As an American who lived in England, I couldn't agree more. Way nicer than most of the dead and dying small towns in the US, and with far less drug addicts.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Heaven, God went missing for six days. Eventually, Gabriel the archangel found him, resting on the seventh day. He inquired of God, "Where have you been?" God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, "Look Gabriel, look what I've made." Archangel Gabriel looked puzzled and said, "What is it?" "It's a planet", replied God, "and I've put LIFE on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a great place of balance". "Balance?" inquired Gabriel, still confused. God explained, pointing to different parts of Earth. "For example, Northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth while Southern Europe is going to be poor; the Middle East over there will be a hot spot." "Over there I've placed a continent of white people and over there is a continent of black people" God continued, pointing to different countries. And over there, I call this place America. North America will be rich and powerful and cold, while South America will be poor, and hot and friendly. And the little spot in the middle is Central America which is a hot spot. Can you see the balance?" "Yes" said the Archangel, impressed by Gods work, then he pointed to a small country in Northern Europe, "What's that one?" "Ah" said God. "That's Scotland, the most glorious place on Earth. There are beautiful snow capped mountains, untouched rivers, streams and lochs of exquisite, timeless beauty. The people make a drink called Uisge Beatha or Whiskey which means "The Water of Life". The people are good looking, intelligent and humorous and they're going to be found travelling the world. They'll be extremely sociable, hard-working and high-achieving, and they will be known throughout the world as warriors, engineers, inventors and pioneers. Gabriel gasped in wonder and admiration but then said "You said there will be BALANCE!" God replied wisely. "Wait until you see the bastards I'm putting next to them!".

by Anonymous 2 days ago

This is nice, it's like the British version of "France is so lovely, it's just a pity about the French".

by kertzmannmyles 2 days ago

Remembering Famous Five during my chilhood

by Anonymous 2 days ago

I broadly agree. We have so many nice spots in this country. One of my favourite things to do is visiting our small towns and coastal villages. People just like to go on and on and on about our rundown areas, as if other countries don't also have their share of crumbling neighbourhoods.

by Patient_Sink 2 days ago

What if their home town is worse now than when they were little? At that point, they have legitimate grievances

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Then get involved in the community to improve your hometown.

by Patient_Sink 2 days ago

That's what people are doing when they demand change

by Anonymous 2 days ago

What kind of change are they demanding? They buy everything off of Amazon online and then cry when their high street disappears/gets taken over by bad ‘uns, not my problem. Be the change you wish to see in the world

by Patient_Sink 2 days ago

Most places in Britain are lovely. Even some of the rougher places are pretty. There's a lot of old architecture and history round every corner. Of course there's your Doncasters and Grimsbys. But every country has it's deprived areas.

by Kristiantillman 2 days ago

Maybe, but as a matter of fact, only one city in France is Nice.

by colin73 2 days ago

wait till you try the food

by Anonymous 2 days ago

The food is great too. British cities will usually have a diversity of cuisine, while many of the smaller towns/villages have fresh local cuisine with local ingredients. What's not to like?

by Patient_Sink 2 days ago

The American mind cannot comprehend a delicious jacket potato with beans and cheese

by Annual-Resident 2 days ago

We had an American friend come over and we tried Toby with them, they said it was the thing they'd miss most going home lol Can't beat it

by Tstark 2 days ago

I can list more run down towns and villages than I can of nice ones in Scotland…

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I love England 🥰❤️ The culture, the British accent, the rough weather and I always met sweet British people on vacations! I hope one day I can visit 🤭

by Rosenbaumgreta 1 day ago

It might not be exactly as you envisage but there is a lot of amazing places. Make sure to check out Scotland and Wales if you can also. Liverpool is my fav city but I'm biased. Deffo has the rough weather nailed down.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I think most people also prefer to think in the negative rather than positive, and this almost seems to be a typical trait of most people where they don't particularly like where they live. I will add the caveat that I also didn't really love Britain when I was living in London, but the moment I moved into Kent, I saw a very different part to it, and I also think a lot of people that don't really like Britain have seen the city and haven't seen some of the nicer areas. Travelling through Kent and Bath has been lovely for example.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

What is the UK's "brand" then?

by Patient_Sink 1 day ago

Seeing pensioners get arrested in London for peacefully protesting was disgusting.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Careful, they were left wing protestors, so they deserved to be arrested

by Emmalee50 1 day ago

They were peacefully protesting in support of a banned organisation. It is legally supporting terrorism. And most were pensioners because most people with a job would not risk being charged with that

by Elegant_Set_2549 1 day ago

And for publicly professing love of bacon.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Or flying the flag of the country.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

People have definitely not fought back against Orwellian totalitarianism like they have in the US, they've just accepted it on the whole. Which is sad

by Anonymous 1 day ago

back against Orwellian totalitarianism like they have in the US Um

by Separate_Raisin5021 1 day ago

You can't count a tiny area of a town and city as being nice and blanket the entire place as being nice. Yes you'll find a nice little area of a larger town or city but for the most part, there're overwhelmingly more run down areas than there are nice. People from any area can be nice.

by Easy-Sheepherder 1 day ago

Run down places like any country? Inferring OP hasn't seen Singapore, lol.

by murphyrosario 1 day ago

Can't have a run down city in a country where the entire country is one city

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Singapore is a tiny, tiny country, of course it's not gonna have run down places.

by Queenielehner 1 day ago

Singapore has a bigger population than Lebanon or El Salvador. Are you suggesting those countries don't have run down areas?

by murphyrosario 1 day ago

Lebanon's size is 10,452km2, El Salvador's size is 21,000 km2, Singapore's size is 735km2. A smaller area is much easier to maintain than a larger one, of course there are other aspects, but size plays a huge role.

by Queenielehner 1 day ago