As we wrap up our England shoot and head for Italy, here are a few more observations.
Dial 1-800-DEFIBRILLATOR. Today's England is not your grandmother's England. Traditional red phone booths are rare, and many of those that survive have found new roles...like defibrillator stations. (My crew -- producer Simon Griffith and cameraman Peter Rummel -- are so excited to be working in England that I'm thinking it would be smart to know where the nearest one of these is at all times.)
We bookended our England shoot filming big events for our upcoming hour-long European Festivals special. We started in Scotland, with the Highland games. I was careful not to break anything as I failed to lift the "Smiddy Stone." From England, we headed to Siena to film the Palio...and the world's wildest horse race should be quite a spectacle for our public television viewers. Stay tuned.
Mmmm... English breakfast food porn. This (or some variation on this plate of cardiac arrest) was my breakfast each day for 18 days: fried egg on greasy fried bread, fried tomato, sausage, bacon, mushrooms, and often a big scoop of baked beans. (Maybe this explains the need for public defibrillators.) By the time I left England, I was ready for a lighter prima colazione in Italy -- and that's where I'm posting from next.
This is Day 89 of my 100 Days in Europe series. As I research my guidebooks and make new TV shows, I'm reporting on my experiences and lessons learned in Vienna, the Alps, the Low Countries, England, Siena, and beyond. Find more on my travel blog.
(This post originally appeared at blog.ricksteves.com/blog/england-wrap-up.)