Long, balmy eventings in the quintessential English pub are on the Aussie visitor expectation list
Next week I’ll be stepping off a plane at Heathrow airport and, like thousands of others, I’ll be heading to Greenwich Park to be a spectator at the equestrian events. But, unlike thousands of others, I won’t be a visitor to London or England as, despite the fact that I have lived in Australia for many years, I am still a British citizen who goes back home regularly.
Home is a strange concept isn’t it? In some ways, having lived in quite a lot of places, I agree with Joe Cocker that ‘wherever I lay my hat, that’s my home’ (although with me it would be a 40kg suitcase as I am incapable of packing light) but I know that when that plane lands in England, I will instinctively feel at home.
This year however, being home in England throws up a few curlies. First, I’ll be sharing a house with a pack of Aussies rather than staying with my English friends and family. For years I’ve been blathering on to my Australian friends about English pubs, English countryside, English manners, English this, that and the other and they have listened with generous enthusiasm (albeit sometimes with slightly glazed expressions) and declared a desire to enjoy all of these marvellous things first hand. Well, now some of them are coming and I’m a bit worried they might think the fish and chips are in no way comparable to Aussie fish and chips, English beer really is, as they had suspected, warm and flat and they’ll wonder “what has she been banging on about all these years?”
Second, it now appears beyond doubt that it will rain incessantly during the whole time we are in England. My fantasies of introducing my Australian friends to England had always been based on the vision of long, balmy summer evenings spent in beer gardens. Strangely enough I am usually lucky to strike reasonable weather on my regular visits to the UK (I can also find parking spots in London, however Tattslotto eludes me) and if I don’t, I just go to another country until the weather picks up; a strategy which will not work when you have very expensive tickets for specific days of one of the world’s biggest events. So, it is going to be a soggy time sitting on those arena seats and people tend to get a bit grumpy about that.
Beautiful Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament - however we are staying in Lewisham which is not quite so pretty!
Third, London is brilliant but not all of London and not all of the time. It is a big, busy city and during the Olympics it will be busier than ever. I grew up in Yorkshire, which I’m strangely proud of and no doubt you’ll be subjected to many Yorkshire-isms in future blogs, but I lived in London for many years during my carefree student years when you don’t really worry about much except enjoying yourself. Now it tends to be more of my mother’s approach; intricate planning to try and do everything with the least possible ‘hassle’ whilst ensuring that a raincoat is always on hand (invaluable advice really, considering the above paragraph).
So, bearing in mind all of the above, you may find that it is not all a bed of roses in Deb’s Daily Diary over the next few weeks. On the other hand I have a sneaking suspicion that I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
I’m off to London and hope you’ll come along for the ride.
Even if it is wet weather ahead, I think this could be the answer (although no brollies allowed at Greenwich Park)
