On the eve of our last full day in England, the summer temperature is soaring. The past few days we’ve experienced daytime high temperatures in the upper 80’s and today the forecasted high is expected to flirt with the century mark. My wife and I are trying our best to keep a stiff upper lip (as one does in England), but it’s hot…No, it’s bloody hot!
We slept in this morning and by the time we got moving, the day was warm….too warm for a hot cup of coffee. So I started with one of these. I’m not sure who makes these, and I’ll be honest I’ve only started to enjoy the cold/iced coffee drinks on this trip, but it’s very good.
For lunch, we headed up to one of our favorite little pubs called Mount Edgcumbe. It’s a bit of an uphill hike from the Pantiles area of Tunbridge Wells, but well worth it. We arrived about 30 minutes before they started serving lunch. That was just enough time for a pipe and a glass of ice water.
One simply can’t go to England without enjoying fish and chips.
After a nice lunch, it was time for an iced coffee and another pipe. Today I’m smoking Mac Baren Vanilla Cream Flake. There’s just something about drinking coffee (hot or cold) and the enhanced flavors I get from the pipe.
After lunch we did a little shopping (gotta love air conditioned stores) and a long the way I saw a familiar store and dropped in for a mocha Frappuccino. I don’t always frequent Starbucks, but needs must and it hit the spot.
As afternoon turned into evening, the sun was going down and so was the temperature. A glass of wine and the last pipe of the evening went down well.
The temperature topped out in Tunbridge Wells at 95 F. Yes ladies and gentlemen, that is miserable. While I know some parts of Texas would consider this a cold front, the majority of businesses and residences here do not have air conditioning as these types of heat waves are fairly uncommon.
Later in the evening the rain started falling and the temperature continued to fall into the 80’s, 70’s and finally into the 60’s. Friday is our last full day in England and the temperature is forecast to be in the normal range.
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Until next time….
Happy Piping!
Jerry
