by It’s hot. With a so-called “heat dome”, which currently covers a large part of Europe (the result of a high printing front, the super warm air for day or even weekly jewels), the mercury on the entire continent is increased and Spain reported heights of 46 ° C, forest ovens, the eastern Turkey and “Payer,” warmth ” were released.
On July 1, the fifth day of the Heatwave in Great Britain, at which the temperatures are crossed in Barbados, Jamaica and Mexico, and leads to the hottest start to Wimbledon (at 32.9 ° C), since high heights of 35 ° C are predicted in London and in the south of the East.
It goes without saying that Great Britain is not built for extreme heat. Our buildings are thick-walled, our people thick, our food warm and heartily, our railway tracks … Well, they are also not great in the rain or snow, but they melt in extraordinarily hot weather. So when the temperature rises to the 1930s and beyond, we cling to routine, switch on the fan and Wilt – a country of humid Stoicism.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Our continental cousins have long been dealing with a scale summer, and over the centuries they have learned one or two things about how to stay cool. It is helped if your nation’s basic infrastructure is geared towards hot summer (adapted working hours, built -in air conditioning systems, culture in Fresko), but there are still many simple daily DOS and nothing that would adopt hot and annoying British well. Our target experts share the best out of the heap.
Portugal
Do…
Hold the sun outside
With the temperatures that rise in some parts of Portugal up to 47 ° C, people are meticulously in closing their curtains or shutters on the side of the sun during the day and then opening all the windows at night so that the air can circulate.
Have a cold
In order to cool off in hot weather, large, frosty beers are the Portuguese contact point, with Gin and Tonic or Sangria flow later a day. It may feel too hot to eat it, but you only have to sniff the Portuguese summer air to know that the traditional meal of the sardines – light, tasty and grilled outdoors – is the perfect summer lining.
Not…
Avoid the beach
The Portuguese still go to the beach – a national pastime – but many do this very early in the morning and go to lunch, while others go late afternoon and stay for sunset.
Treat your electric fan
The biggest problem in Portugal is electricity costs – which has increased significantly there, as it is in the UK. Although many Portuguese houses have air conditioning, most cannot afford to operate them continuously. Just like the British, they compensate with electric fans and small portable air conditioning systems.
By Mary Lussiana
Greece
Do…
Choose a fridge
After sunset, the Greeks gather on terraces with wine routes to play Tavli (backgammon) and sip the coffee in a narrow glass cup that is grabbed with ice cubes and thrown into a orphan’s. An essential part of the Greek summer experience.
Have a nap
Regardless of whether it is a city or country, an essential part of the cool stay in summer is a nap in the afternoon – the Greek version of the Spanish Siesta. There is even a law that forbids it to make noise in the middle of the day.
Sleeping in the hottest part of the day – usually between 3 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. – is an acquired habit, but if you have mastered it, it is like two days in one. They wake up refreshed, take a shower and dress and then continue with their working day before returning home to eat under the stars at around 10 p.m. or 11 p.m.
Not…
Stay in the city
The escape to Ta Choria-Die Dörfer-IM Sommer is a standard practice in Greece and Hamlets with only 300 inhabitants in the winter double, as children (with three months of summer holidays) and other family members who take the time out, can return to these calmer, usually cooler, cooler, the opposite.
Go to bed early
Big big parties – or glendis – with music and food are an essential element of summer in Greece: do not skip quite social Soirees when the weather is hot.
By Heidi Fuller-Lieb
Italy
Do…
Go down
My early years living in Italy were spent with a Roman family with which I shared a few boiler months. Of course they had shutters, but also some of the thickest curtains I’ve ever seen. Not to keep the dawn away, but to draw in the middle of summer in the morning, and the windows were open all night. It worked. Not exactly cool, but not suffocated. Wherever you are – at home, hotel, villa – Italians know that the afternoon sun is an enemy that is kept in check.
Adopt the wet look
My friends in Rome shared two tips for sleeping hot nights, which have been in my mind since then. Firstly, a light spray or spray of the leaves with water. Cool to lie, and when the leaves are dry, they sleep. If you wake up hot, again. Oder-in extremis-like principle: soaked t-shirt, ejected, put on, cold, as you want. Wake up hot, fight out of the T-shirt, grab the spray. Sleep and repeat.
And while a soaked T-shirt may not do a strong daily look, it is also advisable to avoid too much bare skin if you are on the go-there are a light outer layer of cotton or linen, as the skin remains cooler than in direct sunlight.
Not…
Forget the mountains
Italians have a summer vacation choice: mare o Montagna – sea or mountains. You may think you want to swim and the beach. Do you really have Against intuitive to leave the coast, but Italians know that the height brings relief: Freshly air, cooler nights and daytime temperatures with which you can actually do something. Average July -Hochs in Milan, for example, are 88f/31c; In the resort of Alta Badia, in the Dolomites, they are a positive cold 70f/21c.
Fight yourself in the afternoon
If the vacation time is precious, it is difficult to accept that you have to give up part of the day. But in high summer Italians such as the Greeks and Spanish, accept that afternoons are simply written off. In Rome, my family’s external tasks – tomorrow -espresso – were done until 11 a.m. After that, in contrast to the city’s summer tourists – it was off the streets until 5 p.m. The time is invented later, much later, in the mild bliss of the hours until dawn.
By Tim Jepson
Spain
Do…
Take a long lunch
It may surprise many British to know that Spanish Siestas are mostly a stereotype and has been a little foundation for many years. If ever ever. In Spain the lunch are long (and I mean long).
Keep things light and bubble
Inventional cooling drinks vary depending on the region. The south, for example, has its “Rebujito”, a refreshing mess of Soda, Sherry and Mint, while “Aigua de València” (Valencia Water) is an ice-cold mix of cava, orange juice-kodka and gin. Forgot Sangría in summer-es is usually produced in mass production in tourist areas, so you don’t find many Spaniards who order it.
Not…
Fight yourself with carpet
In Spain, houses are kept beautifully cool in traditional, environmentally friendly way. In the south, many houses stand on an inner terrace and are therefore shielded from the sun in front of the full sun. Tiles are omnipresent and carpets do not exist. The ‘Persiana’ – an external roller blind made of wood or aluminum slats – is everywhere and often stays below for months, draped over balconies to enable a light shed on both sides, but nothing more.
Make a meal
The Spaniards are also masters of adapting their diet. If you order rice or paella for dinner, you can earn a raised eyebrow, for example – rice is considered too difficult to digest it in very hot weather or late in the evening if many Spaniards sit down for dinner in the summer months. However, tapas and platilelos (sharing plates) are the ideal food for floating days that are preceded with a bowl or a glass of ice gaza pacho.
By Sally Davies
France
Do…
Get a Kulturfix
Many of the large city buildings of France have no air conditioning, instead of sweating in a chambre-de-bonne-cum sauna, the French head goes to a museum or a gallery to display the public AC. Cinemas, bars and even the local pharmacy can literally be a hint of fresh air. It is also a great time to visit the cool crusaders of the country’s many impressive churches and cathedrals.
Cool everything
Nothing, not even summer temperatures of over 40 ° C, can lie with French meals. Do like the French and prepare hearty, fresh salads. Everything that requires cooking is prepared in the evening when it is cooler and cooled for the following day. A large part of the refrigerator is filled with glass cans, and there are generally also a few bottles of white wine.
Not…
Underestimate the power of closures
The landscape class with Periwinkle window shops may look directly from a Provencal postcard, but they are also practical. In hot weather, the French keep the shutters closed during the day before pour on the mosquito repellent and open at night to enable air flow.
Skip the weekend trip
French cities are on the summer weekend ghost cities, and Citydwellers flee to oppressive streets to publish the cool attraction of the mountains, the coast or the rivers. Even the ring road, which is located directly outside the ring road, can be enough, and many French cities have large green spaces and lakes, which are easily accessible by public transport.
By Anna Richards
Further inspiration can be found in the guidelines of Telegraph Travel on the best hotels in Europe.
This article was first published and revised and updated in August 2022.
