitchen counter, consisted of one word: BREAKFAST. Full English Breakfast, of course, which is actually quite good, if one ignores the fried bread, which I've always suspected was present only to sop up the excess cooking lard.

There was my land lord, who asked for the rent in cash, because she was avoiding the tax-man. She instructed me to tell anybody who looked as if they might be official that I was her boyfriend.

The row house was a super-efficiency. The hot-water heater electric was only on for 3 hours in the early morning, and the same went for the space heaters. The heat provided had to last for another 21 hours.

A great concept, but I suppose because it was subsidized by government funds, It was finished up in a slipshod fashion. An honest builder would have been shamed by the fit and finish.

Anyway, I think the real England is still there to be found, quite easily, once out of the immediate touristy venue. In London, I went to the hotels that did not cater to the tour companies, and I found Fawlty Towers. In the countryside, I stopped at restaurants that did not cater to tourists, both on and off the beaten path, and I found all the bad food you've ever heard about, especially the Motorway Restaurants (stay away!).

I also found very, very good restaurants, such as at Tuddenham Mills, off the A11. It is inside a refurbished 14th Century mill, much rebuilt over the centuries, with many structural timbers obviously out of junked ships. Even the old water wheel still turns. If you ask, they will demonstrate it. Interestingly, the manger told me that they own the stream for ten miles up, and control all development on the stream banks.

I found London to be more real than San Francisco or Washington, D. C., once away from the touristy areas. I made it a point to go to a shopping mall in Bayswater, on Queensway. I stayed in a hotel near the Liverpool Street train station. I went to Church in Putney, South of the Thames.

I did the touristy things, as well, of course. Tower of London, all of the Imperial War Museums including RAF Duxford, British Museum and all. I draw the line at Art Museums, though.

I stayed at some of the best hotels, but I preferred the not-so-best. The rooms at a £150/night hotel and a £400/night hotel aren't that different, nor is the service, I found.

Altogether, I found the people in London and in the country to be open, friendly, helpfull and hospitable. Very few people had heavy accents, either. The only whiney person I found was the cab driver in London who told me about his adventures with the refugee Pakistani's up the street.

He was a WWII vet, who proudly flew a Union Jack in front of his house. The Paki's, who were living entirely on the dole, had sued him and the district council to make him take his flag down. They said that they did not want to be reminded that they were living in England.

The only snotty people I came across were employees in the expensive hotels and department stores, and a minor immigration official when I had to renew my work visa after a year.

Thanks for a wonderful experience, guys. I hope y'all put the boot to the bad-uns.

I would love it all, I think. For now,the closest that I can get for a while is my Brown Betty tea pot(I'm sure that I still don't make a decent pot of English tea,but hey,I'm used to tea being "ice tea",LOL),and ordering food items and things like that from British online sellers. I can't wait to have a real English breakfast,those kipper things and all,and a real English tea,and buy violet-scented things at the "chemist":) Does this make me an Anglophile? Or a victim of too many Barbara Cartland books in my school days?

We visited England last year. Like you, we were fascinated with London. The REAL England, I believe, is found "out of town."

We stayed at a B&B in Thaxted, and attended Easter services at a church in Great Dunmow. (The church is 800 years old. In regards to history, the U.S. is still wearing short pants.)

As I am a dirt track auto racing fan, we found a great race track in Henham, billing itself "The Rollover Capital of the U.K." I made a friend for life there. We exchange email regularly. He was at Disneyworld on 9/11/01, and wondered when he'd be going home.

It's always the "regular folks" who best represent their respective nations. Based on our experiences in England, we have no better friends on the planet in spite of morons like "Red Ken."