Wine Museums Worldwide - WOW - which ones to visit?

WoW stands for World of Wine, also the exlamation, wow! It is a huge wine complex in Portugal, on the hillside overlooking the river. The city is called Oporto, Oporto, on a hillside above the port in Portugal, easy to remember. But that's not the only place to find a wine museum.

After the London Wine Fair, where I saw the stand of Georgia, which claims to be the birthplace of wine, I started thinking about wine museums. Some have supermarket size shops and restaurants. Others have cellar doors offering tastings, sometimes free food, other times platters of food if you have a group and book and pay - and mini-shops, and vineyard visits, with self-guided or guided tours.

I have visited Vineyards all over the world, and I have been to the memorable wine museums in Cyprus and Italy. 

Italy

Italy has huge mosaic floors from Roman villas, showing the Gods of wine, and the Romans reclining and drinking.

The one in Torgiano, Italy is in Umbria, next door to and west of Tuscany, not far from Florence. 

France 

Paris has a wine museum. 

Beyond Paris is Rheims in the Champagne area. There numerous Champagne houses offer tours and tastings.

In France, the port of Marseilles was established for the ships carrying wine. 

Bordeaux has a huge modern museum of wine. The name Bordeaux means border or edge of the water, meaning waterway. Wine drinking and export dates back to the time before air travel and even proper passable roads. Then travel was mainly by boats down rivers and in ships across seas.

Portugal

In Europe the biggest range of museums and gifts such as wine stoppers and socks was in WOW in Portugal. A series of museums on a hillside, like Disney, kept us busy all day.Videos, tastings, and a plastic tumbler to take home included in the price.

The Douro museum, along the river Douro, included a sniff section. The large ground floor shop entertained me with wine soaps and novelties.

Museu do Douro, Portugal. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

USA

California has many wineries, vineyards and shops attached. We drove along, up north from San Francisco. As we got further from the big city, the price of a corkscrew got lower and lower. One of the vineyards had a train tour, but we arrived too late. 

I saw lots of great gifts. In addition to wines, corkscrews, wine racks, bottle covers. Books for keeping a record of wine you've tried and liked. Books for storing bottle labels. 

Websites of Wine Museums: 

• Vino Versum Poysdorf, Austria
• Wine Museum (Pleven), Bulgaria
• Wine Museum, Ehnen, Luxembourg
• Wine Museum and Enoteca, Brazil
• Cyprus Wine Museum, Limassol District, Cyprus
• Macau Wine Museum, Macau, SAR China
• Musée du Vin (Wine Museum of Paris), France
• https://www.bordeaux-tourism.co.uk/cultural-heritage/wine-trade-museum.html#:~:text=Discover%20the%20history%20of%20the,better%20understanding%20of%20Bordeaux%20wines. Bordeaux, France
• Museo del vino (Torgiano), Italy
• Douro Museum, Portugal
• WOW (World of Wine), Porto, Portugal
• Drăgășani Wine Museum, Romania
• Yilan Distillery Chia Chi Lan Wine Museum, Taiwan
• https://www.wineinvestment.com/learn/magazine/2021/05/seven-wine-museums-to-put-on-your-travel-bucket-list/
• Other wine museums are in Georgia, and South Africa.
• https://www.wineenthusiast.com/culture/travel/best-winemaking-history-musuems/?srsltid=AfmBOoqzqokP-8sps2EpFXIhSY0DOMgXWFRycZtFFHAO1WKp6bNWtsJy
• California Wine Museum Antique Shop, USA

Napa Valley wine train (lunches and day tours)

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Lavender farms and festivals and lavender products worldwide for your enjoyment

 I have been a fan of lavender products since my long period of living and travelling overseas, not just as a travel writer taking at least one long and several short trips overseas at my own expense, and on business with my husband, also supplemented by the occasional press trip to overseas destination. The revelation about lavender came at the start of my thirty year sojourn in Singapore where I spent most winters in Singapore, Asia and Australasia while returning to the UK and Europe for the summer and back, via the USA or Australia in one or both directions. Lavender and lemon infused products were cheaper in England than in Singapore, so I stocked up in England with Yardley products from my local chemist (which I learned Americans would call a drug store). The cheapest lavender item was a small roll on around or under five pounds sterling. that was small enough to go in my handbag when my suitcase was already overweight or on the border of overweight for air travel regulations. More expensive items or sets could be a fall-back when I was asked at the last moment what I wanted for birthdays, Christmas presents or wedding anniversary gifts.

Lavender's Reputation For Repelling Mosquitos

Why lavender? Singapore is safe in many ways, except for mosquitos, which were fought with fogging by anti-mosquito spray-mists on Fridays. I discovered that my perfumes designed to attract humans especially men, such as my husband, also attracted insects, such as mosquitos. I learned that lemon and lavender repelled insects, most importantly mosquitos, which carried malaria and dengue fever. But, I presumed, also flies, fleas and wasps.

Singapore - How to Buy a Bargain

The marked price for lavender soap in Singapore seemed very high. I tried to bargain but was told, fixed price. However, after a whisper to my Singaporean Chinese friend, who works in the building, she spoke to the seller, who spoke Mandarin as well as English, and was offered a lower price, supposedly because she worked in the building, was less well paid than a presumed tourist (although I had said I was Permanent Resident, which is a government status for foreigners who live in Singapore long-term) - and maybe either because she spoke Mandarin or because she would be a regular customer.  The moral is, if you have a local friend in Asia, ask them to bargain for you in the local language.

Meanwhile, back in London, I bought lavender made in England, more cheaply. 

I checked online the UK factory farm visits and was amazed how many there were. I had expected to see just one, Norfolk Lavender, or two if you add the one my family went to in 2024.

The largest one in the world is supposed to be the large one in Tasmania, Australia. 

Europe

You find more in Europe.

France

I bought lavender soap cheaply in a wine shop in the south of France. The village of Fitou, Frontenac region. The soap aroma was not strong. English lavender is stronger.

European Festivals

You will find festivals in mid-summer, in June, for example in Bulgaria, which has at least two (see my earlier post).

UK Lavender

I bought a lavender spray from Marks & Spencer in London. The spray bottle says it is for rooms, clothes and body. What more could you want. I just sprayed it all around and the aroma is strong.

UK Lavender Farm Visits

The name I had associated with lavender from my childhood was Norfolk Lavender.

More recently, my family went on a trip to a lavender farm in the UK, near enough for a day trip from London..

My family complained that, 'Not really anything for children to do. They were charging us just to see the farm which just offered views. A lot of money just to take a photo.' 

'The cafe was closed by the time we got back there, so that saved us more money.' 

I was disappointed that they did not tell me they were going and did not bring me back a gift of lavender bags to put in my bedroom drawers in the hope of repelling moths. Still, I can buy easily on line and visit there myself next year. 

Buying & Planting Lavender Plants

I have lavender in my own garden in London, bought from a local garden centre. The garden centres sell two types of lavender, English and French. Try the aromas and see which you like most, or which is strongest aroma, or has the best colour plant.

All of the UK is in planting zones 6-9 which means the temperature and humidity which the outdoor garden plant must cope with. (A greenhouse or indoor part of your home, even an indoor windowsill, will be different.)

Trips To Lavender Farms From London

To Mayfield - about an hour and a half from Harrow going anti clockwise on the M25.

UK Lavender Farm Visits

The farm is closed until June but the gift shop and cafe are open every day of the week, 10 to 4 on Sundays, from 9 to 5 other days. The cafe may close for last orders earlier than the closing time so plan accordingly.

Lavender Anti Moth bags

You can buy lavender anti moth bags on ebay from thetownhousegarden

Sets of 20 from ebay.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143436121031?\

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?item=235826295642&rt=nc&_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l161211&_ssn=thetownhousegarden

Useful Websites

UK

https://www.mayfieldlavender.com/

Bulgaria

https://www.viator.com/en-GB/tours/Nessebar/Aroma-sampling-of-5-Bulgarian-Lavender-varieties-at-DiVes-Winery/d50387-149310P2

Bulgaria Holiday Tours

https://www.visitbulgariaon.com/tour/skip-the-line-tickets-to-karlovo-lavender-festival-on-21-06-2025

Australia

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

https://www.yorkshirelavender.com/

https://londonist.com/london/beyond-london/lavender-farms-fields-near-london

https://www.lavenderworld.co.uk/lavender-plants

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavender

Products to buy

From Tesco.

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International Lavender Festival in Bulgaria

 

Wine festival tag. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

This tag is a render of the Wine festival in Chirpan, Bulgaria. The tag is lavender colour and smells of lavender.

You could add it to your suitcase handle for identifying your luggage. Or to a bag or Backpack or purse.or keep it between your clothes in a suitcase or bedroom drawer.

The festival features food and drink, and dancing on stages bedecked with lavender.

Chirpal has a museum honouring a poet.

Useful Websites.

Bulgaria's Lavender Festival in 2025

 Bulgaria stand at World Travel Market at Excel in London, promoting Bulgaria, wine, and the lavender festival. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The International lavender festival in Chirpan takes place 20-22nd June 2025.

 The lavender festival is about two weeks from Bulgaria's other famous festivals of roses.

See my later post for more news.

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The challenges of Greek, Hebrew, Russian and Cyrillic

 

 As far as I'm concerned the Romans did one good thing for us. They gave us the Latin alphabet. I have been struggling today with a message in Russian on Facebook. 

I went onto Wikipedia thinking it's time I put up the Greek, Russian, Hebrew and Arabic alphabets where I can see them easily. For example, on a pin board or wall behind my computer screen.

Greek

Is Greek 'all Greek' to you? Until you have learned every letter of the alphabet you can only read a few simple words, which use about 5 common letters.   For example, I recognized Athens on a road sign and Exit in the aeroplane. 

My attempts at learning go back so far it is embarrassing to recognize and admit how long it has taken me - without finishing!  I started seeing the Greek alphabet in school, in mathematics. In my late teens as a student I first went to Greece. I took more holidays in Greece as an adult.

Much later, I was in Singapore and as Area Director of toastmasters International speakers' training clubs, I had to visit at least twice in six months a Toastmasters group called Toastmasters in Christ. I was astonished to find the well educated leader giving an analysis of bible texts, explaining the meaning of Hebrew words. at a Christian Toastmasters speakers training clubs. Oddly, Christians who train to be priests learn Greek for the New Testament and Hebrew for the Old Testament. 

From Greek To Hebrew

Why do I need Hebrew nowadays when I am not in nor visiting Israel? Looking at packaging of chocolates and wines in supermarkets. For myself, or when buying gifts. Also in prayer books at funerals.

When would I need Cyrillic? On holiday in Bulgaria.

It is almost all Russian. What about Russian?

Today I had a post on my Facebook page? What did it say?

I need to translate.

Useful Websites

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

About the Author

Angela Lansbury teacher of English (advanced and English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language, French and other languages, aspiring polyglot.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Member of many toastmasters  speaker training clubs and speaking contest judge.

Angela Lansbury, the author of 20 books including Wedding Speeches & Toasts, and Quick Quotations, has lived in the USA, Spain and Singapore. 

She  has several blogs and writes daily on at least two of the following:

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

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Stranded? Delayed? No Plane? Hire Cars, Lawyers, Letters of Complaint And More

My first experience of being stranded was on a flight from Heathrow to India. Delayed. Engine trouble.

💑

 One happy couple were on their way to a wedding. 

 When we told about a delay they were not happy. We kept being told to wait because  the flight. 

Some older couples were resigned.

👬

They were bored. They slept.

💤

One cheerful and calm passener told us he was told the flight had a faulty engine and the part was being sent and installed and we would take off in an hour or two's time. Reassuring.

But that did not happen. More delay.

However, a now a little posse of action intent annoyed Americans gathered. One told us that the flight would not be taking off in an hour, as we had been led to believe.

??

QUESTIONS I ASKED

I approached him privately and asked, 'Are you sure? How do you know?'

He replied, 'The next incoming plane is from the USA. I rang to find out what time it left. It did not leave in time to be here in an hour's time. Simple. If it didn't leave, it can't arrive."

I thought about it. Flight times are displayed publicly. You could call a friend. You could call the airline. You could check into a website. Nowadays you can see the flight departures and arrivals all around the world online. 

A Lawyer's Class Action Complaint

On a flight in America we were delayed and three families were asked to get off the plane. An American lawyer asked for our contact details. He said he would write on behalf of all of us.

He would fight for us.

He said that having a lawyer in charge would help us. Having several people complaining would help him have a better effect.

We were very grateful for his help.

🙇

An Individual's Persistence

On another occasion, my husband wrote with a complaint. He wrote a letter which 

That received another rejection. oints, then wondered what to do if they rejected it and he had to write another letter. 

💬

Simple. He put only the first point in the first letter. The second point was in the second letter. The third point was in the third letter. He now had three devised three letters.

The simple fist letter stating the case and giving full details of the flight numbers and our details and describing the situation. He had two more detailed letters that he had ready to send. 

He did not state his entire argument in the first letter, just brief details to see whether we would be automatically compensated.

🙏

We prayed that it would be simple.

Letter One

No. The first letter received a brief response, a we sympathise but sorry can't help type of response. However, he was not deterred.

Follow-up - Letter two 

He sent the second letter detailing the section of their conditions under which he made the claim. Did that work? No. But he was not deterrred.

That also received a rejection letter, a second rejection. I and most people would have thought the case was over and been disappointed and given up. Not my husband.

That did not deter him. He had a third letter already prepared, no time needed and no stress and no courage needed. Just routine. Finally, he sent a letter of complaint about how we were badly treated by staff at the airport, the name and number and time, the conversation, action or lack of it, and added other reasons and what futher action he might take. 

How would they respond. By now they were compliling a dossier. It was clear the complaint would not go away. It was taking up their staff time. 

The writer had facts and a good case. They would be in trouble if they did not respond. Yes, we received the compensation due.

Allow Time

I like to go for prevention rather than cure. I always leave the whole day free on the day of my return flight in case of delays. 

In A Crisis - Alternative Routes

My husband was on a small plane which had a hiccup on the runway as it came into land so it could not take off again. He had to quickly check if another airline could take him out, or hire a taxi to another airport which had cheap onward flights.

If your flight is delayed, you may be able to ask the crew to ask the pilot to call ahead to the destination connecting airport and ask if you can be escorted and rushed through the airport to your connecting flight.

How To Hire A Vehicle

I have heard of people who had to get home in a hurry and hired a car. On one occasion there was no car available, only a minibus which cost more and had more seats. So the hirer did everybody a favour and sold a share of seats to fellow passengers. 

This only works in a country on the mainland, unless you can get a quick cheap ferry from an island to a mainland and on to an airport. 

Your options include hiring a car, a van, a minibus, a coach, or even a helicopter or small plane. Take your driving license with you even if you were not planning to drive. You never know when you might need it.

If you don't have a license or are too tired to drive, you might hire a car or coach and driver.

Why Take Your Driving License?

If your driver's license is stolen or lost, or runs out in less than six months and is not accepted, or the hire car company requires an international license from the driver's country of origin, you might need to show your license in order to hire a car. We had this problem in Bulgaria, with an international driver's license from the UK out of time, and the driver's license from Singapore not recognized.

In the end we hired a car from a local company in a remote town. They were not bothered by the lack of an international license with the translation into multi-languages. They accepted the Singapore license. They either translated it in Google, or just wrote down the licesne number or took a copy and that was good enough.

Did we get our money back from the big car hire company? I don't know. The important thing was that we were able to take two trips planned and dreamed of to other must see cities.

💗

Good News

To end on a lighter note, we were given free flights after delays on a plane in the USA. They appealed for volunteers to be bumped off the plane and we volunteered. From then onwards we always took reading matter with us to the airport. If you don't want to carry books, buy a kindle or download an ebook reader onto your phone.

Useful Websites

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

Angela Lansbury

How to remember the Cyrillic alphabet letters for Russia, Bulgaria

In simple Wiki it all looks a mystery.

I have been trying to learn the Greek, Hebrew and Russian alphabets for years and never reacher the final goal of knowing the whole alphabet but now I think the end is in sight and I want to share my tips with you to save you time. (And also to remind myself of my memory aids so I don't have to keep starting again.)

I was struggling to learn the Cyrillic alphabet until I went to Bulgaria. On the walking tour, the clutural tour, (they have several tours) we were given a card with the letters of the alphabet written on the front and on the back the suggestion that we try writing our own name in Cyrillic.

I now have the card by my bed and look at it every night and every morning. After a year I should know the letters just by familiarity.

Other ideas for learning:
1 Put the alphabet on a card on the wall opposite the toilet. (Or above the bath or the shower or wash basin.
2 Put the alphabet on a card beside the kettle, microwave, sink, or on the table so you can read it whilst waiting to be served, at home or in a restaurant.
3 Take the car with you to the lift at home or in the office. read while waiting for the lift.
4 Read at the station or airport.

However, right now I am using memory aids for the letters.

The letter A is the same.

I used to muddle up the b and the uh.
Now I remember them together.
b with the line facing forward to the right. Uh is backwards.

More later.

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, teache rof English and other languages.

Don't dehydrate. How water can help you when travelling

On a walking tour of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, I asked about water at the start of the trip. I was glad I did. We had a long wait of over ten minutes before departing. The guide told us we were visiting public sites for over an hour and would not be stopping anywhere for drinks and water. I darted into a plaace she pointed out to refill with water. But bad news was to come.

Half way through the trip, the whole walk was halted for over twenty minutes because an apparently fit young man collapsed, possibly due to the heat. Several of us grew tired of waiting in the heat and set off on our own, missing the last part of the tour, if it ever took place.

I kept thinking of Wall Drug, South Dakota, advertising around the world its offer of free iced water.

Wall Drug Store advertisement  in the USA.

Wall Drug store advertisement in Antarctica. Photo from Wikipedia.

Wall Drug advertisement in Afghanistan. Photo from Wikipedia.

Water is essential for survival and feeling well. American hotels often have water dispensers and ice dispensers in the lobby of hotels and every floor or every other floor.

What are the possible effects of lack of water?
A doctor told us:
1 The pains in your legs could be due to lack of water.
2 If your urine is dark you need to drink more water.

Cramp when swimming.
Drink water before swimming.

Singapore flag

In the tropics, such as Singapore, drink water in the morning when you wake. You have been sweating all night. The same applies to other parts of Asia, in Europe and Southern USA in summer, even New York and Washington DC, when hiking, taking a boat.

More signs of dehydration:

Aches and pains in your limbs and body.
Eyelids feel dry and you rub them until you get a stye.
Nose is dry so you cannot smell the wine or the food and you keep sneezing.

Generally tired and lackadaisical.
Inability to reach decisions. In a restaurant you can't decide what to choose off the menu.
Get drunk fast and fall asleep.

Wake up feeling no better than when you went to sleep.
Too hot.
Itchy skin.
Dandruff.
Constipation which makes you feel more sluggish.
Irritable.

Drink water. You are alert enough to decide or what to eat or to cook yourself some food. Energy enough to clean your teeth and go to bed in time to get up early.

So where can you get water? Ask!

Ask for water. Look for water.

In Airports
When getting off the plane, fill up at the airport fountains.

On Planes
Save the water from your lunch or diner or breakfast if you have not drunk it rather than letting it go to landfill.

If you fear that a foil-topped container will burst in your bag, carry it in a separate bag.  Or decant it into your water bottle.

Alternatively, use the saved water for brushing your teeth, washing your hands and body, in the airplane toilet which has signs saying Not Drinking Water.

In Hotels
Ask at reception. When offered a welcome drink of alchohol or juice ask for water.
Go past the gym and fill up your water bottle.

In Shops
Ask for water, especially if you have made a large purchase or are kept waiting.
Choose places which have free water.
Remember Wall Drug in the USA which grew its business and its town by adveritsing Free iced water.

In homes you visit, ask for water. make sure everyone else has water, too. Family friends, your driver.

After drinking water, you might need a toilet.

Drink water before taking a long train journey or leaving home for a long journey. Make sure everybody else also drinks water and goes to the toilet.

Write the word for water in your diary or notebook in the languages you will need on holiday or a business trip.

I just used Google translate to find and confirm the words for water in other languages.

Here are some handy words:

Flag of Canada

French
French is spoken in France and Canada.
De l'eau - some water
Je voudrais de l'eau, s'il vous plait. I would like some water please.

Flag of Germany.

German
wasser - water
Ich mochte etwas wasser trinken, bitte. (Notice the verb is at the end of the sentence.)

Spanish Flag.

Spanish
agua - water
Me gustaria berber agua. Por favor.

Italian flag.

Italian
Vorrei un po d'acqua da bere, per favore.














Flag of Indonesia.

Indonesian
Agua















Flag of Israel.

Hebrew
Mayim - water

Japanese
water - misu

Flag of Singapore.

In Singapore there are four languages, English, Chinese (Mandarin), and Tamil.

Chinese (Mandarin)
Water
drinking water
(The word for water is 'shway' as in fung shway which means wind water, implying harmony with wind and water.) The different dialects such as Cantonese pronounce it differently, such as foong shooey. Ask for the local pronounciation of wind water and you will be able to remember the word for water.

水
饮用水

Shuǐ
yǐnyòng shuǐ

wind
water
translated into traditional Chinese
風
水
Fēng
shuǐ

On long-haul flights such as Singapore Airlines, the staff come around with trays of drinking water between meal times and water is served with meals.

Now I'm off to drink some water. How about you?

Useful Websites
singaporeair.com


About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

A London Kosher Restaurant Open On The Sabbath - How Do You Pay Tish Which Won't Take Money?

As I sat sipping Prosecco in Tish kosher restaurant on a Sunday in London, we discussed kosher restaurants worldwide. 

Tish kosher restaurant, Belsize Park, London, England; interior. Photo by Angela Lansbury. copyright. 

You can find Jewish and Israeli style salads and fast food such as bagels and full meals in the UK and worldwide on a Saturday, often run by non-Jews, such as Christian Greeks, or Arab-Israeli partnerships; but the restaurant it won't have the kosher certification because the authorities such as the London Beth Din won't grant the certificate unless the restaurant closes on the Sabbath. So I thought.

Tish Restaurant, a swish Kosher restaurant in Belsize Park, North West London, near the centre, just near Belsize Park tube station, is open on Saturday, the Jewish sabbath.  Now, that is new, a real novelty.

But they won't handle money on the sabbath. So how do you pay?

Like many Jewish organizations which provide Friday night meals, or all weekend meals at conferences and hotels around the world, the method is simple. You pay in advance.

Travelling Jews often opt for kosher meals at private restaurants run by Chabad on Friday nights and Saturday lunch. They operate worldwide.

Singapore flag.

I have also had Friday night meals at a synagogue in Singapore. In Singapore security is tight. You have to book in advance, pay in advance, prove who you are and why you want to eat there. They have a deli shop attached so you can buy kosher food for and before the Sabbath. Singapore also has an Israeli restaurant, which seems to open one year, close the next open again. This yo-yo of open and closed, now you see it, now you don't, has been going on for years. London offers a good choice of kosher restaurants. You can be sure of several.





But what of real restaurants, in the high street, (which Americans call main street), in London, England, kosher, for you or your Orthodox friends who only eat kosher, or just for the novelty, open to the public?

In London's Golders Green you watch the hours of daylight which vary a lot according to the time of year. In Tish, like other restaurants in Golders Green, Orthodox Jews who don't travel on the Sabbath, can eat early on Friday night when it is light until about nine. By starting a meal at seven, finishing by eight, on a Friday night in summer, the diner can still travel and be home before the sabbath when you cannot travel.

But what about those who want to eat at Tish with pre-payment? Yes, I have heard of pre-payment, which works well for a set meal, a seasonal meal such as a Seder night (Passover) at a synagogue, a wedding or special occasion mass meal. But how does it work for individuals or small families choosing from an a la carte menu?

You can look at their menu online, order the main meal in advance, and pay in advance. If you have given them your credit card details, and you are a regular, then they can adjust and add any extras you order, such as drinks, later, like checking out of a hotel or hiring a car.

A Jewish restaurant open on Saturday is a real novelty in London.

Drinks
Choice of drinks by the bottle and glass is very good. I like sweet wines and had a choice of Prosecco or rose wine and a dessert wine and chose to start with the Prosecco. (We also asked for tap water.)

My companions, who included my husband who is a wine educator and writer, chose red wines by the glass, a Chardonnay (grape), a Cabernet Sauvignon (grape) and a sweet Riesling.  Quite a choice.

He had already read the wine menu on line, worked out which wines were much more expensive than the shop price for a bottle, and which were unusual or good value. Wines which aren't sold retail are chosen by restaurants so you cannot compare prices. But with very famous wines, you can compare.
To find the price of any wine use Wine Search. It might give you the price in another country but that is a good enough guide.

Drink choices also included cocktails, mocktails (non alcoholic cocktails but presented like cocktails with colours), juices and coffees.

Tish Bar And Restaurant
Now, back to the story of Tish, nowadays in London, England. Tish is Hebrew for table. the tables are very elegant, with 18/10 top quality, hard-wearing cutlery, gleaming in elegant shapes. The plates are a delight, the dessert plate a rounded triangle which reminded me of a pear or pearl.

The manager was sitting nearby at the central bar. He saw or heard immediately we wanted something. The air conditioning was on full (with a fault soon to be fixed) and when one of our member said he was too cold the manager brought us pretty fringed light weight blankets in pink for her and blue for him to act as large shawls and keep as warm.

I noticed that there were piles of dark blue kippot (skullcaps worn during meals by men, at all times by religious Jews). They are provided for use by customers on the Sabbath, especially if sitting near a rabbi to fit in.

Now, what of the food and prices?

Prices
Prices are high. You can see non-Jews stopping to look at the menu, their eyes widening in surprise at the prices. If you want a cheaper meal in trendy historic Hampstead, across the road is a Spanish restaurant whose outside board offers two courses for ten pounds and three courses for twelve. Of course you might be paying extra for coffee, drinks, service. Or there's always the old pubs.

But we were with somebody who eats kosher who wanted to show us Tish. we bypassed the outdoor terrace at the front for the interior.

We went without a starter and saved our money and our stomachs for dessert.

Fantastic Food
Food is excellent.

One of our group had the hamburger which she had had twice before, a huge hamburger, three times the thickness of fas food outlets.

Another choice was chicken. So large I don't now how the man who ordered it managed to eat it. But he did. With a little help.  We played 'Jewish ping-pong' which means sharing food.

I had the salt beef sandwich.

Salt beef at Tish. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.



Latkes with herbs at Tish. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

We shared an extra, a latke, or shredded potato pancake, a bit like the Swiss rosti or the American potato pancake hash brownies. It was totally unlike the fried potato pancakes at B & K, my favourite salt beef bar in Edgware and Hatch End. Tish adds herbs.

B & K is more basic. Big portions and affordable prices. Tish is grander for a special meal.

Herby Highlight - herby potato latkes
My salt beef disappeared fast. I did not remember it. What I remember well was the latkes.  Tish restaurant does diet-friendly small potato pancakes. I thought it was odd to serve three pancakes, when they knew we were sharing, to table of four diners. However, with two on a diet, halving one of the potato pancakes was no problem.

Leftovers Wrapped
We even had a spare leftover potato pancake and asked for our leftovers to be wrapped up. No problem. The leftovers were presented fast, in a proper foil tray, not just wrapping paper, in a pretty pink paper tote bag with the restaurant name, Tish.

Highlight - Dessert
The finale was another high point. We shared lokshen pudding. At B & K the lokshen pudding is flavoured with lemon and cinnamon, visible strands of noodles caked together, large and lovely and solid, enough for two meals or two eaters or one overweight always hungry person. Here at Tish the dessert was more dainty and delicate, more like a bread pudding, with a crunch of sugar. Delightful. Again, just the right size. Enough to fill you, and feel satisfied, yet not so much food that you felt over full.

Tish Bar and Restaurant in London, England. The dessert of lokshen pudding with ice cream on the side. Photo by Angela Lansbury Copyright.

Coffee With Milk But Without Cow's Milk
We ended our meal with coffee. A choice of several types, single or double espresso and cappuccino. The three things to remember about kosher food, in addition to the certification and license, are:
1 No pork, nor lard (pig fat)
2 No shellfish
3 No milk served with a meat meal.

Not mixing milk and meat means that your milk with coffee in many simple restaurants would just be a basic non-diary creamy in a sachet. But this is a gourmet restaurant. You can choose from soya milk, almond milk and other types of milk. I tried the almond milk. I could not taste almond, but the coffee tasted good, and I am not easy to please because I don't take sugar but often find coffee, especially espresso, is too bitter.

Toilets

Toilets at Tish bar and Restaurant. Gleaming gold. Photo by Angela Lansbury. copyright.

Finally, toilets. Yes, perfection. All gleaming gold. I don't know if it was gold plated of gilt. They have been open about a year and everything is still in pristine condition. Go there now to enjoy it at it's brand new best.

So, full marks all around for the Tish restaurant. Belsize Park. London. England. UK.

We went for a birthday meal and were treated by somebody else who gave us a meal instead of a present, and we paid for the wines. What a good memory.

Shabbat Booking
I just checked on their website for summer 2019. It said they have a prix fixe, which includes several choices, about three or more for each course. You have to book by the Wednesday before.

Tish Bar and Restaurant
196 Haverstock Hill
London NW3 2AG
eat@tish.london
@tish_London
www.tish.london


Useful Websites For Travellers & Diners
Restaurant & Reviews
https://tish.london/
https://tish.london/uploads/2019/06/Shabbat_Summer-Menu-1.pdf
https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Restaurant_Review-g186338-d14918967-Reviews-Tish_Bar_Restaurant-London_England.html

Travel To The UK /Israel/ America / Bulgaria
 singaporeair.com

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See the next post on Hampstead and Belsize Park.

Humour at the Humour Museum in Gabrovo, Bulgaria

Don Quixote statue. Museum of Humour. Gabrovo. Bulgaria.

Humour is featured in the Museum of Humour and Satire and the whole city's culture. They were known for their business skill, bargaining ability and mean-ness, like the cities of Aberdeen in Scotland, and made a feature of jokes, such as the one about Gabrovoans cutting off the tails of their cats in order to shut the door quicker and keep in the heat. (Gabrovo is known for walking in sunny summer and skiing in winter snow.)

The cat is the symbol of the town and appears on their brochures. They have a statue of the cat without a tail.

The museum also features Charlie Chaplin.

Useful Websites
http://www.humorhouse.bg/

Useful Websites For Travellers

ryanair.com

skyscanner.com

traveloka.com

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

https://wikitravel.org/en/Gabrovo

Artists who created Giant artworks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christo_and_Jeanne-Claude#Christo

About the author, Angela Lansbury
Travel writer and photographer, author and humorous speaker, teacher of English and other languages.
See other posts on Bulgaria. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Museum of Humour in Gabrovo, Bulgaria - what will you see?

Don quixote statue outside the Museum of Humour, Gabrovo, Bulgaria.

Here's a funny thing. I was in a hotel in Borovets, the Rila Hotel, looking for the lift, when I came across a stand with what looked like chocolate. It turned out to be some kind of thick plum jelly.

The stand was for a place I did not know, Gabrovo. I took all the brochures and found one of my favourite long lost museums, The Museum of Humour and Satire.

In Bulgaria I learned lots of basic facts about the country. For example, on websites and elsewhere bg is short for Bulgaria.

Outside the museum, I can see from their publicity photo, they have a horseback statue of, guess who? Obviously Don Quixote, tilting at windmills, Don Quixote, hero of Spanish author Cervantes novel.

Gabrovo was also the birthplace of Christo who with his wife created giant temporary art works in cities around the world.

Getting There

Gabrovo's distance from Bulgarian airports:

• Sofia – 220 km
• Varna – 274 km
• Bourgas – 234 km
• Plovdiv – 150 km

  Both express and stopping buses connect Gabrovo with Sofia, Varna and Plovdiv.

The humour festival in in May; and June is the time for the rose harvest at the valley of the roses in this region. 

In the same region

Useful Websites
House of Humour and Satire
www.humorhouse.bg

Useful Websites For Travellers

ryanair.com

skyscanner.com

traveloka.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christo_and_Jeanne-Claude#Christo

About the author, Angela Lansbury
Travel writer and photographer, author and humorous speaker, teacher of English and other languages. See other posts on Bulgaria. Please share links to your favourite posts.

How to learn to roll your r in Bulgaria

I have been trying to roll my r in Bulgaria for several days. Today I think I finally cracked the secret. As I walked along a mountain path, people said good morning or good day in Bulgarian. I recognized the word, although I had never used it. The third or fourth time I started saying it back. Dobre, dobray, dobray.

After I had passed the person, who said it with a rolled r, I kept repeating it. Eventually I found msyelf saying dob thre (as in three). As I panted I could not say the thr sound properly. I was pulling my tongue back quickly, hardly touching the roof of my mouth. I kept saying it, again and again. I was getting closer and closer to saying it correctly. Somethines I missed. But I just kept on trying. Until I met the next native speaker. Again I bid them good day.

Do it like a toddler. Keep repeating it. What I did was ideal. Instead of tiring one person, I tried it on several. Nobody got tired of me or impatient.
So, take a walk in a foreign country, and reapeat a phrase using the sound you cannot pronounce. By the end of several hours, you will stop worrying about it and start saying it closer to the correct version.

About the Author
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and speaker, teacher or English and other languages.

Take Bulgaria's Borovets Gondola up the mountain to the peak for walking and 'Forest Bathing'

Where Is Borovets in Bulgaria?

Borovets is a winter ski and summer walking centre south of Bulgaria's capital, Sophia. Borovets is Bulgarian for pine trees. 

Where Are The Gondolas?

The bright orange gondolas, each seating four people, go from the base station in the centre of tiny Borovets. The gondola base station is opposite the huge Samokova triangular hotel which backs onto the equally huge Rila hotel.

Gondola at Borovets, Bulgaria. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 

Be Prepared - Shopping for Sticks & Hats

In the shops up and down the two main streets beside the hotels and behind them, you can buy the basic items you are likely to need if you don't already have everything. Choose a rucksack to carry your water bottle, a pair of expanding walking sticks, or a hat, all at prices from about 10 leva, which is about 7 Euros - check the exchange rate. I bought a cheaper baseball hat for 6 lev in a supermarket down in Samokova, a small town a couple of miles away. But for 10 lev you can buy a hat with a neck flap which is removable.

Walking sticks, adjustable height. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Gondola Plans

The gondola costs 15 lev for the return journey. Ignore the half way point used by skiers if you are walking because walkers go to the trails at the top to the highest point, or along a lower trail which skirts the peak like the hrizontal crack you make in the top of a boiled egg.

Gondola Seats

Sit facing the mountain if you don't like heights. It is a pity the windows are so scratched which spoils your photos and videos. The journey is really long, about 30 minutes. On the way up I was nervous.  On the way back I was busy taking photos and absolutely loved it. I remembered the Japanese invention of the phrase Forest Bathing, letting the peace of the forest reduce stress.

There is a toilet at the top of the gondola exit. Maps show you the trails and give safety advice. the cafe above the gondola exit looks down over the gondolas coming up. The prices are reasonabe if you are looking for something inexpensive. Try chicken soup at 3.50.

The lower track which I took attracted a lot of young Bulgarian families with children and even toddlers. I would recommend taking sticks because a lot of the wide path is over uneven gravel and bit of rock.

The hut on the lower level is only one hour away, but that is one and a half hours at my speed. I stopped three times for water and moved my water from the rucksack to a large front pocket in my denim trousers. After an hour I could not see the end and turned back. I had referred back to the photo I had taken at the gondola exit I would have known that I was two thirds of the way towards my destination. The others intrepidly went off to the top, a six hour hike.

I saw one couple, a man carrying a rucksack, the girl with nothing to carry. I thought, I would have made faster progress like that.

Angela with a Brolly (British for Umbrella) as a Sunshade in Bulgaria. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Brolly At Borovets

I got out my umbrella to shelter behind if I saw a good spot for a toilet. I decided that keeping my umbrella open like the Singaporeans who use umbrellas as sunshades, was a good idea. I felt a lot better, shielded from the sun and without the extra weight of the umbrella in my rucksack.

Author

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

Rila Monastery Must See - top sight in Bulgaria

Rila Monastery is absolutely the top sight in Bulgaria, above the superb capital, Sophia, above a trip to picturesque Plovdiv.

Rila Monastery and tree. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.



Rila Monastery, Bulgaria. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The pictures speak for themselves. The outer walls and ceilings are decorated with religious themes and moral murals from Adam and Eve and the serpent tempting them to eat the apple, onwards.

What will it cost you in time and money? We hired a car for the day and drove there from our walking tour centre of Borovets. Other costs were the parking outside 5 Leva. No charge to go into the monastery nor to enter the main church, however extra for the museum, or a guidebook, or a human guide, or to climb the tower.

A panel in the entry arch gives you the basics. To summarise: the area was the refuge for a hermit. After several years of being alone, communing with God, the holy recluse gathered a huge crowd of disciples and ended up with this magnificent, monastery. You might like to read about the history in advance.

Make sure in the church to see the grave of the last king, who loved the monastery so much that he built a railway out towards it.

The complex has two shops selling books, cards, religious items, red rosary bead bracelets. Also an eatery at the back.

About the author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Some more odd things about Bulgaria, Budget, Bargains, Bargaining, and Sofia

First you need an international driving license to drive. A Singaporean license was not accepted by Hertz/Thrifty. However, another friend from Singapore and Indonesia said he had no trouble getting his non European non International license accepted by a different hire car company.

At the aiport you can see the OK taxis which seem to have a monopoly, and yellow cabs are lined up outside stations and main buildings.

No Tipping
Bulgaria, being a former communist country, has a no tipping culture, so what you lose on being cheated you gain on not giving a tip.

Try Bargaining
Taxis tend to ask for double the fare instead of turning on the meter. Try quering the price or asking them to set the meter. You never know.

In Borovets, south of Sofia, a ski area in winter, a walking area in summer, many of the shops and hotels were boarded up and closed in summer. I looked at a hat on a rack of summer hats outside the doorway. The assistant came to help. The hat rack was labelled 12 leva. I turned over the ticket and read aloud, Twelve leva. I stepped back.

She quickly said, "Ten leva!"

Breakfast Buns
The breakfast offerings are strange. What looks like a straightened out croissant, or a muffin, turns out to have a white cream cheese filling.



Juices
A plus is the freshly squeezed juices. My favourite was grapefruit.

In Borovets outside a restaurant I stopped to look at the pictures and translations, chicken soup, as well as omelette, and local specialities. The owner came out to chat me up.
"Where are you from? You want lunch?"
I prevaricated, "Not yet. I'm waiting for a group who went walking."
She beckoned me in, "Just look. Just look." She enthused, "For your group, I offer ten per cent reduction!"

In the capital, Sofia, I had asked if there were any budget stores. In London we have Poundland. And charity shops such as Oxfam, Barnados, St Luke's, selling mostly second hand goods donated.

In Asia in Japan and Singapore you have the Japanese Daeso, everything two dollars, as well as Value Store.

"No such things in Bulgaria," I was told.

However, Lidl offered good prices. Lidl is everywhere in Bulgaria. We saw several in Sofia and more in Plovdiv.

Another bargain shop is Mercari. We found them in Sofia and Plovdiv.

Useful Websites
www.mercari.bg


About the author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.