country vs. city

You've probably never been to Cranfield in Bedfordshire England...I have!
I can officially say I have experienced the English countryside and its inhabitants.
My friend Gemma invited me to her house there for the weekend. The town is about an hour north of London and two hours south of Nottingham. It was also one of the only places lace was handmade for a long time in England by, guess who, the Hugenot refugees fleeing France.
Gemma's dad was a hoot! Every other word out of his mouth was "blimey!" and he had so many questions about my life and American culture and politics. Her family was so polite and accomodating. On Sunday, we went to her aunt and uncle's house just a few minutes away for afternoon tea and to chat. The doorways and roofs to this traditional house were all very low; it reminded me of the basement at home.
I also got to experience traditionl English fair. Gemma's auntie made little meat pies for tea time and on Sunday afternoon, her parents cooked a full-fledged, typical Sunay afternoon dinner of Yorkshire pudding. But don't get the wrong idea; This meal is comparable to roast beef and gravy in America, except in England they add a pastry-like "pancake" that tastes doughy when mixed with the gravy.
Saturday Gemma and I and her friend Lara went to London. Gemma and I took the train from Bedfordshire into St. Pancras station where we met Lara. Then we all took the tube to the London Eye because we had tickets for it. The lines, or queus as they're called, were massive. But the Eye was quite an experience...so cool! After that we went to Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Picadilly Circus, Trifalgar Square and Nelson's Column. I even crossed London Bridge. We were going to go to Madame Toussard's, a famous wax museum, but again the queus were too long. I definitely need to go back to see the rest of the sights, though!