Kategorie: Außer Haus

Unterwegs in Stadt und Land, im Urlaub und auf Reisen

At least 10 reasons to visit Great Britain (12)

#12 – India Pale Ale. During the last two weeks in Yorkshire and Wales we visited almost a dozen different pubs and tried at least 20 different tap ales. Furthermore, we continuously scoured the beer shelves of the local supermarkets for regional ales and stouts to taste. After all these samples, it was «India Pale Ale« (IPA) from various breweries, e.g. Thornbridge, that tickled my taste buds the most. It’s a beer with a very distinguishing flavour: on the one hand a sweet and flowery, perfume-like taste that reminds of jasmine or lychee, on the other hand a strong, hoppy bitterness, somehow reminiscent of wormwood or herb grapefruit. Delicious!

For the time being, this shall be the last episode of my little blog series about the numerous amenities suggesting a visit to Great Britain. But it’s going to be continued, I’m sure.

P.S. – Falls jemand unter den werten Lesern eine erschwingliche Bezugsquelle für importierte oder hierzulande gebraute India Pale Ales kennt (Online-Shop oder im Raum Hamburg), wäre ich sehr interessiert, davon zu erfahren!

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Photo: © walknbostonSome rights reserved

At least 10 reasons to visit Great Britain (11)

#11 – Left-hand driving. »Oh my God, I would never want to use a right-hand-drive car in left-hand traffic!« – that’s what many of my friends say when I tell them that we use to rent cars for our trips to Great Britain. Believe me, it’s not as difficult as it seems. The first time I experienced left-hand driving was in 1986, when I brought my first own car, a VW Beetle, to Great Britain for a two-week camping vacation. This car, of course, had a continental left-hand-drive – and it was indeed tricky to sit on the familiar seat, but to drive on the »wrong« side of the road.

During my second holiday in Great Britain in 2003 I rented a local car for the first time and experienced it to be totally different to drive on the left while sitting on the right. My brain instantly seemed to categorize this kind of driving as something completely new and, let’s say, »created a new folder on my mind’s hard drive« for this behavioural pattern. It’s not »sitting in a familiar car, but driving on the ‘wrong’ lane« but »sitting in the appropriate car for driving on the left«. Meanwhile, I’ve covered over a thousand miles in British cars on British streets – and it’s as familiar to me as driving in Germany. There are just a few things to keep in mind:

  1. In roundabouts, the traffic direction is clockwise
  2. Remember to stay on the left lane when turning off on a t-crossing on quiet roads
  3. Remember to stay on the left lane after turning over
  4. Remember to pull over to the left when you meet another car on a narrow road without marking
  5. Remember to take the left lane after a break on an outlying rest stop
  6. Look at traffic signs more attentively than usual

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Foto: © formschub

Afternoon on a Hill

by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950)

I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.
I will look at cliffs and clouds
With quiet eyes,
Watch the wind bow down the grass,
And the grass rise.
And when lights begin to show
Up from the town,
I will mark which must be mine,
And then start down!

Ein Gedicht, welches die Stimmung unserer täglichen Wanderungen auf die Berge und durch die Natur hier in Wales sehr schön einfängt. Da hier derzeit nicht allzu sonniges Wetter herrscht, greife ich auf ein sonnigeres Bild der hiesigen Landschaft bei flickr zurück.

According to the US copyright term and the rule of shorter term in EU countries, the quoted poem is considered to be in public domain since 50 years after the author’s death.

Sources: wikisource | IMSLP

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Photo: Evening sun on the hills · © jessie owen | Some rights reserved

At least 10 reasons to visit Great Britain (10)

#10 – If you have a passion for graphic design, illustration and typography like me and you’re visiting British pubs, you should watch out for some beautiful pub chalkboards (or »A-Boards«). Their skillful hand-drawn letterings and illustrations are true eye candy and a welcome change in our days of laser printer and cling film signage. There are even professional artists like Adrian Patrick, who have specialised in chalkboard design and are true masters of their art. As for my part, I really would appreciate this nice tradition to spread to pubs and bars in continental Europe. What do you think?

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Foto: © formschub

At least 10 reasons to visit Great Britain (9)

#09 – The subtlety and expressiveness of the (British) English language. Remarkably enough, it was a toilet (!) where I read my all-time favourite English sentence. The restrooms of that particular holiday home – located in a rural area – weren’t connected to the public sewage system, so that waste water went into a soakaway beside the premises. Regarding this, there was a sign above the lavatory saying «You are kindly requested not to put anything down the toilet that hasn’t been eaten first«.

Nevermore did I encounter a sign with a more perfect combination of unambiguity, politeness and humour. And I believe that English is the perfect language for this to achieve.

If you like the sign, you can order a slightly different version of it here (German Online Shop).

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Photo: © Leo Reynolds | Some rights reserved

At least 10 reasons to visit Great Britain (8)

#08 – Wonderful walks through almost unspoilt nature. Explore the lush woodlands of North Yorkshire, climb the green hills in the Cotswolds area, take a tour across the craggy Scottish Highlands or the pristine Welsh mountainscape – just to mention some places I’ve already visited – and you’ll get beautiful impressions of the local flora (and fauna, maybe). And it’s always worth to take a closer look – ’cause some of nature’s wonders are rather small.

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Heart-shaped yellow lichen on a mountain rock (not photoshopped!)

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A tiny Sundew (carnivorous plant), hidden in the moss by the wayside

Fotos: © formschub

At least 10 reasons to visit Great Britain (6)

#06 – The ancient places. I love living and travelling in «Old Europe« – within a distance of a few hundred miles you can discover reams of historic monuments and buildings raised several hundred or even thousand years ago. The image below shows a part of Rievaulx Abbey, the first Cistercian abbey in the north, founded in 1132.

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Foto: © formschub