Monocle Weekend
Edition: Saturday

This week we get into the groove of summer with a selection of the hottest dancefloor-ready tracks, catch the afternoon warmth in some 1980s-inspired swimwear and take a sunset stroll through Croatia’s seaside-city streets. Plus: a look the sporting symbolism that has made its way from the tennis courts to the political arena. But first, Andrew Tuck has a few ideas about why building better cities needs to start from the ground up.

1
As the date for the 2012 London Olympics edged ever closer, something happened. The harrumphers lost their nerve and started desperately asking whether anyone knew how they might secure some tickets, even to the egg-and-spoon race if that was all that was left.

I was briefly in Paris this week and it was impressive to see how so many Parisians still haven’t blinked. Almost everyone you speak to reveals plans to flee to the south of France, Bordeaux or the North Pole; anywhere rather than linger in Paris. I have met more Londoners than Parisians with tickets to the events. Even the other half is ditching me for the opening ceremony – to sit and spectate, not join the parade (being the fastest rider on an electric commuter bicycle is sadly not the sort of skill that wins you a medal).

Attending the London Olympics is still an experience that I cherish, so I hope that the Parisian enthusiasm gets uncorked soon. It will be amazing. And whatever the doubters decide to do, Monocle will be broadcasting from Paris across the full two-week arc of the Games, in partnership with Allianz. Then the naysayers will really know what they are missing out on.

2
The Eurostar terminal in London is primped in preparation for the Games and is going all out to welcome British athletes and officials heading to Paris. Well, they had stuck up a few plastic Union Jack flags.

On Monday morning there were already many people heading through security in Team GB kit, lugging sports backpacks larger than Guadeloupean tortoises. Had that struggling man packed too many discuses? Was that perspiring woman charged with delivering some shot puts? And did that super-long bag contain the poles for a vaulter or perhaps the mast of a yacht? It was an enjoyable distraction trying to guess the person’s sporting skill by a glance at their misshapen carry-ons.

Though, there was a better entourage in my train carriage. An immaculately dressed woman with her three children and as many nannies, some protective muscle, and a few people there to just flap around. French police were there to welcome her at Gare du Nord and ease her way through the concourse crowds. As I waited to spot my colleague Nic Monisse disembarking, I watched admiringly as her courtiers and bag-carriers were drawn along in her wake like flapping seagulls following a majestic yacht. It’s a look I doubt I will ever have the need to master.

3
On Thursday night I was taken to the theatre to see the musical Standing at the Sky’s Edge. I might be one of the last people I know to have seen it. It’s the story of Park Hill, a vast, brutalist public-housing project that was built in Sheffield in the late 1950s and early 1960s to house some 3,000 people. The show uses the songs of Richard Hawley to tell the stories of various people who inhabit one apartment across the decades. It’s beautiful (and you have until 3 August to see it).

It was an interesting moment to be in the audience. The UK’s new Labour government unveiled plans this week to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years. It says that it’s all about “how, not if”. To hit that magic number, it’s going to set targets for local authorities, build a next generation of new towns and “blitz planning reform”, though here in London the word “blitz” seems inappropriate when discussing housing. But reaching that 1.5 million milestone should not be the singular sign of success. It’s what is built that matters.

The post-war architects who designed Park Hill – and numerous other housing projects across the UK – were responding to an urgent need. A desire to get things done fast; to give people homes. But the pace of that development was one of the reasons that estates such as Park Hill crumpled and fell into disrepair and then became cauldrons of crime and despair. While the UK has many good builders, it also has plenty who bolster their profits with thin walls, the lowest-spec-allowed windows and rooms too small for family life to unfold in. You have to be hopeful. But after seeing Standing at the Sky’s Edge, you also realise how making boxes that keep the rain off our heads is not enough to bestow dignity and hope. We need 1.5 million homes where design, public realm, community, transport and access to key services are all taken into consideration.

The act of fist-pumping was once reserved for celebrations on the tennis court or putting green (writes Christopher Lord). Serena Williams liked to couple hers with doing the splits; Tim Henman would do a clenched-up pump as he stalked about the court; Ana Ivanovic used to pump the air while standing on one foot, which ESPN dubbed “the sneezing flamingo”. Last weekend, Carlos Alcaraz continued the tradition by swinging his mighty wrist to victory at the end of the Wimbledon men’s singles final, before bopping his bicep before the crowd.

Recently, however, this gesture has been drifting into some very different arenas. Another pump from last weekend was felt around the world: Donald Trump, who had clambered to his feet after taking a bullet to the ear, began riotously punching the air with a bloodied face, shouting, “Fight, fight, fight.” And it has been present all week at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee too, in tribute to the delegates’ bullet-dodging nominee. The gesture’s appeal beyond the realms of the solo athlete says something about our hyped-up age. To pump your fist is to pump yourself up. It’s a pose of defiance that has become entrenched in politics on this side of the Atlantic. It can be a celebration but also a shot of adrenaline straight through your arm. Don’t believe me? Just give it a try, whether you’re reading this in bed or with the weekend papers – just try not to frighten any duvet companions.

The Monocle Concierge is our purveyor of top tips and delectable recommendations for your next trip. If you’re planning to go somewhere nice and would like some advice, clickhere. We will answer one question a week.

Dear Concierge,

My wife and I will visit Croatia with friends from Canada for my 50th, this summer. We will be spending most of our time in a villa on the peninsula in Peljesac, with a few nights in Split and Dubrovnik. Any tips/recommendations? Thanks in advance!

Ryan Mesheau,
USA

Dear Ryan,

To get the most out of your trip, think carefully about the two Ts: timing and temperature. The summer heat on the Adriatic can be fierce: red alerts are currently in force in both Split and Dubrovnik. Visitor numbers are also at their height, making appreciation of these historic cities a vexed endeavour.

The solution to both issues is to make the most of the early mornings and early evenings. Wander through Diocletian’s Palace in Split at sunrise or take a sunset stroll through Dubrovnik’s ancient streets (the medieval City Walls close at 19.30 but you will still have all the atmosphere and a fraction of the human traffic). Check the cruise ship schedule to avoid the mass influx of passengers.

Peljesac is a great choice for avoiding the crowds: many tourists overlook its considerable charms as they rush to Dubrovnik. That makes walking along the walls in Ston – only China’s Great Wall is longer – a more relaxing experience. Nearby beaches are also less hectic – and your feet will be relieved that some of them are even sandy. They include Divna, Prapratno and, in neighbouring Orebic, Trstenica. From there, you can windsurf at Viganj or – if temperatures allow – hike up Sveti Ilija for panoramic views.

To unwind further, dive into the local food and wine. March is the prime month for the world-renowned Ston oysters, but you can still enjoy the fruits of the Adriatic and the Peljesac vineyards at local favourites such as Kapetanova Kuca. Or take a boat over to Korcula, where restaurant Filippi matches its spectacular seafront location with chef Vanja Agic’s equally exquisite cooking.

An air passenger whose flight has been cancelled is – inevitably, and reasonably – annoyed (writes Andrew Mueller). But for airlines, this morose, disgruntled, marooned creature is also a counter-intuitive opportunity to impress. On the past two reporting trips I’ve done for Monocle, I’ve had two flights cancelled. One airline’s response genuinely improved my opinion of it; the other airline’s response did not.

The day I was due to fly to Washington for the Nato Summit, I woke to a text from United informing me that my flight had been cancelled. I called them and got straight through to someone helpful, who offered to reroute me via Frankfurt if I could make it to Heathrow in time for an earlier takeoff; I could and landed at Dulles more or less on schedule. Wrangling the statutory compensation for the cancellation didn’t go entirely smoothly – but nevertheless, an amount was agreed within 48 hours and paid within seven days. A few weeks before, returning from Zürich after attending the Ukraine Peace Summit near Lucerne, I’d received a similar text from British Airways. The alternative they offered was 11 hours later. This flight was itself delayed and, on arrival, passengers were confined aboard for another 45 minutes due to some barely explained hold-up. By the time we were eventually freed, there were no trains from Heathrow Airport.

As I write, it is 35 days since I filled the pertinent forms about compensation for this cancellation. In which time, the tumbleweed has only been interrupted by a couple of auto-generated emails promising an update at some maddeningly unspecified point between now and the death of the sun. These say, “We’re receiving a high volume of emails from customers at the moment”, which I cannot say surprises me. Lost bags, late departures, Microsoft outages and other mishaps should be embraced as a time for an airline to show what it is really made of: a meaningful apology can actually strengthen any temporarily strained relationship.

Ziya Tong is the former co-host of Discovery Channel Canada’s science programme Daily Planet and the author of The Reality Bubble, an exploration of how things we cannot see shape our lives in unexpected ways. Her new documentary, Plastic People: The Hidden Crisis of Microplastics, is an investigation into the effects of microplastics on human health.

Is the goal of your new film to show that we have all become plastic people?
It’s basically Barbie: The Horror Movie. We have a lot of plastic in us; scientists are discovering it in all parts of the human body. We really wanted to explore the connection between planetary health and human health in the film and show people that when you trash the planet, you will also trash the human body.

What are we talking about when we use the word ‘microplastics’?
Plastics that are less than five millimetres in size. There are microplastics that are created to be that small but there are also trace amounts of the material that go into things such as cosmetics and beads. And then there are plastics that are ground down from larger objects including toys and bags. As a result of different factors such as the sun or erosion, these plastics break down into dust-sized particles. These are the particles that we eat, breathe and drink.

As a science broadcaster, how worried do you get that most people watching your work already agree with you but those who need to watch will probably be the last to do so?
I feel more optimistic about the plastics crisis than I do about the climate crisis. It’s less polarising. People don’t like garbage and they’re going to hate it even more when they see it in their own body. I remember large anti-litter campaigns that took place when I was young.

Though the topic of the film is quite bleak, the film itself is surely an act of optimism; you hope that it will change things. How do you keep that optimism alive?
It comes from being surrounded by thinkers, activists and heroes that have created remarkable change. I have seen changes to the ozone and the eradication of certain toxins. There is always hope. I know that the world we live in is a miracle. And when you love the world, you have to fight to protect it.

Listen to our full interview with Ziya Tong on episode 199 of ‘The Big Interview’ on Monocle Radio.

Planning on wending your way through whitewashed Santorini, completing a pilgrimage to the monastery on Patmos, or eating karavoli on a beach in Folegandros? Many of us will be (writes Jack Simpson). But making the trip from Athens to your island lair by boat can eat into the time that you could otherwise be spending at the beach. So why not fly by helicopter? “It’s all about time,” says Dimitris Kossyfas, chief commercial officer of Hoper, a helicopter service that launched in May and is offering a scenic alternative to the pleasant but slow chug of the ferry. “We want to give passengers half a day’s holiday back.”

Operating from three bases – Athens, Santorini and Mykonos – Hoper’s five-strong fleet whizzes to and from 11 destinations, with up to four passengers per flight. “In our first month, Tinos and Sifnos have proved popular,” says Kossyfas. These hushed islands in the heart of the Aegean can take a while to reach by boat but one of Hoper’s Robinson R44s can climb up to 14,000ft, evade the infamous Meltemi winds and land you safely at your destination in less than an hour; the shortest flight lasts just eight minutes. You’ll be enjoying a glass of Tinian wine or bowl of revithada on Sifnos before others have boarded the ferry.

“We met with local communities and mayors to ensure that we were offering something appealing to those who live there,” says Kossyfas. Tourism on many of these islands is seasonally dependent and, as the mayor of Tinos explained to Kossyfas, visitors often have to leave on Sunday afternoons to be in Athens for a Monday-morning flight. Hoper now operates an 08.30 hop to Athens on Mondays, giving people the option of staying an extra night – a lift for island businesses and innkeepers. Will Hoper take off elsewhere? “Spain and Portugal have similar terrain and difficulties moving between the islands and the mainland,” says Kossyfas. “It’s definitely something to consider.”
flyhoper.com

The owners of swimwear brands must think of many variables. Their pieces should be fashionable yet comfortable, functional but flattering – and they need to fare well both underwater or on sandy shores. For David Koma, the founder of the newly launched brand Let’s Swim, swimwear designers also hold another key responsibility: caring for our oceans.

Since debuting the brand earlier this year, with its colourful towels (pictured) and graphics that nod to playful 1980s beach imagery – think Baywatch-red bathing suits – the designer has made it his mission to work with divers, shark conservationists and charities to clean up beaches and make the oceans safer for marine life. “It's a movement,” says Koma, who is better known for designing evening wear. “The future lies in cultivating community projects.”
letsswim.co