Sunday, September 15, 2024

Settling in

 

The bar by the station steps is covered in a riot of artificial flowers. The effect almost spectacular.  In the last couple of years Britain has been taken over by faux rose arches. It started in London , spread to the Cotswolds and then moved quickly North.  Even a small town like St Andrews now has three or four shop fronts festooned in plastic flowers.  I can't remember ever seeing them in France. They bring colour to climates where the wind would soon strip real flowers of their petals.


Old style floral decoration looks low key alongside.


This apartment above this wine bar must be fun. The higgeldy-piggeldy angles of this  mock Tudor architecture completely out of place in the straight lined grandeur of Edinburghs Georgian New Town.


The Ukrainian Consulate has a rather fine building.


The Russian consulate, although nearby, is not as grand. Over the years Angus has probably picked up forty Russian visas from this address. It is unlikely that he will cross this doorstep again.


Council mottos :https://jonn.substack.com/p/some-baffling-council-slogans

There's enough enthusiasm radiating from this to boil a kettle. A few doors down from the Wee House in town there's a rental property inhabited by three very determined young lady golfers. Next to them there's  a house shared by five rugby players. It can safely be said the street has become 'livelier' as they settle in. As we pass on our break of day walk  the sound of music hints that last nights party is still in full fling . There can be no doubting the students are back. Lectures start at nine tomorrow morning :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0vNoynBvaM

Alabama is not Springfield   :https://www.al.com/news/2024/09/haitians-fleeing-unrest-and-facing-exploitation-find-alabama-is-the-best-place-to-live.html


7 comments:

WFT Nobby said...

Those plastic flower arches have reached as far north as Aberdeen.
When I picked up a visa for Russia in 2017 I had to go to a building in a dingy back street near the Hibs stadium. (And was nearly refused by the sour faced lady behind the desk, because my 'letter of invitation' from the hotel had omitted my middle name ...)
Cheers! Gail.

Lisa in France said...

As a florist's daughter, I noted the plastic flowers on this recent visit to England. Not sure I approve. The council mottos made me laugh and reminded me of some Japanese corporate slogans. The first place I worked in Tokyo was very proud of "Open Eyes on All," which always felt vaguely creepy to me. As to Springfield, I just feel so ashamed. I worked on Haitian refugee petitions as a lawyer, and the stories our clients told were horrifying. To have them reach America and then again have their families subjected to this kind of fear is unbearable.

Travel said...

Trump is a racist. The lucky few that escape Haiti are just looking for a safe life. And yes they will do jobs that the locals won't do.

Stephanie said...

The artificial flowers add a splash of over the top colors but I would expect them to fade in the bright light and harsher weather. That's quite a bit of work for a temporary display.

Jake of Florida said...

South Florida is home to about 50 percent of the more than 700,000 Haitians who live in the US. My county ...Broward...actually has one of the largest Haitian-American populations in the country. They are hard working folks who fill in the gaps in many sectors critical to our well-being. Having spent recent time in medical facilities recovering from.a fractured femur, I can testify that without this population, our health system would collapse. As would several others. So what Trump and Vance are doing in Springfield is very personal to me with their lies and racist demagoguery. And terrifying.


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Coppa's girl said...

Somehow plastic flowers and the image of St. Andrews don't go together, but a lot of work has gone into that display.
There will be a few sore heads at the first lectures tomorrow morning!

Jim Davis said...

Trump, Vance, and their followers are going to be responsible for the death of some decent hardworking people like the Haitians in Springfield, who by the way, are in the US Legally. And the worst part is they don't care. The Russian Embassy is certainly a grim structure.