England

We are into our second day of continual rain here in Denver, which is highly unusual for mid-August. In fact it's highly unusual in Colorado any time of year. Not so in England, where the weather is quite happy to provide rain any time, particularly when you try to pick a time you think it least likely. Fortunately, we were able to sneak in some rainless time on the Isle of Wight, and so drink in some of the absorbing Wight sights, such as the village that contains a model of itself. On our second day there, the rain forced us indoors to watch - why water, what else?! in the form of the Waltzing Waters.

The last 20 years have seen the ascendancy of the local brewer, brew-pubs and a wide choice of "real Ales" in the US and Denver especially. Some of the offerings are really very good, but walk into any pub in England and sample what they have on draught and it's head and shoulders better - like Michael Phelps compared with other swimmers (sorry, another water reference). Why is that?