There’s something unique about Bar Termini, and it’s the reason I return visit after visit.
The tiny space, always packed. The immaculate waiters in their black-and-white uniforms. The almost Art Deco feeling of being part of a never-ending gathering.
But perhaps the most impressive detail is the way they serve a Negroni, alcoholic or non-alcoholic, filled right to the very top of the glass, almost above the rim, without spilling a single drop.
A small masterpiece of precision, style and hospitality.
A true masterclass in communication from Louis Vuitton. They’ve transformed the entire window display into a set of train carriages, all unmistakably Louis Vuitton, with a beautiful Art Deco feel.
It’s stylish, theatrical and instantly recognisable. A perfect example of how to communicate directly with your target group through design, atmosphere and brand identity, without needing to explain very much at all.
And, by the way, we’re caught in the reflections in the windows. As they say: even the greatest stars find their face in the looking glass. 😉
We were on King’s Road, once one of the centres of London punk in the 1970s, with Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren right at the heart of it.
Today, the neighbourhood is high-end Chelsea lifestyle, with polished boutiques, design, restaurants and expensive addresses. Vivienne Westwood is still here, but the punk aesthetic that once challenged fashion has become part of luxury fashion.
She said, “I wanna live like London. I wanna do whatever you do in London.”
I said, “I’ll see what I can do.”
So I took her to an empty street in Chelsea. I don’t know why, but you have to start somewhere, and somehow it started there, beside an old red telephone box.
I said, “Pretend we’re tourists, just for a second.”
She laughed and said, “Oh, you’re so funny.”
I said, “Yeah, well, let’s take the selfie anyway.”
You wanna live like London. You wanna see whatever I see in London.
A pint after the cathedral in St Albans, together with my favourite saint.
What’s your favourite saint to bring to the pub for a glass?
St Bridget, or Birgitta of Sweden, lived in the 1300s. This icon reminds us that she was a pilgrim throughout her life, and that Christian life itself is a pilgrimage.
Standing in front of an Abrahamic idea: “Seek first the Kingdom of God.”
מלכות שמים Malkhut Shamayim
رضا الله والآخرة Riḍā Allāh wa-l-ākhirah
My Hebrew and Arabic lines are related ideas, not literal translations of the Christian quotation. That actually makes the caption more interesting, because it shows three traditions expressing a similar priority in different ways.
