Easy To Guess And To Remember Spanish Words

 

Let's start with the easy ones.

16 words.

SPANISH - ENGLISH

Many Spanish words look like shortened versions of English words.

alarma - alarm (clock's alarm)

amigos - friends (like our English word amiable)

ayer - yesterday (both languages have the letters ye, also er) ayer yesterday

dia - day

clase - class (ese classe - that class)

comun - common 

cultural - cultural

democracia - democracy

los documentos - documents 

es - it is

la fruta - the fruit

libro de texto - textbook , libro like the English word library

nacional - national

el problema - the problem

tarde - late - like the English word tardy

taxi - taxi

(in Spanish you have to use the, but in English we also use the a lot. Indians say I go to office which is a translation from their language, maybe Hindi, but in English we would say, I go to the office, because it is a specific office. A or an, means any, one of that type. The, or that or this, a specific one.)

Translating from Spanish to English is easy. But what about English to Spanish. Sixteen words. Let's start with the easy ones.

1 Taxi - taxi - the same.

2 cultural - cultural

Add the letter a to

3 alarm = alarma

4 Problem - problema

5 fruit - fruta - add the vowel a and drop the vowel i

6  day - dia - I find it easier to remember buenos dias, so from that I get the singular dia, changing the y to i, again simplifying the English

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

https://www.newsinslowspanish.com/home/news/beginner

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Asian food and beer in the bar at The Baileys Hote Londonl

 The bar has a lovely atmosphere.

Angela Lansbury in the downstairs bar of Baileys Hotel, Gloucester Road station area, London. Photo by trevor Sharot.

Flowers and window view in the Bailey's hotel ground floor bar lounge. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Across the side road beside Gloucester Road underground station is this elegant bar in Baileys hotel. 

The hotel entrance

The Baileys Hotel entrance. Photo by Angela Lansbury. 

 3 chicken satay skewers with peanut sauce for 12 GBP. Double espresso with brown sugar and milk 4.50 but 12.5 % service. Reductions on rooms and food if you join the Millenium hotel loyalty scheme in advance.

The Bailey's Hotel London

40 Gloucester Road

Kensington, London

SW7 4QH

A Millenium Hotel.

See next post about food and drink in the restaurant, and the loyalty scheme.

See the next post for more information.

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Albanian words which are similar to English words

In Albania you immediately see the words Hotel and Bar. Reading through two language or multi language information in hotels you find many more words look the same, with the letter c changed to k.

Some handy words include farmacia for pharmacy or chemist. Dentist is dentist, as I learned from an advertisement at the airport, confirmed later by other sources.  I had wondered whether the ad was partly in English for the benefit of English speakers, but a check of Albanian words proved the word dentist spelled exactly the same is Albanian as well as English.

When driving and watching signs, we eventually worked out that the Albanian for (city) cente is qender.

Taksi is taxi.

limon is lemon.

Alphabetical list

Albanian - English

bar - bar

dentist - dentist

farmaci - pharmacy/chemist/drug store

hotel - hotel

limon - lemon

qender - center/centre

taksi - taxi

English - Albanian

bar - bar

center/centre - qender

chemist/pharmacy - farmacia

dentist - dentist

Hotel - hotel

lemon - limon

taxi - taksi

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Albanian/Loan_words_for_English_speakers

https://develop.consumerium.org/wiki/User:Jukeboksi/Learning_Albanian#Loan_words_for_French_speakers

https://app.memrise.com/course/1054595/discovering-albanian/1/

The Tavern Restaurant in the Tanglin Club, Singapore

 

Espresso coffee in Nespresso cup.

Edging to the bar so you can rest your elbow or forearms. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Fish and chips. in the Tavern, restaurant, Tanglin Club, Singapore.  Photo by Angela Lansbury.

See previous posts about Tanglin club restaurants.

I entertained my good friend, 'Swan' for short.  She told me her views on the health benefits and disadvantages of various types of fish. Farmed fish which were at first being promoted as healthy filtered water. She believed that they were sometimes kept crowded in dirty water, so that nowadays wild salmon would be safer, and be better.

What was the fish in fish and chips. We checked. It passed her scrutiny. I was pleasantly surprised.

The buffet bar at the Tanglin seemed to have a smaller choice than in the old days, and no smoked salmon or any tempting surprises. So I opted for the main menu. 

Meat Pie

My choice was a pie. The pie crust was on the top only, not down the sides and underneath like a bought pie. It was okay. Not a thrill. 

Dessert

I was now looking forward to dessert. We had two desserts which we shared. 

Chocolate Dessert

At her prompting, my order was the chocolate pudding with the oozing hot centre. Yes, good.

Bread Pudding

Her order was bread pudding. Solid all the way through. Not as good as the old ones which had distinctive layers and a crispy topping.

It came with vanilla ice cream. We weren't offered custard. Bread pudding goes with custard.

Next time I must remember to pass on the bread pudding, and stick to the chocolate dessert.

The Tavern is not the delight which it used to be.

Coffee and Cookie

However, the coffee with the tiny chocolate biscuit was a good finish. 

A For Atmosphere

And the atmosphere can't be beaten. Just right for a friendly tete a tete.

Useful Websites

https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg/

https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg/dining.html

End to Elvis at Orama, Converted to Fire and Ice Lounge with Halloween and a Secret Garden

Fire and Ice Lounge, Hatch End, photo by Angela Lansbury.

Orama Greek restaurant in Hatch End with Elvis nights and hen parties and plate throwing is no more. Instead, you will see Fire and Ice Lounge. It is a cocktail bar with food. 

Outdoor features include the back garden, enticing called the Secret Garden. Their website says it has a retractable roof so it is used for the manager's organized events open to the public as well as for private events, rain or shine.

Upcoming events include Halloween celebrations. Boozy brunch. Saturday October 30th. 

At the front is a glassed in area.

Where? Easy to locate and convenient for those who don't want to drink and drive. Just down the road from Hatch End station, on the same side of the road. 

Alongside the Wetherspoons pub which offers more and cheaper drinks but a different atmosphere.

You can read a small number of reviews on Tripadvisor.

By day the bar looked deserted to me. 

But you might expect that sort of place to come alive at night, or at weekends, or if you go there in a large convivial group.

Useful Information

www.fireicebar.co.uk

Fire & Ice

tel: 0208 191 9256

email info@fireicebar.co.uk

Tue-Thu 5pm – 11pm
Fri – Sat 3pm- 1am
Sun – 1pm – 11pm
Bank Hols  – 3pm – 11pm

About the Author

Angela Lansbury has about twenty books on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk and Lulu.com

Titles include Embarrassing Moments, Quick Quotations, Poetry Workbook.

Filling Food And English Apple Crumble at the Civil Service Club - and postage stamp UK artwork of a red phone box

Civil Service Club entrance. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

How To Go There

The Civil Service club has 12.000 members and a great location within walking distance of Trafalgar Square and near central London underground train stations. If you know anybody who is a member, and the chances are that you do, you can get an invitation. 

We went to the club for a food and wine dinner organized by Central London Wine Society. We were in the main dining room at a T shaped table. The reasonably priced menu offered large portions, we already knew. The wine group meets there regularly. I know the venue well because I have also been there several times over a decade. I went there for events such as an annual Christmas dinner organized by a member who belongs to a writers' circle. He is also a member of a Toastmasters International group which meets in outer London. 

You sign in at the reception which has a sanitizer dispenser, and an orchid. Before ticking my name on the guest list, I took a photo of it on my mobile phone. That way I could check on the names of fellow guests. 

Before the meal started, we were each served a hot white roll covered with poppy seeds. The butter melted into it. Delicious. We went without ordering starters because we wanted to leave room for desserts.

I recommend the steak pie. Big portion of juicy steak. Three of us liked it.

My husband ordered it and I tried it. We always order different food and swap. The steak pie came with more vegetables, carrots, cauliflower, green beans, broccoli. He chose mashed potatoes, included in the price. My salmon came with a bed of spinach. I asked for chips, included in the price. 

BBQ sauce and a white cuff stain

I usually take the precaution of wearing brown or black when I go out to dinner. This time my outfit had a black bodice - but white cuffs. Big mistake. My lovely white silk cuffs have a brown mark. 

I tried washing, soap, cold water, hot water. No luck. Silk is too delicate for me to risk bleach.

I could cut out the stained part and sew up the hole. No. I could just sew around the stain. Maybe. I could sew on a sequin.

Grilled Salmon - Not again

I saw the word salmon and thought, what could go wrong. I missed the word grilled. That is what went wrong. Part of the joy of salmon is that it is a juicy fish. Hard and tasteless when grilled or over grilled. I won't have that again. I wrote it up on Tripadvisor to be able to locate my last visit in a hurry, next time, and check what to avoid ordering. If you are happy with a cold main course, have the cheese platter, which includes grapes. Eat the grapes second for dessert. Or indulge in a hot dessert.

Apple crumble. With custard. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Dessert - Apple Crumble - Yes, definitely

I like a hot dessert, not ice cream. I chose apple crumble. I also chose custard rather than ice cream to go with my apple crumble. The French call custard creme anglaise. Yes, it is not something you see a lot in France.

Yes, good apple crumble. Not the tops. But good enough. One of the joys of the UK. I can't say I have ever had apple crumble in the USA or Singapore or elsewhere. 

Toilets - Your choice

The toilets are upstairs from the main restaurant. (On the same level as some of the private rooms.) A steep staircase. With a wooden tubular hand rail. If you are ultra careful about Covid you might consider when to wash your hands, or wear gloves, or take a disposable wipe, or not drink so much that you feel unsteady on steep stairs.

Two cubicles. The good thing about the toilet was the moisturizer.

If you don't want to use the stairs, on the ground floor by the bar are more toilets, a larger area.

Make sure to see the downstairs bar indoors, not just the outside seating, because of the pictures, created from what look like tiny postage stamps from close-up. From a distance you see three classic views, the circle symbol of the London undergrounds, a red classic telephone box.

Brilliant Bar Picture

Accommodation

Yes, there is accommodation, and very conveniently placed.

Useful Website

https://www.civilserviceclub.org.uk/Membership/Ordinary_Member_Form/accomodation_2021_screen.aspx

Handy Spanish words for tea, coffee, many, mountain and more

 

Bar la escueva

Escueva means school

 A few words of Spanish

English - Spanish

and - y

another - otro

bar - bar

beautiful - hermosa

big - grande

certificate/diploma - diploma

city - ciudad

flag - bandera  (like the word band)

Hello - hola

here - aquí

is - es

mountain - montaña (like the US state)

in - en

language - lengua (looks like language and linguistics)

mi - my

nothing - nada

of - de

or -o

please - por favor

restaurant - restaurante

river - rio

royal - real

thank you - gracias

that - esa/eso

the angels - Los Angeles (the US city)

the (masculine singular, feminine singular/masculine plural/feminine plural) - el/la/los/las 

very - muy (spelled like much)

wine vino

where is - donde esta

yes si

one - uno

two - dos

three - tres

four - cuatro

five - cinco (memory aid - think of five sinks)

six - seis

seven - siete (think of seven settees)

Spanish - English

uno - one

dos - two

tres - three

cuatro - four (note the c not a q)

cinco - five

seis - six

siete - seven

...

angeles - angels

aquí  here

bandera - flag 

bar - bar

café - coffee
con - with
de - of
dia - day
en - in
esa/eso - that
hermosa - beautiful
ciudad - city

dónde está - where is

el - the

es - is

gracias - thank you
grande - big
Hola - hello

instituto - institute

la - the

los - the plural

leche - milk

lenga - language

mi - my 

montaña - mountain

mucho - much, many

muy - very

nada - nothing (it's nothing, in reply to thank you)

no - no

o - or

otro - another, other 
por favor - please

real - royal

rio - river

si - yes
restaurante - restaurant

té - tea
vino - wine

y - and

Useful Websites

Berlitz

https://www.berlitz.co.uk

Earworms

https://www.earwormslearning.com//

duolingo

https://www.duolingo.com/

memrise

https://www.memrise.com/languages/learn-spanish

translate google

MONDLY

https://www.mondly.com/blog/2019/03/27/spanish-accents-how-to-type-pronounce-and-master-them-all/

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

WIKI WORDS

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

About the AUTHOR

Angela Lansbury is an aspiring polyglot. She learned French (O level and A level) and Latin (O level) in school.

Alabama and the missing woman - we need ID for drinkers!

Flag of the USA

A worrying news story about Alabama caught my attention. A missing woman reportedly left a bar in Alabama with two men who were strangers to her.

What could we do? One safety rule would be to make everybody drinking in a bar register their name and address with an ID. Register.

Sounds impossible? Too complicated? No, it isn't. It was done in West Virginia years ago.

Advantages. Any regular at a bar is known to the barman who had the customer's ID.

As a customer, you can carry your local bar's ID, or even a national chain, rather like a Starbucks card.

Drinking Clubs In West Virginia
When I lived in the USA, in West Virginia you could only drink in a so-called club. You got club membership instantly by showing your ID, getting a club card and paying a nominal one dollar.

This proved that you had been drinking. If you were stopped for driving whilst drunk if you had just bought a drinking club card it did not do you any favours.

Equally important, it gave the premises your identity. Want to know the stranger's name, or that they are of drinking age and not a minor, just ask to see their drinking club card.

Or ask the barman to confirm the customer's name.

The barman then knows the identity of the men, and women, instantly. They can inform police. Much faster to identify a suspect, go to locate and visit where the person lives and ask where they last saw their companion.

Note that the drinking ages and ages of consent vary from state to state.

It may be illegal to drive a minor passenger across a state line in order to have drinks or sex with them in another state. Now, what is there to see nowadays in Alabama? See my earlier post.
Please share links to your favourite posts.

New Japanese Restaurant at Sheraton Towers Hotel, Singapore

Singapore flag.

Outside the Sheraton Towers hotel, I admired the tall palm trees and the Singapore flag blowing in the breeze.

Flower displays inside in the vast downstairs lobby of the Sheraton Towers hotel looked like a wedding reception.

On closer inspection the ornate flower displays were from well-wishers for the new Japanese restaurant.

Congratulations! Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The official fanfare opening was Sunday March 3rd 2019. (A secret soft opening was a few days earlier to iron out any glitches.)

Here is the Japanese restaurant's subtle glass door entrance, flanked by flowers from well-wishers. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

I spent a lot of time admiring and photographing the wonderful flower displays sent by well-wishers and suppliers. This is unique to Singapore. I have rarely seen it in London. (Although I would now recognize the significance of giant flower displays on pedestals outside a Chinese restaurant in London, England, or New York or anywhere else in the world.)

Sheraton Towers hotel, with huge pillars and vistas. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Japanese Restaurant
Finally, the moment of truth - entering the new restaurant. It is at the back, secluded, through a glass door, and Japanese.

The staff were delighted to show me around. Such smiling girls. Dressed neatly, all in black.

Japanese flag.

First on the right is the bar, open until late. Beyond it on the right is the open plan restaurant, L shape around the kitchen where you see the chefs in their neat white outfits and hats demonstrating making food for the keen customers. Although the seats are around counters, they are not bar stools but comfy backed chairs.

On the left are a series of secluded rooms for private meetings or celebrations, with murals of plants. I feel claustrophobic in rooms without windows.

However, I can see that seclusion might suit some people, either introverted types liking privacy, or the reverse, those wanting to be free to shout and sing without being observed nor disturbing others.

However, I have two family birthdays coming up and I like company. What I like about the Sheraton Towers is the waterfalls with plants and sunlight, an oasis in the city. My preference is for the main restaurant. (See next blog post.)

Useful Websites
visitsingapore.com
Singapore Airlines
singaporeair.com
https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sinsi-sheraton-towers-singapore/

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

How To Learn Malay From Government Leaflets In Singapore

Problem
I often pick up a government leaflet in Singapore and find half of it is in Malay. Is this a waste of my time?

Answer
No. After I have read the English, I have a chance to learn some words of Malay, which they call Bahasa (language) Malay Language. Presumably as opposed to Malay race or nationality.

I can immediately recognize several often repeated words, plus one of two which are similar to the English.

Malay - English
air - water
anda you/your
bar - bar
besar - bazaar
dan - and
Gratis - free
Ingrisjalan - road or street
jalan -street
jalan jalan - walk about, journey, Stroll
Juni - June

Kartu - card
krim - cream
lokal - local
makan - food
Mei - May
orang - person / adult
restoran - restaurant
Tarif - tarif / fare /price
tiket - ticket
tradisional - traditional

Useful Websites
LANGUAGES
amazon - books including phrasebooks and dictionaries from Berlitz, Lonely Planet and others.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=malay+language
This is the UK website. You may find different books and prices and postage on
Amazon.com
Duolingo - free language courses and discussion forums
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/20796214/Malay-Basics-1
Duolingo also have tinycards. These flashcards reverse when you click and then ask you to select from three multiple choice answers.
https://tinycards.duolingo.com/decks/Seft5g/malay?lesson=1

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-malaysian/one_1

TRAVEL

visitsingapore.com
singaporeair.com (Singapore Airlines)
visit-malaysia.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Teacher of English and other languages. Home tutor and workshop leader. Contact me if you or your college or business would like lessons.

Fire in Mandarin Oriental Hotel Opposite Harrods in London, England

Photo from Wikipedia.

Problem
Fire takes hold so quickly.

Answer
Just get out. I hate being in a building when building works are taking place. I read that people, mindful of Grenfell fire disaster, just got out quickly.

Famous Building and Famous Restaurants
Such a pity. Wonderful parts of that hotel include the restaurant Dinner on the ground floor, the subterranean restaurant, the ballroom where the royal family have danced.

I recall the Dinner restaurant having amusing quotations on the paper covers for the napkins, and the ice cream card with 'smoking' ice.
I reviewed the food at The Mandarin Bar as well as
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal and the downstairs restaurant, on Tripadvisor.
https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Restaurant_Review-g186338-d2000067-Reviews-Dinner_by_Heston_Blumenthal-London_England.html

Useful Websites
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-44389895/mandarin-oriental-fire-video-shows-smoke-at-london-hotel
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5812963/15-fire-engines-97-firefighters-called-fire-Londons-Knightsbridge.html

Author Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Changi Airport Eggs Decoration - Opportunity For A Selfie

Giant 

Giant Coloured Eggs Decorated With Patterns Displayed Amid Flowers and Greenery At Changi Airport. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
Easter is over. But Changi Airport in Singapore, often voted the world's best airport, has invested time and money in a lovely Easter decoration of eggs.

Answer
Never mind. It can stay up. Eggs are eaten all year. It provides a photo opportunity for mothers and children.

Changi airport always has seasonal decorations. Usually the right season.

Last month my family met our friends who were transiting through Singapore. The visitors arrived at Terminal 2 and left from Terminal 3, where the airport hotel is situated. You can take a free train from one terminal to the next. Or trundle your suitcase on wheels along the pedestrian subway under the four lanes of traffic. But the visitors preferred to take a taxi. The hotel in the airport has a bar where you can meet.

Useful Websites
www.visitsingapore.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my other posts on Changi and the airport hotel.

Why Is My Favourite Place In Wales, Fishguard Bay Hotel?

Fishguard Bay Hotel, Wales. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The Scenery

The view from the restaurant is over the sea if you can get a window seat for two. If not, go out onto the terrace. The bar also has seats by the window.

The bedrooms have coffee makers, old-fashioned convenience.

A front room gives you a view of the bay and a seagull. Not a private seagull. The seagull is shared. It visits all the windows.

Angela Lansbury
Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. For more on the seagull, see next post. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Award-winning Changi airport

Fish pond in Changi airport. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Check in early, a day ahead, for less of a wait in the check-in line. Better attention as well as missing the queue on the day of departure. 

Changi Card

With a Changi card you get reductions at airside shops even if you are not travelling and just seeing friends or family or colleagues onto a flight. Make a diary note to find your Changi card or allow time to get a new one.

Starbucks

We stopped at Starbucks for our favourite coffee, doppio con panne - Italian for double espresso with cream.  This branch did not have my favourite almond slice so instead we had a banana muffin. I read recently, probably in The Daily Mail online, that those healthy-sounding banana muffins carry a large load of calories. Maybe, but they are large so we had one between two of us.

Crown Plaza Hotel
With more hours to spare we fulfilled a long-standing dream, to see the airport hotel, the Crown Plaza and consider whether it's worthwhile checking in for a day before or after a flight or for a few hours to use the pool.

We had mixed feelings about the hotel. The decor is black which some find sophisticated but I think it's oppressive, dark like a funeral parlour. Good if you want to feel anonymous.

We could not see the swimming pool because it is on a floor not accessible to non-residents. However, the hotel's good points are restful curves, an airport trolley area by reception, a bar and Sunday brunch.

Back out to the airport, there are always season displays to see.

Next door to the hotel is the escalator down to the MRT railway. Would you believe it, a shopping mall around the MRT entrance under the airport. Onto the train to Singapore downtown (one stop to Downtown line).

I feel like I've had a holiday although I've only been to Changi airport.

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. See more photos of Changi in other posts. Please share links to your favourite posts.

La Pepa, Tapas Bar, Restaurant and Shop In Singapore, for potatoes and wine tasting

Problem
Where can I enjoy European style snacks in Singapore? Where can I go for a wine tasting?

Answer
La Pepa, Tapas Bar, near Telok Ayer MRT station.

Get on their mailing liest to be informed about their next wine tasting.

Food
I loved
1 Potatoes - small cubes of frided potatoes
2 Mushroom Croquettes (The name in Spanish on the menu is croquetas)

Other patrons entused about items Iignored because they bored me:
meat balls
Bread with tomato spread

Wine tasting

Plus Points
Smiling staff. Ground floor toilet. Outside seating for smokers.

Quick Facts:
10 Gemmill Lane, Singapore 069251
tel:(65) 9830 0908    (65 is the code for Singapore from outside.)
Email:hellosg@lapepa.asia

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Streatham Wine House - bar in Streatham

Problem
How do you get there?

Answer
Last time we went via Brixton and a bus and it took forever. This time we went straight to the nearby station. Up the road and there it is opposite the changing colour building.

The atmosphere is just the same as when I went there in July. The walls are covered with interesting things to look at. They manage to creat a cosy, friendly atmosphere.

You can hold wine parties or events such as an engagement party in the large downstairs room.

I spoke to three of the cheerful staff. They are all so friendly and relaxed.

The narrow waisted layout, with a row of small tables from front to back by the bar means you can easily get talking to other people around the long bar.

We know Jimmy and Beth from having done WSET courses and attended wine tastings at one of the the WSET wine school premises. (I have done level one, like an NVQ. My husband has reached the dizzy heights of the dipoma, level four, involving blind tastings, passing several exams on wines and spirits and a mini dissertation.)

They have a great selection of wines and can open a magnum for special occasions, always impressive. Most interesting talking to them about their business. They have survived the first year, which is critical for any new business, despite impending Brexit and exchange rates and wholesale prices pushing up the prices they have to charge customers. They are hoping that the building of a new block of flats nearby will provide customers who appreciate wine so that the bar will become even more of a great social centre than it is now.

I tried two different sparkling wines. That's my lot. I'm not a great drinker. Because they are all specialists you can have an in depth conversation about which wines to drink.

They have some food and can bring in extras for a special occasion, such as delicious cupcakes. But if you want more on the way home, the fish and chip shop opposite that station is great. See next review about that.

You might think that it's easy opening a wine bar. Just order bottles of wine and open them for people. Wine has to be stored and served at the right temperature. It is not as critical as perishable food but you get the same problems of supply and demand being unpredictable. Imagine - one wine sells out. Another doesn't sell at all. Having two related businesses helps. If a wine doesn't sell, they can use it for wine tastings.

It's not an all day restaurant. It's an evening wine bar. Open many days 5 pm to midnight. Check the hours. If you can get on a wine bar's email list, you will get invited to events.

Practical details
Streatham Wine House
53A Streatham Hill
London SW2 4TS.
Tel: 0208 8678 8997.
Nearest station Streatham Hill.
info@streathamwinehouse.com
www.streathamwinehouse.co.uk

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photgrapher, author and speaker.
See my other, latest blog:
http://www.luxurytravelforless.co.uk