Kate and the Camel

After spending a comfortable night in Sheena at a services just outside Limoges, we made good time to our ferry in Dieppe, arriving with enough time for a siesta in a leafy layby and spend ages sitting in the queue waiting to be loaded. The crossing was incredibly smooth - we've yet to have a rough one (famous last words) and we actually arrived in Newhaven early. Which was lucky as they took ages unloading us as well.
My old school friend Thom lives just ten minutes from Newhaven in the beautiful village of Glynde, from where he takes the train to his teaching job in nearby Brighton. We spent an amiable evening with him in his charming country cottage and were treated the next morning to a gorgeous and hot English summer's day. We were in no hurry to hit the motorway again, so when Thom suggested a walk in the Sussex Downs behind his house we were quick to agree. We were treated to fabulous views at the top of the hill, then descended past Glyndebourne Opera House, fields of alpaccas looking rather odd shorn of their coats and a rather friendly and majestic camel.

No ordinary country walk! Sadly that was about the only perfect day weather-wise we've had since landing back in the UK, though the novelty of rain and overcast skies still hasn't quite worn off!

looks like we got out just in time...

This rather excellent and accessible essay by John Lancaster about the origins and nature of the World Economic crisis ends on a rather depressing note about the UK, and echoes several things I've been thinking for a while: namely that the UK doesn't make anything, is entirely too dependent on the services sector and should have joined the Euro ages ago.

What with these gloomy predictions and the fact that the UK representation in Brussels includes a bunch of xenophobic idiots called the UKip and BNP, has made me think that Kate and I left just in time. Anyone else want to join the exodus? The weather's good and so's the food...

(Here's the link in case the one above doesn't work: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n10/lanc01_.html)

Sizzling UK "hotter than Spain"

I had to laugh when the UK headline, proudly proclaiming a "sizzler" for the bank holiday, popped up in front of my eyes as I logged into my email. Excitedly, it said it would be "hotter than Spain!" Here's the story:

The weekend temperature will be the hottest of the year, beating the current record of 22.1C (72F) reached in East Malling, Kent, in mid-April.
"We can expect temperatures to rise to 24C (75F) on both Saturday and Sunday," said a Sky forecaster.
Paris can expect temperatures of 22C (72F), Madrid 23C (73F) and Lisbon 21C (70F). Rome will be basking in temperatures of above 30C (86F).

I am, of course, delighted that the UK's Whitsun break is getting a decent spell of sunshine. It was the "hotter than Spain" boast that made me smile.

The story neglects to mention the fact that here in Madrid we've been "basking" in temperatures of above 30 degrees for the last three days. The temperature is expected to go down a tad at the weekend - latest forecasts suggest it'll be somewhere in the region of 25 C. Which will be something of a relief. Even our Spanish friends, who generally have a far higher tolerance to heat than we cold-blooded northern Europeans, are describing the weather as "hace mucho calor" (making a lot of heat).

It's only a brief respite, though. From the middle of June the temperature here tends to ascend towards (and into) the early forties Celsius and remain there until September. I'm not sure how Theo and I will cope, although he had some practice at surviving the heat during his childhood, when his family lived for a time in Tanzania. As for me? I'm investing in a traditional Spanish fan.

visitations

One of the the things about living overseas that I did know (having previously lived in Yemen and Kenya) but had forgotten was just how hectic trips home can be. Being back for a mere couple of weeks and trying to squash in visits to as many people as possible within that time frame is pretty exhausting, particularly when the time in which you are doing it is meant to be your holiday. Mind you, it's definitely worth it - it was wonderful to see so many of our friends and family again.

We were back in the UK for 3 weeks exactly over the Christmas and New Year period and hurtled around the country - London, Bristol, the Cotswolds, Chepstow, Devon and Cornwall - meeting friends in cafes and pubs, sleeping in 8 different houses (plus a Yurt for 2 nights and Sheena for one) and just generally catching up with the news. New Year's Eve was wild - we finally got to bed at 9.30am - and I'm still not entirely sure I've recovered. Cheers to Dean and Nikki for having a bunch of people they barely knew round for a party! In fact the whole visit was great; lots of comedy, some tragedy and lots of romance with first our friends Stuart and Sam announcing their engagement and then my sister Hermione agreeing to marry the wonderful Richard. The perfect beginning to a New Year!