Cool bag or see if it can be taken out of fridge for a period of time.
If travelling by car all day, this works.
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Travel worldwide: UK; hotels; restaurants; museums; vineyards; factory tours; learning languages.
Nelson's column. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.
The civil Service club restaurants are open to members and people booking events in rooms which are hired out. I have two friends who are members of the Civil Service Club or arrange events for clubs which have members who work for or retired from the Civil Service.
I arrived early for a wine society meeting. At lunch time the upstairs rest aurant was fully booked for a group lunch with white tablecloths and napkins and early arriving people wearing smart suits.
Reservations
Fish and chips. Photo by Angela Lansbury.Downstairs, I thought it was too cold to sit outdoors. In the ground floor restaurant, by the time I returned from. Freshening up in the ground floor Ladies, the tables in the main room by the bar all already had reserved signs on small slate boards. I darted into the three small linked adjoining rooms which each had a couple of tables seating 2 to 4. To my concern, they also had reserved signs.
I accosted a passing member staff and asked, Where can I sit?
A girl who was 'waiting' at the bar emerged to help me. The reservations were not all for lunch time.
Fortunately, as she pointed out, one reservation was for tea time, another for dinner time, by which time I would be at an event upstairs. So I had a table by the light of the window.
If you sit by the door to the front patio you get a cold draught.
Notice the amusing little cartoons on the walls.
I chose battered cod and chips, large chips with peas. The dish came with a pickled cucumber and a section of lemon, British tradition to counteract the greasyness of fried fish. Also mayonnaise.
I noticed that when others ordered coffee and a separate side of chips, the customers were served the thinner potato sections which the Americans call French fries.
Drinks
For non alcoholic drinks you have a chice of red or white. Red and white alcoholic wines are available in two sizes of glasses or a bottle. Champagne costs 49.95 a bottle. I looked at Rose Wines. Zinfandel 125 ml 3.50.Prosecco 3.40. CHAMPAGNE 3.85.
But with a wine tasting event in the evening, I looked at desserts instead. Ice creams offered sepately are, vanilla, strawberry, or chocolate. Cheesecake or hot chocolate brownie or cherry tart with ice cream, cream, or custard.
Events include quiz nights and comedy nights.
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One good restaurant is El Vaquero. the name means the cowboy. The decor is Argentinian
Food
The food is based on Argentinian. The meat comes to your table on skewers. Eat as much as you like. (There is a high set price. But that includes all you can eat. They often bring the cheaper meat, the sausage on skewers, first. Then the slice off steak. But nobody minds.
Birthdays
They will come to your table in their cowboy or cowgirl costume. They sing happy birthday. They take a photo of you.
I have been to their branches in Mill Hill and Whetstone. Mill Hill is smaller. Check on the parking.
Timing
See if they have two sittings. My family recently went to the Whetstone branch. They got second sitting because the first sitting was booked. But they were told that if they arrived a bit early, they could probably get seated.
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Useful Websites
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If you are away travelling and know that your spouse will be celebrating a birthday, you can pack your own fancy ribbon.
You can also buy a card with Happy Birthday on it before you leave and hide it in your suitcase of handbag. Keep it in the envelope, with stiff card, or between the pages of a book so it doe not get bent.
If it gets bent or dog-eared, paste on a ribbon or sequin.
If you need to make a mock seal, or vanish, buy nail varnish, red or clear.
French Macaroons
What can you buy in France? Macaroons. For yourself. To take home as a gift.
They are a French speciality. They have whole shops devoted to macaroons. One is in Gare du Nord.
See different colours. Cheaper than chocolates. Cheaper than other countries. More varieties. More sizes.
You can get them packed in pretty boxes. If they are a gift, tell the shop. Staff will usually wrap them in a fancy paper or box with a ribbon bearing the shop name. For free.
Storage
We chose pink and green and purply brown. We kept some too long. In a fridge. They did not go mouldy. On the contrary, lacking moisture, rock hard. They lose their flavour eventually, so don't save them too long. Eat them whilst they are fresh and tangy\ .
Macaroons are popular worldwide.
British Macaroons
Macaroons are a big thing in Britain. Literally big.
Giant chocolate macaroons from Mrs Crimble. Currently (April 2024) reduced to one pound in Waitrose. Big enough to break in two and share as a snack with your morning coffee or afternoon tea.
Tesco also supply a box of assorted macaroons costing under five pounds sterling.
If you are prepared to spend more, for a special occasion, or gift, you can also get macaroons from Hotel Chocolat, not only chocolate.
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The flag or Eire (Ireland) and the flag of the Ivory Coast have the same colours. But reversed right to left.
Flag of Ireland.
Green white orange. The orange is for the Protestants in the north.
So the green is on the side of the post.
The Ivory Coast flag is the other way around.
Eire on the left. Ivory coast on the right.
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Places for travellers to visit, connected with Shakespeare
1 London
Theatre in the Round
Church with bust of Shakespeare inside
Bust of Shakespeare outside Guildhall
2 Stratford upon Avon, England
Shakepeare's birthplace museum
Anne Hathaway's Cottage (she was his wife)
Theatre in Avon
3 Canada Niagara on the lake Shakespeare season
To put you in the mood, here are some of the Shakespearean phrases you are probably familiar with. You either quote them often or hear them quoted often, or both.
What a busy month, humorous and serious. It started on April 1st which was April Fool's Day and Easter Monday.
Ramadan dates 2024 and 2025
Ramadan ended April 9th 2024. However, Ramadan is not in April in 2025. In 2025 it will be from Feb until March for 30 days. Travellers may wish to travel before the date of the start to reach Muslim countries and areas to enjoy evening meals with the family or street markets, or to avoid Muslim countries on these dates if you wish to visit Muslim restaurants. In some Muslim countries and areas you will find other restaurants open to foreigners, eg Chinese restaurants open to Westerners in Malaysia - look for the red lanterns and lights on.
Varied Celebrations & Commemorations
April has brought us Shakespeare and St George's Day in England, Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand, and Earth Day worldwide.
Earth Day
Monday April 22nd was Earth Day.
Harrovians Toastmasters International speakers' training and leadership club in Harrow was celebrating its 21st anniversary. Inflatable globes decorated with maps depicting the world were on stage.
Costco Cake Catering
We had a birthday cake which was ordered from Costco on Saturday and delivered on Monday. The icing was delicious. The cost was about seventeen pounds for a large cake.
Guest of Honour, Mayor HarrowThe club had invited the Mayor of Harrow to speak, and his wife the mayoress. The mayor was dressed in red. He entertainingly told us that a little girl aged about six had mistakenly though he was Santa Claus and asked him for a present. She assured him that she had been very good.
Left: The mayor of Harrow, Ramji Chauhan.
Centre: Toastmasters International, UK South, Club Growth Director, Mo Dawodu.
Right: Angela Lansbury, member of Harrovians Toastmasters Club since 2004.
If you wish to read about the early days of Harrovians, I wrote an account of it which you can buy from lulu.com
Shakespeare & St George
Tuesday 23rd April, all day and every year on the 3rd, is St George's Day. It is also Shakespeare's birthday. A chance to celebrate with quotations from Shakespeare.
The red cross on white is familiar to football supporters who know the England team's insignia.
ANZAC
Thursday 24th is Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand. Marches start at dawn in Australia.
Field of Remembrance, Australia. Photo from Wikipedia.The Anzac Field of Remembrance is wooden crosses for those who lost their lives, planted by the War Widows' Guild, in St Andrews Church, Sydney, Australia. Other events include playing of the sound of the Last Post. Events take place worldwide, Malaysia, Tasmania, Canada, UK.
Gallipoli, Turkey. Wikipedia.
Anzac Cove, Turkey. Wikipedia.PASSOVER MEALS
Monday 22nd and 23rd this year (following a Jewish calendar with changing days) are Passover or Seder night for the UK Jewish community. In Israel, religious events take place on one day, but in the diaspora they last two days to be sure to align with the time the event is celebrated in Jerusalem.
Jesus's Last Supper was a Passover meal, commemorating the angel of death passing over the houses of Hebrew slaves when a plague swept over Egypt.
The Discovery Channel programme investigating suggested that wet weather turned mouldy the stored wheat or grain. The wheat was eaten by the richer Egyptians. They gave double portions to the older firstborn son, hence the deaths of their firstborn.
This food poisoning was known in the USA in a previous century as the cause of St Vitus's dance. The spring cleaning by finishing up last year's old flour before stocking up with the new season's harvest accounts for the unleavened matzah eaten by Jews and the lent fast including pancake day to use up old flour.
April 20th was Chinese Language Day.
The last day of the month April 30th, this year 2024, is the last day of Passover, April 30th is also National Child Day which encourages reading to children, national Mahjong Day which encourages you to play or learn to play mahjong, and adopt a shelter pet day and therapy animal day, and International Jazz Day. If you want to end with a sweet treat, it is also national oatmeal cookie day and bubble tea day. As Shakespeare said, or rather, wrote, All's Well That Ends Well.
Useful websites
Easter
Anzac Day
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anzac_Day
Shakespeare
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Shakespearean_phrases
St George's Day
https://nationaltoday.com/april-30-holidays/
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Lidl. 79 pence. In central London you would pay a pound or more likely two pounds.
A joke candidate for mayor has the slogan, croissants for a pound.
Put it in your oven or microwave in your home or serviced apartment. Soft and munchy and sticky and sucky inside. Crisp on the outside.
Also check for multi packs in Sainsbury's, at 99p, Tesco half price from over a pound to fifty pence late at night (if there are any left), Costco, Amazon, and frozen dough to cook yourself.
Tesco Express often have them hot from the oven first thing in the morning.
Wetherspoons pub do a breakfast deal, coffee (or tea or small orange juice), croissant and preserve (jam) until noon, at three pounds fifty five pence.
Morrisons supermarket also do multipacks.
In London you can find cafes serving meals all day, but the croissants will probably only be at breakfast time. Look for cafes in places such as Morrisons in Hatch End. Waitrose in South Harrow near Harrow on the Hill.
Tesco online sells six Pret a manger croissants in a pack for £3.50.
I just discovered a new trick. If your laptop doesn't have a pound sign, only dollars. copy the price from a website. But then you get their size font like this. You have to change it like this. From bold to normal and then large to normal. But it changes itself back again!
A hotel in France had no fridge in the room, but the receptionist who also ran the bar offered to put my pills in the bar fridge. I declined, because I ran the risk of forgetting or finding the fridge was locked and the person with the key was on an errand, just when we were in a hurry to leave next morning. However, the car was so cold overnight, that we were able to leave the pills in the car which was safely locked away in an underground garage.
Insulated Lunch Box
The latest comment I had on my appeal for suggestions on Face book was that you use an insulated lunch box. This is what I do. I use a padded bag which is foldable so it is lightweight and can be compacted.
Cool Box
Prepare for a tartan theme wedding, waring your tartan to a wedding, or joining the celebrations on Tartan day or Tartan week. Look out your tartans or buy new ones, or prepare pictures for your website.
I have a tartan headscarf. The label says Lochcarron, Made in Scotland, 100% new wool. GORDON.
Colours
The Gordon scarf colours are black, green and yellow. You can confirm which colours by looking at the fringe.
When are tartan days and Scottish weeks?
Days
Tartan day is held, celebrated, on April 6th in the USA, Canada and parts of Scotland. (It seems to me that New Year's Eve and every day are tartan days in Scotland!) It is also called National Tartan Day and International Tartan Day. Every state in the USA has its own tartan. There are also tartans Buddhists, for Christian clergy, Jews and Muslims.
Weeks
The Scottish Tartan day has been expanded to Scotland Week.
Other opportunities for buying and wearing tartans are at the Edinburgh Festival, which features street performances, comedy in rooms in pubs, sometimes booked through the ticket offices, or free with a donation box handed round, and ticketed theatre performances in theatres, featuring national groups from around the world.
The Lochcarron visitor centre
The Lochcarron visitor centre is south of Edinburgh, making it even nearer to England, and a possible stop if you are driving north. They have a shop, free parking, a picnic area and free refill of water bottles. You can learn about tartans and buy some.
In addition to clothes, you can buy fabric which you can make into your own clothes or cushions.
More Information from these useful websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartan_Day
https://www.nms.ac.uk/tartantoday
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Tamil is spoken in Tamil Nadu in India.
Tamil Nadu means Tamil country. The capital is Chennai, formerly called Madras..
Tamil is also spoken in Sri Lanka.
Lanka means island. Sri means resplendent.
Sri Lanka previously was called Ceylon. You might still see Celonese tea. Twinings Tea company websites uses both words,
Singapore
Tamil is additionally one of the four national languages of Singapore. Tamil is spoken in Little India, where you find shops and restaurants. Also in schools for those whose family language is Tamil.
Learning Tamil
I could not find Tamil in Duolingo. But I could find Hindi, and one of the Indian languages has learning English as an option.
Wikipedia has articles on the language and the countries and places mentioned. Wikivoyage has a phrasebook for each country.
Quora has interesting discussion on saying hello and goodbye in Tamil.
Wikivoyage has a phrasebook. They say that Tamil language is spoken by 74 million people.
Tamil is closely related to Malayalam, and more distantly related to Kannada and Telugu. It is not related to the languages spoken in northern India, but like other Indian languages has been heavily influenced by Sanskrit.
What to see in Tamil Nadu
The capital city, Chennai, has beaches.
Huge Hindu temples. The religion of the majority is Hindu.
What to see in Sri Lanka
The majority religion is Buddhist.
What to see in Singapore
1 Little India has small shops, and huge Mustafa's department store.
2 Restaurants serve meat or vegetarian dishes, and Singapore's speciality, fish head curry, with white rice on green banana leaves. The banana Leaf Appollo is one of many South Indian restaurants, many of which are vegetarian.
Little India has a museum about Indian immigration to Singapore. very interesting and visitor friendly. For example, when I was there you could try on hats and take a selfie..
Useful Websites
Singapore Indian Museum
https://www.indianheritage.gov.sg/en
Tamil Language
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Tamil_phrasebook
Sri Lankan Tea
https://twinings.co.uk/collections/sri-lankan-tea
In the good old days a smart person could mail home anyhing too heavy to pack. Nowadays the moral is, sender and recipient beware - of extra charges, taxes.
USA Postage and tax
A relative of mine in the USA visited their relative and accidentally left behind a coat and some clothes. The used clothes were posted from one state to another. In addition to the mailing cost, the recipient was charged sales tax.
Singapore to UK
We posted crockery and leftover kitchenware from where we were renting a service apartment in Singapore, back to our home in the UK. Most of the household stuff was bought in the UK and taken or sent out to Singapore.
To our surprise, in addition to the huge cost in Singapore, of mailing each of the three boxes, on each box we had to pay a large sum of money on import duty to the UK before the company would delivery our goods.
What is the moral?
1 When packing to return, check all high cupboards by standing on a chair or ladder, and/or sweeping top cupboards and above cupboards with a broom.
2 Mark the box as used or second hand goods. Customs and excise will assume you are shipping new goods bought from department stores. Even so, be prepared to pay tax on delivery.
We had broken items delivered. So we had paid tax on the delivery of broken items!
3 Bubble wrap everything. Paper and tissue is not enough wrapping for crockery. Even socks and d, clothing is better than just paper. Your parcel could be dropped, or crushed. Layers of card or tin boxes, double layered, lined and filled with bubble wrap, offer extra protection. Now you know why your small item from Amazon arrives in a huge box inside a box like a Russian doll.
Useful Websites
https://www.openweb.com/share/2f8MHDrUys3y9yOXmWnSfklSVqG
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Click Languages
Practise xhosa sounds with a man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw_hBNyi_9c
Some history and world view from a lady