Some 60 revellers were forced to drink beer and play cards for three days after they became stranded in a British pub cut off by snowstorms on New Year’s Eve.
The guests had booked in to celebrate the new year at the Tan Hill Inn, England’s highest pub, standing 518m above sea level, in the northern Yorkshire Dales.
But the heavy, relentless snowstorms that have swept through parts of Britain trapped them inside, unable to get to their cars and leaving the roads home impassable.
“There was a lovely community atmosphere despite the fact nobody could get home,” said landlord Tracy Daly.
“I suppose there are worse places to be snowed in than a pub.”
A gritter and snowplough finally broke through the seven-foot snowdrifts that had sealed off the hotel on Sunday, ending the revelry, dubbed Britain’s longest-running New Year’s Eve party by newspapers on Monday.
Daly, 45, said she, her husband and two staff had kept the guests entertained and fed, and offered rooms for a knockdown price of £10 (US$16, NT$513), per night.
“We had the rule that the bar could only open at 5pm. The guests were all very well behaved, though,” she said.
The landlady added: “The guests were lovely. We were pretty under-staffed and they kept giving us breaks so we didn’t get too tired.”
Nathan Martin, 26, one of a group from Leeds University cross-country club stuck in the pub, described the experience in the Guardian newspaper as the “ultimate lock-in.”(AFP)
英國跨年夜的暴風雪造成交通中斷,迫使六十名左右的狂歡客滯留在一間酒吧內,連續喝啤酒、打牌了整整三天。
這些旅客預約了全英格蘭最高的譚山旅館,計畫在海拔高度一千七百英尺(五百一十八公尺)的這間約克郡谷跨年。
但絲毫不減弱的暴風雪席捲英國部份地區,使得這些遊客受困飯店內,無法走到他們的車上,回家的道路也無法通行。
飯店業者翠西.達麗說:「雖然大家都無法回家,但這裡的氣氛既溫馨又和諧。」
「我想被大雪困在酒吧裡不能算是太糟糕。」
最後總算在週日靠著一台雪地鋪沙車和除雪車,清除了封鎖旅館對外道路面厚達七英尺高的積雪,結束了被報紙封為英國史上最長的一場跨年狂歡派對。
四十五歲的戴麗說,她的先生和兩名員工一直在招待客人,提供他們食物和每晚每房十英鎊(十一歐元,十六美元)的超優待價格。
她說:「旅館規定酒吧下午五點才開,但客人們的對此都相當配合。」
這位房東太太說:「客人們都相當友善,我們人手嚴重不足,他們讓我們保有休息時間,讓我們不致太過勞累。」
受困這間酒吧、里茲大學越野社其中一名二十六歲的社員南森.馬丁對《衛報》形容,這幾天的經驗像是一種「終極禁閉」。(法新社╱翻譯:袁星塵)
South Korea’s famous kimchi is falling victim to climate change, with scientists, farmers and manufacturers saying the quality and quantity of the napa cabbage that is pickled to make the ubiquitous dish is suffering due to rising temperatures. Napa cabbage thrives in cooler climates, and is usually planted in mountainous regions where temperatures during the key growing summer season once rarely rose above 25 degrees Celsius. Studies show that warmer weather brought about by climate change is now threatening these crops, so much so that South Korea might not be able to grow napa cabbage one day due to the intensifying heat. “We
It’s widely recognized that there are far more right-handed people than left-handed people in the world. Being right-handed simply means preferring to use one’s right hand for tasks that involve only one hand, such as writing and eating. But have you ever wondered about the possible reasons behind the global dominance of the right hand over the left? As with many complex biological questions, multiple factors appear to be at play. First, one reason seems to be genetics. __1__ Therefore, the global dominance of right-handedness is something that has been passed down through many generations of humans. Next,
A: What’s even more horrible is that the five suspects who purposely supplied ketamine to actor Matthew Perry were all his “friends.” B: Who exactly are the five suspects? A: They include Matthew’s two doctors, a broker, a drug dealer, and even his live-in assistant. B: Those scumbags should go to jail. A: Yeah, one of the doctors may be sentenced to up to 120 years in prison. A: 更可怕的是,提供男星馬修派瑞「K他命」的5人全是他的「朋友」。 B: 嫌犯是誰啊? A: 其中包括他的2位醫生、1位仲介、1位毒販、甚至他的同居助理! B: 那些人渣真該去坐牢。 A: 對啊,其中1位醫生可能面臨120年徒刑。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
On blazing hot summer days, fresh ingredients and cool refreshments straight from a refrigerator feel like nothing short of a miracle. However, chilled foods didn’t begin with modern refrigerators. In fact, the origin of refrigeration precedes the invention of this now-indispensable appliance by centuries. Initially, the quest for refrigeration was motivated more by the desire to cool beverages than to preserve food. The ancient Greeks and Romans, for instance, used snow stored in insulated pits to chill wine. Around the fourth century BC, the Persians made a significant stride in refrigeration techniques when they devised the yakhchal. Fashioned from