How to Survive a London Summer
Lush green parks, hot days and cold beer. You wouldn’t think that I am talking about London would you, but it is true. Major misconception number one destroyed. The second being that summer lasts for a week. As summer approached the stories of single digit summer days and another 11 month winter didn’t sound so surprising to us. Not when backed by the fact that almost every image of London we grew up with was of Dickensian snow covered streets or were from the cold British dramas that seemed to always be filmed in black and white. We came to London complete under the impression that we would never see the sun. Well for the last month Mel and I have had to endure hot sticky nights and daytime temperatures in the 30’s not to mention the bluest cloud free skies.
London literally is a different place from the cold, barren concrete jungle we first arrived to, with its planted sticks for trees lining the streets and its perpetually darkened sky. In the evenings, the pubs are apparently busting with people out on to the sidewalks when in fact inside they are empty. Shorts and t-shirts are the standard wardrobe out and about. But beware the dreaded Tube. Picture this, it’s a hot day and you have thousands of people squished into a small train with no windows and no air-con. Not pleasant. In fact this summer things got so unbearable that the London Underground started giving out free Evian water at the stations to stop people from passing our with heat exhaustion on the train floor. Probably only because they got frustrated with all the bodies blocking the doors making it hard to cram other people into the carriages. Well they do stack better and complain less when unconscious.
So what advice should I give to someone who has never faced a London summer? a) Forget about working. Especially if your workspace is near a window because you will just stare out it all day anyway thinking, “What am I doing here”. b) Take a water bottle of your own on the Tube. Well actually, this is Mel’s tip and it’s a good one. Ever since a train got stuck in a tunnel for several hours and people died Mel insisted I took my bottle of water with me whenever I took the Tube. I never did but I would have been sorry if my train got stuck and so will you. I was only kidding about people dieing by the way. c) Enjoy! Winter will be back soon enough.