Besoin de vacances...

Photo prise au National Railway Museum de York, lequel est mon musée préféré, car elle illustre mon propos. et non, on ne songe pas à passer un séjour à Southampton, comme l'étiquette étampée sur l'une de ces valises. Mais je pense à des valises à faire et des voyages en train ces temps-ci. Ça me prend parfois, souvent, mais là c'est quasiment constant et pour cause: ça fera bientôt deux mois que je n'ai pas pris de vacances et je commence à trouver le quotidien pénible un tantinet. Ça me ferait un bien immense, et à ma famille aussi. Pas seulement une staycation, mais un petit voyage en train quelque part, vivre quelques jours dans nos valises, puis revenir reposés. Ma femme et moi avons déjà une bonne idée de destination (voir ici), il me suffit de trouver le bon moment.

Une île vue des airs

Je ne sais pas si cette île vient de la Grande ou la Petite Bretagne, mais nous avons pris cette photo lors de notre retour de Bretagne, dans le vol vers Southampton. L'image n'est pas géniale, mais je l'aime bien, je ne sais pas trop pourquoi. Parce qu'elle est très bleue peut-être. Lorsqu'on voyage en avion, ma femme insiste pour prendre le siège à côté du hublot si elle peut et elle aime prendre des photos comme celle-ci. Le vol de ou vers Southampton est court et comme on vole bas on peut apprécier le trajet un peu plus. Morale de l'histoire: il n'y en a pas. J'ai peut-être gâché cette photo, que je ne pourrai plus utiliser pour la photo du mois, mais bon, j'ai pensé la partager ce soir.

Of rain and umbrellas

One trivial thing you probably don't know about me (not that it is worth knowing, it is that trivial): I don't like umbrellas. I find them impractical if the weather is really bad (especially windy, when they become downright useless), cumbersome, a darn pain to dry after use and, in this country, they get old really quickly. I mean really, really quickly. They get rusty, fall apart, etc. England is a terrible place for umbrellas. I have long stopped using them and now I simply use coats with hoods. It keeps my hands free.

That said, during my last plane trip, taken from Southampton Airport, I read in the airplane magazine an article about Mr Standord, a brand of umbrellas. And I have to confess two things: I loved their history, how the brand came out to be, and I loved their products. If their umbrellas were not so prohibitively high (around £150), I may even have been tempted to buy one. Maybe as a present to someone. Someone very dear to me, because I wouldn't spoil just anyone like that. And, while I love the design, I cannot buy one for myself, given my natural dislike for the object itself. In the end, it is the look I love, not its use. In the article, they say they will expand their brand to other items, including some clothes. If they ever sell raincoats, I might be tempted to buy one.

Le Toblerone dans les aéroports

J'ai pris cette photo à l'Aéroport de Southampton, dans une boutique hors-taxes, lors de notre dernier voyage. C'est bien entendu une montagne de barres de Toblerone, ces chocolats pyramidaux qui semblent surtout se vendre dans les aéroports. Je me suis toujours demandé pourquoi. Pourquoi le Toblerone est-il vendu en pareilles quantités dans les aéroports? Qui les achète et pourquoi? Pour moi, le Toblerone était le chocolat que l'on utilisait pour faire de la fondue au chocolat lorsque j'étais enfant, jusqu'à ce qu'on se rende compte que PJ était allergique aux amandes dedans. Ce n'est que plus tard que j'ai vraiment commencé à manger du Toblerone sans le faire fondre. Mais enfin bref, je me demande bien c'est quoi l'idée de cette marque de chocolat en particulier dans les aéroports.

That's Protestant Whiskey

"McNulty: Can I get a Jameson?
Bartender: Bushmills OK?
McNulty: That’s Protestant whiskey.
Bartender: Price is right, ain’t it?
McNulty: Make it neat."

I blogged before about the urban legend regarding Bushmills. I learned about it because of this scene in The Wire. This anecdotal exchange between McNulty and the barman is one of many scenes in the series, scenes that are seemingly unimportant, but give character to the show. One of many reasons why I love it so much. I took this picture in the duty free boutiques of Southampton Airport. Looking at the bottles, I could only think of the scene in my favorite TV drama. Next time I go out for a drink, I want to order a whiskey just for the sake of being offered Bushmills. So I can say the immortal line. Not that I know much about whiskey, to be honest. I enjoy it from time to time, but cannot make the difference between a decent one and a great one. Or even a bad one, come to think of it. But I do want to say this once in my lifetime.

An old-fashioned globe

I took this picture very quickly at the Costa Coffee of Southampton Airport. We had a train to catch, so I could not waste any time. So it is not as good a pic as it could have been and I had little time to find the right angle. I often love Costa franchises, not for their coffee, because I don't like coffee, but because of the settings themselves. I think they often have character, far more for some reason than most coffee chains. Well, this one is an airport's coffeehouse, so I could not expect it to have much character, but there was this lovely terrestrial globe.

It is pretty easy to understand why I love this globe so much: it is old-fashioned, old-looking. And especially, in the spaces where oceans are, there are sea monsters that have been drawn. Sea monsters. Like in the ancient maps from ancient times. So it is a globe that is aesthetically pleasing, one that is very artsy. I would buy a globe like this one for here if there was any room for it.

A fish finger sandwich

It is Friday, so as it is a weekend tradition I am plugging a meal from a specific restaurant. Here, a rather plain, utterly unexciting meal from an unexciting place: the Olive Tree restaurant in Southampton Airport. You can't get more banal than a plain old fish finger sandwich with chips. Yet last week, waiting for the plane, hungry, it was exactly what I wanted and it is exactly what I got. It was both filling and delicious. And cheap too, as you can see on the menu: £6.25. In an airport, finding a meal that is not a ripoff is in itself an exploit. Oh and you cannot see it here, but I asked for mayonnaise to go with the chips. I might make some myself one night, just for fun.