Day 5.055: I wonder what we're missing

One of the questions people ask expats is what they miss from 'home'.  In general, they don't mean friends and family - although that is of course the truth of the matter.  No, they want to hear that I crave warm beer or fish and chips in newspaper or something.

Of course, there are many excellent beers in this part of the world which I can choose to drink at any temperature of my choosing (generally meaning from the fridge, despite a basement that probably would serve it at an Englishman-approved cellar temperature) and fish and chips is a New England specialty - although I must confess it never quite lives up to the speciality of the land of my birth.

In fact, there is very little that I miss enough to do anything about it, but if I did, I have a new place I could visit.

The excellently named Brits 'R' US in Pittsfield MA.  We spotted it while we were eating lunch across the road thanks to its flag display and it turns out it is full of Double Deckers and pork pies.

We looked in the window - and then fled from temptation - but we may visit intentionally sometime to find out what it is we're missing.

Day 5.333: British Christmas in Pittsfield

We spent the middle of the day in Pittsfield today. We had lunch at the Marketplace Cafe (great as ever). We narrowly missed seeing Katherine Winston perform again which I'm a little sorry about especially having checked out some of her recent additions to her youtube channel.

The main event was a trip to the Berkshire Museum - of which more another day when I've got my thoughts and photos in order. Then we were back to the cafe for another cup of coffee and a sweet treat.

Our final stop was at Brits 'R' US where we bought some real Smarties - after we realised that our kids think that these are Smarties - when we know that these are Smarties!

Anyway - we discovered the makings of a proper British Christmas there - Christmas cake, Christmas pudding and crackers - right next to the Roses and Quality Street!

We had a quick chat with the owner too who was very friendly to these fellow ex-pats even though we were only spending $2!

On the other hand - I'm guessing (from the name they chose) that the people running this "pop up shop" just down the road are probably not British.

Not sure it would go down too well on a UK High Street (because of this if you're wondering).