Harry Pottered

Nice to see 1000s of fans able to celebrate without fighting! Many had sat out all day, through very heavy rain.

Across the rooftops

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Nova Brussels

An old cinema on Brussels, saved an reused for life as a venue, gallery and even a cinema.

Paris

Pictures from a recent trip to Paris, to take part in the RICS research conference, COBRA.

Yo! Aberdeen!

Union Square at 9am. Good light, coffee and view.

Brilliant guitar shop in Copenhagen

Musikhuset Aage Jensen in Copenhagen is one of the best guitar shops I have visited. A great selection of guitars, including many rare American Fenders, and a nice collection of Danish T-Rex pedals.

Copenhagen guitars

I think it’s important that I begin combining my interests of city living, coffee and guitars. I need to research Copenhagen guitar stores, and in particular places selling Danish T-Rex pedals.

Stirling railway station

I had the dubious pleasure of spending over an hour yesterday at Stirling railway station. The ‘pumpkin’ cafe was OK for a while, but appeared to have a split personality, unsure if it was a coffee bar, or simply a bar. Like most UK stations of course, the local WH Smith was the only shop, and the waiting areas were basic.

The station toilets, though, had the unusual distinction of apparently sourcing sink taps from trains themselves. That is, once you’re soaped up, there’s no water to wash it off. I eventually managed to rinse my hands, only to turn and be faced with a very poor looking hand dryer. Imagine my surprise, then, when it blasted out Dyson-levels of hot air!

Somebody had written on the ‘cleaning rota’ sheet that the toilet smelled and looked nice, but that something had to be done about the dreadful floor staining beside the urinals.

Indeed.

Union Terrace Gardens

The supposed decision by the council in Aberdeen to “approve” mass demolition of Aberdeen’s central greenspace is unsurprising, but disappointing. Following their mass demolition of Marischal College, one can only hope that sense prevails in the longer term. If Sir Ian Wood would be so minded, a demolition and rebuild of the dreadful Aberdeen seafront is long overdue! In any case, planning will rightly see this kicked into touch.

BA

I’m on the 6.30am BA flight from Aberdeen to London Heathrow. The so called “red eye”. I managed to get about 10 minutes sleep before being woken to eat a very tasty but exceedingly sloppy breakfast. I don’t remember the BA meals being so runny. It was like the tomato had been pulped. Very challenging at 7am in a confined space, but I think I managed to avoid splashing.

If I had the time, I would always avoid air travel and go by train. My friend Tina said at Christmas she prefers rail travel as it gives her a sense of distance. I couldn’t agree more.

If I designed airports, I would cut back on shops and have more activities. I would gladly buy less Toblerone and instead pay to see a film, or take a shower, or play a game. Paris CDG have free PS3s. Heathrow take note!

The one thing I would add is that airports often pioneer new hand driers in toilets, which do add a certian frisson of excitement and interest!