The menu in American pubs (taverns) usually consists of beer nuts, small, overprice bags of potato chips, pretzels, and such, and if they have anything as substantial as a hamburger, it comes from a Juicy-Ray warming oven, has probably been sitting there for several hours (if not days), and tastes like grey mush on a soggy bun—generally referred to as "sweat-burgers" because of the beads of grease clinging to the inside of the waxed paper bag they're served in.

The moral is, if you're looking for a book, don't go to a hardware store. If you want to buy flowers, don't go to a gas station. Kind of elementary.

There used to be a chain of fish-and-chip shops—H. Salt Fish-and-Chips—around here that claimed to serve English-style fish and chips. How authentic it was, I don't know, but I was told by someone who should know (world traveler) that what they served there was pretty authentic. I loved 'em! Don't know whatever happened to H. Salt. I used to go there all the time.

As a matter of fact, a few days before we were married, Barbara and I were moving our furniture into our new apartment, and our first meal in our new apartment consisted of sitting on boxes at a card table eating H. Salt fish-and-chips from a nearby shop—by candlelight.

Rick Steves, travel expert, says that to really enjoy your travels and get the most out of your experience—and to avoid missing something really good that may be different from what you're used to—go with the flow. If something doesn't meet your expectations, then change your expectations. There is a good chance that you'll learn something.

If you're open to it.   

Don Firth