Good call. The hermitage is amazing. Easily equal to the Prado
We have a few narcissistic Personality Disorders on this site....Sean you are way ahead on points. Get some therapy and avoid being a dick
Alas for me the treasures of St Petersburg are not to be seen. At the start of this Ukraine nonsense I vowed never to do business with any Russians forevermore. I'm going to stick with that.
I’m coming late to the travel vs not travel discussion.
I would put it down to habit. Same as lots of other things. I don’t go to the pub much these days. Why? No obvious reason, I always enjoy it when I do, but I got out of the habit.
I’ve recently been strong-arming the family into getting back into longer haul holidays after the regular French home trips of younger childhood, but breaking the habit takes effort.
Habit. We tend to do what we’ve always done.
The pub broadens the mind sometimes. Certainly The Cock in Kilburn does.
Anyone who doesn’t have anchoring responsibilities at home (job, kids, stupid pets) and who has money and who ISN”T travelling is an idiot
Travel is all there is, in the end, along with love and art. The new, the fascinating, the challenging, the strange. It is the best. It doesn’t just broaden the mind it enriches it in an intoxicating way, like adding wine to a sauce, like lashing burning booze on the stodgy Christmas pud
You have one life. Go see the world before your knees give out
Doing my first international trip for 4 years next week. Going to Madrid for the first time.
Enjoy! Madrid has the best fine art holdings, handily accessible in three key museums, of any city in Europe bar Paris.
If that’s your thing.
That’s absolutely not true
London, Rome and probably Vienna outclass Madrid by a distance
No museum in the world can match the Louvre, but that is because the French decided to put so much of their best shit in one museum, the Louvre. The Musee d’Orsay is mightily impressive; the Pompidou is fun
London is more diverse and dispersed. The National Gallery is tiny compared to the Louvre but it has amazing masterpieces. the British Museum is OMG. Tate Modern and Tate Britain are good
London then comes up with these tiny brilliant galleries which would be world famous elsewhere. The Wallace. Dulwich. The Courtauld. Kenwood. Even the Sir John Soane
in totality it is hard to choose between London,New York and Paris as to which has the best art/artefacts . They outclass any other cities, I’d put Rome next, then Vienna, then maybe Madrid or Florence
Anyone who doesn’t have anchoring responsibilities at home (job, kids, stupid pets) and who has money and who ISN”T travelling is an idiot
Travel is all there is, in the end, along with love and art. The new, the fascinating, the challenging, the strange. It is the best. It doesn’t just broaden the mind it enriches it in an intoxicating way, like adding wine to a sauce, like lashing burning booze on the stodgy Christmas pud
You have one life. Go see the world before your knees give out
I think travel is great but the 'broadens the mind' thing is more of a saying than the truth imo. People who travel a lot are as prone to a fixed mindset as those who don't. In which case they lug it around with them along with the rest of their luggage.
"Anything to declare?" "Yep. Two suitcases, a carry-all, and my fixed mindset"
Some people enjoy travel precisely because they have a fixed mindset. Even (especially) the free-spirited "independent travellers" you find congregating together in the same bars (with the same tired hippy trail aesthetic regardless of where they are located), wearing the same clothes and wittering on about their "gap yah" or the latest untouched location they are in the process of ruining. The identikit rooftop bar seems to fulfill the same function for the older and more well-healed traveller.
I’m in Phnom Penh. You are in Penge
Penge has dinosaurs at least.
It does! SE20. Lived there once. Rented a room from a very old lady who had about 12 cats.
"Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, Conservative MPs David Davis and Chris Green, high profile academics from the University of Oxford and University College London, and journalists including Peter Hitchens and Julia Hartley-Brewer, all had comments critical of the government analysed by anti-misinformation units."
I too would love to visit Moscow and St Petersburg. 2 of my 4 grandparents were from Ukraine/Russia, after all.
Maybe post-Putin?
There has been for several years access to St Petersburg on a visa-free basis, typically taking the train from Tallinn, and promising not to stray beyond St Petersburg. British passport holders were excluded due to our diplomatic relations being too bad after Shrewsbury, but many many countries were included. But of course for Moscow, a visa has always been required.
I too would love to visit Moscow and St Petersburg. 2 of my 4 grandparents were from Ukraine/Russia, after all.
Maybe post-Putin?
The coldest I have ever been in my life is Moscow in January. Wandering around a deserted Kremlin on a Saturday morning because no other bugger was stupid enough to go exploring. At least I didn't get chucked in the back of a GUVD van like happened to my old boss.
I too would love to visit Moscow and St Petersburg. 2 of my 4 grandparents were from Ukraine/Russia, after all.
Maybe post-Putin?
St Petersburg is my favourite city I’ve been too. It’s this amazing combination of grandeur and shabbiness. The architecture is wonderful and the canals by day are a great way to see the city and at night on the party boats for the bridge lifting it’s a strange beautiful raucous evening.
Obviously the Hermitage but I went to a weird museum with every body part and deformed human in glass jars which was an eye-opener.
Had the best sushi I’ve ever had there which I didn’t expect.
And for those of us who might care you will never see so, so many ridiculously beautiful modelesque women in one place and then admire how many short, fat, ugly old men wearing 80’s football shorts and sliders must have such magnetic personalities to have attracted these goddesses they are walking hand in hand with.
While I am talking about narcissism, I think our very own SeanT falls into complete insignificance compared to Lee Anderson.
Talking about someone who just loves attention no matter how he gets it.....I bet you he's a fucking nightmare for anyone around him....
There are more millions of people like Lee Anderson. A lot of them do quiet good in the world before cursing the dumbness of those they help in private. Most of them don't have high profile roles in politics.
That's how the gods have decided to curse Anderson; giving him the political stage he wanted.
If I could afford to travel anything other than economy class I might consider travelling further but trips to see the in-laws in New England are the limit of my range. Can’t abide the thought of more than six or seven hours on a plane having turned right on entry to it. Hate the whole experience.
Visiting family, I have just done 14 hours in Economy, with back pain. Would have been 12, but can't fly over Russia. Tip: airlines carry paracetamol, just ask for it.
I've never travelled in any class other than Economy, but I can't imagine Premium Economy offering significant relief. It would have to be a lay-flat Business seat, and that's never happening. Affording it is one thing - being able to justify spending the money rather than saving it is quite another.
Premium is usually well worth the price difference for a long-haul flight. The seat reclines further and you have more space to move around. More crew around too, which is useful for when the G&T runs out.
That said, the mere existence of Premium Economy is a real pain for those of us who used to dress well and smile at the checkin desk, in the hope of an upgrade from Economy to Business. They’ll definitely only ever upgrade you one cabin!
Help please from PB military experts… two low flying jets on manoeuvres over the Yorkshire Dales earlier today… came right overhead… based on them having twin, outward sloping tail fins I think they would be F35s. Is that likely and, if so, where would they be from?
I can't think of anything else in this country (or USAF in this country) that fits that except for an F-22 if two have been here, or potentially an F-18 off a USN carrier.
May be from a US squadron though, which would I think be Lakenheath. I think UK F35s when not on a carrier are at Marham in Norfolk.
If I could afford to travel anything other than economy class I might consider travelling further but trips to see the in-laws in New England are the limit of my range. Can’t abide the thought of more than six or seven hours on a plane having turned right on entry to it. Hate the whole experience.
Visiting family, I have just done 14 hours in Economy, with back pain. Would have been 12, but can't fly over Russia. Tip: airlines carry paracetamol, just ask for it.
I've never travelled in any class other than Economy, but I can't imagine Premium Economy offering significant relief. It would have to be a lay-flat Business seat, and that's never happening. Affording it is one thing - being able to justify spending the money rather than saving it is quite another.
In all honesty, I have the solution. Tramadol
It is fucking amazing
Yes yes yes you will get doctor foxy and others on here telling you NO NO you will die or become addicted or both but fuck em
This may come as a surprise but I have some travel writing friends and one of them a few weeks back, said to me: THE SECRET IS TRAMADOL
You need to pop one or two slow release 100mgs before embarking on travel. They will last you 12 hours. They alleviate all boredom and take away a ton of pain. You are in an agreeable haze. Nothing is too irksome. Everything drifts along pleasantly
My friend swears they make 10 hours in Economy quite bearable. You don’t even need to drink. I just did one for a mildly irritating trip from Bangkok to Phnom Penh and WOW he’s right. I blithely sailed through the whole thing with a vague smile. I can well believe they make much longer schleps equally tolerable
i am giving invaluable advice here. TRAMADOL. Do not mix them with too much booze or benzos
Anyone who doesn’t have anchoring responsibilities at home (job, kids, stupid pets) and who has money and who ISN”T travelling is an idiot
Travel is all there is, in the end, along with love and art. The new, the fascinating, the challenging, the strange. It is the best. It doesn’t just broaden the mind it enriches it in an intoxicating way, like adding wine to a sauce, like lashing burning booze on the stodgy Christmas pud
You have one life. Go see the world before your knees give out
I think travel is great but the 'broadens the mind' thing is more of a saying than the truth imo. People who travel a lot are as prone to a fixed mindset as those who don't. In which case they lug it around with them along with the rest of their luggage.
"Anything to declare?" "Yep. Two suitcases, a carry-all, and my fixed mindset"
You have the narrowest mind on PB and you never travel. Lol. This is probably the world’s biggest ever QED
Well I have and I plan more in due course. A Greek island maybe.
And if you feel slighted you shouldn't. I didn’t mean YOU lug your rigid world view and set of prejudices around the globe, along with your laptop, phone, credit card and a change of clothing.
But it's an interesting question - what 'broadens the mind'? It's got me thinking. Will revert.
What 'broadens the mind'?
IMO, talking to a variety of people; and that can be in your own street as much as around the world. Talking matters much more than reading.
I was thinking about Marxism recently. In the late 19th and early 20th century, a load of middle-class intellectuals read Marx and said: "Hey, that's what the people need!" Of course, they didn't actually go and talk and listen to the hoi polloi about their needs, because they *knew* what they needed.
A while back, someone on PB said they hated supermarkets because they had to talk to people at checkouts. I actually find that one of the more interesting parts of it, because sometimes you learn stuff. Like the one a while back who kept bees. Or the one whose brother lives on nothing but Dominos Pizzas. Or the one who was studying cosmology.
But it's actually not talking that matters; it's listening. Talk enough to open people enough, and then listen. Most people have an interesting story or three to tell.
I would agree. Listening to people tell their stories is something that I do for a living and is endlessly fascinating. Symptoms and disease has a context, and that is human lives. Particularly so in Leicester as the world comes to my doorstep in all its variety.
I do enjoy travel, being particularly fond of natural history and geography. I find that travelling by public transport, staying in cheap guest houses and eating where locals do is much more interesting than swanky hotels and gourmet dining. It is how you see people live and mingle that is interesting, not being in a tourist ghetto.
I do find that very often travellers seem to be trying to escape and avoid their daily life by seeking out exotica and instagramming it. Escapism does though suggest that they are living their life poorly if they crave to escape it. There are great pleasures in being rooted to a place, however prosaic to others. A wise person once said "It is better to visit one Cathedral 50 times rather than 50 Cathedrals once".
Presenter Eamonn Holmes is faced with a £250,000 tax bill - he lost a tax case against HM Revenue & Customs. He argued he's a freelancer paid through his own company 'Red White & Green', and so owes no tax. The judge ruled he's employed by ITV and must pay.
Anyone who doesn’t have anchoring responsibilities at home (job, kids, stupid pets) and who has money and who ISN”T travelling is an idiot
Travel is all there is, in the end, along with love and art. The new, the fascinating, the challenging, the strange. It is the best. It doesn’t just broaden the mind it enriches it in an intoxicating way, like adding wine to a sauce, like lashing burning booze on the stodgy Christmas pud
You have one life. Go see the world before your knees give out
I think travel is great but the 'broadens the mind' thing is more of a saying than the truth imo. People who travel a lot are as prone to a fixed mindset as those who don't. In which case they lug it around with them along with the rest of their luggage.
"Anything to declare?" "Yep. Two suitcases, a carry-all, and my fixed mindset"
You have the narrowest mind on PB and you never travel. Lol. This is probably the world’s biggest ever QED
Well I have and I plan more in due course. A Greek island maybe.
And if you feel slighted you shouldn't. I didn’t mean YOU lug your rigid world view and set of prejudices around the globe, along with your laptop, phone, credit card and a change of clothing.
But it's an interesting question - what 'broadens the mind'? It's got me thinking. Will revert.
What 'broadens the mind'?
IMO, talking to a variety of people; and that can be in your own street as much as around the world. Talking matters much more than reading.
I was thinking about Marxism recently. In the late 19th and early 20th century, a load of middle-class intellectuals read Marx and said: "Hey, that's what the people need!" Of course, they didn't actually go and talk and listen to the hoi polloi about their needs, because they *knew* what they needed.
A while back, someone on PB said they hated supermarkets because they had to talk to people at checkouts. I actually find that one of the more interesting parts of it, because sometimes you learn stuff. Like the one a while back who kept bees. Or the one whose brother lives on nothing but Dominos Pizzas. Or the one who was studying cosmology.
But it's actually not talking that matters; it's listening. Talk enough to open people enough, and then listen. Most people have an interesting story or three to tell.
You've found a supermarket that's not self service?
Presenter Eamonn Holmes is faced with a £250,000 tax bill - he lost a tax case against HM Revenue & Customs. He argued he's a freelancer paid through his own company 'Red White & Green', and so owes no tax. The judge ruled he's employed by ITV and must pay.
I too would love to visit Moscow and St Petersburg. 2 of my 4 grandparents were from Ukraine/Russia, after all.
Maybe post-Putin?
There has been for several years access to St Petersburg on a visa-free basis, typically taking the train from Tallinn, and promising not to stray beyond St Petersburg. British passport holders were excluded due to our diplomatic relations being too bad after Shrewsbury, but many many countries were included. But of course for Moscow, a visa has always been required.
Presenter Eamonn Holmes is faced with a £250,000 tax bill - he lost a tax case against HM Revenue & Customs. He argued he's a freelancer paid through his own company 'Red White & Green', and so owes no tax. The judge ruled he's employed by ITV and must pay.
Not just politicians who are at it.
I thought he's at GB News now.
I assume court cases refer to circumstances some time ago.
And absolutely the best of all, because it is so unexpected:
The Rosengart in Lucerne, Switzerland
"The Mauritshuis in the Hague" - I love that place
I'd add two;
Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge
And there's a Museum in Rome, not that far from the train station that is fantastic, and neglected by the guide-books.
And the Horniman museum in South London. Not because anything in it is spectacular, but it's a gloriously eccentric combination of collections (stuffed animals, anthropology and musical instruments) because they were the things one bloke was interested in.
And absolutely the best of all, because it is so unexpected:
The Rosengart in Lucerne, Switzerland
"The Mauritshuis in the Hague" - I love that place
I'd add two;
Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge
And there's a Museum in Rome, not that far from the train station that is fantastic, and neglected by the guide-books.
And the Horniman museum in South London. Not because anything in it is spectacular, but it's a gloriously eccentric combination of collections (stuffed animals, anthropology and musical instruments) because they were the things one bloke was interested in.
Presenter Eamonn Holmes is faced with a £250,000 tax bill - he lost a tax case against HM Revenue & Customs. He argued he's a freelancer paid through his own company 'Red White & Green', and so owes no tax. The judge ruled he's employed by ITV and must pay.
Not just politicians who are at it.
Why does anyone even need that option to abuse anyway is my first thought.
I too would love to visit Moscow and St Petersburg. 2 of my 4 grandparents were from Ukraine/Russia, after all.
Maybe post-Putin?
There has been for several years access to St Petersburg on a visa-free basis, typically taking the train from Tallinn, and promising not to stray beyond St Petersburg. British passport holders were excluded due to our diplomatic relations being too bad after Shrewsbury, but many many countries were included. But of course for Moscow, a visa has always been required.Shrewsbury?
Anyone who doesn’t have anchoring responsibilities at home (job, kids, stupid pets) and who has money and who ISN”T travelling is an idiot
Travel is all there is, in the end, along with love and art. The new, the fascinating, the challenging, the strange. It is the best. It doesn’t just broaden the mind it enriches it in an intoxicating way, like adding wine to a sauce, like lashing burning booze on the stodgy Christmas pud
You have one life. Go see the world before your knees give out
I think travel is great but the 'broadens the mind' thing is more of a saying than the truth imo. People who travel a lot are as prone to a fixed mindset as those who don't. In which case they lug it around with them along with the rest of their luggage.
"Anything to declare?" "Yep. Two suitcases, a carry-all, and my fixed mindset"
Some people enjoy travel precisely because they have a fixed mindset. Even (especially) the free-spirited "independent travellers" you find congregating together in the same bars (with the same tired hippy trail aesthetic regardless of where they are located), wearing the same clothes and wittering on about their "gap yah" or the latest untouched location they are in the process of ruining. The identikit rooftop bar seems to fulfill the same function for the older and more well-healed traveller.
My trouble with travel is that as a single, introverted, forty year old guy, I find it quite lonely and isolating to travel alone. I end up sitting alone in some bar at the end of nowhere, when I could have just sat in the pub down the road with my mates. Striking up conversation with strangers, you're either a weirdo or a pervert.
Every time I go on holiday alone I feel like the titular character of Houellebecq's platform, only there's no fantasy girl to come along and save me.
Happy valentines day, folks!
I have some sympathy, but you need to start by re-examining this belief in bold.
Most people actually want to be spoken with. Especially here (US).
It's one thing to try re-examining it, it's another to actually manage it. I totally get kyf_100's thoughts on this. I admire people who find it easy to be gregarious, when it causes me such anxieties. But then I try to remember the words of Elizabeth Bennett.
Darcy: 'I certainly have not the talent which some people possess, of conversing easily with those I have never seen before. I cannot catch their tone of conversation, or appear interested in their concerns, as I often see done.'
Elizabeth:'My fingers do not move over this instrument in the masterly manner which I see so many women's do. They have not the same force or rapidity, and do not produce the same expression. But then I have always supposed it to be my own fault -- because I would not take the trouble of practicing
Oh indeed, but I find myself drawn to another statement by Miss Elizabeth Bennett.
"We are each of an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak, unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room, and be handed down to posterity with all the éclat of a proverb."
And absolutely the best of all, because it is so unexpected:
The Rosengart in Lucerne, Switzerland
"The Mauritshuis in the Hague" - I love that place
I'd add two;
Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge
And there's a Museum in Rome, not that far from the train station that is fantastic, and neglected by the guide-books.
Is it the Modern Art Museum?
Rome has a fab modern art museum, Small but stuffed with superb works - ie perfect (I dislike the Louvres of this world, they are overwhelming, albeit impressive)
And of course Rome has the Villa Borghese. Exquisite. AND the Doria Pamphili, which is still owned by the family that bought all the art, and, gloriously, they live in the palace where you see the art
Any moment you expect one of them to appear from a kitchen eating pizza
Matt Hancock was paid £400,000 before tax by ITV for his appearance on “I’m a Celebrity”, although his entry in the register of MPs’ interests say he was paid £320,000. 🧵1/4
If I could afford to travel anything other than economy class I might consider travelling further but trips to see the in-laws in New England are the limit of my range. Can’t abide the thought of more than six or seven hours on a plane having turned right on entry to it. Hate the whole experience.
Visiting family, I have just done 14 hours in Economy, with back pain. Would have been 12, but can't fly over Russia. Tip: airlines carry paracetamol, just ask for it.
I've never travelled in any class other than Economy, but I can't imagine Premium Economy offering significant relief. It would have to be a lay-flat Business seat, and that's never happening. Affording it is one thing - being able to justify spending the money rather than saving it is quite another.
In all honesty, I have the solution. Tramadol
It is fucking amazing
Yes yes yes you will get doctor foxy and others on here telling you NO NO you will die or become addicted or both but fuck em
This may come as a surprise but I have some travel writing friends and one of them a few weeks back, said to me: THE SECRET IS TRAMADOL
You need to pop one or two slow release 100mgs before embarking on travel. They will last you 12 hours. They alleviate all boredom and take away a ton of pain. You are in an agreeable haze. Nothing is too irksome. Everything drifts along pleasantly
My friend swears they make 10 hours in Economy quite bearable. You don’t even need to drink. I just did one for a mildly irritating trip from Bangkok to Phnom Penh and WOW he’s right. I blithely sailed through the whole thing with a vague smile. I can well believe they make much longer schleps equally tolerable
i am giving invaluable advice here. TRAMADOL. Do not mix them with too much booze or benzos
And avoid at all costs on sea journeys. In a lifetime of sailing inc a heavy weather Fastnet and an Atlantic crossing I have been seasick exactly once, after pigging out on tramadol in Bergen before sailing to Shetland.
And absolutely the best of all, because it is so unexpected:
The Rosengart in Lucerne, Switzerland
"The Mauritshuis in the Hague" - I love that place
I'd add two;
Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge
And there's a Museum in Rome, not that far from the train station that is fantastic, and neglected by the guide-books.
Is it the Modern Art Museum?
Rome has a fab modern art museum, Small but stuffed with superb works - ie perfect (I dislike the Louvres of this world, they are overwhelming, albeit impressive)
And of course Rome has the Villa Borghese. Exquisite. AND the Doria Pamphili, which is still owned by the family that bought all the art, and, gloriously, they live in the palace where you see the art
Any moment you expect one of them to appear from a kitchen eating pizza
And absolutely the best of all, because it is so unexpected:
The Rosengart in Lucerne, Switzerland
"The Mauritshuis in the Hague" - I love that place
I'd add two;
Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge
And there's a Museum in Rome, not that far from the train station that is fantastic, and neglected by the guide-books.
The Frick in Manhattan. (Steel magnate madness - no common theme at all).
The Gulbenkian in Lisbon.
I've travelled reasonably widely - dinner party acceptable! However despite several visits to NY airport I've never actually left it for the city itself.
I've also not ever been to Chicago - and in that case it was a deliberate choice as I felt I wouldn't survive the beer count needed to keep pace with my (then) small number of friends there.
Presenter Eamonn Holmes is faced with a £250,000 tax bill - he lost a tax case against HM Revenue & Customs. He argued he's a freelancer paid through his own company 'Red White & Green', and so owes no tax. The judge ruled he's employed by ITV and must pay.
Not just politicians who are at it.
Why does anyone even need that option to abuse anyway is my first thought.
Media companies have been doing this for decades, and HMRC have gradually been working through them starting with the most high profile. If your name is advertised as being on their full-time programme, then you’re almost always an employee. It’s different if your production company actually makes the programme - but if you just turn up to their studio in their car, use their wardrobe, hair and makeup, and stand in front of their camera, for 40+ weeks a year, you’re employed there.
And absolutely the best of all, because it is so unexpected:
The Rosengart in Lucerne, Switzerland
"The Mauritshuis in the Hague" - I love that place
I'd add two;
Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge
And there's a Museum in Rome, not that far from the train station that is fantastic, and neglected by the guide-books.
Is it the Modern Art Museum?
Rome has a fab modern art museum, Small but stuffed with superb works - ie perfect (I dislike the Louvres of this world, they are overwhelming, albeit impressive)
And of course Rome has the Villa Borghese. Exquisite. AND the Doria Pamphili, which is still owned by the family that bought all the art, and, gloriously, they live in the palace where you see the art
Any moment you expect one of them to appear from a kitchen eating pizza
Pallant House Gallery, Chichester.
Ta. I shall check it out!
What a pleasant few hours it has been, talking of travel and art and museums. We haven’t mentioned Trans once, and barely any politics, and the chat has bubbled along. PB back to its best
I’m surprised that nobody has mentioned that the Wellcome Trust, having closed down their permanent Wellcome collection, has now advertised for a new Head of Diversity to join their management team on a salary of £211k.
This is more than the Chief Strategy Officer, who is on £170k.
If I could afford to travel anything other than economy class I might consider travelling further but trips to see the in-laws in New England are the limit of my range. Can’t abide the thought of more than six or seven hours on a plane having turned right on entry to it. Hate the whole experience.
Visiting family, I have just done 14 hours in Economy, with back pain. Would have been 12, but can't fly over Russia. Tip: airlines carry paracetamol, just ask for it.
I've never travelled in any class other than Economy, but I can't imagine Premium Economy offering significant relief. It would have to be a lay-flat Business seat, and that's never happening. Affording it is one thing - being able to justify spending the money rather than saving it is quite another.
In all honesty, I have the solution. Tramadol
It is fucking amazing
Yes yes yes you will get doctor foxy and others on here telling you NO NO you will die or become addicted or both but fuck em
This may come as a surprise but I have some travel writing friends and one of them a few weeks back, said to me: THE SECRET IS TRAMADOL
You need to pop one or two slow release 100mgs before embarking on travel. They will last you 12 hours. They alleviate all boredom and take away a ton of pain. You are in an agreeable haze. Nothing is too irksome. Everything drifts along pleasantly
My friend swears they make 10 hours in Economy quite bearable. You don’t even need to drink. I just did one for a mildly irritating trip from Bangkok to Phnom Penh and WOW he’s right. I blithely sailed through the whole thing with a vague smile. I can well believe they make much longer schleps equally tolerable
i am giving invaluable advice here. TRAMADOL. Do not mix them with too much booze or benzos
I concur. Mixing it with airline booze works well I find.
And absolutely the best of all, because it is so unexpected:
The Rosengart in Lucerne, Switzerland
"The Mauritshuis in the Hague" - I love that place
I'd add two;
Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge
And there's a Museum in Rome, not that far from the train station that is fantastic, and neglected by the guide-books.
Is it the Modern Art Museum?
Rome has a fab modern art museum, Small but stuffed with superb works - ie perfect (I dislike the Louvres of this world, they are overwhelming, albeit impressive)
And of course Rome has the Villa Borghese. Exquisite. AND the Doria Pamphili, which is still owned by the family that bought all the art, and, gloriously, they live in the palace where you see the art
Any moment you expect one of them to appear from a kitchen eating pizza
I'll try to work it out. (Not the Modern Art Museum though). Will reply in a few minutes.
Of what I understand, the plans on agriculture seem sound, on energy OK. I am not going to pretend to know whether the financial services deregulations would have been helpful.
Five months too late, maybe?
They were due to be phased in after the mini budget. Interesting to look at the measures set out like this.
I meant, wouldn't it have been sensible to publish the plan with or in advance of the not-a-budget-budget?
From a quick skim, there are some things I would support, quite a few I would oppose, but the important thing was if they had a plan, they should have shared it.
I think that the way I would have done it, would be to announce the energy part of it first, alongside the energy support package. So the message is, yes we're spending a load on this package, but we're also making sure that in the long term, we're producing plentiful, safe, reliable energy, in Britain.
And absolutely the best of all, because it is so unexpected:
The Rosengart in Lucerne, Switzerland
"The Mauritshuis in the Hague" - I love that place
I'd add two;
Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge
And there's a Museum in Rome, not that far from the train station that is fantastic, and neglected by the guide-books.
Is it the Modern Art Museum?
Rome has a fab modern art museum, Small but stuffed with superb works - ie perfect (I dislike the Louvres of this world, they are overwhelming, albeit impressive)
And of course Rome has the Villa Borghese. Exquisite. AND the Doria Pamphili, which is still owned by the family that bought all the art, and, gloriously, they live in the palace where you see the art
Any moment you expect one of them to appear from a kitchen eating pizza
Pallant House Gallery, Chichester.
I am planning to go to Pallant House next week to see it's Sussex landscapes exhibition
And absolutely the best of all, because it is so unexpected:
The Rosengart in Lucerne, Switzerland
"The Mauritshuis in the Hague" - I love that place
I'd add two;
Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge
And there's a Museum in Rome, not that far from the train station that is fantastic, and neglected by the guide-books.
Is it the Modern Art Museum?
Rome has a fab modern art museum, Small but stuffed with superb works - ie perfect (I dislike the Louvres of this world, they are overwhelming, albeit impressive)
And of course Rome has the Villa Borghese. Exquisite. AND the Doria Pamphili, which is still owned by the family that bought all the art, and, gloriously, they live in the palace where you see the art
Any moment you expect one of them to appear from a kitchen eating pizza
I'll try to work it out. (Not the Modern Art Museum though). Will reply in a few minutes.
I’m surprised that nobody has mentioned that the Wellcome Trust, having closed down their permanent Wellcome collection, has now advertised for a new Head of Diversity to join their management team on a salary of £211k.
This is more than the Chief Strategy Officer, who is on £170k.
Since they have no strategy, that's waaaay too much.
Anyone who doesn’t have anchoring responsibilities at home (job, kids, stupid pets) and who has money and who ISN”T travelling is an idiot
Travel is all there is, in the end, along with love and art. The new, the fascinating, the challenging, the strange. It is the best. It doesn’t just broaden the mind it enriches it in an intoxicating way, like adding wine to a sauce, like lashing burning booze on the stodgy Christmas pud
You have one life. Go see the world before your knees give out
I think travel is great but the 'broadens the mind' thing is more of a saying than the truth imo. People who travel a lot are as prone to a fixed mindset as those who don't. In which case they lug it around with them along with the rest of their luggage.
"Anything to declare?" "Yep. Two suitcases, a carry-all, and my fixed mindset"
Some people enjoy travel precisely because they have a fixed mindset. Even (especially) the free-spirited "independent travellers" you find congregating together in the same bars (with the same tired hippy trail aesthetic regardless of where they are located), wearing the same clothes and wittering on about their "gap yah" or the latest untouched location they are in the process of ruining. The identikit rooftop bar seems to fulfill the same function for the older and more well-healed traveller.
My trouble with travel is that as a single, introverted, forty year old guy, I find it quite lonely and isolating to travel alone. I end up sitting alone in some bar at the end of nowhere, when I could have just sat in the pub down the road with my mates. Striking up conversation with strangers, you're either a weirdo or a pervert.
Every time I go on holiday alone I feel like the titular character of Houellebecq's platform, only there's no fantasy girl to come along and save me.
Happy valentines day, folks!
I have some sympathy, but you need to start by re-examining this belief in bold.
Most people actually want to be spoken with. Especially here (US).
It's one thing to try re-examining it, it's another to actually manage it. I totally get kyf_100's thoughts on this. I admire people who find it easy to be gregarious, when it causes me such anxieties. But then I try to remember the words of Elizabeth Bennett.
Darcy: 'I certainly have not the talent which some people possess, of conversing easily with those I have never seen before. I cannot catch their tone of conversation, or appear interested in their concerns, as I often see done.'
Elizabeth:'My fingers do not move over this instrument in the masterly manner which I see so many women's do. They have not the same force or rapidity, and do not produce the same expression. But then I have always supposed it to be my own fault -- because I would not take the trouble of practicing
Oh indeed, but I find myself drawn to another statement by Miss Elizabeth Bennett.
"We are each of an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak, unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room, and be handed down to posterity with all the éclat of a proverb."
I'd draw you back to the quote from Houellebecq I was alluding to in my original post, “People are suspicious of single men on vacation, after they get to a certain age: they assume that they're selfish, and probably a bit pervy. I can't say they're wrong.”
However when it comes to holidaying alone, I find another quote from the book equally as accurate - “Anything can happen in life, especially nothing.”
Give me a work trip abroad, decent hotel room and boozy bonding with colleagues. Give me a romantic getaway with a loved one (oh for days past!). Give me a trip to a far flung destination to catch up with an old friend. But don't send me on holiday alone.
Life expectancy in Thailand - 77.8 - is now higher than life expectancy in the USA - 76.4
If the trends continue for another couple of years American life expectancy will, in one of history’s grandest reversals, be overtaken by life expectancy in Vietnam (right now it is 75.7 and rising, unlike the USA)
Diet? Climate?
First, yes. Hardly any obese people here, much better diet, and few fewer cars. They walk and cycle and move around a lot
Climate I doubt, some of the longest lived nations - Iceland - have hideous cold climates, some, like Spain, have great climates
Three other major factors: no terrible drug/opioid crisis here, better healthcare for the really poor (and a safety net), and of course fewer murders and gunshot suicides because fewer guns
Coming to a city near you, soon. Modal share of cycling in Central London (as opposed to Inner London or London) is now at 11%. Inner London is 8%. That's double since 2010. https://twitter.com/willnorman/status/1494567072046764050
You live in Inner London not Central (imo) - have you noticed anything yet?
And they have hardly started building the network of safe cycling routes. Being followed at a distance in certain places such as Manchester, Leicester, Nottingham.
Yes, for sure. Cycling is surging. And e-bikes are accelerating the trend (and easier for older or less fit people)
I am all for it. Get rid of every single fucking car in our cities. Sure we will lose something but the benefits are so tremendous it has to happen - and it will happen
Cleaner, quieter, lovelier, greener cities, with all that hideous infrastructure now dedicated to cars - ugly car parks, horrible urban motorways, grimy garages and workshops - suddenly liberated and freed up to become new parks, urban woods, glorious European boulevards where people WALK and STROLL without fear of being run over
We can keep a fair few autonomous e-cars that purr about the place then park themselves at night
The future of the city is carless and splendid
You don’t have to get rid of cars entirely; just give massive priority to the cyclist and (particularly) the pedestrian.
(btw I’m mildly surprised you haven’t been touched by the 15-min city conspiracy theory.)
Combining the last couple of strands, it was taking up cycling at 42 that enabled me to visit a dozen or more countries all over the world I’d never have gone to otherwise (organised tours mainly).
Anyone who doesn’t have anchoring responsibilities at home (job, kids, stupid pets) and who has money and who ISN”T travelling is an idiot
Travel is all there is, in the end, along with love and art. The new, the fascinating, the challenging, the strange. It is the best. It doesn’t just broaden the mind it enriches it in an intoxicating way, like adding wine to a sauce, like lashing burning booze on the stodgy Christmas pud
You have one life. Go see the world before your knees give out
I think travel is great but the 'broadens the mind' thing is more of a saying than the truth imo. People who travel a lot are as prone to a fixed mindset as those who don't. In which case they lug it around with them along with the rest of their luggage.
"Anything to declare?" "Yep. Two suitcases, a carry-all, and my fixed mindset"
Some people enjoy travel precisely because they have a fixed mindset. Even (especially) the free-spirited "independent travellers" you find congregating together in the same bars (with the same tired hippy trail aesthetic regardless of where they are located), wearing the same clothes and wittering on about their "gap yah" or the latest untouched location they are in the process of ruining. The identikit rooftop bar seems to fulfill the same function for the older and more well-healed traveller.
My trouble with travel is that as a single, introverted, forty year old guy, I find it quite lonely and isolating to travel alone. I end up sitting alone in some bar at the end of nowhere, when I could have just sat in the pub down the road with my mates. Striking up conversation with strangers, you're either a weirdo or a pervert.
Every time I go on holiday alone I feel like the titular character of Houellebecq's platform, only there's no fantasy girl to come along and save me.
Happy valentines day, folks!
I have some sympathy, but you need to start by re-examining this belief in bold.
Most people actually want to be spoken with. Especially here (US).
It's one thing to try re-examining it, it's another to actually manage it. I totally get kyf_100's thoughts on this. I admire people who find it easy to be gregarious, when it causes me such anxieties. But then I try to remember the words of Elizabeth Bennett.
Darcy: 'I certainly have not the talent which some people possess, of conversing easily with those I have never seen before. I cannot catch their tone of conversation, or appear interested in their concerns, as I often see done.'
Elizabeth:'My fingers do not move over this instrument in the masterly manner which I see so many women's do. They have not the same force or rapidity, and do not produce the same expression. But then I have always supposed it to be my own fault -- because I would not take the trouble of practicing
Oh indeed, but I find myself drawn to another statement by Miss Elizabeth Bennett.
"We are each of an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak, unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room, and be handed down to posterity with all the éclat of a proverb."
I'd draw you back to the quote from Houellebecq I was alluding to in my original post, “People are suspicious of single men on vacation, after they get to a certain age: they assume that they're selfish, and probably a bit pervy. I can't say they're wrong.”
However when it comes to holidaying alone, I find another quote from the book equally as accurate - “Anything can happen in life, especially nothing.”
Give me a work trip abroad, decent hotel room and boozy bonding with colleagues. Give me a romantic getaway with a loved one (oh for days past!). Give me a trip to a far flung destination to catch up with an old friend. But don't send me on holiday alone.
I've never really been single as an adult, so a holiday alone has never been on the horizon, but I've always rather liked the idea. On the very rare occasions when I am at large on my own something interesting always seems to happen to me. I'm with you about feeling no-one wants a man on his own talking to them - yet somehow a conversation always seems to happen, and it is never not interesting. A snatch of strangers' lives is a fascinating thing.
Interesting financial events. FTSE is nearly at 8k. The last big barrier was 7k, and FTSE was nearly there at the very end of 1999, and then slumbered for 20 years or so. I guess one must fear that it'll repeat that performance, but I think inflation will get it comfortably over the line.
Anyone who doesn’t have anchoring responsibilities at home (job, kids, stupid pets) and who has money and who ISN”T travelling is an idiot
Travel is all there is, in the end, along with love and art. The new, the fascinating, the challenging, the strange. It is the best. It doesn’t just broaden the mind it enriches it in an intoxicating way, like adding wine to a sauce, like lashing burning booze on the stodgy Christmas pud
You have one life. Go see the world before your knees give out
I think travel is great but the 'broadens the mind' thing is more of a saying than the truth imo. People who travel a lot are as prone to a fixed mindset as those who don't. In which case they lug it around with them along with the rest of their luggage.
"Anything to declare?" "Yep. Two suitcases, a carry-all, and my fixed mindset"
Some people enjoy travel precisely because they have a fixed mindset. Even (especially) the free-spirited "independent travellers" you find congregating together in the same bars (with the same tired hippy trail aesthetic regardless of where they are located), wearing the same clothes and wittering on about their "gap yah" or the latest untouched location they are in the process of ruining. The identikit rooftop bar seems to fulfill the same function for the older and more well-healed traveller.
My trouble with travel is that as a single, introverted, forty year old guy, I find it quite lonely and isolating to travel alone. I end up sitting alone in some bar at the end of nowhere, when I could have just sat in the pub down the road with my mates. Striking up conversation with strangers, you're either a weirdo or a pervert.
Every time I go on holiday alone I feel like the titular character of Houellebecq's platform, only there's no fantasy girl to come along and save me.
Happy valentines day, folks!
Weirdly, I'm the other way around.
I find that in my day-to-day life I'm absolutely surrounded by other people and required to engage in conversation with them.
Going traveling by myself removes the requirement to talk to people, which I find enormously liberating. Plus, I get to read a good book without being interruped.
And if I really want a fight conversation, there's always pb.
I’m reading a rather good (translation) of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables. It’s a great yarn but looks intimidating enough to the average passer-by you can either engage or not as you wish
I've always found that if you want to avoid being bothered then a copy of Tom Knox's Genesis Secret is near perfect.
The only problem is that you're required to read The Genesis Secret.
I’m surprised that nobody has mentioned that the Wellcome Trust, having closed down their permanent Wellcome collection, has now advertised for a new Head of Diversity to join their management team on a salary of £211k.
This is more than the Chief Strategy Officer, who is on £170k.
Just remember that it is all the same managerial class of public schoolboys and Oxbridge types. Whether they pose as 'culture warriors' or 'progressives' it is all the same old BS.
If I could afford to travel anything other than economy class I might consider travelling further but trips to see the in-laws in New England are the limit of my range. Can’t abide the thought of more than six or seven hours on a plane having turned right on entry to it. Hate the whole experience.
Visiting family, I have just done 14 hours in Economy, with back pain. Would have been 12, but can't fly over Russia. Tip: airlines carry paracetamol, just ask for it.
I've never travelled in any class other than Economy, but I can't imagine Premium Economy offering significant relief. It would have to be a lay-flat Business seat, and that's never happening. Affording it is one thing - being able to justify spending the money rather than saving it is quite another.
In all honesty, I have the solution. Tramadol
It is fucking amazing
Yes yes yes you will get doctor foxy and others on here telling you NO NO you will die or become addicted or both but fuck em
This may come as a surprise but I have some travel writing friends and one of them a few weeks back, said to me: THE SECRET IS TRAMADOL
You need to pop one or two slow release 100mgs before embarking on travel. They will last you 12 hours. They alleviate all boredom and take away a ton of pain. You are in an agreeable haze. Nothing is too irksome. Everything drifts along pleasantly
My friend swears they make 10 hours in Economy quite bearable. You don’t even need to drink. I just did one for a mildly irritating trip from Bangkok to Phnom Penh and WOW he’s right. I blithely sailed through the whole thing with a vague smile. I can well believe they make much longer schleps equally tolerable
i am giving invaluable advice here. TRAMADOL. Do not mix them with too much booze or benzos
Utterly mad decision if the past you've alluded to is true.
I’m surprised that nobody has mentioned that the Wellcome Trust, having closed down their permanent Wellcome collection, has now advertised for a new Head of Diversity to join their management team on a salary of £211k.
This is more than the Chief Strategy Officer, who is on £170k.
Just remember that it is all the same managerial class of public schoolboys and Oxbridge types. Whether they pose as 'culture warriors' or 'progressives' it is all the same old BS.
You're slightly arguing against the clever people though. Not every public Schoolboy(Schoolperson) should be in a position of power, nor should every Oxbridge graduate, but we certainly want many of them in the frame.
I’m surprised that nobody has mentioned that the Wellcome Trust, having closed down their permanent Wellcome collection, has now advertised for a new Head of Diversity to join their management team on a salary of £211k.
This is more than the Chief Strategy Officer, who is on £170k.
And absolutely the best of all, because it is so unexpected:
The Rosengart in Lucerne, Switzerland
"The Mauritshuis in the Hague" - I love that place
I'd add two;
Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge
And there's a Museum in Rome, not that far from the train station that is fantastic, and neglected by the guide-books.
Is it the Modern Art Museum?
Rome has a fab modern art museum, Small but stuffed with superb works - ie perfect (I dislike the Louvres of this world, they are overwhelming, albeit impressive)
And of course Rome has the Villa Borghese. Exquisite. AND the Doria Pamphili, which is still owned by the family that bought all the art, and, gloriously, they live in the palace where you see the art
Any moment you expect one of them to appear from a kitchen eating pizza
Pallant House Gallery, Chichester.
Ta. I shall check it out!
What a pleasant few hours it has been, talking of travel and art and museums. We haven’t mentioned Trans once, and barely any politics, and the chat has bubbled along. PB back to its best
And now I must abed in Phnom Penh. Orkun
Big exhibition on at Pallant House at the moment. Not been - too far away.
Anyone who doesn’t have anchoring responsibilities at home (job, kids, stupid pets) and who has money and who ISN”T travelling is an idiot
Travel is all there is, in the end, along with love and art. The new, the fascinating, the challenging, the strange. It is the best. It doesn’t just broaden the mind it enriches it in an intoxicating way, like adding wine to a sauce, like lashing burning booze on the stodgy Christmas pud
You have one life. Go see the world before your knees give out
Doing my first international trip for 4 years next week. Going to Madrid for the first time.
Madrid is a fine city
The food is generally excellent. The Prado is a must. But also take in the Thyssen collection - top notch modern art. Tapas on the Plaza Mayor is grand
But for me the one world class unbeatable Madrid experience is just outside of town. The Escorial. Catholicism meets Fascism and becomes Architecture. It is astounding
"Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, Conservative MPs David Davis and Chris Green, high profile academics from the University of Oxford and University College London, and journalists including Peter Hitchens and Julia Hartley-Brewer, all had comments critical of the government analysed by anti-misinformation units."
Anyone who doesn’t have anchoring responsibilities at home (job, kids, stupid pets) and who has money and who ISN”T travelling is an idiot
Travel is all there is, in the end, along with love and art. The new, the fascinating, the challenging, the strange. It is the best. It doesn’t just broaden the mind it enriches it in an intoxicating way, like adding wine to a sauce, like lashing burning booze on the stodgy Christmas pud
You have one life. Go see the world before your knees give out
I think travel is great but the 'broadens the mind' thing is more of a saying than the truth imo. People who travel a lot are as prone to a fixed mindset as those who don't. In which case they lug it around with them along with the rest of their luggage.
"Anything to declare?" "Yep. Two suitcases, a carry-all, and my fixed mindset"
Some people enjoy travel precisely because they have a fixed mindset. Even (especially) the free-spirited "independent travellers" you find congregating together in the same bars (with the same tired hippy trail aesthetic regardless of where they are located), wearing the same clothes and wittering on about their "gap yah" or the latest untouched location they are in the process of ruining. The identikit rooftop bar seems to fulfill the same function for the older and more well-healed traveller.
Help please from PB military experts… two low flying jets on manoeuvres over the Yorkshire Dales earlier today… came right overhead… based on them having twin, outward sloping tail fins I think they would be F35s. Is that likely and, if so, where would they be from?
If I could afford to travel anything other than economy class I might consider travelling further but trips to see the in-laws in New England are the limit of my range. Can’t abide the thought of more than six or seven hours on a plane having turned right on entry to it. Hate the whole experience.
Visiting family, I have just done 14 hours in Economy, with back pain. Would have been 12, but can't fly over Russia. Tip: airlines carry paracetamol, just ask for it.
I've never travelled in any class other than Economy, but I can't imagine Premium Economy offering significant relief. It would have to be a lay-flat Business seat, and that's never happening. Affording it is one thing - being able to justify spending the money rather than saving it is quite another.
In all honesty, I have the solution. Tramadol
It is fucking amazing
Yes yes yes you will get doctor foxy and others on here telling you NO NO you will die or become addicted or both but fuck em
This may come as a surprise but I have some travel writing friends and one of them a few weeks back, said to me: THE SECRET IS TRAMADOL
You need to pop one or two slow release 100mgs before embarking on travel. They will last you 12 hours. They alleviate all boredom and take away a ton of pain. You are in an agreeable haze. Nothing is too irksome. Everything drifts along pleasantly
My friend swears they make 10 hours in Economy quite bearable. You don’t even need to drink. I just did one for a mildly irritating trip from Bangkok to Phnom Penh and WOW he’s right. I blithely sailed through the whole thing with a vague smile. I can well believe they make much longer schleps equally tolerable
i am giving invaluable advice here. TRAMADOL. Do not mix them with too much booze or benzos
Utterly mad decision if the past you've alluded to is true.
Leon addicting himself to opiates for the second or third time in his life would be entirely in character.
Comments
Talking about someone who just loves attention no matter how he gets it.....I bet you he's a fucking nightmare for anyone around him....
Petworth for a day in the country
You can leave the big museums
Maybe post-Putin?
https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/campaigns/ministry-of-truth/
The Mauritshuis in the Hague
The Chicago Art Institute
Isabella Stewart Gardner in Boston, Mass
Kenwood, London
One near Olomouc Moravia whose name I forget
Musee de Cluny, Paris
Capodimonte, Naples
Guggenheim Venice
And absolutely the best of all, because it is so unexpected:
The Rosengart in Lucerne, Switzerland
Wales -46
Scotland -61
England -46
English regions:
London -57
South -41
Midlands -42
North -48
(YouGov / The Times; sample size: 2,061; fieldwork: 8-9 February 2023)
Probably bullshit.
Obviously the Hermitage but I went to a weird museum with every body part and deformed human in glass jars which was an eye-opener.
Had the best sushi I’ve ever had there which I didn’t expect.
And for those of us who might care you will never see so, so many ridiculously beautiful modelesque women in one place and then admire how many short, fat, ugly old men wearing 80’s football shorts and sliders must have such magnetic personalities to have attracted these goddesses they are walking hand in hand with.
That's how the gods have decided to curse Anderson; giving him the political stage he wanted.
That said, the mere existence of Premium Economy is a real pain for those of us who used to dress well and smile at the checkin desk, in the hope of an upgrade from Economy to Business. They’ll definitely only ever upgrade you one cabin!
Every day, the UK feels more like one of the countries I backpacked through twenty years ago but without being cheap.
https://twitter.com/tompeck/status/1625461901265145856?s=46&t=8GHRQGqotp5pTeG4u7jvdw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_des_Beaux-Arts_de_Lille
(Actually, the town itself is much improved in the last 20 years too).
May be from a US squadron though, which would I think be Lakenheath. I think UK F35s when not on a carrier are at Marham in Norfolk.
I'd add two;
Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge
And there's a Museum in Rome, not that far from the train station that is fantastic, and neglected by the guide-books.
It is fucking amazing
Yes yes yes you will get doctor foxy and others on here telling you NO NO you will die or become addicted or both but fuck em
This may come as a surprise but I have some travel writing friends and one of them a few weeks back, said to me: THE SECRET IS TRAMADOL
You need to pop one or two slow release 100mgs before embarking on travel. They will last you 12 hours. They alleviate all boredom and take away a ton of pain. You are in an agreeable haze. Nothing is too irksome. Everything drifts along pleasantly
My friend swears they make 10 hours in Economy quite bearable. You don’t even need to drink. I just did one for a mildly irritating trip from Bangkok to Phnom Penh and WOW he’s right. I blithely sailed through the whole thing with a vague smile. I can well believe they make much longer schleps equally tolerable
i am giving invaluable advice here. TRAMADOL. Do not mix them with too much booze or benzos
I do enjoy travel, being particularly fond of natural history and geography. I find that travelling by public transport, staying in cheap guest houses and eating where locals do is much more interesting than swanky hotels and gourmet dining. It is how you see people live and mingle that is interesting, not being in a tourist ghetto.
I do find that very often travellers seem to be trying to escape and avoid their daily life by seeking out exotica and instagramming it. Escapism does though suggest that they are living their life poorly if they crave to escape it. There are great pleasures in being rooted to a place, however prosaic to others. A wise person once said "It is better to visit one Cathedral 50 times rather than 50 Cathedrals once".
Not just politicians who are at it.
I prefer it to the Fitzwilliam or the Ashmolean.
https://lochness.com/
The Gulbenkian in Lisbon.
Salisbury!
"We are each of an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak, unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room, and be handed down to posterity with all the éclat of a proverb."
Rome has a fab modern art museum, Small but stuffed with superb works - ie perfect (I dislike the Louvres of this world, they are overwhelming, albeit impressive)
And of course Rome has the Villa Borghese. Exquisite. AND the Doria Pamphili, which is still owned by the family that bought all the art, and, gloriously, they live in the palace where you see the art
Any moment you expect one of them to appear from a kitchen eating pizza
https://twitter.com/peston/status/1625438259915501568?s=46&t=tYh2EvLiFd5J9eTuw-loFg
I've also not ever been to Chicago - and in that case it was a deliberate choice as I felt I wouldn't survive the beer count needed to keep pace with my (then) small number of friends there.
What a pleasant few hours it has been, talking of travel and art and museums. We haven’t mentioned Trans once, and barely any politics, and the chat has bubbled along. PB back to its best
And now I must abed in Phnom Penh. Orkun
ATB, everyone.
This is more than the Chief Strategy Officer, who is on £170k.
But that did not happen.
Dianne Feinstein announces she won't stand for re-election in 2024.
However when it comes to holidaying alone, I find another quote from the book equally as accurate - “Anything can happen in life, especially nothing.”
Give me a work trip abroad, decent hotel room and boozy bonding with colleagues. Give me a romantic getaway with a loved one (oh for days past!). Give me a trip to a far flung destination to catch up with an old friend. But don't send me on holiday alone.
Bankman-Fried's lawyers said he used the VPN to watch NFL playoff and Super Bowl games while out on bail in the US."
https://abc7chicago.com/ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried-scam-crypto-news/12814762/
The only problem is that you're required to read The Genesis Secret.
But hey ho.
New Thread, Apparently