Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Corner View: The beach, Oxford, UK

Time for another Corner View! The topic for this week is "The beach". Unfortunately, Oxford doesn't have one, but we do have lovely parks where people behave as if they were on a beach. Examples:



The first time I saw a scene like this, way back when I first moved here, I had a bit of a culture shock. I come from Spain, a country where summer is always sunny and hot (and that's how it should be!). We have more than three months of guaranteed good weather and so we tend to shy from it a little bit. In fact, unless you're actually on a beach or a swimming pool, you avoid the heat as much as you can, staying indoors until at least 8pm, when you can enjoy a nice temperature.
British summer, on the other hand is not to be taken for granted. It's never, ever guaranteed. It can be sunny today and rainy tomorrow. In fact, it can be sunny now, and rainy in an hour, so here, people make the most of it. At the first sign of sun, we take over gardens, parks, streets ... everywhere is a beach!

Don't get me wrong, I understand and in fact, now share this behaviour... I just wasn't brought up that way.

Corner View is hosted by Spain Daily, and you can visit more beaches at the these other corner views around the blogosphere:

caitlin, joyce, ani, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch,c.t.,jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva, dongdong, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise,cabrizette, bohemia girl, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari,jgy, jenna, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin,otli, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa, britta, virgina,april, rebecca, b, sunnymama, kyndale, samantha, karen, kristina, angelina, dorit, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, nicki, ruth, mcgillicutty, desiree, di, travelingmama, aimee

26 comments:

  1. You are right. As soon as British people see the sun shine, they take their clothes off and lie down. This can get them into a lot of trouble when they go abroad.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I had the same when I lived in Ldn: at first I found it plain odd, and then I was there with the crowds at the parks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't blame the Brits for gobbling up every bit of sunshine they can. I would too if I lived there.
    I find these photographs relaxing.
    I imagine lying on the grass in full sunshine taking a snooze...

    ReplyDelete
  4. i know, us north european can be a bit weird when it comes to making the most of summer ;)

    i myself prefer to sit in street cafés, a friend's garden or have a picnic somewhere. preferably dressed.

    it kind of feels like this rain-sun-rain thing does make you appreciate summer though. (it's raining here today...).

    ReplyDelete
  5. It is a rainy, ducky day here in Central Pennsylvania, so I am enjoying your Corner View! When spring begins to show its face here, sometimes teasing us with spectacular days as early as March, but mostly in April, the students at the local university sprawl their barely clad bodies on any patch of green they can find (I, was once one of those students and performed the same ritual). Soaking up the rays and some vitamin D. Nice.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think it's a perfect solution. wouldn't mind spending an afternoon in that beautiful park . . .

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh how I remember these days so well. I also remember that the summer brings some serious fashion violations in that corner of the world!! I once feel asleep in a beer garden but that's a whole other blog!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. yep. . . i've seen this strange behavior as well, but not so much in Italy, you know.

    ReplyDelete
  9. i swear vitoria is the same way. we get the same weather as you. i keep telling jorge we have to go south:)... thanks for this! un beso gordo!

    ReplyDelete
  10. love it. the weather here is similar to that in Spain (I was actually totally at home when I was there in July almost 10 years ago). but I do understand the need to get all that sun if when you can!

    thanks for stopping by- Happy Corner View day!

    ReplyDelete
  11. That is so very true. I must be getting old as I can't lie in the sun, only the shade for me.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks for your comments on my non beach post! I see this is not only a British phenomenon.

    Jane, I know, Vitoria has the same weather as England, but you just need to move south a little bit. I grew up in Salamanca, not exactly the south! :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. You crack me up and so does Ian's comment. Love the corner view!

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a fun post! The first time we went to a park here in Potsdam we saw nude people lying all over the place. It was on the grounds of a castle park and we were just so amazed seeing them there! We thought for a short while that all Germans go naked as soon as they see some sun. Turned out that we had stumbled upon a nudist ´beach´. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  15. what a great perspective on the differences between the two cultures!

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a lovely blog. I spent a summer at Cambridge with some Spanish girls (summerschool at the university) and I remember them laughing at us northeners :) Love British parks!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I live in Oregon. The weather here is much the same.

    it can be 90 one day and we can have a thunderstorm and freezing temps the next day. its insane.

    the parks in 'my area' don't really do that. but if you get close to a college campus or the likes it gets that way too. lap tops, lack of clothes, and scattered books are a common sight.

    ReplyDelete
  18. That would be funny to see people taking their clothes off for the sunshine - but I totally understand.
    Thanks for the view.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Danish people are the same way. The sun and sunshine is appreciate and celebrated so much more there than here in CA (which makes sense of course since the sun is shining pretty much 9 months out of the year in CA)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Loved this story. Funny how different countries and people and cultures are so ... well, different !

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh, you are so right! I remember sunny days in London when people would spend their time in parks, picniking and taking sun-baths :)

    Thank you for sharing,
    Kasia

    ReplyDelete
  22. You know, strangely enough I never had any problems with English weather... but I must admit I don't like heat.

    I love seeing people having their lunch in parks and squares on a grass in good weather. That's very English.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Just discovered your blog - nice post about your corner and parks. Funny, last week I was a few days not far from Oxford. The weather was sunny (most of the two days), and I definitely got the feeling that we were lucky since our hosts remarked more than once that "it may rain tomorrow". However, I found it quite refreshing that everything was so green!
    And thanks for stopping by my blog:-)

    ReplyDelete
  24. I have a real beach but since it is entirely made up of stones its actually much more comfortable lying in a park. And you are absolutley right about the british and the weather. I long for the luxury of knowing that the weather will be good tomorrow so I can ignore it today.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Great corner view! I can certainly relate to your description of English summers ;) Your pictures could have been taken here too.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting, reading and commenting.