who called them "the Huns" and not "H from Steppes"

I can't wait for the 3rd of January, when Crystal Palace make the trip to play at St James Park #supportpalacetyneaction

Did you know that most prescriptions are ready for collection the next day? But if you make two phone calls to the GP, two visits to the pharmacy, and beg hard enough, this can be reduced to as little as a week.

Peak SNCF!

I've just asked how much the nail clippers were in this shop, and got a look that mixed pity with disdain. How's your day going?

Looks like this has slipped from 'in mid summer' to 'by the end of the year'.

Today something amazing happened. I asked a man if he would please turn down the music on his phone and he did! No arguments, no getting defensive, no sneakily inching the volume back up five minutes later. He turned it off and we all got on with our day. 😮 I might but a lottery ticket.

Harry Potter and the Pinkwashed Transphobe

But I don’t want to live in interesting times.

You can leave as much time as you like for delays, but sometimes even the most generous connection time gets eaten by disruption. I had nearly 5 hours between arriving in Hamburg and talking my sleeper to Stockholm, now down to 90 minutes, and my train is still stationary 😮. Friday 13th strikes…

@seatsixtyone.bsky.social There doesn't seem to have been any official announcement, but it looks like the Frecciarossa to Paris is going to be accepting Interrail from this summer. Spotted by a friend of mine.

Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and of course Hungary chose homophobia. They chose to side with Viktor Orban and his ban on Pride marches. Shameful.

2.30am, trying to sleep. Brain: OK, but how about first we try to transcribe the name Peter, as spoken in Standard English, Tyneside English, and American English, into IPA? That would be fun and worthwhile, wouldn't it?

The bread Marie Antoinette wants you to have

@seatsixtyone.bsky.social FYI, it seems Eurostar have bumped up the cost of Interrail reservations. London to FR or BE is now €35/ €40 London to NL unchanged at €35/ €43 I don't know if they've changed the ex-Thalys costs.

A friend who was out as a gay man during Section 28 was telling me the advice he used to give to straight allies asking how they could help back then: stand in solidarity with us so that some of the shit they’re throwing at us sticks to you. If you’re clean, you’re not standing close enough.

'I never thought tariffs would eat my face!', says man who implemented face-eating tariffs.

Corn now exempt from corn law tariff.

Who needs a TGV for €10 or €20 reservation fee, when (some) Intercités are completely reservation-free on Interrail? @seatsixtyone.bsky.social 1+1 staggered seating in first class Bordeaux-Nantes. Optional reservation €1.70.

How's my language learning going? Sunday - I struck up a conversation the bar, we chatted about offside in rugby, different beer styles, medical complaints, and the rise of fascism in Europe and America Monday - I can't remember the French for 'Richard'

Just your usual travel essentials here: bottled water, snacks, a cock ring.

Absolutely breathtaking piece of web design Country codes sorted alphabetically by the name of the country

I spent two hours here with a hammer and chisel, but I still couldn't remove it. They shouldn't advertise this as free and then make it so difficult to take.

Ah hello, the pivot from “it’s not unconstitutional” to “so what if it’s unconstitutional”. We have been expecting you.

First of the season, Lads!

Tucker Carlson claims that Ukraine has been selling "huge quantities of American weapons on the black market", which he says have been bought by Hamas, Mexican drug cartels and the HTS in Syria. This is a claim pushed by the Kremlin for nearly three years, but there's no evidence for it.

Europe at its most dangerous for a century, and Germany is going to spend two months dicking around, trying to put together a government 😮

This might be the most positive news I've heard in a long time. Even the group most hostile to all things woke are still *massively* net favourable to net zero, and even favourable to getting there quicker.

Newcastle to Venice in a day and a third (ish). A bit grumpy to have our sleeper terminated at Innsbruck this morning, with scant info about onward plans. But made all the better by ES handing out free sandwiches, and getting the chance to meet @seatsixtyone.bsky.social on the replacement Railjet.

When is a 30-minute tram ticket not a 30-minute tram ticket? When it comes with a 60-second countdown before it’s valid, so you have to guess when the next tram is 2 minutes away, then activate it 🤯

Plzeň (Pilsen) has a gorgeous station building. Paid for, I assume, thanks to the most expensive luggage lockers I’ve ever seen outside UK. 230 CZK (nearly £8) for anything over 2 hours 😮 @seatsixtyone.bsky.social

I bet doesn't need the Supreme Court. He does it by running as a paper VP to some patsy, with a clear campaign promise that the patsy will resign on Day 1 to allow Trump to assume the Presidency. Term limit doesn't apply. He’ll proudly announce that he’s found a way around the pesky Constitution.

No further applications for 2025 Photo of the Year will be necessary.

Currently dealing with a government agency whose policy is that that they only communicate via secure messaging, for which I must sign into Microsoft 365. My policy is that I don’t. We’re at an impasse.

The lyrics 'When the Snowman Brings the Snow' imply a serious misunderstanding of causal relationships.

Banking thing: <usually done next day, but sometimes takes 4 days> Bank: "We'd better say 4 *working* days" Other bit of banking system: "That's a week, really. Call it 10 working days, just to be sure" Admin person: "At least 10" In December: "Normally 10, minimum, but it's Christmas you know"

Wowsers. Today is not a good day to be switching my lights on, at £1 per kWh.

JONI MITCHELL: They took all the trees, put 'em in a tree museum / And they charged the people a dollar an' a half just to see 'em TECH BRO: Sounds awesome but can we make it a monthly subscription

Hey @seatsixtyone.bsky.social I’m guessing this is a glitch in the Eurail app, possibly related to the new timetable for the Enterprise? “Not included in second class pass” is an odd message.

Subjects covered in today's French speaking group: isolated high-altitude depressions, Brexit, Fawlty Towers, proportional representation, and railway electrification. Proving many things: my French is improving, politics is less hostile when you have to think, and I can be a nerd in any language.

What an extraordinary time we live in, when Trump's critics have to make make plans for his inevitable retribution. Will we see dozens of Navalnys sent to the American gulag? "If you come at the King, you'd best not miss." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...

Kraków in the gloaming.

We have the Rosetta Stone. Millions of years in the future, the aliens that find this long-dead planet will have the Autoglass jingle as a way to reconstruct every language on the planet. youtu.be/STiPwOasCmE?...

If you see this post ..quote post a bridge

Just agreed to meet a friend by Budgens, and I can’t help thinking that would make an excellent new exclamation. “By Budgens, that was a good curry!”

Another refugee from the dreadful Musk app. I hear it’s nicer here. Here is a pint and a station.