Late night soup near Embankment & Charing Cross Stations

L'Olivo, The Olive restaurant.

It is between Embankment and Charing Cross stations. In a pedestrian alleyway between the two.

Popular Locations

I use Charing Cross station and Embankment stations a lot. Charing Cross is by Trafalgar Square and several museums and galleries. Embankment is near other attractions. Walking between them you see the old Sherlock Holmes pub.

Embankment Station Coffee Shops

Coming out of Embankment station, you are facing a coffee bar with minimal seating, and just to its left under the arches with more seating is another coffee bar. A good place for a quick stop when on your way to a meeting if you are early, and it is raining.

Embankment Station Souvenirs

A huge souvenir shop is under the arches by Embankment station. I love looking in the window and want to buy everything. It sells everything from nonsenses like mesmerising nodding head dolls and ducks wearing union Jacks and crowns, to small suitcases at large prices.  I once saw a minicar covered in Union Jacks. I immediately announced to my spouse, 'If I lived in a mansion with a large hall I would buy it'. My alarmed husband dragged me away.

However, my latest discovery, was the restaurant down the alley which leads uphill to Embankment station. 

We ordered soup of the day, vegetable soup, and white bread to dunk in it. That was enough to ruin the diet, but gave us energy for long journeys home to the suburbs.

The place, whose name means olive, has recently been redecorated. The latest romantic style, with fairy lights on trees. 

A great place to sit and converse after a meeting, recount stories of people and places and tell jokes.

The toilets are down a steep flight of stairs. Our jolly host claimed he was quoting the late Queen Mother, 'Go when you can, not when you must.'

I think that applies to both toilets and restaurants.

Useful Websites

tfl

Embankment Station

Charing Cross Station

Olive Restaurant

Links and photo being added. Come back in half an hour.

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Driving or Hiking - need toilets and toilet paper?

What to do in a car or traffic jam

Keep a bowl or empty bottle in the car. If you are caught short and will soon reach toilets, but not in time, empty out a water bottle. Use it as a toilet. Empty out - it still looks like a water bottle, but remove the label. Wash it out later or with a second bottle of water.

How to Hide - Undressing Discreetly Behind Barriers

When hiking, you might wish to go behind a bush. But you risk falling over tree roots, into holes. Or attracting insects, even animals. 

Once in the undergrowth, removing your underwear is another challenge. You don't want to wet your clothes from drips, splashes.

How to hide when removing underwear. 

Use an umbrella over yourself when squatting, or over the open door of a vehicle, or over the window, or held by your passenger. 

Use a towel or coat over the car door or window. A closed car door or open car door.

Place a coat or cushion or pillow to block the view into the car through the back or front window. 

Keep in the car and fold up concertina cardboard or cloth car window shade. These are designed to protect the car from over heating in sun. They also, keep off flies. Or as a barrier to rain and snow.

Prevention Rather Than Cure

Remember, it might be unhygienic or illegal or unpopular to urinate within a city or near buildings. to avoid needing to go, wait to eat food and drink liquids until you are near a toilet.

A saying attributed to various people, is:

Go when you can, not when you must.

This means using the toilet before leaving a restaurant even if you don't feel the urge.

Wet Wipes - DIY

You can make emergency wet wipes and hand cleaners by putting the contents of a box of tissues or face flannels in a sealable plastic box and adding enough water to wet the fabric. If it dries out, you can add more drinking water.

Useful Websites on improvising toilets when hiking

https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Shit-Woods-Environmentally-Approach/dp/1984857134

https://www.hipcamp.com/journal/camping/forget-toilet-paper-here-are-5-leaves-you-can-use-in-a-pinch

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Spanish Place Names Translated (Part 2)

Flag of the USA

 The name Spain is derived from the Ancient Roman name for the area, Hispania. That's why people from the region are still called hispanic.

I wondered why technical articles referred to ancient Roman, when we normally just speak about the Romans. Were they a subsection of Romans, the earliest ones? Then I realised that recent, modern, and current inhabitants of Rome are called Romans. Rome is still there, still called Rome. So it just means the Roman Empire?

Checking Spelling

I thought better check on this. When I was a sub-editor I learned that you need to check on everything, even if you think it is obvious and well-known. Spellings, vary from the UK to the USA. 

Checking Capital Cities

Capital cities are not necessarily the largest cities or the ones with the biggest population. New York is not the capital of America. The capital is Washington DC. Capitals move. The same applies to the capital cities of US states. Also watch out for the capitals of Australia, Indonesia, Poland, and Russia. 

Capitals get moved, because of weather, sinking cities, to be more central, or to please populations who want the capital nearer where they live, especially with rival groups, to depopulate a crowded place or to populate an empty area and provide more work and space. So, the names and locations of capital cities, and smaller cities, will change.

Spanish Place Names in Spain and the USA

Spanish names have stayed and become so familiar that if you don't speak Spanish, you forget the origin. Some Spanish place names are well-known and obvious if you speak some Spanish, or after you have heard about them. 

The Spanish origin names can be grouped into various categories. Some are named after saints or people. Others are named after geographical features.

I have arranged them alphabetically, with the components separated.

Spanish - English Place Names

angeles - angels, as in the Californian city Los Angeles

el - the (add an accent on the letter e to make the word he) as in El Paso

el paso - the pass

grande - not grand ie important but large

los - the (plural, like these and those) as in Los Angeles

Los Angeles - the angels

paso - pass or place where you pass over a mountain or through a border

rio - river

rio grande - big river, or river which is long and wide. The order of the name reminds you that in Spanish the adjective comes after the noun. 

sacramento - sacrament

San Francisco - Saint Francis

Useful Websites About Capital Cities and place names

This post is being compiled. Come back later for more.

Spanish Place names translated (Part 1)

Spanish - English

Costa - coast

Costa Del Sol - coast of the sun (or sunny coast)

de - of

del - of the

el - the 

entrada - entrance

salida - exit

sol - sun

Plaza Mayor, Madrid - main square, Madrid

PACKING LIST - clothes, shoes, accessories, souvenirs, documents

Suitcase Scooter

 

Permanent Packing List

When I was a busy travel writer, taking at least one trip a month, often two or three times a month, I would keep a suitcase permanently packed with clothes in black, white and red. 

My all purpose wheelie bag contained all the things I had regretted not taking on previous trips.

CLOTHES & COSMETICS

Clothes can be packed flat. Or rolled up. Packed in sets matching fabric and occasions. Accessory sets by colour, eg a black belt inside or alongside a bag or pair of shoes or hat.

1 A swimsuit and swimhat. Later I bought a swimsuit with an attached hood.

2 I always had one tank top in case it turned sunny, or I had a stopover somewhere warm.

3 A brimmed hat or baseball cap.

4 A thermal vest, scarf and gloves for chilly nights, air conditioning, breezy boat trips, or trips to another continent with reverse seasons.

5 A couple of scarves, one with gold to convert a plain black or white tee-shirt into an evening outfit, for dining out, unexpected invitation to a birthday party or wedding. A big scarf like a sarong for changing on the beach, sun protection, entering churches and temples. 

6 The spare clothes in my shoulder bag, in case my luggage took a side trip, were a set of underwear.

7 Plus spare sandals. 

8 Flat towelling slippers saved from a hotel.

9 For summer I had a towelling facecloth, sun lotion, mosquito repellent and sting relief. 

10 A gift - in case you end up staying with somebody, getting invited to dinner at a home, or are invited to dinner and cannot reciprocate. Take sizes of family at home in case you want to buy gifts for the family. 

10 TOILETRIES BAG

My year round toiletries in a waterproof bag were 

1 a travel toothbrush and toothpaste, 

2 comb and folding brush, 

3 razor, and shaving cream 

4 Swiss army knife or tweezers-cum-nailfile set, 

5 Corkscrew cum bottle opener, 

6 Mini knife-fork-spoon.

7 Instead of a mini perfume, I later carried a lavender roll-on and /or lemon/citronella which acted as insect repellent. 

8 Emergency tooth filling kit and spare glasses for driving/reading

9 Plus a folding bag to bring back souvenirs. 

10 Travel Diary/notebook and pen with my address stickers on them. 

Copied Documents

1 I emailed myself a note of where to find my passport 

2 and leftover currency.

3 I and the people at home had a copy of my passport showing the number in case of loss, 

4 and a copy of my annual travel insurance. 

5 Clipboard to keep vital documents handy. Temperature at destination. Currency converter, eg pounds to dollars, dollars to euros. Disguised version of my computer password. 

6 Two pieces of notepaper headed My destination address, one for my handbag, the other for family at home. 

7 Travel Tickets. Even if I had them on my phone, in case my phone battery died, the airport had no internet reception, or my phone was stolen.

8 Two printed pictures of my travel luggage, listing colour, size and brand, to show to airport staff trying to locate items removed from the carousel, or to report loss for delivery delayed, or compensation.  

Big card with the words and a tickbox

1 PASSPORT 

2 TICKET PHONE SPECTACLES/SUNGLASSES/READING GLASSES HAT KEYS DRIVING LICENSE NUMBER CAR INSURANCE/AA number, number of neighbour at home. Turned off gas. Closed curtains. Emptied bins. Left on lights, radio,  Turn off gas. PILLS. Plasters.

Turn on

Check nothing is left in microwave, oven, hob, fridge, tabletop, dishwasher, washing machine, tumble dryer.

Number of hospital overseas. Vaccination/COVID records.

On arrival, check emergency exit from building and bedroom and restaurant. 

Also fire extinguisher. If restaurant has no fire exit and no fire extinguisher, complain and leave. Inform family or colleagues of the fire exit and fire extinguisher locations. 

Gifts and birthday cards. 

Print out of essential words in foreign language from Wikitravel phrasebook.

Photographing everything you pack provides a record if you are looking for a lost item, proving the loss to insurance companies.

Another way of packing is to divide his and hers stuff in half. That way you only unpack one suitcase for the first half of the journey, the other for the second half. If one suitcase of the two goes missing, both of you still have clothes.

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Spanish Simple Words Translated In Online Reviews, The Media And Food

Spain in the world, from Wikipedia.

 I saw several of these everyday Spanish words in clothing reviews on Temu which were translated and in Facebook. You can also translate in Google translate. Find numbers, days of the week and phrases in Wikivoyage phrasebook Spanish.

Spanish - English

NB the ending o is masculine, and the ending a is feminine. The ending e is also feminine/ El is he. Ella is she.

buena - good

calidad - quality

buena calidad - good quality

de - of (the same word as in French)

delicado - delicate

el - the (mansculine)

elegante - elegant

en - in

en las fotos - in the photos

es - (it) is

estupendamente - great

fotos - photos

las/los - the (plural)

ligero - light (first three letters are the same_#

material - material

muy - very

muy elegante - very elegant

naranja - orange

para las noches - for the nights

Noches - nights

perfecto - perfect

y - and

English - Spanish

and - y

delicate - delicado

elegant - elegante

in - en

 in the photos - en las fotos

for the nights - para las noches

good - buena

good quality - buena calidad 

ingredients - ingredientes

(it) is - es

light - ligero

material - el material

of - de

orange - naranja

perfect - perfecto

photos - fotos

quality - calidad

the - las/los (as in Los Angeles, the city in the USA, meaning the angels)

very - muy

very elegant - muy elegante 

Useful Websites for learning simple Spanish

duolingo.com

translate google

wikivoyage phrasebook Spanish

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St Patrick's Day Shamrock Symbol On Planes, Buildings, Stamps And Souvenirs

 Yesterday I photographed jolly balloons in green, white and orange, outside Wetherspoons pub in Hatch End, near Hatch End railway station, in NW London, England.

The colours of the balloons are the colour of the flag of Eire, the Republic of Ireland, the south, from Wikipedia which tells you more.

The main colour in the north is green, from the Emerald Isle. Green because of the abundant vegetation, like Wales (where a famous book was How Green Was My Valley). The west gets the rain which grows the abundant plants, grass, and trees. And lakes, and rivers.

Green is the colour of the shamrock. 

Shamrocks 

St Patrick used the shamrock to convey the idea of the trinity, and you can see the shamrock on a stained glass window of St Patrick holding a shamrock, in a church. 

#Shamrocks are displayed on British coins, stamps, and on Buckingham Palace, and aeroplanes. 

You can buy hats and tee shirts featuring shamrocks. to be prepared for next year, or any other Irish gathering, you can buy a dress or cardigan with green shamrocks from Amazon.

 I bought flip-flops with shamrocks from a poolside shop in Singapore, to be seasonally dressed for a Toastmasters International speakers' club.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick%27s_Day

Armagh, Northern Ireland, and St Patrick

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Armagh

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Patricks-Women-Clearance-Outerwear-Sweatshirt/dp/

Updated March 19th 2026.