Meanwhile in USA

So following a week in Scotland, I'm fortunate enough to have hopped over the pond to America for a week!  (It's surprisingly easy to justify paying for hotels and restaurant bills half way round the world when you've been paying them for months in your home town!)  While I'm sorting through the gazillion photos I've taken of skyscrapers (I know!  Can't quite figure out what's come over me!) I thought I'd share some thoughts from my first couple of days.  So if you're strictly here for the Italy stories or property updates feel free to skip this post!

You probably already know there are differences between UK and USA, so I won't go on about the fact that Americans are kinda loud, how they don't know the difference between the ground floor and the first floor and that their meal portions are absolutely massive!

I will say I think tipping is way out of control here:

Exhibit A: taxi drivers seemingly refuse to write your receipt for less than a 20% tip, issuing a blank instead - perfect you might think, but multiple receipts in your own hand-writing really isn't ideal!

Exhibit B: waiter (at hotel's all-inclusive breakfast after Mr RR had left): Is the service ok?
Me: Yes, it's fantastic thank you
Waiter: It's just, most of these people tip me
Me: <awkward pause!>
Waiter: It's not about the money, I just wanted to check everything is ok
Me: Yes, it's just that we're British so we don't carry notes all the time to tip people

Cringe!  Surely, he was wrong to make me feel awkward like that, no?  We're friendly, say thank you (and had planned to leave one larger tip on the last day), but as my dad noted on a family holiday to America years ago, a thank you means nothing here: if you want to show appreciation, pay up!

I've lived and worked out here so I know in restaurants waiting staff have to rent the tables and get paid less than minimum wage so they lose money for the time you occupy the table if you don't tip, so we do give 20% in those situations but at least they typically try to earn it by giving you some chat!

The taxis?  We always round up by a few dollars but if you pay by card the options for the tip are 20%, 25% and 30%!  Given that the vast majority of drivers we've had are on their hands-free continuing their phone call to friends/family the entire duration of the journey, what exactly are we tipping for?  It would be different if they engaged in conversation, told us a bit about the areas we are passing through, etc but just driving us from A-B?  Isn't that what the meter's for?

Maybe you'll tell me I've got this all wrong, but when the service is missing from the service industry I'm really not inclined to pay extra.  Or perhaps I've been in Italy too long.  Where we live there's no tipping but instead a focus on good service because it's what builds good value and good business.

Okay, rant over!  Moving on!

I don't normally frequent Burberry stores but Mr RR was keen to show me how good he looked in a trench coat (bless!) so despite feeling rather ashamed of my unwashed hair, flat scuffed boots and duvet style overcoat, I indulged him!  It was fabulous: statement store, bold British music and elegant assistants who say they are "well" rather than "good", thereby speaking better English than most of UK!

I often feel very proud to be British.  It gives me such a buzz when I'm abroad, both in Italy and here in USA to see how the UK is considered so fashionable, and also to note how far British music reaches.  (Of course I'm not surprised to hear Stone Roses and Pink Floyd in a Burberry store that celebrates Britishness, but there's something quite surreal about hearing Lily Allen as you walk around an Italian mall or Amy Macdonald in an American hotel lobby as I did this morning!)

Even including the $35000 coat (so soft!), my favourite moment came when 2 gentlemen confused me for an assistant!  Can you imagine?!  Surrounded by sleek and beautiful people with me looking like I'm ready for an early morning boot fair, and they asked me for help?!  Absolutely made my day!

There was some strange fashion in there though.  It's fair to say I'm probably a bit conservative in my ideas of what men look good in, but this?  Those shoes?

Seriously?  I feel so old!

Talking of fancy footwear, I spotted a collection of men's footwear that were all essentially knee high boots with 1.5/2 inch heels!  Mr RR would never hear the end of it with these in his collection!

I know it is the land of the cowboys but do these do it for you?!

So I'll be back with more stateside stories soon but to close and reward you for making it this far, here's some of the fantastic Halloween decorations I've seen about town.  They go for it here!

Spooky ghosts

Terrifying witches

Enough to give this arachnophobe nightmares!