So to Friday. My sister was visiting with her family, and it seemed a good idea for us all to go to the seaside for the day. What could be better? A beautiful sunny June morning, the day off work, and the prospect of messing about on the beach, fish and chips on the promenade in the early evening sunshine.
Off to Ramsgate! And things start off well, weather wise. That is until we reach the river Medway, when it all starts to go tits up, to put it mildly. The Scots have a word for that type of rain the bounces off the ground, stoatin'. "Och jings, it's stoatin'!" The rain was like this for the final 20 or so miles.
Some of you in blogland may have visited Ramsgate. One or two of you may live there, and I'm sure when the sun's out it's a nice enough place. Sadly, the 4 long hours I spent there have not endeared me to the place. Not just because of the rain, which was incessant. But the thunder storm that whimpered the whole time we were there really was a little too much. I once went to Florida for two weeks, and everyday they have electrical storms unparalleled here in Britain. But for all their ferociousness, they do not last long, and within 45 minutes or so, everything is back to normal. Here, it was almost like background noise, so isipid and weak it was.
We sought respite in the local maritime museum, which although small, was actually very interesting. Then we had our fish and chips, in a restaurant staffed entirely by very attractive, but terribly surly, young women. At one point I overheard our waitress address the table of old dears behind us thus "'Ave you lot finished yet?"
I believed at that point both she and I shared the same desire, which was to get out of Ramsgate as soon as possible. The only reason I was able to carry on smiling was I knew I'd be gone before she finished her shift.
And so it was we resigned ourselves to going home, and we arrived back just after 3pm, much to the surprise of friends and family, who'd been enjoying a rare hot day in South East London.
"Why are you back so early?" they inquired, "The weather's lovely outside!"
Off to Ramsgate! And things start off well, weather wise. That is until we reach the river Medway, when it all starts to go tits up, to put it mildly. The Scots have a word for that type of rain the bounces off the ground, stoatin'. "Och jings, it's stoatin'!" The rain was like this for the final 20 or so miles.
Some of you in blogland may have visited Ramsgate. One or two of you may live there, and I'm sure when the sun's out it's a nice enough place. Sadly, the 4 long hours I spent there have not endeared me to the place. Not just because of the rain, which was incessant. But the thunder storm that whimpered the whole time we were there really was a little too much. I once went to Florida for two weeks, and everyday they have electrical storms unparalleled here in Britain. But for all their ferociousness, they do not last long, and within 45 minutes or so, everything is back to normal. Here, it was almost like background noise, so isipid and weak it was.
We sought respite in the local maritime museum, which although small, was actually very interesting. Then we had our fish and chips, in a restaurant staffed entirely by very attractive, but terribly surly, young women. At one point I overheard our waitress address the table of old dears behind us thus "'Ave you lot finished yet?"
I believed at that point both she and I shared the same desire, which was to get out of Ramsgate as soon as possible. The only reason I was able to carry on smiling was I knew I'd be gone before she finished her shift.
And so it was we resigned ourselves to going home, and we arrived back just after 3pm, much to the surprise of friends and family, who'd been enjoying a rare hot day in South East London.
"Why are you back so early?" they inquired, "The weather's lovely outside!"
posted by Edwin McBedwin at 2:58 PM
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