Ye olde pubs!

I am not much of an alcoholic and, as a matter of fact, am not much of a fan of anything whose alcoholic content exceeds 15%, thus being limited to beer and wine..and the occasional gin-and-tonic or a decent Negroni. However, a stroll along virtually any street in London sheds light on how different the Brits are when it comes to alcoholic consumption.

The Malta history aficionado will easily recall that when the capital Valletta was being built, it was required that street corners are decorated by some sort of sculpture or statue to promote visual interest. This regulation was strictly obeyed, and I suspect a similar regulation existed in London in the past, only with a different specification. Indeed, many strategic corner sites boast pubs, typically called after some English county, royal or anything random including animals and trees! All with exquisite wooden interiors, resembling the hold of a ship, with low lighting (more often than not, candles), menus with tasty nibbles and all sorts of beers pouring from draughts.

Simply going around and visiting these outlets is an outing in itself, but, more interesting is the way the Brits pursue their "local" as they refer to the pub in their neighbourhood they frequent most. Be it sunny, windy or rainy, by 5.30pm the pubs are flooded with people, men and women, straight from the office, in suit and with attache case, draining pint upon pint of ales, lagers, stouts and whatever they fancy.

This almost religiously adhered to attendance to the pub is, to a lesser extent, also an attractive lunch time occurrence, when people from all walks of life rush to the pub for a "pub lunch", typically a fish-and-chips, toad-in-a-hole or bangers-and-mash (you see, English cuisine is not exactly the most exciting one). All this is accompanied by the omnipresent pint/s (yes, at lunch time), after which one resumes his/her work till 5pm.

I was totally bewildered the first time I attended a pub lunch. During my time working here, the office had a pub right underneath and this was a convenient excuse to not consider anything else for lunch. I could not believe that my British colleagues could consume 1 or 2 pints of beer (at 1pm) alongside a huge dish of heavy, fried food and then proceed to work when all is done, as if they had only eaten some light salad with a glass of diet lemonade!

I was even more amazed the first time I visited a pub in the evening with a Maltese friend. At 11pm, a bell rang and I was promptly informed by my friend (who had been in London for almost a year) that this bell signified that one should be considering his/her last round. At 11.20pm, the bell ran again, which to my amazement, signalled that I had to finish up whatever was left in my glass. By 11.30pm, we were outside and the pub done with the day's business! What a short-lived night-out! No wonder the Brits commence their night-outs at 5pm, straight after work!

Of course, one can always venture to a club in Piccadilly or Soho; clubs operate till the early morning hours, but I am not a club-person and prefer the relative peace and quiet of a pub with a pint of Guinness. Whatever your cup of tea is (well, or glass of beer for that matter!), if you are in London or anywhere in the UK, do not fail to pay a visit to a pub or two, but forget all about the Mediterranean ideal of healthy eating and avoid the other Mediterranean norm of going out at 9pm or so...this is England...at its best!