Hello Gomez,

I miss the pubs a lot too for the same reason. For a start, in England you could always walk to the pub, and like you I enjoyed the "local" aspect of it.

When I lived in London, there was a lovely old pub over the road from us. It had seen better days but there was more or less always the same few people in it including an elderly man and his dog. It was "homely."  The barman knew the regulars and it was a great atmosphere, albeit not particularly dynamic. Perhaps that was already unusual for London. This was back in the mid 90s. Then one day a sign appeared in the window saying it was shutting down for refurbishment. Weeks later its transformation was complete and it had turned into a ghastly wine bar. Gone were the plush, if worn, big cubicle seats and the solid, wooden bar - replaced by chrome and not a lot else. It didn't even have anywhere to sit! You had to stand and drink. I never went back after the first visit. Anyway, my point is (yes, there really is one :-) that I totally sympathise with the emergence of the "wine bar." The same thing has happened in Auckland city too, a place I rarely go these days. Mind you, we never really had the "local" concept. New Zealand has a reputation for having a binge drinking culture.

As for language, I love it too and was always fascinated by the wealth of accents within such a small space in Britain. Have you, or anyone, read "Mother Tongue" by Bill Bryson? It's really interesting. Eh?  Relying on Australians to keep your English on track?!?  (Just kidding of course)

Caramacs - those yummy caramel bars in a bright orange wrapper.

Morse was always a bit dry for me, although very well done. I think it was as much the setting. Wasn't it set in Oxford? I lived in Oxfordshire for a while too and found it very unfriendly so that may have tainted my views on Morse :-) I like Midsomer Murders though. (And Hetty Wainthropp)

Yes but I would stick my neck out here and say that it is Bryson's "otherness" that gives him an advantage when exploring the quirks of the English language as his focus is primarily its use in Britain.

Thank you, that's very kind. The earthquake has been a terrible shock as Christchurch was not the place everyone expected it to happen. The best thing of course is that no-one was killed, but it will take a long time all the same for both the city and the lives of its residents to be rebuilt.