A sense of wplace

Wplace is my new internet toy. I first read about it as a 'digital graffiti project' in this article by It's Nice That, and learned more in this ZDNet article.

Digital graffiti is the best way to describe the site to me: a huge world map that can be drawn on, pixel by pixel. Like 'real-world' graffiti, people can add anything anywhere, adding to or drawing over existing artworks.

There are lots of wonderful examples of pixel art scattered all around the globe - some very small, which probably took a few minutes to make, and some massive, which probably took weeks to make. And then anyone can come along and paint over it [technically it is against the rules, but, from reading reddit, the site has moderation 'issues'].

To add art, you start with a tiny amount of credits, which increase every 30 seconds. Eventually, after a lot of time using the site, you would have built up a lot of these credits, compound interest style.

Here is some very nice pixel art I've come across on wplace. There are lots of flags (national, regional, pride, community), lots of pop-cultural memes, football memorabilia, political slogans, nonsense brain rot, and actually excellent art - just like graffiti and street art. (The heart above is located in Algeria.)

This lighthouse is found on one of the Chastye Islands in the Sea of Okhotsk, far in the east of Russia.

This triangular rainbow lattice, along with a bunch of random cats, is located to the north of Dundee in Scotland.

A beautiful double-portrait, with various 'tarot cards' below is in the middle of the English Channel.

The whole world itself can be found in northern Brazil. 

In Amsterdam, wplace artists have replicated Van Gogh and Vermeer, the city's houses and lots of other random stuff.

Mario (I think) and blue skies are somewhere off the coast of the north island in New Zealand.

There's a whole floating stadium in France, near the border with Switzerland.

There are lots of 'lines' on wplace - national, rainbow, pride and trans flags - connected different locations. This one, to the north of Corsica, has two cartoon figures too.

Overheard: Canary Wharf

On a recent visit to London, I paid a visit to the Winter Lights festival in Canary Wharf. Among the shiny skyscrapers, bright lights and concrete surroundings, there were a variety of light artworks. I'm not sure what I make of light-art festivals - the art feels like an afterthought in some cases.

As I walked around Canary Wharf, I sometimes wondered if I was in an episode of Industry. And I overheard these:

• They're gonna build another building here, see?
  
  
• The risk is that I run into people from work
  
  
• I did enjoy that semi promotion effect.
  
  
• All they want is yer facking money innit.
  
  
• I said to her, 'Do I have to keep pushing you like this? We'll give it one more chance.'
  
  
• Is this part of your working week?
  
  
• No matter what... that guy hates Arsenal!
  
  
• They've just just gone off the grid, it's weird.
  

Peoplewatching on Flixbus

Sometimes when I visit Belgium for the weekend and want to return to the Netherlands, I book a Flixbus from Brussels to Amsterdam. It takes just under 3 hours, about the same as a train, and is often much cheaper, and basically, it does the trick.

The buses leave from Brussel Noord station. This sounds simple enough, but in fact it's a big station with many exits and the buses actually leave from a street a few blocks away. (My main tip: leave yourself plenty of time to get there. It's all pretty easy once you get the hang of it, but the first few times can be confusing.)

Anyway, taking my own advice, I often arrive around an hour to 45 minutes early, just to be on the safe side.

And, in a way, it's kinda fascinating. I've seen:

• Low-cost buses departing to all parts of Europe - to Amsterdam, to Bilbao, to Genoa (via Luxembourg, Strasbourg, Saarbrucken and Aosta) and Warsaw (via many German cities on the way).
  
  
• With each bus pulling in, a small flurry of activity: where is it going, is it to X place or Y place, stopping at X? The Flixbus staff ask 'where are you going?' and greet regular passengers.
  
  
• A real mix of people:
• A middle-aged man with a suitcase, he looks like a businessman
• A couple, probably in their 30s, the man holding all their luggage
  
• A young man with his elderly grandfather, holding an old-fashioned suitcase
• People loading their luggage - sometimes simple plastic shopping bags filled with stuff
• A woman with bright red hair, wearing a large white fluffy hat with a bright red bow
• A couple, and a mother-in-law
• A lanky young Dutch guy returning after an EU event, phoning his mother to say how it went
• A woman bringing a fried chicken takeaway on board
• Sometimes whole families come along to travel themselves or to wave someone off.

I often wonder who everyone is, why they are going where they are going, why on a bus. Maybe some are young migrants, returning home via a cheap way, possibly the only way their low wages allow. Maybe they are scared of flying? An irony being that, all the while, huge planes are landing into Brussels Airport, low on their descent.

So many different stories, in just one hour. And, in my experience, when on board, everyone goes quiet, looking at their phones or falling asleep. Something we all have in common.

Exploring the 1901 and 1911 census of Ireland

I recently came across the Irish Surnames Map by Barry Griffin. This website uses census data from the 1901 and 1911 censuses of Ireland and maps them across the island - showing where surnames and forenames are most located. Lots of interesting things to discover!

On that website, I learned there were only 6 people named Adrian living in Ireland in 1901. Not very many, but I suppose the name became more popular in the 20th century. 

Exploring that website led me on to the actual census data websites, run by the National Archives of Ireland. This site includes the 1901 and 1911 census records, and you can search it right down to the individual or household level. I think I found records of my great-great-grandmother and great-grandfather and saw their handwriting (my surname is one of the most common, as were their forenames, so I'm not 100% sure).

You can also search the data by origin. Within Ireland, that means which county they are from. Outside Ireland, it means country. 

Ireland is now a very multinational and multicultural country. There's often some kind of belief that this is all new, but these records show that people from outside Ireland have lived here for more than a century.

I find all manner of interesting records. Here are some highlights.

• In 1911, 365 people were listed as being from Italy, just a small increase from the 243 in 1901. The most common surname was Forte. They have a variety of occupations, with those relating to ice-cream the most common, as well as scholars, various shop professions and organ grinders.
  
  
• In both years, there are around 3,900 whose country is listed as Russia. The majority of these have names that are Jewish. More than 2,000 live in Dublin, with others in various other counties, including one person, Joseph Fine, living in Leitrim.
  
  
• 18-year-old Carlos Cornelia Nissen was listed as being from 'Buenous Ayres South America'. In 1911, he was living with his aunt Mary Sheehan in Cappamore and working as a postman. In fact, on both censuses, there were around 100 people listed as being from Buenos Aires (using a variety of spellings). For example, one family in Wexford have two children who were listed as being from 'Buenos Ayres'.
  
  
• A Dutch classics and languages teacher living in Dublin. He was 52 and living with his wife, who was from Tyrone. I wonder how they met?
  
  
• In Loughrea, County Galway, a convent of Carmelite Nuns included 23-year-old Diavolinda Ferreira, who was from Portugal.
  
  
• A Greek electrical engineer living in Belfast: 29-year-old Panagos Koconis was from the island of Patmos and married to Catherine from Greenock in Scotland. Their son Emmanuel was one year old.
  
  
• A 34-year-old German masseuse named Sinon in Blarney, Country Cork who was staying or working or living (census record isn't clear) at a 'hydrophatic establishment'. This establishment may well be the Saint Anne's Hydro and Turkish Baths, which were a popular spa resort in the area in the 1900s. The venue records about 90 different guests there on the night of the 1901 Census. The spa now seems to be mostly long gone (but what remains is a protected structure) but a recent article implies there is a plan to redevelop it.
  
  
• Spanish Salvador Gomez was 18 years old and studying dentistry, and his compatriot Anthony Russo was 22 and studying medicine. In 1911, both were boarding with Sarah McSwiney from Kerry in Dublin, along with two others.
  
  
• August Pedro Piloto is 24 and a farm servant. He is living in Loughgall, a small village in Armagh, and described as being from 'E Africa'. 
  
  
• Alvino Luja is 26 years old, a teacher of French and German from Luxembourg. In 1911, she was living in Dublin at a school, Dominican College Sion Hill. It is one of the oldest girls' secondary schools in Ireland, founded in 1836.

These are just 10 examples from the thousands, if not millions, of interesting stories found in the 1901 and 1911 census. Anyone can explore these census records online via the National Archives of Ireland.

Ireland's census history is patchy. After 1901 and 1911, the next scheduled census was 1921, but this was cancelled due to war. A census was held in 1926, the first after Irish independence. Now, 100 years later, the records from the 1926 census will be released in April of this year.

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Overheard: Dublin

    

I was recently in Dublin and overheard these words.

• She just stopped in the middle of the street and ate the head off me!
  
  
• Ah howya Diego, how's it goin?
  
  
• Thanks very much for the fifty euro, a lovely gift, very much appreciated, right!
  
  
• You can take your pick of the popcorn boxes.
  
  
• First time in Dublin? Any plans? Yes, lots of alcohol. Beer, whiskey.
  
  
• My chin is going to fall onto the floor.

Overheard: Richmond & Ted Lasso pub

During a recent trip to London, I paid a visit to Richmond. While I was there, I thought to look around some Ted Lasso filming locations. The building which 'played' Ted's apartment now has a shop dedicated to Ted Lasso / AFC Richmond. I decided to have a drink at The Prince's Head, the exterior of which is The Crown & Anchor in the series.

The bar is a fairly typical English pub, serving food and drinks. The staff were friendly, in that English charming way. What I noticed most was a more-than-typical number of tourists visiting because of the Ted Lasso connection. And I love people watching and listening, so here's what I saw and heard.

• 3 boys wandering in but getting turfed out 'without mum and dad'
  
  
• Two German men carefully asking how many millilitres are in a pint of beer
  
  
• Two Americans deciding to split their meal - 'Sharing a fish and chips, are we boys?'
  
  
• Two guys debating what 'other shows are actually on Apple TV...?' They agreed on The Morning Show with Rachel from Friends.
  
  
• A family of five ordering their drinks, and then all instantly started looking at their phones
  
  
• The bar was not full but busy, a steady stream of people coming in and leaving. A lot of debate from new people: Should we stand at the bar?

Overhead: Canterbury

I recently went on a day-trip to Canterbury, and overheard these lines.

• I recommend going up the back, it's a bit more spacious. That's a big word, isn't it, spacious!
  
  
• I was in Home Bargains yesterday and there was a woman doing my head in.
  
  
• It's a super-efficient flying machine!
  
  
• Lasagne and chips? Oh yeah, it's delicious!
  
  
• Typical English bombasticism!
  
  
• I think they're so insipid, y'know nothing going on... whereas you and I are a bit more y'know.
  
  

Statues and sculptures in Tournai

Last August, I was travelling from France to Belgium, and had to change trains at Tournai. It was somewhere I had never heard before, but looking it up, I found it is one of the largest cities in Wallonia.

So I decided to take a look around. And what a pretty city! It was a warm sunny day when I was there, so the city shone and looked its best.

What I noticed most were the many statues and monuments around the city. So, I thought I'd write about them.

Jules Bara

One of the first statues encountered after the Tournai train station is this impressive monument to Jules Bara. He was a 19th-century Belgian statesman and liberal politician who was born in Tournai. He served in numerous governments and was a Minister for Justice - but that doesn't stop people in Tournai dressing him up during carnival.

Adolphe Leray

Heading toward the river Scheldt, on Rue de Becquerelle, there is a memorial fountain to Adolphe Leray.

Adolphe Leray was a poet and songwriter born near Tournai in 1810. He wrote popular songs in French and Picard dialect. The bust from this fountain was stolen in 2003 and finally replaced many years later in 2017.

Barthélémy Dumortier

Barthélemy Dumortier was a botanist and zoologist, as well as a politician. Born in Tournai in 1797, he took part in the Belgian revolution in 1830. Three years earlier, he had published Flora Belgica, cataloguing the nation's plants.

This monument was erected in 1883, the work of sculptor Charles Fraikin. There is also a bust of Dumortier in the National Botanic Garden of Belgium in Brussels.

Christine de Lalaing

It's rare to find a statue depicting a real-life woman. This monument to Christine de Lalaing takes pride of place in the centre of the Grand Place in Tournai.

Christine de Lalaing, the Princess of Epinoy, led the defence of Tournai against Spanish troops during a siege in 1581. She was the wife of Pierre de Melun, the governor of Tournai, who had left for an attack on another city. In his absence, Christine de Lelaing organised Tournai's resistance and took part in battles on the ramparts. The siege lasted two months and ultimately proved unsuccessful. Christine de Lalaing was injured, dying several months later.

Her bravery earned her the respect and thanks of every citizen. This monument was erected in 1863, the first in Walloonia which was dedicated to a woman.

Louis Gallait

Louis Gallait was a 19th-century artist, born in Tournai in 1810, who studied in Tournai, Antwerp and Paris. He was mostly known as a painter of portraits and historical paintings.

He is honoured with a statue in the centre of the Square Paul Bonduelle, itself named after an important architect.

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Overheard: Germany

I was recently in Germany for a few weeks, travelling from town to town and city to city with a DeutschlandTicket. Along the way, I heard a few choice phrases in English. And here they are.

• It's certainly different here, isn't it? A different feel... still friendly!
  
  
• And what about the client change request? What about that?!
  
  
• There was a woman going from here to Hamburg, that's two hundred euro!
  
  
• They gave me the freedom to do whatever I want, so that's what I did.
  
  
• I do not have a print-out but you can have a screenshot.
  
  
• We can actually go straight, cos it's really pretty with the flowers
  
  
• You want to go to Five Men or should I say Five Guys?
  
  
• It's a big no no yo!

Overheard: Amsterdam tourist season

As the sun sets on an Amsterdam summer tourist season, here are 17 random things I overheard tourists saying in Amsterdam in summer 2025.

• It was presented as a democratic process, but it was not!
  
  
• The best thing about wearing this skirt is my phone doesn't pull it down.
  
  
• No, no, no, we will just buy the juice!
  
  
• When you're in love, you're in the bubble, like, all the time.
  
  
• Don't get me wrong, I love a good sunset, but I'm not gonna Instagram it! 
  
  
• I could live here. This is the best weather we've had, this is all I fucking care about!
  
  
• He used to be an addict, like a big addict. Did he tell you that?
  
  
• You look stunning! If you'd have come to dinner dressed like that, we'd be wowed.
  
  
• I don't wanna, like, work hard as fuck for that. So I'm not gonna go.
  
  
• You haven't seen it yet, but I can get pretty fiery.
  
  
• Small little boats with little or no entertainment? Ann and Steve did one and they said it was HORRIBLE, and I'll be taking their recommendation!
  
  
• I don't fuck with mixing sweet and savoury.
  
  
• That's like a firecracker, went right off in my throat!
  
  
• She's an actress, a dancer AND an educator.
  
  
• They didn't think about mental illness... that is literally insane! No pun intended.
  
  
• Is that in New York?! Mo-Maaaa?! We'll look it up!
  
  
• You're a troubled lady, aren't you?

Overheard: Newcastle

I recently spent a few days in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where I heard the following choice sayings:

• 'Ah'm sorry about earlier burr ah didn't start it'
  
  
• 'Is this Abba or Share? ...oh, it's Abba. Share do Abba now too ya know!'
  
  
• 'Ah'm here for the ketameen conference, but I think I'm in the wrong place'
  
  
• 'That's all in foreign, I can't read foreign. If it were English, I might be interested.'
  
  
• 'I was reading the obituary of a philosopher the other day. He was anti-capitalist, said he wanted to see a rich person hang.'
  
  
• 'I didn't know his name, so just put him in my phone as Gay 2'
  
  
• 'That's the Jack Daniels as a reference point'
  
  
• 'Let's go get some hula hoops!'
  
  
• 'Ya're loookin glowin, very sunny!' 'Thanks, it's cos I've had eleven hours sleep for once'
  
  
• In a charity shop, two women are discussing a third:
  
  - She didn't turn up to work! She says, "this is my boyfriend and we're onna date" and the date is stood there looking nervous. I said to her, "you're meant to be at work!"
  
  - Aye she's taking the piss that lass!

Circle lines | Brussels

A few weeks ago, I was in Brussels so took a circular trip on the Brussels metro. I travelled on the 6 line on an almost entire loop (with a small walk between two stations). Here's what I saw:

- A woman wearing a denim shirt tapping her hand on the phone she was carrying

- Two girls wearing matching brown skirts and black t-shirts, with different backpacks - one pink, one with red polka dots

- A man scoffing down a panini

- A girl with a colourful giraffe on her sweater

- A man with the words 'got no fears' on his jacket 

- Flowers: a woman carrying a white flower on a wooden twig, two women carrying fuchsia

- Someone with a red backpack emblazoned with the letter M

- A lot of people wearing purple, supporting Anderlecht for a Croky Cup match  

- A man wheeling a TV on a trolley

King's Day, Amsterdam: seen and heard

On King's Day in Amsterdam, I took a walk around the city in the morning - before the big parties start and as people set up their vrijmarkt flea markets.

Here's what I saw and heard:

• A woman with a red, white and blue coat - classier than the orange looks
• A shot-to-go stand
• A sign for MINI VEGAN SALT BARS (no clue)
• An Italian woman with giant glasses selling hand knitted hats
• Guys peeing against trees, a woman squat down between two cars (11am!)
• Nearby, a cute kid selling her jewellery
• A sign for a 'Transcendental Toilet'
• A woman with an orange moustache shimmying to Shakira
• An American tourist looking at a hot dog stand declaring, 'yeah, that's solid'

A random trip from Amsterdam

I read and wrote about a book on Experimental Travel in 2011 with great ideas to do some of the experiments. And then, I never did any of them! Until now, more than a decade later.

I took a random trip from Amsterdam Centraal - using random number generators to determine my journey.

My instructions were:

• Go to Amsterdam Centraal. Use a random number to choose a platform.
  
  
• Then, use a random number between 1 and 120 to choose how long to stay on the train. Get off at the next stop.
  
  
• Random number 1 and 60. Walk for that long, with random left / right turns
  

Today I started at the train station. Using the random number generator to choose the platform brought me to two platforms that are not currently in use. The third try brought me to the train that just goes to the airport. So instead, I jumped on the train on the adjoining platform which was leaving at that time.

Then, I used the random number generator to work out the duration I should stay on the train = 60 minutes. I'd get off at the next stop after that, which was Anna Paulowna (after 63 minutes).

This was actually a bit exciting for me, as Anna Paulowna is a Dutch town I've not yet visited. Looking it up later, I learn it's named after Anna Paulownapolder, the reclaimed land on which the town is built. That land is named for Anna Paulowna, the Russian wife of Dutch King William II.

The train went through the flat landscapes of Noord Holland, passing fields with cows and sheep and occasional glimpses of tulip fields in full bloom.

Arriving there, I saw: 

- A street festooned with Dutch flags on each home

- A boat and a convertible sportscar for sale

- Three Buddhist monks in bright yellow robes eating ice-creams

- A flower festival in full swing. The 'Bloemendagen' (Flower Days) are in their 70th year

- Two people cycling around, dressed as the two Dutch kissing figures

- Floral tributes to musical acts like Freddie Mercury and, eh, Taylor Swift

- A lovely flower garden with tulips and daffodils. Some varieties were named after cultural figures like Judith Leyster or Giuseppe Verdi or places like Brazil, Île-de-France or Monte Carlo.

After walking around for around an hour, I made my way back to the train station through very residential neighbourhoods, happy to have seen these flowers. A very pleasing random trip! 

Overhead: London streets

Photo by Ana Paula Grimaldi on Unsplash

I was recently in London. As I walked around, I heard the following:

• I don't think we need many offences to send him to prison, but the more the merrier!
  
  
• And then I'm gonna die on the spot
  
  
• I'm not cool, am I?
  
  
• Do you know what a chicken wing is? Do you?!
  
  
• I didn't go to Paris to hang out with them!

Overheard: emphatic Amsterdam

Spring has arrived in Amsterdam, and as I've walked around the city, I've heard people being very emphatic:

• I can zig AND zag!
  
  
• I learned a LOT about cold weather living in Boston
  
  
• She had a long black coat, VERY sophisticated, with black-silver buttons, very rich
  
  
• Where are you going? You SHOULD go to that expensive store over there.

Circle Lines | Berlin

One day, while in Berlin, I rode the S-Bahn that loops around the city. There are two lines: the S41 goes clockwise, the S42 goes counter-clockwise. As Berlin is a city filled with history, I went back in time on the S42. 

The most striking quality for me was the silence. The carriages were quiet, and not especially busy. The people that were there were not speaking - maybe the silence begets more silence.

During the ride, which lasted around an hour, here's who I saw.

- A woman carrying a bag with bright blue straps

- Three adults getting on with three children, saying auf auf auf

- A young Asian man intently reading one page of a book

- A woman holding a stack of small yellow and orange pieces of paper.

- A woman striding purposefully wearing a t-shirt with the slogan Rights and Wrongs

- A very chill ticket inspector wearing a hoodie

- A man wearing a beige woolly hat turning his face to the spring sunshine

- A woman wearing a mint green coat and large gold headphones

- A man dropping two €20 notes from a wodge of cash. Cash is king in Germany!

Overheard: Berlin

I recently spent a few weeks staying in Berlin. As I walked around the city, I overheard these snatches of conversations:

• Shall we go up that dome there?
  
  
• Ain't nobody got time to meditate for 45 minutes in the morning!
  
  
• You're gonna have to warn me about these German jokes.
  
  
• Do you recommend packing tonight, not tomorrow? 
  
  
• ...but what are you wearing and why?
  
  
• Should we maybe try to have some chips?
  
  
• He was not allowed to study painting in Vienna.
  

Overheard: Benidorm

I went to Benidorm last week for Benidorm Fest and kept my ears open for interesting chit-chat. Here's what I heard:

• The thing is, I've been friends wi' Gary for thirty-five year
  
  
• I've got a curry club in Leatherhead when I get back on Thursday
  
  
• Oh that's another thing I did with me mince, I made myself a burger...
  
  
• We're on the yellow now... well it's more lemon that, in't it?

Overheard: Schiphol airport, Irish flights

I left Schiphol Airport this week, flying to Cork. There were long queues for each part of the journey, where I over-heard Irish voices saying:

• This Guinness shortage is just marketing. Or PR cos they're not paying for it. Guinness and Ryanair - there are some marketing geniuses in Dublin!
  
  
• Get ready to whip out that OV Chip Card!
  
  
• Did your brother marry somewhere fancy?
  
  
• They're just ugly and weird like, the bullies
  
  
• She's from Spain, she's fierce nocturnal. We'd be getting up for the airport at 3am and she'd be making her dinner.
  
  
• Did you see on his Instagram, the alpaca? Why didn't we do that?