A Drugged or Drunk Hotel Guest? oto tragic death of singer Liam Payne

Following reports of the tragic death of Liam Payne of One Direction, who either fell or jumped from a hotel balcony, in  Buenos Aires, Argentina, South America. Newspapers published reports and the phone call made by the hotel employee who was concerned about the hotel guest who was drunk or on drugs and had gone to a room with a balcony. (The call is in Spanish - newspapers give the English translation.)

Balconies and Safety

Alcohol drugs, balconies you can climb or fall off, what could go wrong?  The hotel employee was already concerned about the guest and the balcony.

What can we ban? We already restrict alcohol and drugs, but now perhaps we should look at balconies.

Police And Safety

In some cases it is an advantage to call police as this could protect property and life. Ambulance staff might be sent away by a person who declines treatment. However, police might stay to question the person being investigated. If that person becomes aggressive, the police might arrest the person, who, if they assault the police officer, or resist arrest, might be taken to the police station and places in a locked cell, or a padded room. This would protect the property, other people. and give the person time to calm down and be released into the care of a family member or responsible person.

The name Payne, sounding like pain, in retrospect seems ominous. Maybe the name Joy would be more positive.

If you are travelling to a major city, the waxworks might have a display featuring your favourite band.

Picture from Wikipedia article on One Direction.

Madame Tussauds London has a One Direction display.

Useful Websites daily mail report

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13969699/liam-payne-999-call-buenos-aires-hotel-worker-help-death.html

https://www.liampayneofficial.com/

Wrong Way Driving Accidents and Accident Prevention

 I once read that the majority of accidents overseas in Europe happen near the ferry ports where people driving off the ferry forget to drive on the other side of the road.

Wrong Way Driving

A new type of accident seems to be popping up. People driving the wrong way down a motorway. In the old days there were lay-by stops at intervals along motorways, and hard shoulders. Then the hard shoulders were removed to increase traffic flow without spending more money, to get an extra lane.

Picture of warning sign from Wikipedia.

If you accidentally go the wrong way on a motorway there is no escape. It's too dangerous to stop, or do a three point turn.

Bring back hard shoulders and a lay-by near each exit and a return loop for anybody who went the wrong way, with help phone boxes.

Useful Websites

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13967131/Five-people-died-M6-horror-crash-car-travelled-wrong-way-motorway-police-release-information-killed.html

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/02/man-dies-collision-wrong-side-motorway-west-yorkshire-a1m-ferrybridge

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Wine Tasting of Dry and Sweet Wines From Valencia And South-East Spain

If you go to South east Spain to Benidorm, Alicante or Valencia you might pass lines of vines, see signs to Vineyards offering tastings or in restaurants and supermarkets come across wines made with the local Monastrell grape. 

The wine grape known as Mourvèdre in France is called monastrell in Spain. The grapes are dark red (I call them black) and are tannic, dry in the mouth. That's what some people love. I used to hate tannic wines, but am gradually getting used to them. But the red or black grapes are also the source of some rose wines and some delicious sweet wines, to finish the meal, or in my case drink all the way through.

You might drink these wines on holiday in Alicante or Valencia, visit a vineyard or bodega for a wine tasting there. 

Or buy from a supermarket in London, England or elsewhere before you go or just to find out in case you ever go there. (The same grape pops up in the USA and Australia.)

Eleven wines at different prices.

I went to a wine tasting, a Monastrell Masterclass and walk-around Tasting on 14th October 2024 at a  Asia House in London.

The Monastrell Grape Masterclass

Growing vines to make wine in Spain dates back many years. The name monastrell probably comes from the Latin for monastery.  

The monastrell grape grows in the sunny south-east of Spain. During the masterclass I learned that wines can thrive in hot climates without irrigation, (sending their roots deep down). 

Uprooting old vines to replace them with orchards might seem a good idea short term. However, orchards need water.  If the climate change results in less water, as predicted, those areas which saved their vineyards might be glad of their old vines in years to come.

Food to Match Monstrell Wine

Other fascinating facts. A popular saying is that what grows together goes together. What kind of food goes with Monastrell wines? Anything unusual? Distinctive? A local speciality? Yes.  For those seeking something savoury, rice with rabbit and snails. 

Paella From Valencia

It is not called paella. Paella is the speciality of the city of Valencia.

Monastrell

If you are looking for something sweeter or more familiar, Spain has an eggy bread, similar to what in England is called French toast. We were assured it goes very well with Monastrell.

Sweet Wine To Savour

I like sweet wines. So it was no surprise that my favourite was the last. One always finishes dinner with a sweet wine to go with sweet desserts, so even without any food, we finished with a sweet wine.

The Sweet Spanish Wine

The wine comes in a tall slim bottle, like sweet ice wines around the world. At thirty pounds, it is not cheap. (If you want a cheaper, strong dry red, there are at least three Monastrell wines costing around thirteen pounds.)

Secrets of Spanish Names Revealed

The name Silvano Garcia Dulce Monastrell 2019 was not memorable when I first glanced at it. However, when I researched the meaning of the words, they came into focus, close-up, vivid.

Bodegas Silvano Garcia

The bodega is the place where they serve you the wine which is grown on vines nearby. Silvano Garcia is a man's name.

Silvano - Meaning?

Silvano is a personal name which means someone who lives in the forest. Or woods. Silvano comes from the Latin word silva which means wood. 

Silvano was the Roman God of the forest. 

Garcia - A Popular Name

Garcia has an accent on the i for emphasis. Like pronouncing the name Maria, you say the penultimate vowel strongly.

Garcia means young, or young bear cub. In Germany a young bear is strong and courageous, and also means brave spear, or brave in battle.

Garcia is a popular surname. In fact, it's the most common surname in Spain. The second most common surname in Mexico.

Dulce means sweet. (Think of the English phrase describing a voice having dulcet tones.) Think of the Italian film titled La Dolce Vita.  So Dulce means sweet wine. Monastrell is the grape. DO Jumilla, origin the Jumilla area.

Wine Visit In Spain

When you visit the area, you can visit the winery for a tour. Wines available locally are of course cheaper. Their website shows the sweet wine at 14.95 Euros. But then you have to transport it back to England or your country, unless you want to drink it here in Spain.

They also sell jams made from their sweet wines, at prices from about 1.90 euros to about 4.90 euros. 

They have various tours at different prices and can arrange a wine tour followed by dinner.

Useful Websites

https://www.monastrell.org/en/monastrell-spain

Wiki on Mourvedre

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourv%C3%A8dre

https://recipes.fandom.com/wiki/Monastrell

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My Favouite Kosher Food At Aviv restaurant, Edgware

 

They have a main menu, a takeaway menu and a children's menu.

The first page of the menu tells you that the restaurant can seat 170 and is the largest kosher restaurant in Europe.

Chopped chicken liver served with chopped hard boiled egg. 

Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Chicken liver pate starter.

Mixed grill and chips.

Green Thai curry. Not spicy. Wonderful.

Hazel nut parfait dessert. Watch out for the tooth-cracking solid sugar oblong which looks like a biscuit. I sucked it. The teeny bits of nut it it were good.

A very satisfying meal.

The name Aviv means Spring. Tel Aviv, the city in Israel, and the name means hill of the springtime or freshness. 

The prices do not look cheap. But portions are generous. The staff packed up my leftovers, and I ate two tasty main course snack meals the next day.

Useful Information

Aviv Restaurant

87/89 High Street

Edgware

HA8 7DB

Tel 020 8952 2484 /020 8381 1722

Useful Websites

www.avivrestaurant.com

https://www.federation.org.uk/kf-

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The Northern Lights in London - from Mobile Phones On WhatsApp

 Two nights in a row my neighbours in a Whatsapp group in London, England, posted their pictures of vivid pink skies. They saw views like this from the streets and the parks and playing fields at night. 

I opened the door of my bungalow and did not see anything. That's what comes of living in a bungalow and being a recluse. A bungalow, if you are inside looking out of the windows, is not the best place to see the fireworks on November the 5th, nor the fireworks on New Year's Eve. We watch them on television.

The Northern lights, however, are less noisy and less dangerous, and don't leave behind a mess.

The lights are apparently best seen at midnight because that's when the sky is at its darkest.

So, there was no need to go to Norway.

My husband had a trip elsewhere planned when the lights were visible in London. He was taking travel shots elsewhere. I and family and friends could get travel shots from our street.

However, despite my husband and his tripod being away, I had lots of mobile phone pictures from all my lovely neighbours, two nights in a row. That is one of the advantages of having a Whatsapp group for your street. 

Useful Websites

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

Safety for hikers

Don't hike solo. But what if one of you wants to turn back from the group?

Upload maps onto your phone so you can use them when you have no wifi reception.

 Satellite communication devices.

Remember, safety in numbers.

Useful Websites

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13951799/missing-yellowstone-hiker-austin-king-dad-note.html

See the comments.

All's well that ends well, as Shakespeare's play title remindes us.

Landlords and tenants

To Protect Lanlords and Tenants 

The contract needs a cleaning and tidying manual added as a supplement. 

Cleaning

How does the vacuum cleaner work. How often do you use it? Why?

How to clean stains off carp

ets. 

Most stains and simple repors can be seen on You Tube, or wikihow, or the guides from DIY stores such as Wickes and B & Q and Homebase.

How to clean wine stains off furniture. 

Report leaking taps fast. Why?

Central Heating

Before calling in an expensive electirican or plumber because the heating doesn't work, try this

Check the thermostat controls in the living room, hall and bedrooms. Does the controller have a battery. Install a new battery. Maybe the power was low because the battery was low. Or the contacts were dirty. 

Maybe re-setting will fix the system.

My son just fixed his home central heating this way.

Good and bad news for seniros in the UK - heating allowances and Free TV

The winter fuel allowance has gone for seniors. Unless you can claim for being low income or disabled. That is the bad news. m

And you have to claim for it. Alas. Unless you are poor. But the poor may be poor in three ways.

Poor People 

Poor people meaning unfortunate people, as well as the poorly (sick or unwell). Poor people might be mentally or physically disabled or old. Many of the elderly haven't the know-how nor strength of will nor energy to keep dealing with forms and questions and passwords to claim. You need to read pages of instructions ... Oh, dear. 

The Good news - Free TV license

The TV license means the BBC TV license. The commercial ones are paif for by advertising.

Who gets it? Single widows over seventy five. But those in couples must both be over seventy five. (Yes, that means both of an elderly couple, since the younger one presumably has income to support the other older one.)

Florida man's strap-down house Survived The Hurricane

This cost about twenty thousand pounds for the made to measure straps and concrete.

 The concrete had to be eight feet deep. Not like erecting a tent which takes you a short time. 

However, I have seen what the cost is of cleaning up, re-housing, repairing buildings. And you need to clear your garden and nearby roads.

You must replace lost possessions exposed to rain.

Add in the cost of paying for hotels during the hurricane and waiting for the roof to be repaired. Maybe the cost of concrete and straps is worth it for an individual, a major building, or even a whole street. Consider campaigning for a grant from the governement or local city or charity or a whip round. \

Useful Websites

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13952211/Florida-man-gives-update-house-using-straps-shield-against-Hurricane-Milton.html

Photo in Wikipedia by Adog of damaged  roof in Florida

Fairness, bias in news

 What is fair and what is baiased?

In a court both the prosecution and defence are allocaated time to speak. TV programmes and news reports shoud be fair.

The panel and audience, like supporters at footbll matches, and seats for bride and groom in a traditiona church, should be allocated equally.

The microphone should be given to each speaker for the alloted time, no more, with a warning light to wrap up, and no interruptions, nor hceklers.

Photo by M. Rehemtulla

Lasers Instead of Fireworks, Favoured by Animals and humans

Cats and dogs and other animals can be terrified of fireworks. Also displays have injured animals, children and adults. 

The good news is that safer displays could be on the way. They cost less in clearing up. Less cost in injuries. And it seems that the public like the laser displays which can be used not just in the sky but to light up buildings.

I'm all for music to go with displays instead of startling bangs and unnerving whizzes.

Useful Websites

 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13947315/Oooh-aaaah-NO-Majority-Britons-want-laser-shows-instead-noisy-fireworks-poll-reveals

https://www.rospa.com/policy/home-safety/advice/fireworks-safety

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

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

Fireworks advertising poster in Harrow for November 8th 2024.

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

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Pink travel bag which fits over wheelie bags

 

On the station platform I saw a girl carrying a pink bag with pockets. I asked her where she got it and she said it was a gym bag, and she thought she had bought it on Amazon. I did a search and found something extra useful. To save the tote bag sliding onto the floor when balanced on top of your wheelon bag, even with the long straps around the pull up br, here's another idea, a slit or strap across the back of the bag which slides down over the pull up bar. I saw this one ready made on several sites. I found bags on amazon, temu and ebay.

Useful websites

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=pink+gym+bag+pockets&_sacat=0&_pgn=2

https://www.lightinthebox.com/p/women-s-hiking-jacket-outdoor-winter-waterproof-windproof-top-full-length-hidden-zipper-camping-hiking-caving-purple-light-green-fuchsia-orange-red_

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Hurricanes, cars, garages

 When I see a problem I look for a cure. I see cars overturned in a hurricane in Florida. Why weren't those cars in garages. I prsume some of the houses had one garage but two cars or two garages but three cars.

If the cars were not in garages, why? Did people want the cars outside ready for a quick getaway, or not in danger of being under a falling roof>

In that case, you need stronger roofs. A car overturned outside the house is no good anyway.

When rebuilding starts, you need enough bedrooms for each person and enough garages for each car. Why enough bedrooms? because each person breathes out water vapour. That grows mould. In the UK a man with eleven children complained because his house had mould . 

Relevant Websites

https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/hurricane/hurricane-vs-typhoon.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13943611/Tornado-Florida-Avenir-neighborhood-Hurricane-Milton-Palm-Beach-Gardens.html?ico=comment-anchor#comments

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

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-13942993/florida-man-strap-house-hurricane-milton-viral.html

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\\\

Odd and Excellent Objects and Ideas I found when Travelling

 I lived on and off in Singapore for about thirty years. I was there in the British winter, back in the UK for summer. Singapore changed and improved a lot with many useful changes to streets and homes.

Covered Pedestrian Ways

When I first went there the old town areas had the five foot ways which were wide covered pavements, a bit like the cloisters in England's Oxford and Cambridge colleges. Shelter from the rain. Also shelter from the hot sun.

Later, the suburbs filled with apartment blocks, HDB (ssate housing estates) and local schools. In the last decade the new town planning system was to build covered ways between the new (and old) underground railway stations and the local housing estates and schools.

This was to protect pedestrians children, the elderly, those who did not drive. And it encouraged those who had a choice to leave the car at home and take the trains on the new lines.

Rebuilding Plans

Major rebuilding will be necessary around the world. 

Due to Wartime 

Ukraine. Russia. Gaza. Beirut and the Lebanon. Israel, kibbutzim and cities. Maybe more countries. I was shocked to read that the kibbutzim have safe rooms and bunkers,.Yet they cannot keep out assailants.

American cities have bunkers in major buildings and hotels. 

Singapore railway stations have signs about the stations containing safe areas. Buildings are on stilts with a void deck to cope with flooding.

Natural Disasters and Climate Changes

For example, flooding in Florida in the USA.  Earthquakes in California in the USA. Indonesia. Volvanoes. Tsunamis. 

Flooding by rivers, seas and oceans.

Prevention - Balcony Falls

Fires in High Rises

The UK has to fund a major progrmme of replacing cladding. 

In Canada years ago Haabitat was built stepped like a pyramid so that jumping off a blcony took you no further than one floof below.

Grenfell in London, England.

Prevention - portable fire escapes, folding rope ladders for travellers to keep in their luggage in cars, when staying in skyscrapers instead of ground floor motel bedrooms. 

Balconies

So many people falling off balconies. Climbing on balconies. Cats falling off balconies. Children falling out of windos.Cleaning is done from professionals on the outside, not maids or home owners leaning out.

Lessons Learned

What lessons have been learned?

The Titanic taught us tht ships need lifeboats with enough places for everybody. But a chip titlted on its side might not have usable, launchable lifeboats. That's why you don't wait until the last moment before evaluating.  Women and children who are less agile are evacuated first.

Life boats need to be stocked with food, drink and a fishing line, first aid, a spare life vest. Flares for signalling to ships. Maybe even a line for nearby swimmers to cling to, without clambering into the boat and upending it. 

Survival. Surely survival including first aid, cooking, weather watching basics (sun rises in the east shadows, and so on, safe and unpleasant plants, repairing shoes, surviving, town planning, growing and grafting plants.should be taught not just to scouts but to all schoolchildren. The Japanese teach children to clean their classroooms and school.

Califormian hotels have windows which cannot open so you cannot fall out. 

Hotel and Plane and Train Evacuation

I sit in an aisle seat. Quickest way to toilets. And exits. If I want a photo from the window, I ask somebody near the window to take a photo for me.

Different countries have different minimum heights for 

Basements and Candles

I don't like to be in basements with candles. New Year's Eve. Disco disasters and wedding disasters from giant flames and flammable decorations. Tables blocking the route to exits. 

We have electricity. Battery candles for birthday cakes. Electric imitation candles.  

Safer Roads

We have Belisha beacons, zebra crossings, bleeping pedestrian lights. traffic lights. Pedstrian barriers.  Stopping lines a few yards before the pedestrian or trafic light. Pedestrian bridges 

Singapore and Cats

Caat flaps can be conveient for cats. 

Cat Repellent

In London, a woman was afraid of cats and her neighbours got two cats and often let them out. The.husband of the woman who was afraid bought a cat repellent device which he installed outside his balcony door. Would be pet owners must put metal bars across balconies before acquiring a cat.

Useful Websites

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Fire_escapes#/media/File:Il_balcone_%C3%A8_la_mia_casa_-_Flickr_-_-ErWin.jpg

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13940963/cat-cheats-death-falling-seventh-floor.html#newcomment

https://thecatpeople.sg/cat-safety-with-cat-proof-balconies/

pistbye cat repellent on Amazon

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Fortnum and Mason a Department Store For Foodies

In the heart of London.

Fortnum and Mason exterior. Photo by Trevor Sharot.

Fortnum & Mason interior. Photo by Trevor Sharot.

Fortnum & Mason has coffee to go and a good wine section.

Expect the unexpected. Reduced price las day smoked slamon. A salmon and spinach tart under in a pastry lattice.

 Near Piccadilly is Jackson's of Piccadilly.

Useful Websites

Coffee Bar San Marino in Brixton

 

San Marino cake display. Brixton. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

San Marino is a small land-locked country in Italy. The language is Italian. San, as you might have guessed means saint.

We popped in for a quick coffee stop on our way back from The Laundry restaurant. 

We ordered an almond pastry and a coffee.

At that time, late at night, the staff consisted of two jolly ladies.

Halloween Ghost Train at Epping

  Halloween, what does it mean, Halloween

Could I be the queen  of our Halloween

Where evil things are just laughs, so it seems

Halloweens colour is orange, not green

Hollween means orange, purple and black

Face paint and white sheets, there's no going back

If autumn excitement is what you lack

Ride ghost-driven trains on a ghastly track

-ends-

Useful Websites

https://www.eorailway.co.uk/events/fright-week-halloween-services/

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Halloween gifts in Lidl

 

Photo by Trevor Sharot.

 Update on Tuesday 8th October. 2024

Lidl sells Halloween costumes, sweets, pumpkins, and has recipes on their website.

On their Facebook page I saw pictures of pizza dough made into the shpe of pumpkins, and cobweb cupcakes with streaks of what looked like white icing. When I read the recipe I found out they were made from marshmallows.

 Lots of ideas of things to buy or make from Lidl in person or on the web

Useful Website

https://www.lidl.co.uk/c/halloween

https://recipes.lidl.co.uk/recipes/choc-orange-cobweb-cupcakes

https://www.facebook.com/lidlgb/

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Little Moons chocolate snack from Waitrose

 

The Little Moons chocolate desserts were bought from Waitrose supermarket in Harrow Weald. They came from the Sushi area. They are Japnese. 

The middle is melted chocolate. The outside is a gooey gum. Covered in cocoa powder.

We cut them in half. We ate them as a small snack to go with coffee.

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More Halloween Recipes and biscuits (Americans says cookies)

 Hotel Chocolat has spooky pumpkin. Try all your department stores and supermarkets and chocolate shops to see what you can find.

Morrisons have recipes. They sugest turning a chocolate topped cake into a graveyard with biscuits as gravestones, and ciing the letters RIP..

I looked back at previous year's blog posts and realized that parks and garden centres also have spooky events aimed at families.

https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2022/10/pumpkin-patch-farm-in-barnet-north.html

Useful Website

https://my.morrisons.com/halloween/halloween-recipes-for-young-families/ 

I have saved Halloween items from previous years. You can make use of black nd white sheets and pillowcases, spiders webs made from wool, orang and purple and black nd white coouring and icing.

See orisons Recipes for biscuits, cakes, costumes, delivery.

Brixton station - in busy, bustling Brixton

 

Brixton station. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Halloween goods in Tesco, London & Waddesdon Spooky tea

 Halloween goods in Tesco supermarkets in London include lots of goods in black and orange including a broomstick.

Display in Tesco Express, Hatch End, London, England, UK. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

More in Tesco.

Update Friday 4th October

If you'd rather let somebody else do the work and have a surprise, Waddesdon is offering a spooky tea. You might admire the ghostly meringue. This is the weekend of October 26th and 27th, coming up to Halloween.

Useful Websites

Tesco

Waddesdon

https://waddesdon.org.uk/whats-on/spooky-afternoon-teas/

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Jewish New Year foods and drink and gifts

 We could not see much for Jewish New year in London. Diwai items have been phased out and eclipsed by items for Halloween.  In a Waitrose branch we saw a Happy new year greeting to customers celebrating the Jewish holiday, but a dearth of kosher chocolates or gifts to take to the hosts of a dinner. Only sabbath candles.

Jewish New Year foods for this autumn festival include apples and honey, plaited challah bread, and kosher wine by Palwin and others.

Kosher Wines

The Palwin wines include sweet red wines. I like sweet wines so the cheap Palwin wines are the ones I like.

In case we get invited to a dinner next year, we shall stock up.

Hedonism has some expensive kosher wines over a hundred pounds a bottle. We had a birthday during Jewish New Year. So e scnned the supermarkets to see if there was anything seasonal.

Some websites describe thw ine as a dessert wine because it is sweet, but festive meals, as well as the Friday night Sabbath eve meal, start with a prayer over bread (challah) and a prayer over wine, and drinking wine at the start of the meal.

Picture from Wiki Commons by Chesdovi.

Candles 

We found shabbaat candles in Waitrose in Harrow Weald. Plain white candles. There are some Jewish shops in Edgware, and one run by Indians in Golders Green, likely to have more interesting gifts. You can also buy candlesticks and festive items.

Ironically, just when you want to buy goods to take to a party, the relevant shops are shut for the holidays!

You can also buy online and in newsagents festive cards.

Useful Websites

https://www.kosherwine.co.uk/yarden-mount-hermon-red-

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/palwin-no-10-menorah-red

A Free Tour in London

 Looking for something free to do, or something new to do? Here's this month's find.

Board showing free tour of Methodist Central Hall. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 

 And look at those colorful brick paving stones.  The world is full of wonders when you stop to look around.

Many important events have taken place here. Starting with the Suffragette movement, in real life and in a film about it years later. 

The impressive organ. The central dome is a feature. So is the plaque to the meeting of the United Nations.

Useful websites

Wikipedia gives you general history. But wikimedia has many more photos. I found this interesting caption

Westminster: Methodist Central Hall The Hall was completed on the west side of Storey's Gate in 1912 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. A full history can be found at the Central Hall website here http://www.methodist-central-hall.org.uk/history/history.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodist_Central_Hall,_Westminster

A Joyful BYO Evening At The Laundry Restaurant Near Brixton station

The Laundry is a restaurant in an old laundry building, as we learned on our first visit. Then I was interested in the history of the building. But on my second visit I was more concerned with the restaurant's food and drink.

The Beauty of BYO

A friend who lives near The Laundry Restaurant in Brixton suggested this restaurant as a venue for a group outing on a Tuesday, because that is the day when the restaurant offers bring your own bottle. No corkage charge. BYO Tuesday. We were seven diners and each perso brought a different bottle. We had a white starter, a white dessert wine, and reds to go with the starter and main course. At the end of the meal we voted on our favourite wine and found out what the wines cost and where to buy them. 

The restaurant provided a flute glass for the starter Champagne which one diner brought, and one wine glass, and a water glass for each person. We asked for a spittoon in which to pour any leftover wine before starting on the next one. Our meeting was the monthly BYO restaurant meeting of the Central London Wine Society which holds meetings at the Civil Service Club in London.

The Laundry's food menu, which you can read online, was supplemented by daily specials written on a blackboard.

Advantages Of the Basement Table

I wrote about this restaurant previously, when the descent down the spiral staircase to the toilet was unnerving. However, on this return visit, despite my usually feeling a trifle claustrophobic in basements, I was delighted by the large table, on the same level as the toilets.  We were behind glass sliding doors giving a convivial view of diners in the main larger seating areas. Yet the privacy of our table separated from any noise from others.

On our way out we stopped to speak to people at another table whose conversation, we gathered from one overheard word, was about wine. Another group of wine connoisseurs, at the restaurant because of the BYO night.

 On the way back to the station, I paused to admire the fun in all the distinctive restaurants under the arches of the railway running into bustling Brixton.

more pictures shortly.

Useful Websites

https://thelaundrybrixton.com/food-and-drink

Service is now included.

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Simple safety rules - to prevent fatal accidents

Picture author WATAS in Wikipedia article on Jersey barriers.

I read two stories about fatal accidents recently. The first was about a tourist who climbed up a blcony to get into a hotel bedroom. The second was a girl who was apparently dancing in the street when she fell over a barrier into a sheer drop into a station entrance.

Here are some suggestions.

 Try to avoid gettingg drunk by eating and driking water, then waiting after drinking coffee and water.

Walk, don't run, in public places, to avoid colidingg with trees and objects and falling over obstructions.

Never climb balconies on buildings. If you lost your door key, go to hotel reeption. 

To get a room key, make sure you know the registered name and address of the person who has booked the hotel room.

Make sure when deigning buildings that there is a fire escape and a barrier you cannot fall over or lean over and fall off.

Barriers have many uses. To protect you from a sheer drop.  To stop poeple entertering dangerous roads and waterways. To hide behind in the case of war or natural disasters, such as flooding, such as sea and river walls..

Relevant websites

UK Nhbc standards of 1100mm high minimum. (Search for minimum height of blaconies in your country.)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13915833/Grim-moment-horrified-holidaymaker-watches-friend-fall-death-filming-singing-celebrated-night-out.html

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

The lovely Laundry restaurant in Brixton

 My favourite dishes

Starter house made corn bread ( plus heritage tomatoes and green goddess (acocado) dressing.

Great dessert, hot chocolate chip cookie.

We had a table of 7 downstairs and each person brought a bottle of wine. So we had a had a sparkling starter wine, four red wines and a sweet dessert wine.

Tuesday night no corkage.

New brew in Bru

 Costa was closed by Harrow on the Hill Station after 6 pm so we went into nearby Bru for a coffee. All coffee bars nowadays seem to offer a good choice of seating, alluring drinks and delicious, unhealthy snacks.

We had a choice of upright chairs, bar stools and banquette seats. I chose the latter to park my big bag beside me within reach. Every wall was differently decorated.

Next, coffee. Our usual coffee with milk on the side. Pretty, colourful cup sets. My saucer was blue.

For food we had a frangipane tart. Almond paste on pastry. Very reviving. 

I looked up frangipane. I discovered it was named after an Italian clled Frangipane.

I asked for tap water. Given willingly,.' of course you can'.

Lovely. Makes you feel welcome and want to go back.

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