Potato Paradise, Peru and worldwide. My Museum Wishlist - the Idaho Potato Museum, USA, and potato museums in Canada and Poland

Idaho Potato Museum, in Blackfoot, Idaho, USA.
 

I love potatoes. More than rice and pasta. I love potatoes. I grew up in the UK when in postwar Britain the shops advertised meat and two ve and one of the vegetables was potato (now counted as a starch.)

Potato Dishes

What do I love? In England I would have roast potatoes with a Sunday lunch, in Jewish restaurants potato latke (like the Swiss rosti and American has fries. 

What else? First and foremost, saute potatoes. For health, and speed or rather speed ad ease of preparation, baked potatoes in their jackets.

Every UK supermarket has lots of potatoes all year. Starting with new potatoes  my least favourite.

Where are the potato museums.

The USA - Idaho.

Also Canada.

The Canadian Potato Museum.

POLAND

The potato is the symbol of Poznan. The  Potato Museums's guided tour starts with visitors preparing a potato dish with spices. and ends with the visitor eating it. 

Poland also has a monument to the potato on the north west coast at Biesiekierz. I had trouble spelling and typing the names, until I realized it was i before e three times..

Monument to the potato at Biesiekierz, Poland. More details in Wikipedia.

Where can you eat and find potatoes?

Potato festivals are held all over the world, including the USA and Ireland.

Vending machines for cooked potatoes have been seen in Belgium, Canada, Israel, Singapore, and other countries.  

Potato dishes for travellers to try world wide include savoury potatoes and desserts, admittedly mostly made with sweet potatoes.:

UK, especially England

Fish and chips

INDIAN (in Indian restaurants in the UK and Singapore)

Aloo ghobi

Sag aloo (spinach and potato. Aloo is potato.\

USA

Baked potatoes in their jackets (Also called jacket potatoes.)

McDonalds.

UK

Fish and chip shops.

McDonalds fries

Potato crisps (called chips in the USA)

In which countries and places can travellers find potatoes?

BELGIUM

French fries.called Frites

France

Pommes Dauphinoise

 Useful Websites

https://www.foodrepublic.com/1294946/things-you-didnt-know-about-potatoes/

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

https://www.idahopotatomuseum.com/

For foodies!

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

CANADA

https://potatomuseum.com/ (Canada)

https://canadianpotatomuseum.com/

Also in Canada an advertising sculpture of the Big Potato Man

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

POLAND

https://its-poland.com/attraction/potato-museum-of-poznan

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/potato-monument-pomnik-ziemniaka

WORLDWIDE

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

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

DIY Potato recipes

https://www.marksandspencer.com/c/food-and-wine/cooking/recipes/potatoes-recipes/

https://www.thelittleepicurean.com/purple-sweet-potato-pie-bars/

Using the book Naturally Delicious desserts.

Potato Food

Tesco's website for the UK offers Maris Piper potatoes, all rounder potatoes, new potatoes, mashed potatoes and peeled potatoes.

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/260999122

Potato Gifts

Crochet Potato ball with message

https://www.temu.com/uk/1pc-mini-funny-positive-potato-cute-wool-crochet-knitted-potato-toy-party-favor-gifts-knitted-plush-potatoes-birthday-christmas-decoration-encourage-positive-energy-

Key ring motif potato with message

https://www.temu.com/uk/cute-acrylic-potato-keychain-with-tassel-double-sided-emotional-support-appreciation-gift

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For books by Angela Lansbury see Amazon.com and Lulu.com

Hot To Learn Italian Quickly, Free, Reguarly

 I am learning Italian on Duolingo. I do it on my laptop at home. I do it on my mobile phone on the train and while waiting at stations. 

I am now in the Obsidian league. I am in the top five of 30 local learners. The Duolingo system tells you how you rate in a set of 30 people. The top five are promoted to the next league.

It is an incentive to keep doing another exercise when you see you need only a dozen points to overtake the person above you in the league.

My husband is travelling to Italy on separate trips at different times of  year. He also wants to learn Italian. 

So, at lunch time, I read to him from my ooozu card. It is credit card size. It is small enough to go in the pocket of a jacket, or a mobile phone.

Side one starts with easy words. I read the English and he says the Italian.

I also have the trilingual English Spanish Italian book.

If I wear teaching English to somebody who spoke Spanish or Italian, I could do the reverse, using the same three sources. 

Useful Websites

amazon.com

duolingo.com

lulu.com

ooozu.com

You might also be interested in one or more of my 20 books which you can read about and order through amazon.com and lulu.com

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Food and Statues in Spain - Famous Phrases From What Cervantes Said About Food

 

My husband and I visited the north of sunny Spain in July 2024 and our circular tour ended at the port of Bilbao (home of the Guggenheim museum). Our route took us via Valladoid, the city which was our last night before reaching Bilbao for the ferry back to Britain. 

The hotel Imperial had a nine plus rating from Booking.com  The chatty man on reception gives you a map and circles the places you can see by walking. So we set off for a one hour walk, first down the alley to the main square. 

Then down the road to see the magnificent giant old buildings and museums and statues. 

Angela Lansbury by the statue of Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, in Valladolid, northern Spain. Photo by Trevor Sharot Copyright.

We could not see the museums, which were closed Sunday evening and all day Monday and I had waned to see something connected with Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, pronounced key hoh, tay) source of the English adjective quixotic, Spain's renowned author, known worldwide. I was initially disappointed that the building connected with him was closed.

However, I was delighted to get a picture of the statue of Cervantes, author of Don Quixote. Cervantes was he source of he well known often quoted proverb:

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

The proof in this context means the test, to prove its value. Nowadays we use proof o mean the good result of a est, the evidence, or the certification. The word test would make more sense to a modern reader, especially children and those who speak English as a second language. Although the word proof is not used like this nowadays, we quote in the old language because proof of the pudding is alliterative. It sounds better and is more memorable.

 In AZ quotes I found what Cervantes said about food:

There is no sauce in the world like hunger.

All sorrows are less with bread.

It is a true saying that a man must eat a peck (pack) of salt with a friend before he knows him.

A peck is a term hardly known and used by the public in English nowadays. A peck, was, and is, a technical term, not a pinch but a large amount. So I have added a similar word translated into English to convey clarity of the large size.

After taking this photo of Cervantes, we went to a Tapas bar, which I have described on this blog on travel, and on my more focused blog on wineanddinewith Angela. 

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Italian Almond Crumb Cake - Sbrisolona & Sweet Food Festival

 Almond crumb cake comes from Mantua, also called Mantova, in the Lombardy region of Italy. 

Sbrisolona. Photo from Wikipedia.

The city has had a Sbrisolona festival. The second one was Oct 13-15 in 2023. The net one is 18-20 Oct 2024.

Festival of Sbrisolona, Mantua, Italy. Photo by Franzk in Wikipedia.

The distinctive features of this almond cake are that it is crumbly and it is made with orange instead of lemon zest.

Italian Almond Tart Sbrisolona

https://www.bing.com/search?q=ialian+almond+tart&pc=GD03&form=GDAVG1&ptag=7301&showconv=1

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Almond Cakes Around Europe - England, France, Spain & Portugal

Spanish Almond Tart

 In Spain we had almond cake for evening dinner dessert, at the Parador de Fuent De in the Picos de Europa (European Peaks) in the north of Spain.  I loved the almond filling. The same item appeared again at breakfast.

French Almond Tart

Just across the border is France. The French call their marzipan tart frangipane.

Another Spanish Almond Tart

We travelled west through northern Spain to Santiago de Compostelo, the city whose cathedral is the end of a hiking pilgrimage. The city's classic dish is the Tarta De Santiago.

We crossed the border to Spain, off to Oporto and the port wine region of the Douro.

Portuguese Almond Tart (Tarte de amendoa)

As we travelled onwards, west into Portugal I had a pleasant surprise. My favourite almond tart appeared again.

English Almond Tarts

Back in London, England, I noticed Bakewell tart or almond tart in Tesco Express. We once stopped in Bakewell to try tart from a shop claiming to be the original site of the recipe. But their tart seemed to me no better nor different than others I had tried. I was quite happy with locally bought Bakewell tart down south in London.

Bakewell tart picture by Brynn in Wikipedia under Bakewell Tart. Notice the red fruit jam (Americans say jelly) on the pastry base of the tart. Flaked almonds and icing sugar (Americans say powdered sugar) on the top of the tart.

Costa's Almonds

Across the road, in Costa in Hatch End, I was able to indulge myself in part of a slice of almond cake, shared with my husband. Costa is Italian. 

Costa Exterior with pavement seating for summer. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 

Costa interior with indoor seating in the light by the window. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Almond bake on display (lower center) at Costa in Hatch End, London. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

It is very fattening. All that almond cake in Spain had fattened me up. After all that cake and hotel and restaurant meals in Spain and Portugal I needed to go on a diet. But, who can resist cake. 

I ate a third.

Almond tart, divided, in Costa. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Tesco Almond Cake

Tesco in London also had croissants, hot every morning, with almond fillings. (We also saw these in Singapore last year, 2023). I looked up the calorie count for almond filled croissants and was horrified.

Today I went online looking for recipes and found a few. Almond cake or rather tart, seems more easy to make than cheesecake.

You have a shortcrust pastry base. You can buy this from the supermarkets in rolls unbaked and roll it out. Then three equal amounts, 180 grams, of ground almonds which American call almond flour), granulated sugar, and butter. Add three eggs. 

Either mix the eggs and sugar, then the almonds, or mix the dry sugar and almonds, then add the eggs.

You may have to pre-cook the base so it doesn't go soggy

How high and long do you cook it?  170 degrees for 45 minutes.

Optional extras are lemon juice and/or cinnamon.

On top you can put almond flakes (also called sliced almonds), or confectioners' sugar (icing sugar(, or raspberries. If you think fruit is healthier than sugar this would be a good idea. Adding flour is optional, and some recipes without it or tars without it are promoted as gluten free. Almond essence is added by some books to enhance the almond flavour.

Another variation is individual cupcakes with white icing on top and a cherry in the middle, recently revived from an old recipe book promoted as Gloucester tarts which were given away free at the city's museums as a promotion. The distinctive ingredients were ground rice and raspberry jam.

Gloucester tart from Wikipedia.

Gloucester is a cathedral city in southwest England on the way to Wales, near Monmouth. 

I must admit I was familiar with this kind of cake or tart. I remember clearly trying both this one which was cheaper and an almond tart I decided that the almonds were lost under the sugar icing, which seemed to me a way of giving you a layer of sugar without almonds, which looked pretty. An economy for mass production. But for pure almond taste, I preferred an almond cake.

I am now thinking of making an almond tart at home, with and without the almond essence. I shall read the label to check if it is really intensified flavour from real or roasted almonds, or a chemical. But since I am already over-indulging in the delights of a tart made by mixing sugar with almonds, admittedly with added egg. maybe I should be less prim and proper and just enjoy.

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Useful Websites

The Shop and Cafe in Bakewell, Derbyshire, Peak District, England

https://www.bakewelltarts.co.uk/

English Almond Tart Recipe - Waitrose supermarket video on making Bakewell Tart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R8V_yooAEc

Spanish Almond Tart Recipe

https://www.carolinescooking.com/tarta-de-santiago/

Portuguese Almond Tart Recipe Video

https://honestcooking.com/tarte-de-amendoa-portuguese-almond-tart-recipe/

Italian Almond Tart Sbrisolona

https://www.bing.com/search?q=ialian+almond+tart&pc=GD03&form=GDAVG1&ptag=7301&showconv=1

French Frangipane Almond Tart

https://thecafesucrefarine.com/ridiculously-easy-french-almond-frangipane-tart/

See my next post on Italian almond cake.

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Veera Restaurant - South Indian Restaurant in Hatch End - Very New, Very Good

Angela Lansbury in Indian outfit outside newly opened Veera by Sarasas Indian restaurant. Photo by Trevor Sharot.
 

The name Veera means older brother in two Indian languages as well as being from the Sanskrit brave. The owners have two other successful restaurants in Hayes and Ruislip. The new restaurant in Hatch End was designed by the family. While it's new, they will be overseeing the Hatch End branch. But they keep an eye on the quality of service with video so they can spot if customers are looking for attention. I think this is wonderful.  The family were busy checking up looking after us when we had a meal there on the first day.

Now, what about the decor and food.\

Delightful Decor

First the decor. We popped in to look at the menu at lunch time and were delighted. Of course it was all new.  A choice of seating, upright dining chairs or banquettes against the walls. One circular table. A bank of three behind a barrier which cuts it off from the bar. The circular table is opposite the kitchen window, so might be noisy they warned up. There was background music, good for us as we had a three year old and did not want to risk disturbing others.

The decor is delightful. Unusual light fittings. The toilets have an imitation leaves of the roof.

Amusing. Restful. Different.

I also liked the playing card motifs indicating men and women on he toilet doors.

Food Prices and Choices

The dearest items were the mixed grill at 27 pounds and the tandoori salmon at 17.

Mixed grill. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The chicken biriani was 15. Biriani comes at four prices depending on ingredients. Vegetarians can choose vegetarian options at lower prices. 

The most dramatic dish, ordered by others at the next table, was the conical dosai. Amusing and amazing. 

Conical dosai at Veera Restaurant, Hatch End. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The peshwari naan contained coconut. Six pounds.

The desserts we tried were two kinds of kulfi (Indian ice cream). 

Kulfi in two flavours. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Drinks

The Lunetta Prosecco was a small 20c  bottle, enough for two of us to have a glass.  I had mango lassi at six pounds. Service charge was more than 10 percent. 

We had some leftover food and they provided lidded boxes for us to select our take away. 

The owner escorted us to the door and made sure we had a sample of the digestive seeds in the decorative bicycle.

Counter top model of a bicycle containing seeds. Veera restaurant by Sarasas. Hatch End. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

If the website prices are up to date, you can get the same or similar food and drink at their other branches at lower prices.

Useful Information

Veera Restaurant

322-324 Uxbridge Road, Hatch End, Harrow HA5 4HR

 For their branches in Ruislip and Hayes, see

http://sarasasrestaurant.com/

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Perfect and Vital Photos of Holiday Resorts, Business, family, friends, clubs

A welcome sign can be used to open a slide show or blog.
 

You can take photos on travels, whether on business or holiday, either for a purpose or as a backup.

These are the photos I take

IN ADVANCE - TICKETS & LUGGAGE & PEOPLE

If you forget, take luggage in transit or as you check-in at an airport.

Suitcases showing colour, style (hard side), size and brand, for identification in case of loss. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

1 TICKETS

Tickets and reservations. They may be on the internet but the internet could go down. They may be on my phone but the phone might need charging or not get a connection to show them.

The hotel, plane, or tour or restaurant might not recognize you. Your reservation letter would reveal that you are at the wrong branch of a Holiday Inn. Of an Asian hotel has listed your first name as a family name. 

2 BAGS

Photos of luggage. In case I need to search, send others to search at baggage claim, or fill out a form. If you lose luggage they ask the colour and brand. If you have eight items it is hard to remember, and if there is a query, or language problem, you can show a picture.

3 PEOPLE

Photos of your companions are useful. Lose your husband at an airport or meeting. In a large shop? Lose a child? Show the photo to an official or bystander.

DESTINATION

4 Destination photos. PLACES. 

First I take my hotel. If I get lost, I can show the picture to a local person. Even if I can't speak the language, or the cannot understand my accent, they can lead me to the end of he road and point to my nearby, yet seemingly elusive hotel.

Hotel Imperial, Valladolid. Spain. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

5 PEOPLE

Photos of people on business, or friends. Take a photo to add to your contacts. If you have six people called Marie, or Patel, or Ali, you will be able to identify the person who you promised to send the photos of the three of you at an event.

6 FOOD & DRINK

Photos of wine bottles, labelled food at a buffet, so you can ask for it in a local supermarket to take home as a souvenir or gift.

7 Photos of yourself. For a passport photo or visa or ski lift pass. Or in action to show your credentials as an expert, as a chef, of speaker, on a TV show, with the book you are selling.

8 YOUR FAVOURITES AT HOME

Photos of books or goods or restaurants you want to sell of recommend.  If you live in a well known place such as New York or Rome, you might meet somebody who says they are going there, so can you recommend a restaurant or hotel. Take your favourite hotel or restaurant or museum photo just before you go, so you can show it, and WhatsApp it to the person who asks you.

9 LOCATION NAMES

A name, phone, signpost, welcome design of each city or hotel. This helps you to identify cities, landmarks, churches, temples, people, hotels, every picture taken on holiday. Date each picture in the caption, with the country. It's obvious at the time. Three years later, it won't be.

10 WEDDINGS

Weddings. Photograph the invitation showing the names of the bride and groom, and their parents. Then the main people at the top table. Add those at the table where you sat. Any person you spoke to. 

Record the name of the caterer or photographer, if you wish to do business with them later. The official photographer might take only those at the top table. Ignoring your family, your best friend, or Auntie Sally from overseas who dies so you have no happy photo of her for the obituary because nobody else took a photo of an old lady, only of the teenagers dancing.

11 VIP Conference Speakers

 At a conference, photograph the speakers, people you meet, those given awards. A video of a speech if its brief and not using up too much of your camera or phone memory. Sometimes people are very grateful to have a record.

Remember to get your own speech recorded. And a photo of yourself being presented with an award. This is handy in years to come, including an end of year party for a slide show of members, or a celebration of a hotel or restaurant or club at the end of the first year or after ten years or twenty.

Birthday picture of Angela. If a photo is blurred, it can later be edited. Some software programmes which you can buy or get free will do this. I was offered a sharpening of photo service on one of the websites like ancestry com and 23 and me. In Jul 2024 my Samsung Galaxy phone started offering to save photos in higher resolution, which would take up more space on the phone because of increasing pixels if you did it for lots of photos. An alternative is to save special photos in the cloud or on a remote disc, on another phone, on another family member's phone. Or take more photos, checking which are blurred and saving the better ones.

A birthday or anniversary picture can be used to send to family overseas, or a montage of pictures for an anniversary, a screen covered by photos, the birthday of an 80 year old or somebody reaching 100 years old. A happy picture can also lift your spirits at a funeral.

12 DRAMAS

Accidents and dramas. Your photo could help with an insurance claim.

13 LANGUAGE

Learning languages is aided by photos of signs, menus, even laundry lists.

VIDEOS

You can also take a video of your walk from a hotel to a nearby shop or railway station. Then reverse it to find your way back, or to tell another family member or business associate or club member where to find you and the venue

PHOTO TIPS

Photograph food from displays, but not through glass.

Photograph yourself smiling. Unsmiling for passport photos. 

Without glasses and hats which obscure eyes. 

Cut or pin back fringes covering eyes for passport photos.

Unfold arms to look more welcoming for PR for yourself or a company. People think folded arms look more important. No. It just looks like you don't want to get involved with others. Or you have something to hide. Norwegians are serious people. The USA, UK and Europe go for the friendly smile.

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Holiday-makers' Hoarding - Is it like imposter syndrome, because we're never good enough?

Fridge magnets. Two from Konyaalti beaches in Turkey. A pair from Korea. Albania. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

What is haording? Collecting random things you don't need? Cluttering the house with items not used and not classified. Having so much you cannot find anything and keep buying more? Collecting anything and everything? Being afraid to throw things away? Keeping tow of everything?

Seeking Souvenirs and Savings - the cause?

Hoarding clothes and souvenirs - selling souvenirs and clothes is big business. Garages no longer hold cars. They keep clutter which has overflowed from the house. 

If we keep buying clothes and souvenirs, what makes us do it? Maybe bargain hunting is an obsession which comes from a father or mother or spouse who said 'you are spending too much,' or, 'you are eating too much'. 

On holiday we indulge ourselves. We are away from prying eyes. We deserve the small souvenir, or big saving. It is harmless because it is a temporary thing. It is a now or never opportunity.

Bargain Hunting

You go on holiday and choose the cheapest item on the menu. You buy the cheapest goods and souvenirs. The cheapest tours. The walking tours. You picnic instead of trying local food.

What about, self-bullying syndrome, the bargain hunter, the mean buyer, depriving themselves on holiday? Which type are you? 

Racial & Cultural Stereotypes

The Chinese are sometimes like this. The Scots have a reputation for being mean. Mean all the time, to themselves more than to others.

It is nothing new. Dickens wrote about Scrooge not celebrating Christmas. The puritans tried to ban Christmas to stop over-indulgence, and divergence from religious messages to consumerism. The very word materialism is pejorative.

Hoarding

Hoarding New Clothes Stories

A good friend of mine told me that when his father died, my friend found boxes of brand new shirts - still in their boxes - which his father had never worn.

I found that my late uncle had a boxed computerized, musical instrument. I felt guilty because he had asked me how to use it and I said I didn't know. I was too busy (looking after my widowed father) to cross London to look at it. When I buy anything electronic or mechanical, I tend to delay opening the box and reading the instructions. I am afraid to break it, lose bits, feel silly at not understanding it.

Hoarding Unworn Clothes

I am guilty of the same thing as the shirt hoarder. I have smart clothes I won't wear in case they get stained. 

I have mother of the bride dresses, never worn. My only son married back in 2020. 

Contrast - One Smart Seasonal Outfit Warn Daily

I am the opposite of my friend across the road. She would throw out all her old clothes at the end of the season. She bought one very expensive outfit.

Buying The Best

She wore every day. So she always looked and felt her best.

Are you saving an outfit for an interview? For an event? For being in the media?

Waiting For the VIP Millionaire

Or for meeting a millionaire? Or your company's boss?

You might never meet the millionaire. Or you might meet him any day. Your company's boss is probably a millionaire. You might meet him, or her, at a large company meeting,, the annual dinner, or just in the lift.

Buying Bargains

I am the opposite. I have hundreds of cheap items. On holiday I am always looking for a bargain. something, some souvenir, cheaper than I can buy it at home. 

Some people ravel to buy wines, duty free. 

Save up for a rainy day. It has rained almost every day this year. But I am still saving up for a rainy day.

Surveys often tell us we hoard clothes we never wear, bags we never use, shoes we never wear. 

One widowed man told us he had saved all his late wife's herbs and not used them up. Unfortunately they had lost their flavour after a year or two. A waste. 

 I am not using my best umbrellas. I might spoil the spokes.

Everybody seems to look for the best value flight, however much money they have.

A very few people take the opposite attitude. They want only the best. The top brand. The Ferrari. The branded goods. Custom design. Whether or not they can afford it. Life is short. They want the best.

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Prescription Sunglasses and Prescription Goggles - would you need them on holiday or at home?

In Hatch End there are two opticians offering eye tests and spectacle frames and lenses. Hatch End Eyecare, and The Eyecare Studio. If you go further afield around London, to Watford or Harrow, you can find Specsavers, Boots and others. 

I come back back to Hatch End because I know the people and they have a good range of elegant and interesting spectacle frames which I will be wearing every day, so it's important for me to look right.

In Hatch End Eyecare earlier this year I bought a reasonably priced spectacle string holder.

Angela Lansbury wearing prescription varifocals which darken in sunlight. Photo by Trevor Sharot Copyright.

Later I popped into the other opticians and I am grateful to them for introducing me to the idea of sighted goggles.

The Eyecare Studio in Hatch End. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

I wear varifocal glasses. Why? So that I don't need o carry and pay for or lose two pairs of glasses. So I can turn from reading something to looking at my screen in a Zoom meeting To read the bus timetable and then look up at the approaching bus for the bus number.

Why wear the glasses all the time? Because if I take them off, I then have to get my eyes adjusted to wearing them again. 

You can get variable sunglasses which darken in bright sunlight so you don't have to carry or buy a second pair of prescription glasses.

You can also get prescription goggles.

You can buy goggles with the standard off the shelf magnifications like off the shelf reading glasses.

Why would you need this? To look at creatures on the sea bed, underwater. To read signs. to recognize friendly fish and fish foes.

Ask your regular optician who will probably have a leaflet and displays and sample goggles and glasses. And/ or look online.

The idea of prescription goggles is an interesting one. I knew about prescription sunglasses, but until this year I did not know about prescription goggles.

I read the leaflet from Maui Jim.

Maui Jim

Maui is an island in Hawaii. The eight horizontal lines on the flag represent the eight islands.

They are promoted as having anti glare, anti cancer, gold plating and many other advantages, along with a choice of colours and styles.

I looked in Wikipedia and learned more. In fact I felt quite skeptical, verging on suspicious, when I read their brochure.

Brochure Small Print Size

Firstly, I did not find their brochure reader-friendly. I was annoyed that it was in small print, when selling to people who need glasses. Is that to make you think you need glasses! I think it's just the usual way of economizing on paper. Reading online, where you can blow the print up to your preferred size, is easier than reading a printed brochure.

The Company History Revealed

However, when I went onto Wikipedia I felt much more knowledgeable about the company. I became increasingly positive towards the company, and their products.

The company is American. It started in Hawaii, hence the name. According to Wikipedia, it stared with a man selling sunglasses on the beaches of Hawaii. However, it is now third largest company in the world for sunglasses manufacture. Impressive. Successful growth. Major importance. A brand leader.

If money is not object, or health or comfort are your prime concern, these are a must.

Useful Websites

hatchendeyecare.com

www.mauijim.com

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

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Translating and mistranslating a Spanish hotel registration form - lost in translation

 

I kept my registration form from a hotel in Spain, Hotel Zenit Coruna, and used it to revise my Spanish vocabulary. I experienced a few surprises, words I had mis-translated in my mind,

1 Datos del viajero looked like dates of the trip. It was not. It was details of the traveller.

2 Segundo apellido was not second name of middle name, meaning second given name. It was second surname or family name. Spanards use their mother's maiden name or family name as a middle name. 

3 Direccion is not directions but address.

4 Fecha is not facts but dates.

5 Firma del viajero is not confirmation of the trip/journey/stay but signature of the traveller. 

Spanish - English

datos - data/ 

detalles - details

direccion - address

direcciones - direcions

fechas - dates

segundo apellido - second surname

viaje - journey

viajero - traveller

https://translate.google.com/

English - Spanish

address - dreccion

data - datos

dates - fechas

details - detalles

directions- direcciones

journey - viaje

Useful Websites

Trasnslate google

https://translate.google.com/

 

Considering Hiking In Southern Italy?

 Condidering hiking in southern Italy? 

You might want to check

Airports for access

For example, Naples

Hiking areas

Local attraction for non hikiers, post-hiking tourism, things to do in wet non hiking weather.

You might want to add 

1 The cave dwellings of  Matera and 

2 The Trulli, conical roof houses,  Singular trullo. Plural trulli. In Alberobello, S Italy.

Photo from Wikipedia. on trullo.

You might want to check out the region on Wikivoyage. Then the Italian language phrasebook on Wikivoyage.

We book hotels through booking dot com. If you make lots of bookings through them over the years, you get notified of special rates, and get advantages.

Useful Websites

TRULLI Conical houses

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

https://www.easyhiker.co.uk/a-visit-to-the-trullo-town-of-alberobello/

Booking accoomdation in Alberobello

Cave dwellings Matera

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

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

Italia Language

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

Where you might see or hear a grasshopper, cricket or locust

 

Grasshopper on rose in London, England, july 2024. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Finding A UK Grasshopper

You can see the green, grasshopper on the pink rose in my photo above. I saw this green semi see-through insect on a rose I had picked from the back garden (Americans say yard) in England. 

I took a photo. I was glad I did. By the time I had called others to see it, it had leaped into the air and flown off.

 It vanished. I thought I had lost it.

The Grasshopper Hops Off

Then sometody called that they had seen it on the floor. We knelt down to look at it. It scuttled off. 

Then, to our surprise it leaped again, about knee high, a couple of feet. It landed on the floor, and disappeared under a table.

Catching the Grasshopper

I called my husband to bring a glass to catch it. I didn't move. I kept watching it.

He trapped it. He released it outdoors.

Friend or Foe\

Afterwards, I wondered if we had done the right thing. Was it a pest? Locusts are pests.. But first, what was it? 

What Was It

It was green. Green like grass. It hopped. It must be a grasshopper. 

But, are a grasshaopper and cricket the same thing?.\As far apart as London in England and Singapore!

Singapore Crickets

I recalled that in Singapore where I lived most of the year for more than twenty years, you could hear the crickets every night, making a racket after sunset and when I went to bed around 11 p to midnight.. Although I never saw them.

I had heard crickets chirping every night in Singapore for years, but had never seen one.

Elaewhere in Asia, they are a poular food.

Later, after we released the grasshopper, I started to research. Was a cricket the same as a grasshaopper? 

Yes, although there are many sub catergories, sizes and colours.  A bit like dogs or cats.

Life Span

They live only two to three months . The adults die off in winter. Next year a new generation is born from eggs which lay hidden all winter.Like many insects.

Locusts

Swarms occur when there are too many in one place and they move on looking for more food.

Friend or foe, protector of plants or poests? A few million of them, locusts, on a cash crop, is not good news. But one lone, grasshopper, probably, won't do much harm.

DNA isn't everything. The environment can change behavious. Over crowding turns grasshoppers into locusts.

Useful Websites

Wikipedia Grasshopper

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grasshopper\

https://extensionpubs.unl.edu/publication/g1633/na/html/view#:~:text=Grasshopper%20nymphs%20normally%20reach%20the,months%2C%20depending%20on%20the%20weather.

https://nerdfighteria.info/v/2x5eOBJ37iE/#:~:text=But%20if%20they%20are%20crowded,loop%20that%20leads%20to%20locusts.

G

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Travel Wherever You Are Welcomed And Invited - Florida Fun, and Family Reunions

 TRAVEL MEMORIES

The moral of the story is, go with the flow. 

On previous occasions go with the flow served me well.

The Golf Tournament In Florida

 I was invited on a travel press trip to Florida so see a golf tournament. I don't play golf. 

I have two stories to illustrate this theme, one in Florida, USA, the other in London, England. First, Florida.

I was a travel writer specialising in romantic hotels and honeymoon suites, for couples, and hopeful singles. I married and after our son was born my field of interest and expertise expanded and developed, into family holidays and theme parks.

When I was living in the USA I received a phone call from a PR company, "Would you like to join a press trip to Florida - to a golf tournament?"

I had no expertise nor interest in golf. I did not think I could persuade a golfing magazine to accept an article from me instead of one of their regular experts.  However, if the PR company was willing to accept me, I was willing to do my best for them. Despite my feelings of imposter syndrome I went along. 

Our escorted 'golfing tour' group started with a wonderful, interesting tour of Florida. 

Singer Sewing Machines As a personal bonus, I picked up useful information on Singer - of Singer sewing machines! I am interested in sewing.  But even more importantly, this information was for use in my series of novels inspired by my family history starting in the 1880s. 

Golf

But what about golf? 

On the day of the match, the PR relayed good and bad news. First, the bad news. The roads were blocked, so we could not get near the golf. 

Second, the good news. Instead, she had arranged with the local tourist board and museums, so that we visited other museums in the area. 

On the last day, the last hour of the trip, it turned out that neither the PR lady, nor any of the other journalists, knew much, nor cared much about golf.  

We all wrote travel articles in which we dutifully mentioned the golfing event, plus all the other attractions of Florida.

2 An Old Distant Relative's Birthday

 I went to the birthday for a ninety year old, distantly related. 

I could not persuade the rest of my family to go. But I went. As a favour to his descendant by marriage. 

I was worried about travelling there and parking. However, near the date, the woman who had invited me rang to apologise. "I'm sorry but there's very little parking. Would you mind travelling in somebody else's car? They'll pick you up and take you back."

At the event, I politely looked through about 100 photos of people I didn't know, listening to a distant relative. 

Finally, he said, "I don't suppose you'd be interested in this one, I don't even know who these people are." 

I gasped, "I do. That's my parents!" 

He looked at me, the old photo, and back at me, suspiciously, "Are you sure?"

"Of course, I know my parents. That's their marriage! In World War Two."

"She isn't wearing white. How do you know it's a wedding?"

"She always told me, especially when choosing my white wedding dress, that she could not wear white when she married my father in wartime. Fabric was rationed. Besides, it was her second wedding. Her first husband died in a plane at El Alamein. And my father - in a top hat!"

Wartime wedding. 1940s. UK. Photo copyright Angela Lansbury.

"You've seen this photo before?"

'No. I've never seen that photo. I didn't even know it existed. I don't have any photos of their marriage!" 

He replied, "Would you like it?'

"Yes. Thank you. I'd love it."

The moral is, an art show, a sports event, a birthday of an elderly person, just go. If somebody else wants your support, you never know what interesting things you will find when you travel to somewhere new.

Useful Websites

https://www.visitflorida.com/places-to-go/southeast/singer-island/

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

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Favourite Cities and Hotels in Northern Spain - Post 3 Remarkable Resotel, at Villares de la Reina, Salamanca, and Hotel Imperial, Valladolid

 Two contrasting hotels.\

Resotel Bedroom, Salamanca, Spain. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

My favourite, the Resotel, in the Resotel Garage, outside bustling Salamanca. 

Every room is different. The hotel bedrooms are hidden up a flight of stairs behind the prominent corner of the road garage. The garage is worth visiting. 

Books behind the bar are about hotels and vehicles around the world.

Stop for a coffee and a bit to eat in the area on the left with seating. The walls are full of pictures of bikes, cars, races, rock stars, Harleys, you name it.

The toilets are a surprise. The basin features tap water gushing horizontally like a tiny waterfall.

If you have the foresight to book a bedroom, the glass sided lift has a line of motorised vehicles half way up the glass. 

If you walk up the stairs, the walls are festooned with memorabilia. Upstairs, the  bedrooms are all different, with motor themes and vivid colours.

Our room had cushions on the bed with red, white and blue Union Jack flags. The coat stand was in the shape of a tree. In the bathroom, tiles were in vertical rainbow stripes. So was the drinking glass.

The box of tissues were in different colours, red tissues, orange tissues, yellow, white. 

Taxi To Salamanca

You are quite a way out of Salamanca. We took a taxi into town, both ways. Quite expensive, but we

 wanted to avoid the nuisance of looking for a parking place, being fined, towed away, car damage, car broken into, loss of contents. 

Taxi Trouble

The taxi back cost less than the pre-booked taxi called by the garage. Maybe there was a booking fee, or a charge for coming out to collect us. 

We had a worrying wait about ten minutes to go back to the hotel from empty the taxi stand in the centre of the city of Salamanca. When the taxi passed us to a second taxi stand sign, my husband raced down the road to jump in ahead of people who stood politely and passively by because they had seen us waiting at the other stand before them. We were in a hurry to check out on time, at lunch time.

We reckoned the cost of the taxi both ways was balanced by the budget price of the room only hotel.

Resotel Bedroom

Every bedroom is different. 

A complete contrast was the Hotel Imperial.

Hotel Imperial, big and old, right next to the main square in Valladolid. All old, elegant, austere, understated, unobtrusive.

The receptionist gave us a map marking all the main sites to see within walking distance of Hotel Imperial. 

Angela Lansbury, author, admiring the statue of Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, in Valladolid. Photo from Sharot family. Copyright.

Useful websites

RESOTELVaillares de la Reina, Salamanca, Espana SPAIN

tfno:+34 923 287 739

reservations resotel@resotel.es

tel: +34 649 41 43 24

www.resotel.es

Resotel style decorations

I found a rainbow items online including a

rainbow bathroom mug online

Rainbow and unicorn toilet tissue

https://www.amazon.co.uk/getDigital-Unicorn-Rainbow-Bathroom-included/dp/B074TGSJH3

Rainbow ceramic bathroom mug

https://www.glow.co.uk/rainbow-ceramics-bathroom.html

Rainbow shower curtain

Several sets of rainbow bathrmats, sets of two, or three including a toilet seat cover

Renova brand two colour facial tissues, in green and pink. Also all red, all blue and all yellow.

Confusingly, all colours are brand red label, although the colours might be all yellow or all blue.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Renova-Facial-Scarves-Label-Yellow/

Reusable rainbow colours of toilet paper - actually flannels

webpage picture to click on.

HOTEL IMPERIAL

www.hotelimpreial.es

E-mail: recepcion@himperial.com

Peso, 4

47001 Valladolid Espana 

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Favourite Cities and Old and New Hotels in Spain - Post 2 Modern Zenit Hotel in Coruna and Antique-filled Casa Grande do Bachao not near Santiago

 These hotels were opposites. The Zenit hotel was central, walking distance to the main sites in A Coruna. Modern.

SANTIAGO CITY

Santiago is a busy crowded city, filled with pilgrims following the footsteps of saints. 

The Cathedral charges entrance. I liked the gift shop. I bought a bracelet for a modest five euros. It has a teeny cross attached. I presumed it was a rosary. I was wondering about this, and whether and how to detach the cross. But the cross fell off and disappeared.

Marker Santiago showing the shell symbol.

ZENIT HOTEL

What's To Like

What's not to Like

At first glance I was not thrilled with the basement restaurant. But the dinner was good and the breakfast buffet plentiful.

CASA GRANDE HOTEL

The Casa Grande hotel was miles out in the mountains, remote and rustic and filled with antiques. 

Casa Grande means big house. More of a big complex. The hotel has some rooms in the main house. We were in a larger room in the annexe. A few steps down a steep slope, but good to get the exercise after all the food I was eating.

The swimming pool is outdoors.

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Sarasas South Indian Restaurant opening soon in Hatch End - opened!

In July the chairs were visible. Promising. The search for the word Sarasas reveals their branches in Hayes and pictures of the food. Can't wait!

I phoned their Hayes branch and a well-spoken man told me the restaurant will be opening in a couple of weeks time. 

They serve vegetarian food but are not wholly vegetarian.

Looking at the pictures, the food reminds me of all the South Indian restaurants in Singapore. One of my favourite dishes, which most of them serve, is masala dosai (potato in a crispy large pancake).

Hayes branch

Tel: 020 8561 8188.

Useful Websites

http://sarasasrestaurant.com/hayes/contact.htmlt

Update July Friday 6 and Sat 7 July 2024 now open.

Hotel Feedback Forms - How To Have Your Say

 I received a feedback form from a hotel, a week after my stay at Zenit hotel, A Coruna, Spain. I filled it in and asked my husband if he had anything to add.

He said, "Next time I go away I shall make a note of the good and bad points of every hotel so I can tell them."

My comments in most hotels are the same. They can work out if the comment applies to what they do, which means they score well on that feature, or if they don't.

ON BOOKING

1 Send instructions on unloading luggage and parking with the booking, so we don't stress on arrival or go to the unload.

AT RECEPTION

2 Offer the joining form for the loyalty programme for the hotel or group on arrival, so we can benefit from any upgrade and appreciate the benefits. (When leaving ask where we are going and suggest the same hotel group en route or at our destination. If none, take the opportunity to point out that you have hotels in other cities or that your hotel is totally unique.

3 Offer the luggage trolley. Point out where it is. If its in constant use, order a second trolley.

4 Know the room features and assure the checking in customer that they are getting a good deal. eg, you are at the front so you have a sea view, you are at the back which is quieter, your room on the corner is more spacious. Your room is such and such a type and is a good price. If you want to spend a bit more you could transfer to such and such a room. 

Offer to show another room if you think the other room has advantages.

5 Tell the guest the times of the restaurant and breakfast and location.

6 Tell the guest the times of the spa/pool and location, whether they need to take the key, towels, book the facility.

7 Give guests a map of the city with the hotel marked on it. Circle any nearby attraction.

Tell the guest of any timed events in the city, such as fountains lit at night, or early closing times of restaurants on Sunday.  

8 Offer guests discount vouchers for nearby bards and restaurants.

BEDROOM FURNISHING

9 For two people booked into a room, supply two upright chairs and desk space big enough for two laptops.

10 Supply USB sockets as well as wall sockets, and adapter. 

11 Simplify escape instructions for fire, eg. under map in big letters, 

IN FIRE, if door handle is cold and no smoke, 

turn right, four doors away, push 5th alarmed door 

only in emergency, use outdoor escape door and external stair. Assemble in car park for roll call.

12 Supply a fridge. Hotel guests may have saved food. Or souvenir food to take overseas. And travel with pills or eye drops which need refrigeration.

BATHROOMS

13 Flat washbasins look modern and might keep hand wash clothes separate. However, it is easy to wash clean a bowl shape basin. Two basins are useful to speed up and prevent arguments and delays for couples preparing to go out or to go to bed.

14 A bidet is useful.

Bidet in hotel bedroom. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

RESTAURANT SERVICE

15 Staff should smile at the British, the Americans, most Europeans (except Norwegians?)

16 Say goodbye and thank you to guests leaving the restaurant and hotel. This means restaurant wait staff, hotel manager, door person or porter, car park attendant, receptionist.

17 If cooked breakfast and fresh coffees are provided on request, state that clearly on the menu, on the buffet wall, and when greeting the guest or serving coffee.

18 Buffets and menus should state common allergens such as shellfish, wheat/gluten, and nuts.

19 Tell guests if they are welcome to have dinner leftovers wrapped up to save to eat later. (This was done at the Parador Fuente de. in the Picos in the north of Spain) It is an advantage to customers. For the hotel, it saves waste, and the hotel paying double for extra bin collection of a second bin.

20 Offer packed lunches as well or instead of breakfast for travellers. Free or for a low cost.

Or a luxury item at a hotel. (This was done for us, years ago but never forgotten always remembered, at Miller Howe in the Lake District in England. We got a packed lunch with fruit and a pastry and a chocolate, good for a picnic in a remote place in the countryside. Also, on departure, better than the motorway stations on the way home.

Display a photo of a city landmark in the lobby, restaurant and bedroom. Pictures of people and animals should not be glum, gloomy or menacing but jolly.

Travel Tip For Travellers

List plus points and negative points on the back of the hotel address card/key car folder or in your diary for use later on feedback forms.

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Sandeman's Vines, Wines and Souvenirs In Portugal's Port & Wine Region

 

You can't miss the huge letters Sandeman half way up the hillside above you as you take thw road snaking up and down the nearby hillsides on both sides of the river in Portugal.

We drove past it in the morning but when we drove back again in the afternoon I insisted that we stopped. The man in the black cloak with the big hat, their symbol, was ust too aresting and memorable. I knew it would be good. I wanted a hat.

The road is full of ups and down and scary, uncertain moments and so is the visit, We drove to the top. At the entrance door, would we pay for the guided tour. 

No we were not willing to spend the time and money. We had already done ots of wine tours in the region.

But what about looking at the vineyards, and the shop, maybe a coffee.

We went to look for the shop.

We saw a sign pointing down a hisside path through the vineyards.

It went around a corner. another corner. A slippery gravel path. Still no sign of the shop.

 Was it really there? A man coming uphill, who spoke no English insisted yes, shop was there. My husban went on ahead around the next bend. Yes.

A last we found a further comple of buildings. First stop, the shop. I saw the faous Sandeman coat and hat. Near 75 or a hundred Euros. Too much. The hat alone was expensive. SOmethbody dared to pull open a packet and try it on for a photo. 

I tried on the hat. It ws too large for me and too heavy. So no big black hat.

However, the girl on the cash desk was ultilingual, jolly and helfpul. I asked, anyth cheaper clothes or hats. She found me a straw hat. Less than ten puonds. Like a straw trilby. It suited me. It had the sandeman name on a black label. I knew I needed to sew on an black elastic to stop it blowing off. The label said made in China. It was made of paper. Who cares. I loved it.

We wanted coffee. No coffee. They only served wine, port.

What about the restaurant. The restaurant only served three course meals at high prices and dinner time was ending.

Our handy multilingual girl, now our friend after long chats, took us to the restaurant and persuaded the restaurant to serve us coffee. The bill for two double espressos with added taxes and service came to the best part of 20 Euros which my husand thought was excessive.

But we had the esperience of sitting in the restaurant. We got coffee.

All in all,  good experience.

The Douro Wine Museum, Regua, Portugal

 

The Douro Museum is by the Douro river in Portugal. Wines are taken down this river to the big Port city of Oporto, from where ships carry Port to England.

The Douro Museum is a large building and te museum is on two floor with a large shop below.

THe display I enjoyed the most was the aromatic dispaly. Lots of bottles filled with aromas.. You lift the lid, lean dowwn and sniff.. Heady delight. A wall of aromas. Rose. Lavender. Lemon. Mint. Ginger. Better than a perfume factory.

Down stairs in the shop you can try out testers, before buying perfumed soaps, hand creams and other perfumed items.

The Portuguese is Museu do Douro, Museum of Douro.

This was the secodn best and biggest wine attraction I found in Portugal, after WOW in Oporto.