The Great British Summer

I swear this will be one of those photos that makes it's way into your inbox in the form of a some forward or another.

We went to a concert in the park at Warwick Castle over the weekend, to enjoy some fireworks set to a performance from the Welsh National Opera. It was meant to be all strawberries and champagne, smoked salmon canapes and naughty little treats like sausage rolls and pork pies. The skies, however, had other plans.

The inlaws, while the night was still young.

Never have I been so unprepared for the torrential downpour that was to ensue. This coming from a former wildlife biology technician in Alaska (for god's sake!) and formidable national park 'parkie' in some of America's most notorious unpredictable weather hotspots. I turn up in a cotton dress and flip flops with two bottles of red and nary an inclination as to what the weather report has to predict, it's a little embarrassing. It was sunny all day, why would I expect it to be anything else.

Me and the G, before the skies really let loose.

It struck me that night, just how much that outdoorsy side of me has disappeared since moving to Britain. It's not that the British don't go hiking or 'hill-walking' as it's referred to here, there's just something so less wild about backpacking from pub to pub. I remember thinking how posh it was to sleep in one of the camping shelters on the Appailachan trail, compared to the forest clearings of West coast campgrounds. Here you get bed and breakfast! Tents come in floral patterns or cowgirl motifs and are used solely to flaunt the latest festival fashions, not for roughing it in the backcountry. I'm just not as hardy as I used to be. I've gone soft in my old age!

What am I on about? This was a concert, not a bloody expedition!! At any rate, here's a view once it started to get dark and the fireworks kicked off. We ended up leaving about 3/4 the way through. It was a nice performance, but the hot cups of coffee and the stylish Warwick Castle Ponchos we bought didn't work to warm us and all our teeth were all a-chattering.