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Saturday, May 31, 2014

Port, Portugal & Portuguese Wine Labels including Mateus rose

Port is 20 per cent alcohol, a fortified wine, so it tastes sharp on the back of the throat like whisky.

Port is made from blends of grapes.

You keep the best a long time.

Ruby port, (dark red port, aged in the bottle)
then reserve,
then special reserve,
then LBV late bottled vintage,
then Vintage (very old).


Tawny port spends a long time in a barrel, decades, darker colour from the barrel.

Portuguese wine
You can visit the house on the Mateus Rose bottle. It's in Northern Portugal.
http://www.casademateus.com/visita.htm




French wine labels


The French say, 'Life's too short to drink bad wine'.

VIP (very important person, acronym) Veuve Cliquot.

French - English
veuve - Widow (Cliquot is the family name)

The best wine?
Champagne. Sparkling wine.
Champagne is a place.

La  - the
grande - great (e is feminine, a man would be grand)
dame - lady

http://www.champagne-ardenne-tourism.co.uk/champagne/secret/secrets-of-champagne.aspx

A.O.C.
Appellation d'Origin Controlee
Name of Origin controlled. (If it says it's from the region, it is made in that region.)

eg
If Champagne is AOC anything called Champagne must be made in the Champagne region of France.
'Champagne method' is made by the same method but made elsewhere.

VDN
vin doux naturel - wine sweet(ness) natural ie no added sugar


German Wine Labels: what they mean



Grapes you may know:

Quality

Well known wines:

Degrees of sweetness 
Auslese

Spatlese

sparkling - sekt
Trockenbeerenauslese
German - English
trocken - dry
beeren - berries (grapes)
aus - from
lese - harvest
Adapted (shortened and simplified into easy to understand and remember language) from Wiki:
  • Deutscher Tafelwein (German table wine) is mostly consumed in the country and not exported. Used for blended wines that cannot be Qualitätswein.
  • Deutscher Landwein (German country wine) comes from a larger designation and again doesn't play an important role in the export market.
  • Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA) wines from a defined appellation except Liebfraumilch, which can be blended from several regions and still be called Qualitätswein.
  • Prädikatswein, recently (2007) renamed from Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (QmP) wines made from grapes of higher ripeness. As ripeness increases, the fruit characteristics and price increase. Categories within Prädikatswein are Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese and Eiswein. These categories within Prädikatswein are solely linked to minimum requirements of potential alcohol. These may correlate with harvest time, but there are no longer legally defined harvest time restrictions.
    • Kabinett wines are made from grapes that have achieved minimum defined potential alcohol levels. Minimum requirements differ by region and grape variety. Kabinett is the first level of reserve grape selection.
    • Spätlese wines ("late harvest") are made from grapes that achieve minimum defined potential alcohol levels. Those minimum requirements differ by region and grape varietal. Spatlese is the second level of reserve grape selection.
    • Auslese wines ("select harvest") are made from grapes that have achieved minimum defined potential alcohol levels. Minimum requirements differ by region and grape varietal. Auslese is the third level of reserve grape selection.
    • Beerenauslese wines ("berry selection") are made from grapes that have achieved minimum defined potential alcohol levels. The concentration of the grape juice may have been caused/helped by a fungus Botrytis, which pierces the grape skin forcing water to drip out and remaining elements to concentrate. Due to the high potential alcohol level required for this category of ripeness, these wines are usually made into sweet wines and can make good dessert wines.
    • Trockenbeerenauslese wines ("dry berries selection") are made from grapes of an even higher potential alcohol level, generally reachable only with the help of Botrytis. The grapes used for Trockenbeerenauslese have reached an even more raisin-like state than those used for Beerenauslese. Due to the high concentration of sugar in the raisin-like grape, these wines can only be made in a sweet style and make extremely sweet, concentrated and usually quite expensive wines.
    • Eiswein (ice wine) wine is made grapes that freeze naturally on the vine and have to reach the same potential alcohol level as Beerenauslese. The grapes are harvested and pressed in the frozen state. The ice stays in the press during pressing and hence a concentrated juice flows off the press leading to higher potential alcohol levels, which in turn generally result in sweet wines due to the high potential alcohol. The taste differs from the other high-level wines since Botrytis infection is usually lower, ideally completely absent.

Abbreviated to TBA


Ice Wine - eiswein

Terms identifying the grower and producers of the wine:
  • Weingut refers to a wine growing and producing estate.
  • Weinkellerei refers to a bottling facility, a bottler or shipper.
  • Winzergenossenschaft refers to a winemaking cooperative.
  • Gutsabfüllung refers to a grower/producer wine that is estate bottled.
  • Abfüller refers to a bottler or shipper.
To translate your own wine bottle label use Googletranslate
For more details on a website where you can hover over the parts of a wine label and read description:
http://www.germanwineusa.com/press-trade/read-wine-label.html

(This post under construction being updated.)

Spanish Wine Labels - What do they tell you?


SPANISH WINE LABEL - RIOJA

Spanish - English  
vinos - wines
finos  - fine ones (plural adjective matching plural noun)
de - of
vina - wine
Haro - main town in the Rioja area - see my hotel review on Tripadvisor
alta - high, as in high altitude
y - and
vinedos - vineyards
bodegas - wine cellar(s) (or grocery stores)
Madrid - capital city of Spain
fundada - founded
en - in


To translate labels go to the winery website and click on the union Jack top right of screen to convert text to English or try website google translate and copy into the box a word or phrase or longer section from the label 
translate.google.com
(I'm adding more labels from other countries so come back to this post over the weekend)

Some wines are made in the traditional oak barrels which add a distinctive flavour. You can take tours and see how they make barrels. 

For more about wine see wikipedia Rioja wines.
Rioja [ˈrjoxa] is a wine region, with Denominación de Origen Calificada (D.O.Ca. Qualified designation of origin) named after La Rioja, in Spain. Rioja is made from grapes grown not only in the Autonomous Community of La Rioja, but also in parts of Navarreand the Basque province of Álava. Rioja is further subdivided into three zones: Rioja Alta, Rioja Baja and Rioja Alavesa.
denominacion - denomination (naming)
de - of
origen - origin
calificada - qualified
alta
baja

For touring around the area see:
http://winetourismspain.com/wine-tourism/rioja/

Friday, May 30, 2014

Rioja Event London Jun 14 2014 weekend

http://www.riojatapasfantasticas.co.uk

Weekend Saturday Jun 14 and Sunday Jun 15 2014.

Area South Bank, on the Thames riverside, lively area with a riverside walk passing lots of restaurants, and big concert halls.

Main events free and low cost.
Tickets already selling out fast for the special events.

Rioja is an area of Northern Spain around the town of Haro. I went there last year and visited the vineyards with shops and tours.

The main ones I saw were: Lopez de Heredia, Muga, La Rioja Alta, with shops selling wines plus associated products such as corkscrews, and some tours.
 (Others Contino, Finca Allende are great, especially if you are trade, press, or a big buyer.)
See my earlier posts or search on line.

In Haro the wine shops have these wines and more, plus more books on wine in all languages as well as corkscrews, tea towels, wine holders, you name it.

Can't get to Spain? Come to London.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Wine Books To Read on the Plane/train & Plan Meals

This is big, expensive and heavy.

If you are serious, take a course. Some books are provided as course materials at higher levels.
For the diploma you get course material in a ring binder, plus a copy of The Oxford Companion to Wine.


Matching food and wine.



Just for sherry.

London Wishlist Ice Cream: Gelupo Ice Cream & Late Night Coffee

The Gelupo ice cream and coffee bar for a late night coffee was visited by a member of my family. They were looking for somewhere for coffee after 10.30 at night and Costas had all closed at 9 pm, catering mainly for the office crowd.
It's in the Soho area, not far from Piccadilly.

Gelup had a wide range of granites (flavoured water ices) as well as gelato (ice cream). At the back are seats.

'I had one scoop of blood orange and one scoop of bitter chocolate.'

I was promised, 'I'll take you there one day!'

Promises, promises.

Gelupo
7 Archer St, London W1D 7AU
020 7287 5555
www.gelupo.com

MADEIRA wines and what to do the labels mean?



Madeira wine comes from the island of Madeira (meaning wood) - the local language is Portuguese. Madeira is a fortified wine, meaning made stronger by adding alcohol.
  Madeira is an island in the Atlantic. (As a child I could never remember which was the Atlantic and which was the Pacific. Kids - it's easy. If you grew up in England or Europe like me, your nearest ocean is the big Atlantic which Brunel's ships crossed to America.  You leave the west coast of England to get to America's East coast.)
   A for America, A for Atlantic. P for Pacific. The Film South Pacific was about Americans going the other way, from their west coast across the Pacific Ocean.

   British boats sailed south from the Southern ports of Southampton and Portsmouth (and the Plymouth Brethren from Plymouth to America.

   Wine went across the ocean from Europe to island stops, ocean 'stations' if you like, in places like Madeira which was Portuguese. Some of the wine got hot on the journey. And to prevent it going rancid they added extra alcohol.

  The strong drink was very popular. It's too strong to drink large glasses of it all through the meal. (And too expensive.) You don't want to fall asleep during the meal. So you have just a little glass after the meal. If you fall asleep after the meal at bedtime, never mind.

   The song, have some Madeira, M'dear, written and sung by Flanders and Swann, suggests an older man trying to get a naive young girl drunk - on what she probably doesn't realise is very strong drink. Twenty per cent alcohol! 20%!

  Usual bottles of wine, alcohol by volume are under 15%. (Tax goes up after 15%. The tax is higher to stop people getting drunk on strong wine and to make more money for the government.)

  Beer is average 4% so you can drink half a pint and feel merry. But a whole pint, unless you are very big and spend well over an hour drinking, is still going to affect your safety and your reaction in a test and means points on your driving license.

  Look at the back of the bottle - how much alcohol content?

  Older wines have a slightly lower alcohol content because of global warming. In years with cooler weather grapes make less sugar less alcohol. Alcohol is made from sugar.

  Sweet wine is often low in alcohol, because the process is stopped earlier.

  Wines were always fortified for a sea journey to stabilise them. Alcohol is neutral flavour. But unsold wine was sent back and had two sea crossings. So it was extra cooked in the journey. The heat changed it.
(Rutherglen Muscat from Australia also is warmed in the vilification process.

  But with sherry is kept cool in well ventilated lodges where it is stored. Port is also kept cool. A different drink.

Wine is kept in wine fridges to stop it changing in the heat. So you keep wines in a cool cellar.

  In London sometimes if you go into the big Berry's shop at 3, St James Street, a wine shop near the Ritz hotel in Piccadilly, you will sometimes be able to taste a thimbleful of Madeira. I once tried Madeira, Port and Sherry to see the difference.

  Anybody can compare three drinks at home. Set up three bottles and three glasses per person. You can hide the bottles. To make sure you don't forget, or move the bottles, or move the glasses, or find the family arguing and ending up doing it all over again, follow a system used by the regular wine tasting groups. Label the wine stem with stickers of different colours and letters of the alphabet to match sticker bottles. Put a pencil and paper for each person to make notes while they 'drink blind' (not knowing what you are drinking). Pour. Taste. Evaluate. You will soon decide which you prefer.

   Which is better? That's like asking whether strawberries are better than raspberries. Some people prefer one, some prefer another. The wine taste, and your taste or preference, may change according to the occasion, time of day, the food, the mood, and so on.

A member of my family is taking the WSET course. (Wine and Spirits Education Trust.) So we are doing comparisons. (Tasters spit the wine out.)
The photo above shows ten and fifteen year old Madeira wines.

Apparently, the Madeira wine is exported more to France than any other country. We have been asking why this is, every time we find a Portuguese waiter in a Portuguese, Spanish or Italian restaurant, but nobody seems to know why. Recently we asked Pedro in Loch Fyne in Norwich. He mentioned that Madeira is used to pickle fish, such as herring.


Labels


» Home » IVBAM

What does IVBAM mean?

Instituto do Vinho, do Bordado e do Artesanato da Madeira, I.P. - IVBAM

Portuguese - English
Instituto - institute
do - of
vinho - wine
bordado - embroidery
e - and
artesanato - crafts
da - of
Madeira - Madeira (the country, noun)

Why do they combine wine and embroidery? Maybe because it's a small island so they sensibly amalgamate to share costs and overheads.

If you want to do a comparison of different types of Madeira, or sherry, Port and Madeira, by searching the web I'm uploading some of what I've found, the following prices:
amazon.com
Morrisons from about £10.
Tesco cases of £72, equivalent of £72 a bottle.
starchefs.com/wine/feature/html/madeira
madeira wine.com redirects to
madeira-shopping.com also sells Madeira products such as biscuits and brandy

If you want to know more read The Wines of Madeira by Trevor Elliott.

Angela Lansbury
Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have several more posts on Madeira, the island, and Madeira wine. Please share links to your favourite posts.


    

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

BIRTHDAY CAKES Baker Days - A personalised Fathers Day makes a great gift for a doting dad!

Baker Days - A personalised Fathers Day makes a great gift for a doting dad!



Even if you are away travelling, or father is away travelling, you can plan a father's day cake or birthday cake. Either send it.

Or have a delayed birthday, like HM the Queen, designate another day when you can get together as your 'Official Birthday' - actually your unofficial birthday in my language.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Maori - do you want to learn some?

Maori language
On my first trip to New Zealand I discovered that Kia Ora, the well known drink, was a greeting in the Maori language.
A haka rousing song for pre-war or pre-competition is sung before rugby games.
Today I looked at the name Kiri T e Kanawa, while looking for New Zealanders and dates for my next quotations book. (I had to insert a space because the spellchecker turns t e into the.)
I found these websites:

http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/maori-language-week/100-maori-words

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Māori_words_and_phrases

http://www.maoridictionary.co.nz/

Picture from wikipedia under haka

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and phtographer, atuhor and speaker. I have other posts on Rugby. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Palms and Other Trees In Singapore, Asia and America

Driving along the motorway from Changi airport into the city of Singapore (in the island state of the same name), you notice the elegant huge trees.

RAIN TREES
   Singapore's main shopping street is Orchard Road. The road originally led to the orchards or plantations.
   Nowadays, like many streets, Orchard road's pavements are shaded by Rain Trees. These wonderful trees are rain trees.
   In the V shape of the tree branches, in the shade, grow vivid coloured orchids.

PALM TREES
   Next you notice the palm trees. But not just one kind of palm tree. Palm trees come in many varieties:

The fan shape traveller's palm.




COCONUT PALM
   The leaning coconut palm on the beach is a favourite of postcards and tourist brochures.



   The coconut palm. How do you recognise it? By the coconuts.
   Don't sit under it. Seriously. Those coconuts drop when they are ripe and they don't give warning nor care that you are a tourist and didn't know.
    Yes, you can see coconuts on the ground on the beaches. How do you think they got fro the top of the tree to the ground?
   Yes, children do climb up and knock down coconuts. But in areas without children the coconuts still fall. And with children the coconuts still fall.

ROYAL PALM
   If you go to Florida or California you will also see palms lining the motor routes. Palms straight up like lamp posts. The ones with the green cap, like tipped cigarettes. Royal palms, with a green 'crown'.



Back to Singapore. In addition to the coconuts on plan trees, you will see banana trees. Rather a novelty if you are from a cool country such as England. In Singapore's parks, around the swimming pools in expat housing and country clubs and in suburban gardens, you will see the banana trees.


   Huge banyan trees are the ones with roots coming out of the branches like thin tree trunks.




  In major tourist resorts and hotels such as Raffles, you will see a book by Somerset Maugham called the Casuarina Tree. This is its fruit.




Saturday, May 24, 2014

COUNTRYSIDE: Countrified Cobham and Chertsey Attractions and Restaurants


Cobham and Chertsey
We drove from NW London south to Cobham for a race track event near Cobham and drove back through Cobham and Chertsey.

Little Cobham 
   South of London is the smart stockbroker belt.  Cobham race track is where you can drive a Ferari, and a Porsche, for a price, not a cheap price. However, if you enjoy seeing upmarket houses and traditional England you will love this area. Very expensive to live there. But driving through costs nothing.

   My son Anthony sighs, 'Even the bushes look expenses'. Yes, they do. Topiary gardens. Immaculate lawns. After other areas of England, with boarded up houses, peeling paint, litter, what a refreshing change. Every tree, every tree-lined road, is a photographer's delight. A picture book church.

   I'd scanned the page about Cobham in Wikipedia and found nothing much there except restaurants. As only 14 were mentioned, I took a card index card and ruled it vertically into three columns. I listed those expensive restaurants which were recommended in order in my left column under a double tick, those which were possible coffee stops, or pubs, less pricey, in column two, those which were to be avoided, or not reviewed, under a cross in column three. (We'd had a disaster on a previous weekend away and I wanted to avoid repeating that experience.)

   Driving into the village, we passed first the gourmet and upmarket restaurant. 


The Four Horseshoes
A traditional pub. See Tripadvisor for reviews.
The Four Horseshoes
13-15 Barrow Hill Green, Chobham, Surrey  GU24 
Tel 01276 856257

When they say horses, they mean it. Looks like a horse box parked outside to me.





Stovells
Tudor restaurant, gets good reviews on Tripadvisor, quite pricey.


Stovell's Restaurant
125 Windsor Road, Chobham
gU24 8QS
Tel:01276 858000

   Cobham has a Co-op, the classiest we have ever seen, in a gabled building. Next door is a sign to Cobham Museum. chobham.com/museum shows pictures of the local carnival in May.
The Chobham Museum
Benhams Corner, Bagshot Road, Surrey GU24 8BP

   The church spire seen over the rooftops looked very elegant, with a weathervane or whatever at the top attracting attention with its glistening gold. Even the petrol station looked like a historic building.

  We drive on. Not a fast food place in sight. Shops selling items for horses, and spa baths. Look - the most exclusive property agent.

Larger Chertsey
   Chertsey, by contrast with sleepy Cobham, was much larger and busier. Like a smaller version of Slough, or any UK, town. Lots of huge modern buildings on the outskirts. Part seemed to be pedestrianised and blocked off, signs to car parks. 

   Yes. We found a drive-through bustling high street. And a free museum. Hurray!

  A pizza place. At least two pubs. The old town hall converted into a restaurant. Bet that has character.

Online I found that the museum has clocks and the history of Runnymede.
Chertsey Museum
The Cedars, 33 Windsor Street, Chertsey, Surrey, KT16 8AT
Tel: +44 (0) 1932 565764
website chertseymuseum.org
***
   Then across the river bridge. Over the River Thames. The Kingfisher pub has a huge hanging sign showing the colourful kingfisher.

  Past Heathrow - gosh - that big British Airways plane came in low. ('Mum, it has to fly low to land.')
A Jury's Hotel. 

   We debate where the next airport runway should be built. Two out of three of us vote for Stanstead. One says don't know.

Contrast Cobham with Suburbian London
   Back to London. Mock-Victorian semis, not the real thing. But typically British. 
   A few art deco 1930s buildings in Rayners Lane, North Harrow, and Pinner, houses in white with green tiled rooftops. (More art deco such as large offices and factories, you will find online, notably the former Hoover building on the Western Avenue A40, and the Bath Rd A3.)


   Semi-detached houses in red brick made from London clay. 
Suburban trees: crab apple; Tibetan silver birch; wisteria. (See my post on trees.) 


MOTOR RACING Track Day in Cobham, Surrey - want to drive/passenger a Porsche or Ferrari?

One member of my family bought another a session at a track day for a present. It's an idea for Xmas or a birthday if you want to find something your son or Dad hasn't already seen or done. You need a driving license to do it - unless you are a passenger.

My family members have tried various tracks.  Before setting off for Cobham I checked it out on Wikipedia and Tripadvisor. Cobham is well endowed with several, mostly upmarket restaurants.  It's quite a drive, a pleasant drive through tree-lined roads to the race track out in the countryside. Once there we were checked into the race track 45 minutes before our slot, as requested.

Parking is free. A parking director, Bob, was around. He told us the reason for the rumble strips. The area was originally used to test tanks.

Here is one of the colourful racing cars. The driver is waring a helmet.




Giant trailors are driven from one track to another for race days. One trailer has the food and drinks. 
When they pack up, the stacking chairs and tables are stored above the food serving hatch and driven off. How clever. 
Another trailer is mobile
 photo studio. If you want to pay them to take the photos and videos of yourself and your family on the race track. 
Another portable office is where you sign in or register for the pre-booked event.  
Plus of course a toilet. 




Food At The Race Track
Afterwards we wanted to have a coffee there before setting off.
   The coffee was espresso, a pleasant surprise. So we decided to eat. My family gave me a white sugar sachet. Jacket potatoes with cheese were good. Not cheap. About £6 for a burger and coffee, about £9 for the jacket potato and two double espressos.

On the drive back we stopped to suss out the Cobham restaurants.
See next blog on Cobham and Chertsey.


For more details on track days:
http://www.trackdays.co.uk/tracks/chobham_test_track.htm

Angela Lansbury is an author. For her books see lulu.com

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Good Manners And Social Etiquette With Angela Lansbury - Shaking hands and eating around the world



Greeting and eye contact.
When to shake hands?
How to avoid shaking hands?
What if your hands are greasy with food?
Wearing a napkin at the dinner table?
Signalling that you will return?
Cutlery.
Asking the waiter's advice.
Saying goodbye and thank you.

British dogs you'll see out walking - Labradoodle and Galgol

In British suburban streets and parks and holiday resorts, seasides, and caravan parks you will see people taking dogs for the dog's daily walk, or as some people, and dogs like to think, dogs taking their owners for a walk. I've read suggestions that a quick way to meet a potential date and make local friends is to walk a dog - your own. But you could even walk a neighbour's dog to make friends with your neighbour and make friends when out walking.
As I discovered, you can befriend locals and strike up a conversation on holiday by admiring and asking about their dog. (If you want to, you can then go onto other subjects such as, can you recommend a good place for lunch around here.) 
You'll notice in parks the signs warning dog owners that they must clean up any dog mess or face a fine. Some parks have bins where you can place bags of dog poo.
Recently we saw lots of families walking their dogs along the pier. In high season you are not allowed to take dogs on the beach to protect people from dog poo. 
The British are known for being pet lovers. We have the RSPCA. Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. PDSA. (People's Dispensary for Sick Animals. Crufts dog show. The King Charles Spaniel.
At Cromer we encountered a Labradoodle (cross between a labrador and a poodle). I'd read about the labradoodle when I began writing poetry for children about animals and started looking up names of animals and the characteristics of species and animals I had not previously encountered.
The one we met had the size of a labrador or large poodle and the curly hair of a poodle.

Here's the Labradoodle. Enjoying watching people on the pier.



Another dog on the pier - but we were rushing to the Lighthouse Museum at the end of the pier so I had no more time to stop and talk. Let sleeping dogs lie.

At Sheringham, the next town along the Norfolk coast, the following day, Sunday, we met what looked like a greyhound and I asked the owners if it was a greyhound. No, they said, a galgol.
I looked up galgol. They are known for their very placid nature. The owner described it as Portuguese. It was a rescue dog. But Wikipedia told me that galgols are also called Spanish greyhounds. Nowadays pets have pet passports for use when travelling to show they have been protected and/or quarantined against rabies. I wonder what the pet passport says. Portuguese? Spanish? British? Entente Cordiale.
I've seen signs in restaurants and hotels saying: Well-behaved children welcome. The dogs I encountered at the seaside were very well-behaved. Even non dog-lovers would be entranced. I was.
I used to think that greyhounds were fast runners and must be lively dogs. No.
It didn't bark, jump, blink, just stood. I'm reminded of the rhyme by English tramp Davies: 
'What is life if full of care you have no time to stand and stare.'
(I'm researching my second book of quotations.)
You can see that we are looking at the dog which seems to have stilled us and cast a spell over us. I can see why dogs are sent to soothe children and adults after disasters. I'm sure to have a galgol in your life is very soothing. Some dogs are fun and exciting. Others are soothing. When I want to recover from stresses I shall come back to this photo of the galgol and let its calm attitude to life waft over me. I hope you, too, find it a good experience.


Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Davenport's Magic in London and Norfolk

Davenport's Magic Kingdom in Norfolk has lots of events. If you can't make it, see the magic shop in London near Charing Cross tube station. 

Here's their venue and cafe in Norfolk.
Sit in the cafe while waiting for the show or while your family look at exhibits

Lots for tiny tots

Interactive - wave at the mirror! Multiple me.





Teach and learn about optical illusions.




Optical illusion - me or you?

Yes, Mum, it is straight!

If you need a witches' hat for a fancy dress party or stage performance, a whoopee cushion for a prank, a set of cards, browse, want to find out how it's done, see a show in Norfolk, browse the shop near Charing Cross in London, or download a video of tricks and secrets online.  http://www.davenportsmagic.co.uk/acatalog/About-Davenports.html

Davenports Magic,
7 Charing Cross Underground Arcade,
The Strand, London,
WC2N 4HZ
U.K.

Our opening times are:

Monday to Friday: 9.30 to 5.30
Saturday : 10.30 to 4.30
Closed on Sundays and public holidays

e-mail: all@davenportsmagic.co.uk

Phone: 020 7836 0408


Angela Lansbury is a travel writer, blogger and author, specialising in the entertaining and unusual.
 Did you know Houdini was Jewish? Angela Lansbury is the Author of Jewish travel tales, with stories and places connected with Jewish characters throughout history including famous royals and entertainers and wits from the Queen of Sheba, to Al Jolson, Levi jeans, Disraeli and Marilyn Monroe.

Soup first or last? Cheese or pudding last?

In England the soup is served first. In China the soup is served second or last.
  In England the vegetables are served with the meat course.
 In France and the USA the starter is often vegetables/salad, occasionally fruit.
  In France and much of Europe, the dessert would be fruit.
  England has a short summer and a long winter, so sugary puddings with dried fruit are a feature of winter, tarts, pies, crumbles, summer puddings with bread, are a feature of summer.
   In England a feast is soup or starter, followed by fish, meat for the main course, sweet dessert last.
   In England until recently dessert was always sweet. Only at a grand feast would you eat cheese after the filling main course. However, at grand dinner the meal finishes with cheese to go with the port, after the sweet dessert.   

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Birds and bees in the UK - how to identify

RSPB stands for Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. In springtime the RSPB organises a nationwide garden and park birdwatch. The idea is to find out whether we have fewer of one type of bird, more of another, or if we get more in one area than another. Even if you see nothing, they ask you to send in the results, because that tells them if we have fewer birds in one area, or fewer one year than previously, or whether weather affects the numbers of birds.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdidentifier/
The RSPB site has pages which allow you to choose birds by size, location, walking or flying, colours etc. Very helpful.

I looked up the black headed gull which I saw recently at the seaside. I was surprised to see that it is black headed breeding, but white in winter.

They also sell online books about birds, and bird boxes.

In my local garden centres, even the plant sections at Waitrose supermarkets, I have seen bird boxes. The latest novelty is bee boxes to attract bees. 

The Seafood Festival at Cromer and Sheringham

A seafood festival at Cromer and Sheringham lured members of my family from London to the east coast of England. Norfolk. The northern folk. (As opposed to the Southern folk in Suffolk.) I'm not being funny. If you didn't already know, that's the origin of the county name.
   The two little coastal town have the character of cobblestoned narrow alleys and boats on the beach. I'm allergic to shellfish but I reckoned there would be plenty to see in the two seaside town and I was right.
  Cromer Pier and Lifeboat Museum

Sea, sand and the seaside pier at Cromer.
Lots of families walking their dogs along the pier. In high season you are not allowed to take dogs on the beach to protect people from dog poo. 


On the sandy beach at Cromer we saw a warning red and yellow flat on the beach and wondered what it meant, assuming it meant don't swim. We joked, it's either, swim, don't swim, swim at your own risk - no lifeguard, or Spaniards welcome here. 

 Sheringham And Its Art



Any history - important events you might have heard of? Yes. According to the plaque, this is a cannon possibly captured from the Spanish Armada.



Modern art is installed all along the seafront.



At Sheringham the mystery of the meaning of the red and yellow flags was solved by an RNLI poster.


Sheringham's shingle or pebble beach. Who would prefer pebbles to sand? A man in a motorised scooter - a cross between a wheelchair and a motorbike, said that sand is awful stuff you sink into, but for wheelchairs pebbles are better.  


The shell museum looked interesting. The sign on the door said it would open at noon. We waited on the bench outside in the sun. But at noon nobody came. No way of knowing if they ever would. the lady int he shop next door said the museum was run by volunteers. Well, something to save for next time, next year.

Tips for the Next Seafood festival
1 Book your hotel early. We found all the hotels in Cromer and Sheringham were full and we had to book the Lansdowne in Norwich. 
2 Check the website for festival extras at restaurants. For example, we could have had discounts at Loch Fyne in Norwich before 6 pm.
3 The Paella at Sheringham on Saturday night was supposed to be an event from 7 pm until 10. But the food had run out by 7.30. Hardly anything else available. They might have two sittings next year. But check out restaurants on line in case you end up eating at a restaurant.




Cromer on the Coast of Norfolk, loved the lifeboat museum

Excellent visit to Cromer pier with. The lifeboat museum is at the end of the pier.


This is the RNLI lifeboat. (Royal National Lifeboat ...)




Henry Blogg, hero of the lifeboats, made numerous rescues, second in fame and bravery to Grace Darling. Great collection of envelopes and stamps honouring the lifeboats.
The Henry Blogg museum is nearby in Cromer.