Category Archives: Good Ideas worth Copying

What’s the word for….

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The English language has more words than any other, partly because it has borrowed words from many other tongues. But it doesn’t have a word for everything!   So I vote that we add a few more to fill a few of the gaps.

How about ‘hyggelig’ (Danish), meaning ‘comfy, cosy, intimate and contented’?

Or ‘sombremesa’ (Spanish), ‘after-lunch conversation around the table’? which might however sound less interesting if you are experiencing ‘abbiocco’, the Italian for ‘drowsiness from eating a big meal’…

I think the most useful word we could borrow, though, (can be applied to all sorts of situations, from relationships to organisations to politics), is the German word ‘verschlimmbessern’ – ‘to make something worse when trying to improve it’…

(With thanks to the excellent website babbel.com – check it out if you want to learn a new language! The clever,?multilingual people there have started to collect unique words from around the globe).

Happy International Bassoon Day!

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11 October is International Bassoon Day!

The man behind the project is Laurence Perkins, principal bassoonist for the Manchester (UK) Camerata, who wants to reintroduce ‘this beautiful, expressive and versatile instrument’ to new generations of players.

Check local ‘what’s on’ websites or http://www.laurenceperkins.com – on 11 October, in public places all over the world, bassoonists will play Mozart.  So far the site lists events, most of them free, in Rotterdam, Mexico, Chicago, Moscow and sites around the UK, and more are being added. If you’re in London on the day, go along to the Royal Festival Hall and you’ll be treated to a performance from the steps by what Laurence describes as ‘Massed Bassoonists’. As (I think) it’s quite rare to see more than two or three bassoonists performing together, this should really be something!

And another one for the diary, various dates, various venues, is ‘Bassoon Voyager’, a concert of music inspired by travel…

Oh, and in case, like me, you weren’t sure you’d recognise a bassoon if you saw one, this is a photo from Laurence’s website:

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Enjoy!

If only….

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Following a hiking route in the glorious countryside of the Languedoc, we were happy that our path was marked:

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We’ve seen that sort of thing elsewhere, and very useful it is too. What we hadn’t seen before though, was this sign, which greeted us as we took the WRONG path:

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Ah, if only our paths through life, as well as through Southern France, could be so clear….

Sweet Dreams

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20140708_175418When you’re travelling it’s so easy to forget some of the essentials (or at least it seems that way to the travelling frogs…). So I really liked this little checklist card left on the pillow in our hotel in Geneva recently – no more panic in the morning for me when I realise my phone and laptop aren’t charged or I’ve missed a message.  And some people I know suggested I underline the one ‘Have you thought of gifts for family and friends?’

Who moved my cheese?

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They’ve done it again! I’ve just come back from the supermarket, and the cheese wasn’t where it was last week. Nor was the coffee. And I couldn’t find the eggs either, without the help of a charming assistant… Is it just in England that supermarket managers seem to like moving the stock around?   Is it a marketing ploy, to encourage shoppers to wander the aisles? Or continuous testing to find the best spot in the store for the sugar? Surely the supermarket managers don’t do it deliberately, to annoy someone who wants to rush in, do the shopping and get back to work?

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So, instead of expecting the customers to re-learn the layout of the shop, why not copy the idea of those clever people at Leroy Merlin (DIY store in Montpellier, France). The handle of the trolley is a helpful map of the store. Brilliant. Supermarket managers, over to you….

 

 

 

At your convenience…

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I recently read an article* about toilets. Why, asks the author, does someone think it’s OK to close the lavatories after passport control at Heathrow’s Terminal 5?  Why are decent toilet facilities so difficult to find?  And it’s not just at Heathrow and not just in the UK. Why, in many parts of the world,  aren’t public conveniences  – well, convenient? (As for whether they are clean, tidy, well-designed or even safe – I suspect that lots of travellers have unsavoury stories to  tell on that subject).

So, for any decision makers out there who happen upon this blog: think about toilets, and think about Japan. Japan has public toilets. Lots of them. Sparkly clean and tidy. In stores, on railway platforms, at the entrance to parks. In Tokyo’s (successful) bid to host the 2020 summer Olympic games the organisers pointed out that clean and available toilets are essential in welcoming the world….

And while the Travelling Frogs are campaigning for better public toilets – here’s another good idea, from Austria. This public toilet in Vienna is a delight. It was playing the Beautiful Blue Danube when I visited… What fun.

 

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* by Tyler Brule, in FT Weekend. Tyler is editor of Monacle magazine and travels more often than most of us have hot dinners.

Mind your Manners

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If you happen to be in Nice any time soon, go to La Petite Syrah for a drink. But not if you’re feeling grumpy – the price of a coffee is 7 Euros if you just demand ‘un cafe’. However, if you say ‘please’,  it will only cost 4.25 Euros. And if you are friendly as well as polite, and say ‘bonjour’ as well as ‘s’il vous plait’ – well, you’ll be charged only 1.40 Euros.

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