My wife and daughter have warned that if it gets out of hand next month on holiday, they're going to go out without me and leave me locked in the cottage!
Oh, they are. Well, my wife comes from Rotherham, but she insists she's from Barnsley if anyone asks. I think it's just me who embarrasses them!
Ar lass is from mexbro. Exactly the same. Classes herself as a Barnsley lass. Moved over to Barnsley originally to live in accommodation at Barnsley DGH. ( nurse obviously) and like you, I lay the accent on a bit stronger if on hol for example and it embarrasses em. In Florida i was eating once and the waiting on staff loved my accent, so I’d lay it on thicker still. .
I'm unaware that I'm doing it, though. Once when we were on holiday in the Scottish Highlands, I'd arranged for our family (along with our son's girlfriend at the time) to go for a meal at the Loch Ness Inn in Lewiston. A young girl asked if she could help, so I explained that I'd booked a table for five at half past seven. All the colour drained from the girl's face. "I'm sorry, sir, but I didn't understand a word you said". I repeated my message. The girl looked as if she would burst into tears! My wife simply said exactly what I'd done and this time the girl looked relieved and showed us to our table. I still maintain to this day I said exactly the same thing as Crystal had done, whilst my wife said that was an example of me speaking with a broader accent!
There are a few good Indians in St Petersburg but none near enough to us to deliver (unless you're ordering a banquet for ten). Luckily there's a couple of outstanding Indian spice shops here so I can make some pretty awesome curries and my onion bhaji is spot on. Can't do naan bread in a conventional oven though. Chocolate oranges are a very British thing. I bring loads of them back as they make really good presents, as does Scottish shortbread (which is available here, but at a very hefty mark-up).
I didn't plan anything! Was offered a two month contract working in St Petersburg when I was young and had no responsibilities. Fell in love with the city. Came back to the UK for a few months, and returned to St Petersburg for my summer holidays that year. Hooked up with a local lass who is now my wife, never left. Reckon we'll be back in the next couple of years though as we want our daughter to go to secondary school in England, but getting my wife a UK settlement visa - that really is a farce. Far, far more complicated than my Russian residency ever was.
Not cheap, but I've had Red Cross parcels delivered from here twice. Old English, Cumberland, Lincolnshire, etc. snags and Steak & Kidney pies. https://www.parkersbritishinstitution.com/
I tried to make chapatis in a frying pan, and it went horribly wrong! Garam flour is absolutely vile stuff, as any dough containing it seems to collapse and yet simultaneously have the adhesive properties of super glue. Maybe I'll give naans a go as they use regular flour.