listen
Helen: Hello
Jackie: ..who comes from the UK but is now living in Portugal and I'm going to ask her the question. Helen, what do you miss from home?
Helen: Proper builders' tea.
Jackie: Tea?
Helen: Yes
Jackie: Can't you buy tea here in Portugal?
Helen: Yes. You can buy tea in Portugal but compared to English tea it seems to be very, very weak. So in Portugal when you ask for a black tea, a cha preta, it's um... a very weak tea [which] they often serve with hot milk, which is very wrong for an English person.
Jackie: Right
Helen: So every time I go back to the UK I come back with a suitcase full of proper builders' tea.
Jackie: Builders' tea, strong, proper tea.
Helen: Strong, forceful tea, yes.
Jackie: Fantastic. Anything else?
Helen: Um... I miss Marks and Spencer's.
Jackie: Now that's a shop, a clothes shop.
Helen: Well, it's clothes and food.
Jackie: And food, yes.
Helen: And food. But what I miss about Marks and Spencer's is you can go in and get absolutely everything from Marks and Spencer's and it's a great place to buy good underwear and socks and things like that. I miss Marks and Spencer's.
Jackie: Good value for money.
Helen: Absolutely, yeah.
Jackie: I always think of it as a kind of a comfort shop somehow.
Helen: Yeah, you're right actually, yes. Their food is very good as well because you can buy lovely um... ready-to-cook meals which is always good.
Jackie: Anything else?
Helen: I suppose one of the things I miss most, especially being here in Portugal, is the different culture of going to the pub.
Jackie: Right. Because they don't have pubs here, do they?
Helen: Not so much, no um... going to the pub with your friends on a Sunday for a roast lunch is a really wonderful thing um... and it's quite a different culture here. They've got lots of places to go with friends but the good old-fashioned English pub doesn't exist.
Jackie: And I think also a British pub... there's something very cosy and welcoming about it whereas maybe some of the bars here in Portugal, they're a little bit stark.
Helen: Yeah. I suppose it's to do with... I always think when I think of a pub I always think of it being quite dark in there.
Jackie: Low ceiling.
Helen: Low ceiling, yeah, and comfy chairs and a roaring fire. But here, yes, it's a, it's a café so brighter lights, it's very bright in there, usually a...
Jackie: No carpets.
Helen: No carpets, tiled floor, yes, and you know, café chairs so you don't sink down with the drinks so that's what I miss quite a lot and being around all the friends and just talking for hours.
Jackie: Fantastic. Well, but you do enjoy being here in Portugal.
Helen: I do love being here in Portugal, yes, definitely.
Jackie: But some creature comforts are missing.
Helen: Always [both laugh]
Jackie: Thank you, Helen.
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