O, To Be In England

I have never had the pleasure of visiting England. Its certainly on the list of things to do, but to be honest its a pretty long list. But this is the kind of news that pushes it up the list a few notches.

John Clark, curator of the Medieval London gallery, said: "Most people, including children, drank ale made from malted barley without hops.

"The even drank ale for breakfast, and got through up to a gallon, or four-and-a-half litres, a day each.

"At a price of a penny per gallon, only the poorest had to make do with water."

One alehouse for every 50 people? That's worse then the Lower East Side. The fact that binge drinking seems to be almost a universal constant isn'’t a good thing but there's something reassuring about knowing the more things change the more they say the same.