What you can see and do at the Wine Society in Stevenage

 

The Wine Cellar at The Wine Society. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The wine society is about wîne but there is lots to entertain and impress those who are not wine drinkers or don’t know much about wine.

So it is a good place to stop for a break on your way out of London going north or back on your way from Cambridge. 

1 I am always entranced by the spiral staircase under circular glass leading down to the wine cellar.

2 Another novelty is what you can do with cork or imitation cork. Make a stool.

Corks at The Wine Society. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

3 You can take them your old corks for recycling. The donated corks are sent to Portugal.

What's free or cheap?

At the door on Wed 29th October 2025 we were offered a tasting of two Greek wines. 

The Enomatic Machine

Except on special occasions, the enomatic machine is free offering you a teeny taste of several wine which they are promoting. 

Enomatic, which I have previously thought of as a generic name is actually a brand name, so it must have a capital letter for a proper name, and not be used for any device other than their own branded product. Eno is related to the name for wine, and matic as in automatic, a wine dispenser, operated by a card. In shops and restaurants or restaurant-bars such as machine is operated by a card which you buy. Like a train card, you can add amounts of money to the card, and keep using it until the money runs out, then top it up. 

The Wine Society has a well organized double room or shelving. You can look for a country. Or a style of wine such as Spritis or Sweet Wine, Red, white. Also beer. Low and no alcohol.

If you are not a drinker, or are driving and want to taste and spit, or sober up, or entertain a non drinking passenger, there are coffee dispensers which have drinking chocolate as well as fresh milk in a minifridge. Also water. And toilets. 

What to buy for yourself or non drinking friends to eat, or just general gifts? And chocolates. Seasonal items, for Christmas, when we were there. Boar pate. Duck pate. Olives. Crisps and nuts. The selection changes all the time.

They also have ends of stocks at reduced prices. And mixed cases of six bottles with damaged labels for about a hundred pounds or more. The tops of the boxes were open so we were able to look in and see what was there. You might not want to serve a bottle with a damaged label for a festive occasion, or in a restaurant to a VIP customer. But for yourself, or a friend who likes a bargain, that is an option. 

Useful Websites

https://www.thewinesociety.com/

Lebanese restaurant Teta's kitchen and bar - Happiness in Hampstead

Espresso coffee at Teta's kitchen, in Hampstead, London.

Espresso coffee. They also offer Lebanese coffee, thick like Greek, Cypriot, and Turkish coffee. The name teta means grandmother in Arabic, and they offer rich, filling food, like grandma used to make, if not your grandmother, their grandmother.

Hampstead Locations

Most people in London know Hampstead is famous for poets like Keats, whose house is a museum. Hampstead is a trendy place and doubtless many inspired and aspiring modern poets, and writers live there now.

I have relatives who live in this secluded corner, a cluster of restaurants, in a spiderweb of narrow alleys. We dined just down the hill from bustling, crowded Hampstead, where we had taken a detour to buy books for their children (who had told us the titles) from three bookstores in literary Hampstead. 

After wrapping our presents in the car, we parked almost outside the Tetra restaurant, just as the Sunday parking restrictions were eased

Time for a tea time or coffee and cake break.

Since my husband and I were early and first, we indulged in espresso and a small pastry from the display. Only one pastry between the two of us, so as not to ruin our appetites. Instead of coffee I opted for something rarer,  lemonade. I loved the home made lemonade, with fresh lemon, and aromatic.

Lovely lemonade.

Then the rest of the family of ten arrived and we ordered a buffet of starters.

Potato at Tetra. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Novelty Starters

Potato croquettes had a minced meat fillîng inside a layer of potato with a crunchy outside case.

Familiar Favourites For Starters

Starters also încluded hummus and pitta bread.

Samosas.

Tubes of what looked like spring rolls but filled with soft tasty feta or cream cheese. Another alternative for anyone who is vegetarian.

Main Courses

Our main courses which arrived on a platter of salad were chicken and beef. The beef was in small curly pieces, soft and tasty. We also had long grain rice.. 

Toilet Downstairs

The toilet cubicle is downstairs. I discovered I could negotiate it easily if I went slowly with one hand on the solid rail and the other on my walking stick.

While waiting for the toilet cubicle to be vacated, I glanced through the open window of the basement kitchen. A member of the staff, chopping vegetables, was wearing hygienic waterproof gloves for food preparation. I thought this was a good sign.

Desserts

As the pastries were small, one of the men orderef\d a large serving of 20 pieces, enough for two per person, mixed - ône of everything, with dates, or pistacio or walnut, and ́mini baklava.

Acidentally Translated Into Hebrew

יש לי קרובי משפחה שגרים בפינה מבודדת זו, קבוצת מסעדות, בתוך רשת עכביש של סמטאות צרות. סעדנו ממש במורד הגבעה מהמפסטד התוססת והצפופה, שם עיקפנו כדי לקנות ספרים (הילדים סיפרו לנו את הכותרים) משלוש חנויות ספרים בהמפסטד הספרותית. כפי שרוב האנשים כאן יודעים, המפסטד מפורסמת במשוררים כמו קיטס, שביתו הוא מוזיאון.

כנראה כמה משוררים מודרניים שואפים, וסופרים בכל בניי

I accidentally clicked on the world symbol on my mobile phone which converted my text to Hebrew which I installed alongside Greek and Russian as I am learning multiple alphabets on Duolingo. In case there are any Hebrew readers I have left this bit here.

Help is on the way - I copied my text into a Microsoft word document and then into Google Translate..

אחרי שעטפנו את המתנות שלנו במכונית, חנינו כמעט מחוץ למסעדה, בדיוק כשהקלות החניה של יום ראשון הוקל

כיוון שבעלי ואני היינו מוקדם והגענו ראשונים, התפנקנו באספרסו ובמאפה קטן מהתצוגה. מאפה אחד בין שנינו, כדי לא להרוס את התיאבון שלנ

Back to English.

Teta's (Restaurant) Kitchen & Bar. To sum up. Hightly recommended for tasty food and large portions. The owner or manager is always walking up and down watching so it's easy to get attention to order more food, more drink, or ask for anything you need.

Useful Information About Teta's Restaurant

72 Belsize Park, London NW3 5B

https://tetaslebanese.co.uk/

Updated November 2nd 2025.

Planning The Year Ahead For Meetings at HOD and more Toastmasters Club Meetings - Fireworks nights, November 5th, 8th and more

 I am Vice President Public Relations for HOD speaker's club. In order to get some publicity or regular event announcement in local newspapers and on the web, such as in Facebook, I need to draw up a calendar. The Toastasters International year runs from June to June.

I also want to plan my own holidays so they don't clash with important events such as club contests. This is what my plan looks like for HOD. The club meets on the first and third Thursday evenings every month. I can find both this year's and next years dates in my 2025 diary.

The first event is our club meeting just before an organized Fireworks display celebrating November 5th when the English parliament was saved from a planned explosion. Guy Fawkes Night is celebrated in England November 5th or the nearest weekend, with fireworks in public displays. 

Thursdays

NOVEMBER

HOD Thursday November 6th 2025 Theme Fireworks (Fireworks have featuref in Diwali, bonfire night Nov 5th and the nearest weekend, in the UK, and New Year's Eve worldwide on Dec 31st.) 

Theme Fireworks - love them or hate them.

Word of the day: Security./Brilliant.

(Saturday November 8th 2025 fireworks in Harrow.)

HOD November 20th 2025

Theme Thanksgiving, which is next Thursday Nov 27 in the USA with internet sales.

WOD Gratitude. (Or the word gift.) If the meeting has lots of academics you can use a multi-syllable word describing an abstract cocept. If most of the audience, both members and gusts, joined Toastmasters  

To improve their elementary English, you might choose a simpler one-syllable word.

DECEMBER

HOD December 5th 2025 Festival of Lights - Hanukah. 8 days eve of Dec 14 Sunday, 8th light eve of finishes.

Theme. Lights.

WOD Enlightenment

December 20th 2025 Christmas party. Theme and speeches on Christmas worldwide, food and drink. Wear red, white black and green.  Bring mince pies, Xmas cake, yule log, stollen, or pictures of them. If the venue allows alcohol, you can serve hot mulled wine (labelled alcoholic for drivers.  Proved tap water, bottled water, or no alcohol or low alohol drinks. If alcohol is not allowed, a hot fruit punch.

January 1st. 2026 No meetings. (Some clubs postpone their meeting for a week. Our HOD president decided it was less confusing to always meet the same day of the week.

January 15th 2026 Theme. New Year's Resolutions. Word of the resolution.

Feb 5th 2026 Valentine's Day, Love, Love & Marriage. Hearts, Gifts. Valentine's day is upcoming on Feb 14th 2026. What are your plans and shopts and restaurants?

Word of the day Love.

Feb 19th 2026 Valentine's Day - how was it for you? Word of the day. Decision.

March 5th Theme ...

Word of the day ...

March 19th Discuss British Summer time clock changes

2026 UK Time Change

Sunday March 29th 2026. UK. Clocks Spring forward.

April 2nd April Fools Day was April 1st - was anybody fooled?

EASTER April 3rd is good Friday. April 5th is Easter Sunday

April 16th ....

May 7th ...

May 21st Club committee role opportunities explained. Volunteers sought for roles and 2 club observers.

Jun 4th Club Elections. Theme Holidays.

Jun 18th BYO Summer party. Theme summer.

Sunday 25th October 2026 UK.Clocks Fall back.

Useful Websites

Harrow Fireworks

www.harrowfireworks.co.uk

Updated October 27 2025

More Dates For celebrations, themed costumes, decor, posters, theme of the meeting and word of the day.

Chinese New Year/Lunar New Year.

Halloween.

Amusing Rude Words in English, Chinese, Dutch, Thai and other languages

Flag of Singapore.

Words which sound rude or slang in English are handy words to know in other countries. You might hear Fuk and Kok in China and Hong Kong and Singapore. Crap elsewhere in Asia.

Singapore, Mandarin, Family Names

When I was in Singapore, on and off for thirty years, I kept hearing people saying fuck. At least, that was what I thought I heard. As an English teacher I wanted to tell them it was impolite in English, but I did not feel comfortable stopping strangers in the street to correct their English.  

You hear family names all the time because Chinese speakers have triple names, with the family name first, followed by the personal or given name. Think of Lee Kuan Yew, the Singaporean VIP. 

Lee is a very common name, also spelled Li, meaning plum tree, tree. Many words have different meanings, like English homophones, with different symbols, just as English words such as two and too.

Chinese, Mandarin, Hokkien Names

Years later, I learned that two of the commonest names in Chinese, in the top ten of popular names, are Fuk and Kok. Fuk, fook or Fu, depending on where you are, and the language or dialect. You might hear or speak Mandarin, in China and Singapore and taught universally, Fuk, 

In Cantonese in Hong Kong and southern China, you might hear Fook.

You might hear Fu, in another dialect. It means good fortune! 

Kok means country, city or defensive wall, or defender of the country. So that is another very popular patriotic name.

Europe - The Netherlands and Belgium

If you are not travelling to Asia, but to Europe, you will also hear the name which sounds like cock. It is Cok, which is dutch for cook. Mr or Mrs Cook.  Dutch is spoken and the name is used in Holland in The Netherlands, also in parts of Belgium, two adjacent countries.

Back in Asia, Singapore was once part of Malaysia. Malaysia's northern neighbour is the country of Thailand, where they speak the Thai language. The word which sounds like crap, sometimes written as Krub, is not rude but a respectful word used by men to address others, a bit like sir, and is used at the end of sentences, whether agreeing or making a statement, or asking a question.

Remembering Names

So, now you know what you are hearing regularly in other countries. It is easy to remember some common names, and to compliment the owner of the name by showing you know and admire its meaning in their language.

Don't tell them that their names mean something rude in English. They have already been told that many times. 

Tell them how lucky they are to be bestowed with such wonderful names, and live in places with such positive names. They will admire you for your knowledge, and be flattered by the fact that you always remember their name.

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Muslim Family Travel To Israel, What Happens Next is Hilarious!

A feel good video. Stunning hotel with views over the city. Rare glimpse inside the spacious great mosque.

Easy & Difficult Spanish words

 Easy Spanish - English

conmigo - with me 

gimnasio - gym

las patatas - potatoes

las patatas fritas - French fries

Spanish - English - Difficult

ajedres - chess

English - Spanish - easy

French fries - las patatas fritas

gym - gimnasio

potatoes - las patatas

with me - conmigo

English Spanish - Difficult

chess - ajedres

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Simple Spanish words for starting Spanish

 

Spanish - English 

clase - class

Espanga - Spain (notice the e before the s)

estudiante - student (notice the e before the s, likethe word for the country)

excelente - excellent

facil - easy

fantastica - fantastic - accent on first a of the Spanish word, showing emphasis

gato - cat

libro - book

la mentana (symbol above the second n) - the mountains

parque - park

preferir - to prefer

sombrero - hat

villa - house / village

English - Spanish

book - libro

cat - gato

easy - facil

excellent - excelente

fantastic -fantastica (accent on the first a)

hat - combrero

house - villa (Spanish and Italian, usually a detached house)

the ountains - la montana (symbol above the second n)

park - parque

to prefer - preferir

Spain - Espagna

student - estudiante (add e before the s like in Espagna)

Spanich is easy

Easy is facil

It's easy to order

If you want a meal

A gato is a cat

A villa is a house

If the cat is the house

There will not be a mouse.

Hola is hello

A sombrero is a hat

Adios is goodbye

How easy is that!

A book is a libro

Now I've my hat and cat

And book, goodbye

It's time to go.

-ends-

Useful Website

duolingo.com

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Clocks go back Oct 26 2025. Where? What time?

 

UK Clock Changes

The clocks in London, England, Britain, change on October 26th. in 2025. It ls the last Sunday in October each year, each autumn. (They go forward again in March.) 

Sunday Clock Change, UK

Why a Sunday, not a fixed numbered day? I presume so people don't get to work late on a weekday in Springtime. Those who get the time wrong that day, and arrive late, are only disrupting social events, not work.

The days when the clocks shange are not worldwide. Down under in Australia and New Zealand operate on different days. The USA is different.  Canada is not the same as the USA.

If you are travelling, or holding an online Zoom meeting, you need to alert everybody who is likely to come in contact with you. 

What Time Is The Change?

The clocks don't change at midnight or even one minute past midnight. But two hours after midnight, later, when most people have go home off public transport and are safely in bed. 

Unless you change the clocks when you go to bed, you will find some clocks might be out of sync with the rest of the clocks, and the country, next morning.

Changing Your Clocks

When you get up in the morning, your computer and radio controlled alarm clock are likely to have changed themselves. That is a reminder to check your other time pieces. 

For example, your watch, your clocks on appliances such as ovens and microwaves. Your car or vehicle. 

Check every appointment through the day. You might also advise co-workers, bosses, emplyees, family, especially if they are from overseas.

Who To Warn

Anybody, especially affected children, the elderly, the dozy, foreign visitors. Phone callers. Zoom. blogs. Duolingo. Anything you do which operates on UK time, or which stays on another time when you are on UK time.

If you do business with other countries, note the times they change their clocks, as well as telling them about your country's changeover dates.

When you buy or are given a new diary at the end of December in 2025, or next year, 2026, you might want to write in clock changes.

Day, Night & Sleep

In theory you get an extra hour of sleep in autumn (called Fall in the USA). If you get up at sunrise, you get up an hour earlier, at what is now 6 am. 

2026 UK Time Change

Sunday March 29th 2026. UK. Spring forward.

Sunday 25th October 2026 UK. Fall back.

Useful Websites on Clock Changes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time_by_country

https://www.gov.uk/when-do-the-clocks-change

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/702292 (Petition closed)

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Updated Wed 22 Oct 2025.

Traveler's Tummy - Remedies and Warnings

 

Bamboo washable liners are jolly. For a light flow.

On holiday you might anticipate being struck down by a stronger illness requiring something stronger in the way of a remedy. 

Traveller's tummy, Delhi belly, nonovirus, food poisoning from buffets left in the heat too long, food carried around after shopping in the tropics, leftovers from takewawys and restaurants, nonvirus, too much eating and drinking. What can you do to protect your clothes, and bedding, and surroundings, and get back to enjoying your holiday or business meetings?

Discreet Underwear For Travel

 I have made this memor for my own use. I am not a doctor, so please consult a doctor before you are ill.

Packing Protective Clothes

I went away for a week to a conference centre. I did not pack panty liners, padded incontinence pads, or plastic knickers, nor throwaway panties. 

When I got severe diarrhea, I regretted not having emergency panty liners and panties.

These panty liners come in singles and sets of three or more. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Discreet Underwear

You can also buy from a large drug store in the USA or a chemist's shop in the UK or a pharmacy or pharmacies.in other counties a branded product which is underwear, usually disposable and padded all over for incontinence or a tummy bug, also known by slang terms such as the runs, and idioms, often alliterative with the local country or city name such as Delhi belly, Spanish tummy and traveller's tummy.

In London I received leaflets with vouchers in a letter box drop leaflets through the letter box, I went to a website where zi had to give my address to access the information and was emailed a voucher for a free product for money off. Later I was sent a free product.

Waitrose supermarket stocks Always products online. So does Amazon.

Daytime Stain Repellent clothes

Luckily I had  95% polyester (and 5% elastane) clothes. When I got food down the front they were not stained. So I knew my evening dresses and jacket were stain-repellent on all occasions.

However, I made sure to wear protective underwear, day and night.

Staying Near Toilets

Since I was in a wheelchair and using the disabled/handicapped toilets, I knew which conference centre toilet was least busy.

The toilet under the stairs had a washbasin near the toilet, and nobody else using it, so I was not holding up anybody else.

Not having any panty liners, I had to improvise using folded toilet paper. 

I kept visiting the toilet, whether or not I got a churning noise and cramps. I wanted everything inside to come out while I was in the bathroom and could deal with it.

Bedtime Bed Protection

At home, at bedtime, I would have placed a plastic sheeting under the lower sheet. If necessary, a bin liner across the top of the lower sheet.

Washable Underwear & Night Clothes

I would also have worn some kind of multi-layer underwear. It is handy to have not only my favourite, best night cotton night clothes, but also something quick to wash. Synthetic fabric night dresses repel stains. Thin and quick to dry.

Underwear Remedy

I wore black underwear rather than pale pink or cream colour. 

If cotton clothes stain, you can tie-dye them a darker colour.

I used a small towel to lie on. If it got contaminated, it was small enough to wash out quickly. Luckily, I was so ill that I stayed on the toilet for some time, until I had a lull. 

I woke a couple of times in the night. I rushed to the bathroom.

Missed Meetings

I had to miss one evening lecture. And breakfast next day. 

Causes of Vomiting and Diarrhea?

I phoned home. I had not wanted to worry my husband. But I thought that when I was starting to recover, I should let him know.

He assumed I had been over-eating on holiday. 

A friend of mine wondered whether I had suffered from stress, being out of bed, and in a wheelchair, the first time since I was struck down the the pain of a hairline crack in my spine.

Reporting Ill news

I hesistated to tell the conference reception. I was already a nuisance to them with the wheelchair.

However, after two days, I spoke to somebody among the delegates. She told me that she and three friends had all been ill, and had told reception.

So I went to reception. I told the girl on reception about my situation, and mentioned that four other guests also had symptoms. I asked, "Did you know?"

"Yes, staff members had it, too." 

I asked, "Could it have been food poisoning?"

"Defiitely not," she replied. "I ate the same as everybody else and I didn't get it."

Vomiting And Diarrhea Bowl

On holiday at the conference centre, I asked if they had a plastic bowl in case I felt sick in the night and could not get to the en suite bathroom in time.

I wanted something like my emergency sick bowl at home, a small former Xmas Pudding plastic bowl.

The only thing they could find me was a huge black pastic pail, one of several they had, I presume for mopping the floor. 

This large size proved very useful. I was sick into it. I was able to empty it down the toilet. Then wash it in the wet room, flat, walk in shower.

What To Drink?

One friend advised me to drink peppermint tea. She said it was soothing. 

I really only wanted water. But I thought I needed some small additions to my intake of nutrients.

What To Eat

I was ill Saturday Night. No breakfast Sunday morning. Tiny lunch Sunday. For the rest of the conference, no sausage nor bacon from breakfast. Yogurt. Muesli. A little scrambled egg on toast. 

Not finishing it. Stop when feeling full. 

Other people and websites suggested bland food, white fish and white rice and potato and white bread.

Some people warned, no dairy. Because dairy feeds the bad bugs and helps them to multiply while you are trying to reduce their number.

By the end of the fifth night I was much better. I was driven home without mishap. However I had a blood test scheduled for Friday.

Postponing Routine Medical Appointments

I looked up on line the timeline for being infectious. As far as I could tell, you could be leaving infections around for a fortnight. So not a good idea to go into the doctor's surgery. For the sake of other people. 

Regarding myself, my poor health and blood tests, I understood from what I read that illness can affect the results. Something to do with white platelets.

So I postponed the appointment. No problem from the receptionist. No insisting that I should come in.

Diet After Diarrhea

I also checked online dietery advice from sites which claim to be written by medical professionals. One recommended BRAT.

Banana.

Rice.

Apple Sauce

Toast.

My husband asked, 'Why apple sauce? What's wrong with an apple?"

I supposed apple sauce is easier to sip.

The BRAT diet is not for long term, just a day when You are struck down, but ready to eat something and wondering what.

Useful Websites

https://www.temu.com/uk/5-10pcs-random-color-reusable-menstrual-pads-bamboo-cloth-pads-large-sanitary-pads-set-with-wings-for-women-washable-overnight-cloth-panty-liners-period-pads-g-601099971942800.html

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=always+discreet

https://www.nhs.uk/symptoms/diarrhoea-and-vomiting/

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/brat-diet

This post was updated with more text and photos Oct 15 2025. Again on October 19th.2025

Update Wed 22 2025

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-15212879/Always-statement-dozens-women-claim-sanitary-towels-painful-agonising-burns.html

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Lovely Lunch at the luxurious Langley Hotel, Iver, Buckinghamshire, England

 

Photos from the Sharot family. Copyright. 

The hotel is 15 minutes from Heathrow airport. About forty minutes from central London.

A five star countryside hotel with a lake, and an indoor spa.

Iver is the home of Pinewood studios. Films (movies) James Bond and Harry Potter were filmed there.

About seven miles from Windsor Castle and Eton.

Useful Address & Contact Details

Avenue Drive, Uxbridge Road,

Iver, England, United Kingdom, SL3 6DU

Toll Free: +44-207-2787878

Useful Websites

https://www.marriott.com

https://www.marriott.com/en-gb/hotels/loniv-the-langley-a-luxury-collection-hotel-buckinghamshire/dining/

Updated 22 Oct 2025.

Henley pictures, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, UK

 

Henley

Leander Club signs in Leander Hotel

Displays of the rowing club at the Leander Hotel, Henley.

Rowing club displays. Leander Hotel. Henley.

Photos from Sharot family. Copyright.

 Henley Royal Regatta in 2026 will be June 3- to July 6th.

Online you can buy caps with big front brims, knitted beanie hats, a woolly hat with a pompom on top, and boaters with brims. If money is no object, a teddy bear costing 250 pounds sterling.

The name Henley means high wood or clearing. It is often referred to just as Henley. But there is another Henley, Henley-in-Arden in Warwickshire, as well as places called Henley in Australia and New Zealand.

I was wondering which one is in and which one is on. Then I realised that, like a boat, you are on a river, or river bank. But you are in, or within, and area.

Useful Websites on Henley

https://wikitravel.org/en/Henley-on-Thames#:~:text=Henley%20is%20the%20terminus%20of,times%20taking%20about%2045%20minutes.

Henley Royal Regatta

https://www.hrr.co.uk/

Souvenirs Hats and Bear

https://shop.hrr.co.uk/product/caps-classic/

Henley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henley-on-Thames

Updated Oct 24 2025.

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Henley On The River - Leander Rowing Club Hotel

The Oxford and Cambridge rowing race is world famous. Where can you get a feel for the atmosphere the rest of the year? Some of my family went to Henley for the weekend. Suits and Sailing outfits. Posh.

 Not the most expensive. But very smart.

A rowing theme hotel.

Leander Rowing Club's home, the Leander hotel. Henley-on-Thames.

Useful Websites on Henley

https://wikitravel.org/en/Henley-on-Thames#:~:text=Henley%20is%20the%20terminus%20of,times%20taking%20about%2045%20minutes.

Henley Royal Regatta

https://www.hrr.co.uk/

Souvenirs Hats and Bear

https://shop.hrr.co.uk/product/caps-classic/

Henley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henley-on-Thames

Updated Oct 24 2025.

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Useful Spanish for shopping

 I want to buy - Quiero comprar

a gift - un regalo

a souvenir - un recuerdo

I need - Necesito (like the English word necessary)

I want to find - Quiero encontrar (like the English word encounter)

a souvenir shop - una tienda de recuerdos (like the English word records, literally a shop of souvenirs, in the plural)

The o ending for verbs in the first person, I, is like amo. I remember learning amo, amas, amat in Latin at school,, for I love, you love, he, she or it loves.

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Spanish, Portuguese And Italian, False Friends word translation

 

Quick reminders from Wikivoyage phrasebooks.

False Friends

I have put the Spanish first and underlined, and added my memory aids.

Beware of false friends if you speak or learned Portuguese or Italian. Examples include 

 Spanish embarazada (pregnant), 

but Portuguese embaraçada (embarrassed) like the English

Spanish oficina (office), like the English

but Portuguese oficina (workshop)  \

(The Italian for office is ufficio.)

Spanish burro (donkey)  I remember a beast of burden for donkey rides

Italian burro (butter) like the French buerre. 

Spanish carta (letter).' like the English postcard

Italian carta (paper) like a thin piece of card 

On the other hand, on the plus side, if you are English when you learn Spanish, afterwards you already know the look of the Spanish word, you just need to change a couple of letters and you have an easy to remember different word in Portuguese or Italian.

So, now we know four words of Spanish, two of Portuguese, and two of Italian. Eight foreign words. And an amusing conversation starter with anybody speaking or learning Spanish, Portuguese, or Italian.

What is the Spanish for embarrassed? avergonzado

What is the Spanish for workshop? taller

what is the Spanish for butter? mantequilla

If you are looking at the buffet in a hotel, the Spanish word for margarine is margarina. Easy to recognize.

The Portuguese for butter is manteiga. The word for margarine in Portuguese is margarina. The first two letters are the same as English, and Spanish.

What is the Spanish for paper? papel

For learners, like me, that is eight new words of Spanish.

Useful Language Websites

duolingo.com

translate google

Wikivoyage phasebook Spanish

Wikivoyage phrasebook Italian

Wikivoyage phrasebook Portuguese

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Book To Buy, Borrow, Lend

Embarrassing Moments by Angela Lansbury

on \

Amazon.co.uk and 

Lulu.com

Embankment station artwork

 

Embankment Station, London, England, UK. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 

Euston Station seats and announcements

 Euston station in London, on the ground floor Train Overground has useful seats for waiting for trains, if you are departing later or meeting people. Handy tiny tables have  QR codes for checking train times.

You can eat snacks bought nearby, using the tiny tables. Individual birds from a team of pigeons pick up the crumbs. Their feather uniforms are grey and white, or brown which co-ordinates well with the curved imitation wood seating.

The birds compete with human litter collectors.

Wearing orange.

This is Euston station overground. It is upstairs from the underground. Obvious? No. Some stations require a walk from the underground to the overground. Look at the underground map or the websites. Euston is good. From the uderground you have a choice of routes. Straight ahead is an escalator route. To your left are a corridor and stairs to three overground train line entrances, including the Lioness to Watford line via Willesden Junction.

Useful Websites

ttps://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/london-euston-stations-newest-recruit-ruffles-pigeon-feathers

Old Travel Brochures, Guidiebooks, Leaflets - Keeping Or Throwing Away?

 The first cull of travel brochures is at your holidy or business destination when you pack to go home from holiday. If you are on a budget airline, or any airline, you need to be sure your suitcases are not over weight and running up a large fine.

Then you need to cull again back home. A year or two later, or twenty years later, when your shelves are overcrowded, you need another sort out.

What Goes In The Bin?

My first cull is out of date events lists. 

Then coupons out of date no longer valid.

Hotels and restaurants now out of business - address cards, leaflets, menus.

I know many people keep old theatre programmes. Years later the menu for the Titanic would be worth a lot of money. If you live in a huge house, your major job would not be throwing away, but classifying papers by date, in fated boxes or old suticases, then within the box or case, folders containing items by type, hotels, restaurants, routes, people met, lanmarks and scenic spots, diaries.

If you are downsizing, or reckon that your grandchildren or a company might not know what is valuable and important, you might want to choose the best items to keep.

Old Books & Traavel Guides

Libraries might keep out of date material in their archives for researchers. SOmebody writing a novel or historical account of 100 years earlier might want to know about the restaurants and hotels from that era. 

Throw Away Duplicates

Why do I have duplicates?

1 I picked up two. 

2 I picked up one and later got a second version in a set I was given. 

3 My husband and I when travelling both received one to read, but afterwards back home we don't need two.

Most can be recycled in the paper bin.

Amongst the travel brochures are other things I no longer need. Tickets for rides I can't rmember or did not like.

You might want to dust off items in high shelves.

You might make some surprising discoveries. I found a file of my school reports which my mother saved all her life.  Plus photos of ancestors. My late maternal uncle's birth certificate from 1921, over a hundred years ago.

It was satisfying to have space. Equally satisfying to find old documents and treasures.

-ends-

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Lingaphone Spanish, Duolingo, Earworms, which is Latin American and which is standard Spanish?

 If you are  not good at spelling and don't want to mispronounce, an easy way to learn Spanish is from recordings. I have been using my discs from Earoworms, which was made by Berlitz, and Lingaphone.

Lingaphone

I played Lingaphone discs in the car. This enabled me to get my husband to listen as well. He would not listen with me at home. He was too busy. But when I played my discs in the car he had no choice. He had to listen. That made sure his learning was keeping pace with mine.

I was puzzled as to which kind of Spanish each system was teaching you.

Duolingo

I am daily using duolingo. This seems to be aimed at Latin American Spanish because Duolingo has more American leanerrs. Their devotees in the USA outnumber those in the UK, because the USA, which I used to think of as just a country, is actually a continent. This is obvious, as soon as you look at it. Whether you look at the size of it on the map, or the statistics of the populations, or compare the numbers of countries where you can speak each kind of Spanish. English learners can visit Spain, and Spanish islands such as Majorca, Minorca, Tenerife. Americans can visit Mexico, Caribbean islands, and several countries in South America, the old favourite nearest being in the north of south America, Venezuela, as well as Argentina, Chile, Peru, and several more.

Spanish Helping With Portuguese

In Europe standard Spanish helped me understand Portuguese in Portugal. Also the Prtuguese speaking sland of Madeira.

Spanish can also help you in the Americas, with Portuguese in Brazil, which is Portuguese speaking, with a proportion of the population speaking Spanish as a second language, or even a first language.

In addition, so many people from Mexico and South America are in North America, that many places have blingual signs in English and Spanish, which helps you to learn Spanish.

So Duolingo has a good reason for concentrating on Latin American English. I wish they would give more hints as to the variations in each part of the world. Especially if I am using Google translate as  a help when I am stuck.

I really don't mind which country's Spanish I am learning. Anything is better than nothing. I can note the mior differences in vocabulary, as well as pronunciation, later. You pick up local language and pronunciation in the country by copying what you hear when you eventually get there. Or if you are already there.

Prosecco, Tesco's tipple with a tickle

My favoutie drink with dinner in a restaurant, or home, is Prosecco.A sparkling white wine from Italy. A cheaper alternative to Champagne which I like on special occasions. 

Extra dry is misleading. Marketing which muddles the newcomers consumers. Extra dry is slightly sweet.

I like sweet wines and the extra dry is just right for me. The tipple with the tickle from Tesco. You can also buy in small bottles, one person sizes, which you often get if you order for one person in a restaurant.

 Useful Websites

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/shop/drinks/wine/prosecco-champagne-and-sparkling-wine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosecco

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