Keeping warm in the Kibble Palace

Enough fantasizing about Mediterranean islands. Back to gloomy Northern Europe. How about a visit to the stylish Kibble Palace in the Glasgow Botanic gardens ? The 19th century glasshouse underwent a costly restoration between 2003 and 2006 but it was well worth the effort.





In the tropical atmosphere of the palace, you can see all kinds of carnivorous plants.


The marble statue is usually photographed like this.


But you can also look at it this way (cheeky !).


Kibble Palace is a nice place to keep warm when the weather's bad. And it's set in the most pleasant area of Glasgow, the "boho" West End (plus, it's free !).

Malta on my mind

Cher blog,
Je ne vais pas te mentir, tu l'auras remarqué de toi-même, j'ai peu de temps à te consacrer actuellement. Alors, puisque l'on rentre dans l'hiver et que le compte à rebours vers Noël a commencé, je me replonge dans mes photos de vacances. Direction Malte, un concentré de Grande-Bretagne, de Sicile et de Tunisie sur 320 km².

Dear blog,

I know I've let you down a bit lately. How about flicking through pictures of my summer holidays in Malta, a concentrate of Britishness, Sicilian laidback atmosphere and Tunisian climate in the middle of the Mediterranean ? I don't feel like thinking about Christmas just now.

Kitsch pubs galore in the tiny English-speaking island.

The Maltese transport system is reliable and fun.

Clichéed but nice.

Malta is serious about religion.

And door knobs.

As for the Scottish connection : Sir Walter Scott has been there !

Can he fix the White House ?

Did you notice Barack Obama borrowed his slogan from Bob the Builder ? "Can we fix it ? Yes we can !"



"Peut-on le faire ? Oui on peut !" Bob le bricoleur l'a dit avant Barack Obama.

Note to self : Pascale, get a life !

The Lighthouse, Glasgow

Funny signs in the Lighthouse in Glasgow.

This tower was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and has become a gallery devoted to architecture.

It's worth going to the top floor to have a look at Glasgow from above.

Expos Paris-Glasgow

Le musée de Cluny, alias le musée du Moyen-âge de Paris, consacre une exposition aux Celtes et aux Scandinaves jusqu'au 12 janvier 2009. On y voit plein de chouettes objets anciens écossais, comme cette fibule du VIIIème siècle.

Meanwhile, in Glasgow, the Burrell Collection holds an exhibition about silk embroideries in

Uzbekiztan until January 4th.

Si ça, c'est pas du bon conseil culturel...