I've never seen BTC anywhere in the real world in the UK, plus doesn't BTC have like 30 minutes + send time? That must have been an awkward wait

Bitcoin sends in a few seconds.
But some transactions got to wait hours or even days to get some confirmations.

I guess it has something to do with the fees, higher fee faster confirmations.
The receiver still see the money sent to him within seconds. You don't need to wait for confirmations. If you do need confirmations and it does not confirm within a few blocks, then you did not pay enough fee.