Spanish Place Names and Landmarks

Spanish Place Names Which Are Easy To Recognize and Remember

La Mano De Punta Del Este

Los Angeles (USA city) - the angels

Mano del Desierto (Sculpture in Chile) - hand of the desert

Monte Carlo - Mount Charles

Museo del Mar - Museum of the Sea

Spanish - English

angeles - angels

de - of

del - of the

desierto - desert

la - the (feminine)

los - the (plural)

Mano - hand

Mar - sea

Monte - Mount

Museo - museum

English - Spanish words

angels - angeles

desert - desierto

hand - mano

museum - museo

of - de

of the - del

sea - mar

The (feminine) - la

The (plural) - los

Mount - monte

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Uruguay - What You Should Know About The Country, Wines & Restaurants

The national flag of Uruguay.

The flag originally had more blue bands, but the number was reduced to make it easier to see at sea.

The sun's rays have alternating wavy and straight lines.

Where is the country?

South American

Yes, Uruguay is in South America, most people know, but what else should you know? Firstly, since it is south of the equator, the seasons are the reverse of countries to the north. Uruguay's summer, or warm weather in our northern winter (UK, USA, Europe), whilst Uruguay's cool weather is in our summer.

Map of Uruguay

East

The Country's full name is Republic of Oriental Uruguay, including the word oriental, which I associate with what I still think of as the Far East. But oriental just means east. Uruguay is on the south east coast of South American. The waters are the Atlantic Ocean.

Coast

 Coast? Yes, Uruguay is on the coast. 

To the north is Brazil. Like Brazil, Uruguay has beautiful beaches. 

Landmark photo spot, sculpture on the beach, La Mano de Punta del Este.

Sculpture - La Mano de Punta del Este

The Hand of the Tip Of The East. Popular photo spot. It is a warning that the local waves are more suitable for surfing, so swimmers should go to another beach.

The Chilean sculptor who had come to Uruguay to participate in a sculpture contest, later made another similar sculpture in the desert in Chile.

Carnival

Like Brazil, Uruguay has a carnival. In fact Uruguay has a long carnival. Not just three days like the Bank Holiday Notting Hill Carnival in London.

Food In and From Uruguay

A local everyday food, the national dish, is Chivito, a calorie laden upmarket version of burger with a difference, filet mignon steak slice with added egg, cheese, bacon, ham and olives or salad, though you can order a version without the bun just on the plate. 

Wine and Wineries

Lots of wineries. You can buy Uruguay wines from Marks & Spencer, and Hedonism shop in central London.

In Uruguay, a good place to match the local food and wine would be in a winery Restaurant, such as at Bodega Garzon.

Expats, spouses, descendants, importers, tourists or wellwishers, from Uruguay in the UK can buy from Amazon a tee-shirt which says in Spanish I am (soy) Uruguan, Raised on Chivito, or I'd rather be in Uruguay,  with a Spanish flag in the shape of the country.

Side Trips For Food

The country has more cattle than people. Up north towards Brazil is cowboy country with ranches.

The Fray Bentos former meat canning site closed down but is now a UNESCO site and museum.

Wiki informs me

The "Fray Bentos" brand is now owned in the UK by Baxters, which manufactures the product range in Scotland. The Campbell Soup Company manufactures and sells Fray Bentos-branded steak and kidney pies in Australia.

I can buy Fray Bentos pies in the UK from Morrisons supermarket, Waitrose, and from Amazon, which all show the tin. Baxters website shows the pie once cooked.

Population

The population is small. 3.5 to 4.5 million. Less than London and many main cities. 

Capital - Montevideo

More than half the population, about two million people, live in the largest city and capital, Montevideo.

Language

The language is Spanish.

The restaurant menu for the Bodega Garzon winery was in Spanish with the Portuguese translation under each item listed. Bodega Garzon is the second of the top two largest wine producers in Portugal, according to my husband. 

He is presenting Uruguayan wines to the Central London Wine Society. Enquiries and booking through Meetup.

Religion in Uruguay

About half the population are Roman Catholic, or Christian. However, the country is secular. Uruguay was one of the first countries to recognize the state of Israel.

Differences from Paraguay

Uruguay has a seaside but Paraguay is land locked. Uruguay had an influx of foreigners and European influence but Paraguay preserved an indigenous population and the language Guarani.

In the UK on September 2nd 2026 I was offered £5 off my first order if I signed up to Hedonism.

The Irurtia family offered me a free glass of wine for signing up, but I would have to go to Uruguy. Once there I could drive west to see them. It takes about six hours to drive across the country non stop south to north or east to west. About the size of England and Wales, my husband says like driving to Edinburgh from London in a day, feasible in theory, but you would want to stop overnight half way, and preferably extend to two to four days to make a couple of special stops, one each morning, one each afternoon, with either a leisurely lunch or an evening dinner, or 6 days to do it properly and leisurely. Day trips by ferry, an hour each way, come from Rio in neighbouring Brazil.

Useful Websites About Uruguay

tripadvisor

wikipedia

wikivoyage travel uruguay

wikivoyage phrasebook Spanish

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

Uruguayan Wines Sold In the UK

https://www.finewinesdirectuk.com/all-wines/country/new-world/uruguay/

https://hedonism.co.uk/collections/country-uruguay

Restaurant Menu & Wines At Bodega Garzon in Uruguay

https://bodegagarzon.com/

Restaurant of the Deicas Family

https://familiadeicas.com/restaurante/

Irurtia Family

https://enoturismocarmelo.com.uy/en/wineries/familia-irurtia

UK Uruguyan Food

https://www.baxters.com/products/fray-bentos

https://www.latinroutes.co.uk/lp/uruguay

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I also have posts on learning and translating Spanish and menu translations. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Ruislip Lido Railway

A delightful day, with sand and purate ships full of climbing points. After an affordable late lunch of melted cheese sandwich, carrot cake, we bought tickets for the miniature train.

The station shop sold buckets and spades.

The train chugged through shady woods. Walkers on the pathe beside the train followed dos and stopped to wave at us.

Half way along is a small station, no shop or cafe or toilets

, just some  flower pots and gnomes for photos.

The far end had a smaller cafe selling crisps. But enhanced by a teeny train running around overhead on two sides of the room.

Beyond the first car park, was the most expensive part of our day as we had to buy a full day's parking. 

A short walk or drive brings you to The Water's Edge restaurant, famous for its carvery Sunday lunches. 

Beyond that you are back on the main road  and Majestic wine warehouse which intermittently runs tastings.

 

Honey From Harrow and Beeswax Candles

 The Headstone Manor Museum held Headstone Village Show Monday 31st August, one of several events held this year.

Several sign boards are in the area and a kiddie playground. Dog walkers were having a great time and there are lots of benches where you can sit in the sun

The event cost us £5 and the first thing we saw was the museum which you can see at other times for free.

I was interested to see the explanation of the origin of the name of the area.

I tried rolling a candle, then sticking it together with a pin which has a bee on the end. You get to keep your candle which costs £3.

I also bought honey. The lady sitting at the back was not just the seller but also the bee keeper. She told us that anybody can keep a hive in their back garden. But if you put it on an allotment you need to register with the council so if there is any damage from or to your hive they know who to contact.

I also bought lip balm. The lipstick shape balm and smalll screw top tub were the same price. I fancied the lipstick but the tops come off and get lost so I chose the screw top as being more practical for travelling.

My other purchase was honey. Runny honey. To my surprise the three people on the stall told me that runny honey goes solid if you keep it long enough.

Wildflower honey jar. Photo by Angela Lansbury

The flavour of new honey like this is not as strong. But it won't last long enough to mature in my house.

The honey was sticky, didn't run down the jar making a mess but sat securely on the teaspoon.

Sticky in the mouth. It left a sweet aftertaste on my lips.

Altogether an entertaining day. I shall go again next year.

You can visit the small museum in the old building for free. The Moat Cafe on the site is open Tuesdays to Sundays, different hours winter and summer.

Useful Websites And Contacts For Headstone Manor and Honey

Www.headstonemanor.org

carolinesapiary.com

Carolines.apiary@aol.com

https://www.beehivecandles.com/help/beeswax-candle-burning-tips/

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Travel Round The English Language in German and French

 German words you probably know are kinderagrden from Kinder for child and garten meaning garden. Delicatessen reminds you of essen for to eat.

French words - we have a long list, over 300, without counting words in food, cuisine. The ones which immediately spring to my mind are bureau, desk,  chateau,  castle or mansion, chauffeur,driver, bouquet, bunch of flowers, and ballet. We eat croissants, which is French for crescent. In the kitchen we have a bain Marie, literally bath (of) Marie. 

German

essen - eat

Garten - garden

kinder - child

French

bouquet - bunch of flower

bureau - desk / office

chateau - castle, mansion (often fortified)

chauffeur - driver

coiffeur

I met a linguistics loving soulmate at Writers' Summer School and bought her book.

Notting Hill Carnival - travel and using phones

Plenty of uniformed staff were about on the Elizabeth line. Wearing orange for visibility. Although blue is used for staff interacting with customers elsewhere. 

Saturday August 29 to Monday 31st 2026 is a bank holiday in the UK. Banks, businesses and services and government offices are closed. Families are free to travel together because of school holidays. 

Busy Stations

Saturday the Notting Hill Carnival was tickets only. But the trains were very busy. Sunday and Monday the Carnival is a free for all event. More people travelling. 

TFL Uniforms

I looked up the TFL website on uniforms and was interested to see that when uniforms were updated they were made more breathable to copy with hot flushes for menopause, and with non leather belts and shoes for vegans.

Staff in uniforms can tell you where to find the escalators to your line when changing stations, and which line to take to partiuclar stations if you can't see a map nearby. There are also help enquiry points on walls so you can talk to somebody in a remote office and get advice.

Your phone will also give you 

railway station maps, and 

street maps with walking directions, and 

driving directions and estimated arrival times

expected bus arrival times

bus routes with stops so you can work out where to get off, and how many more stops.

You will see estimated arrival times to tell friends (but make allowance for traffic jams and how fast you walk).

When driving to and from London and other cities, if your Satnav fails or takes too long to programme, a passenger can use their phone to find directions with a speaking voice to guide you when to turn off a motorway or roundabout.

If you are driving solo, and lost, without satnav, you can pull into a parking place or service station. Programme your phone. If you don't have a holder on a window or windscreen, you can place it on the passenger seat, making sure it is somewhere it won't roll off into the footwell. Then listen to the directions, hands free, as you drive.

Watch out for phone thieves on foot and motorbikes, if you are using your phone to get directions when walking or standing at a bus stop. When possible, put your phone away, and/or stand where it cannot be seen nor grabbed. Or take an older phone. Or wear a mouthpiece or earpiece instead of a visible phone. Bluetooth can be activated by voice assistants such as Google Assistant or Siri. Ensure your phone and earpiece are charged and/or carry a charger.

Useful Websites

https://nhcarnival.org/

https://tfl.gov.uk/status-updates/major-works-and-events/notting-hill-carnival-and-august-bank-holiday-travel-2026

Tfl.gov.uk/carnival

https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/london-stories/origins-notting-hill-carnival/?

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

https://www.facebook.com/NHCarnivalLDN/?

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1324942236434270&set=pb.100067555190573.-2207520000

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1281256414136186&set=pb.100067555190573.-2207520000

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Barbican outdoor cinema, and seating with ponchos

 

Barbican outdoor cinema screen and chairs with padded cusions. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The outdoor cinema is a huge screen in an indoor courtyard. Upright chairs are in rows. When you show your ticket on your phone you are given arched headphones, and collect a padded 'cushion' to place on the chair. 

We went on a Saturday which was a rainy day and were given a packet containing a folded rain poncho which was recyclable and collected afterwards.

To buy, tubs of popcorn.

The Barbican has several bars.

I stopped in Searcy's for hot chocolate and two of our foursome just had coffee, sitting at a table. I thought it was a bit pricey, but willing, smiling service from our Vietnamese waiter called Viet.