一年四季飲酒季:迎春抒懷,酷夏消暑,深秋解愁,寒冬暖心;倫敦的夏季頗為珍貴,從6月中旬到7月下旬、只有短短1.5個月能盡情享受,然而夏季歐洲日照時間直至晚間22:00,在這攝氏接近攝氏30度的倫敦,若不點上一杯刺激太陽穴的冰啤酒就太浪費了,略苦泡沫順著咽喉而下,讓人不禁明白《村上春樹.發條鳥年代記》中對於啤酒地描述:「Some choosy people say that a too cold beer doesn’t taste good, but I couldn’t disagree more. The first beer should be so cold that you cannot even taste. The second one should be a little less chilled, but I want that first one to be lice ice. I want it to be so cold my temples throb with pain. This is my own personal preference, of course.」第一口冰到頭疼,第二口暢快舒服,第三口微醺享受…坐臥河床旁,看著太陽好不容易西落,又是一天藉由啤酒消暑的夏夜。
秋.變色威尼斯
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?風捲殘雲,秋風將夏季最後一絲氣息掃上了天,急忙從衣櫥內拉出風衣,小威尼斯運河也悄悄換上秋裝,拉緊領子穿過黃夜秋楓,腳底的樹葉因皮鞋踩過而發出沙沙聲響;冷到手指發僵的歐洲,秋末11月店家販售熱紅酒Mulled Wine,選擇口味清爽的紅酒為基底,添入肉桂、丁香、檸檬汁,若再講究一點還可以添加胡椒、荳蔻或生薑;白晝建淡的晚間七點,推開酒館大門,眺望著外頭的黃葉紅楓,香料特有的滋味搭配紅酒的酸味,是秋末最醉人的味道。