Summer-ish

The weather is a terribly boring topic so I'll get this out the way fast. It is a teeny weeny bit rubbish. Well it's quite rubbish if I'm being brutally honest. The English are great at cooked breakfasts, sponge cakes and cycling but really quite crummy at having nice weather. It is sometimes hot but this is very rare and when it is hot it is what my Great-grandmother would call "close" i.e. 100% humidity. When it is not being truly insufferable it is cold and, 87% of the time, wet.  Strangely, I kind of like English weather in some ways; I think I'd miss it if it went. 

"But", I hear you ask, "nERD, why have you been waffling on about the weather for a minute and a half? What importance does it bear?" 

Well, dear reader, I have a summer scrapbook so it has somewhat impacted upon the range of activities I have been able to participate in. Nevertheless, I have managed to cram in two holidays abroad to escape the mini heatwave/torrential down pour. The first was to a fishing village called Burgau located on the Algarve and the second was to a German hamlet in the middle of nowhere. Contrasting journeys with contrasting objectives.  

 In Germany my father and I immaturely invented the game "Slap-arsing" (why he didn't call it "Arse-slapping I don't know"). One has to pose behind Germans or tourists with extreme-sized derrieres and mimic slapping them on the behind whilst the accomplice takes a photograph for evidence. Wonderful fun. 

Whilst fully immersing myself in German culture, (I ate schnitzel and pretended that that thing they do in supermarkets where they throw your food at you is normal), I found myself surprised by German some behaviour.

1) In small towns and villages pubs and cafes shut for lunch. FOR LUNCH. During what must be their peak time some German cafe owners choose "me-time" with a sandwich over potential business. Bizarre.

2) Their service stations are grim, like really disgusting. Apparently other European countries complain that OUR service stations are manky. They are huge hypocrites (Belgium was especially vom-inducing and France was not much better). 

Anyway, more to come soon.


nERD