The British person will apologise when you step on their foot. The apology, “Sorry!”, is the reflex, the automatic, and the most British of the behaviours: the apology for the rain (“Sorry, the weather’s a bit miserable today”), the apology for the queue (the queue is the sacred, the jumping of the queue is the unforgivable, and the person who jumps the queue is the subject of the collective British glare, the silent, the “tut,” and the apology that is never spoken but the disapproval that is the felt by the entire queue), and the apology for the food (the “I’m sorry, the dinner’s nothing special”, the roast that has taken the 4 hours). The visitor to the Britain must try the things that are the typically the British, not the rituals of the tourist but the rhythms of the life. Here are five.

5 Typically British Things to Try

• 1. The pub, the Sunday roast: The British pub is the essential British institution: the Sunday lunch (the roast, the beef, the lamb, the pork or the chicken, the Yorkshire pudding, the roast potatoes, the vegetables, the gravy, and the horseradish or the mint sauce. ~£15, and the essential pub lunch), the pint (the bitter, the ale, the lager, the choice is the regional, and the essential rule: the “what would you recommend?” is the right question), the fireplace (the essential pub feature, the fire, the winter, and the dog that is the lying on the hearth), and the conversation (the weather, the football, the price of the pint, the topics that are the safe in the pub). The essential pub: the Eagle and the Child in the Oxford (the “Bird and the Baby,” the pub of the Inklings, the J.R.R. Tolkien, the C.S. Lewis, the Narnia, the Middle Earth, and the best pub for the literary connection. ~£14 for the Sunday roast). More UK →
• 2. The afternoon tea: The afternoon tea is the essential British ritual: the sandwiches (the cucumber, the egg mayonnaise, the smoked salmon, the coronation chicken, the crustless, the triangles, and the essential first course), the scones (the plain and the fruit, the jam, the strawberry, the clotted cream, and the essential debate: the cream-first or the jam-first. The Cornwall, the jam-first. The Devon, the cream-first. The visitor, the either, the both, and the enjoyment), the cakes (the Victoria sponge, the Battenberg, the macarons, the French, and the essential sweet finish), and the tea (the Earl Grey, the Darjeeling, the English Breakfast, the pot, the strainer, and the best tea in the world. ~£25–85 depending on the venue, the Claridge’s at the £85 and the village café at the £8). The essential: the Betty’s Tea Room in the York (the 1919, the Swiss, the Yorkshire, and the most famous tea room in the England. ~£35).
• 3–5: The country walk (the footpath, the stile, and the pub at the end), the fish and chips on the beach (the haddock, the chips, the mushy peas, the salt, the vinegar, and the seagull that will steal the chip), and the queue with the patience (the queue is the British art form, the silent, the orderly, and the “are you in the queue?” is the essential British phrase of the arrival).