St Patrick's Day in London, Sunday, and Worldwide With Green Drinks & A Green River

 Some pubs sell green hats. 

Others give them away free, if Guinness has provided free hats with their name on the front. 

Others have quizzes. Sometimes with a prize perhaps a free drink, or round of drinks, or a ticket for a meal.

Online you can buy tee shirts and whole outfits in green with mottoes. Also spectacles and masks with shamrocks (three leaf clovers, or lucky four leaf clovers.  The word shamrock is Irish for little clover.

UK

UK London - Hyde Park Corner

On Sunday 16th March 2025 in London a parade starts at Hyde Park Corner. Expect to see floats with music and dancing. A time to see what others are wearing and to show off your green clothes.

Princess Kate, who is the Princess of Wales,wore green and visited the Irish Guards in London on Monday.

Trafalgar Square

Expect free shows of music and dancing on a stage. You can buy Irish food. Take photos of costumes and be photographed in yours.

Regions

In the north of England the city of Manchester has big celebrations.

Scotland

In Scotland, Glasglow is the place to go. They have many Irish pubs.

Northern Ireland

St Patrick's Day parade in Belfast and other parts of Northern Ireland.

Ireland

St Patrick's Day parade in Dublin on the day, Monday, which is a national holiday. Floats and marching bands, including from the USA. Other events in other parts of Ireland.

USA and New York and Chicago

The world's biggest parade, with floats. 

One year, a river was coloured green through an American city. It was a university city, Chicago,, and still happening this year 2025. On Saturday.

Europe - Lithuania

The capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, inspired by Chicago, coloured its water green on Saturday.

Belize

Parties of people in green clothes in restaurants, bars - and on beaches! at beach bars. Wear green clothes. Expect to be offered green drinks on sale

Singapore

When I was living in SIngapore, St Patrick's day was big in Irish pubs and other places. From our high level apartment in a condo we could hear the music from a pub below. Later I ventured out to look. At the end of the evening, at closing time people emerged carrying green hats. I admired them and asked where she had bought them as I wanted to get one. She told me they were free, and she had several from her group, and did not need all the hats, so she very kindly gave me one.

Expect events in Circular Road, free, nearest MRT (underground train) Telok Ayer, DT18 (DT stands for Downtown line). 

Montserrat 

Montserrat in the Caribbean celebrates St Patrick's Day as a national holiday. In fact they started ten days earlier, on March 7th, ending on the 17th. Dress includes orange and green. 

The flag of Montserrat includes the Union Jack, top right, and Erin, wearing a green dress. She is a woman symboliding Ireland, embracing a cross, and playing a Celtic harp.

Now you know where to go to join in the celebrations next year. Mark your calendar. Buy in advance. Think about green drinks. 

Useful Websites

Amazon

Leprechaunsluck Shop

https://leprechaunsluck.com/shop.html

Spotlight

Spotlight store in New Zealand, (also in Australia) sold me Irish symbol socks and a green Irish symbol tie.

See also post 313.

Singapore Events

https://www.sassymamasg.com/eat-st-patricks-day-singapore-festival-parade/

London

You can see more details in Metro free newspaper on London tube stations and bus stations. Look for the travel and TFL page. 

Also on the website pages devoted to London.

Montserrat

https://www.wanderlustmagazine.com/inspiration/why-monsterrat-celebrates-st-patricks-day/

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

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14504529/drinkers-neck-million-pints-St-Patrick-weekend-Guinness.html

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Time Troubles - Timing Your Telephone Calls - eg Orders to Restaurants - Help - has my favourite restaurant gone out of Business! Is my friend dead, or sleeping?

Plaque about timezones on the Continental Bank Building in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Photo by JoeSmack in Wikipedia.

As a travel writer, I have literally had many ups and down. We have also had many mishaps changing time zones, catching flights, arriving at odd hours, delayed, losing our hotel booking, arriving the wrong day.

I was en route to South Africa on 9-11. Not only were flights to and from the USA grounded. But connected flights were affected. Travellers changed plans. Hotels changed plans. Hire cars and taxis worldwide were affected. 

Our flight from Singapore to South Africa was delayed by a bomb threat. It came from a scared passenger who did not want to fly. Luckily, the airline and passengers were able to call some hotels and connecting flights warn them that the passengers would be arriving late.

As you will know if you have followed my travel posts, I have family all over the world. We have a home in London occupied out to relatives as well as a family home rented to tenants in London as well as renting in Singapore, so we are whatsapping, as well as family or family by marriage in other countries such as the USA, South Africa and Israel, and more close colleagues in New Zealand, and business contacta all over, so we are whatsapping and sending photos to and from several countries. 

We used to take flights to Australia or New Zealand, with a stopover in Singapore, or to the UK via the USA.  You might think that I would be aware of times being important.

Restaurants, Meal Orders and Critical Time

In early November in 2020 on a Monday morning in London we were looking online for a lunch order and all our favourite restaurants had gone out of business. The different websites told different stories. Some of them said restaurant not delivery. Others said 'currently not delivery'. Were the restaurants closed, staff sent home, restaurants gone out of business, or stopped from having customers seated but serving take away, or delivery only? The lockdown news seemed to be varying by the hour. 

I eventually realised that some restaurants did not open until noon. So you could order from noon onwards. Other restaurants had the reverse policy. They were busy serving customers in person between noon and 2 pm, only dealing with phone queries after 2 pm.

Time Zones

Oh - so check the hour! Next thing, which time zone and country was the mobile phone set to, and the laptop or computer or tablet set to? We have to contend with summer and winter time in London, Singapore time, and Australian time, which is sometimes a day different, and algo their clocks are going forward for summer a different weekends from our clocks doing back.

Breakfast In America 

Once we took a flight from Washington D.C. west towards the west coast. We had breakfast at home, a long wait at the airport, with a brief announced delay, so we had a quick snack there. On our flight we received breakfast, Our cheap flight made two stops. So we were served two more breakfasts. Finally, we reached our hotel where we were offered another breakfast. 

I was speechless. My husband protested, "No, no thanks. We're already had five breakfasts.

I made a tragi-comic phone call from London to California. After my uncle Ronnie died were received a Christmas card and letter from the USA at his house. No address. Months later I went through one of his note books which was an address book and found an address in California, USA.

I phoned and said, in my plummy English voice, "You don't know me, and I'm sorry to have to give you bad news, but my uncle Ronnie has died." 

A sleepy American voice the other end, said, "I sure am sorry to hear about your uncle Ronnie, dear, but, I don't know anybody called Ronnie in England."

I sighed, "He played the violin and piano. Would you have known him by his stage name, Arthur?"

She gasped, "Oh, Arthur's passed? Sorry to be so slow to figure it out, but it's four in the morning in California."

America has different time zones. I remember one Friday when I was in Washington DC late Friday afternoon I phoned a friend in Australia. I was told, "He's out to lunch."

I replied, "Oh, he's having a very late Friday lunch."

My colleague replied, "No, more like an early Saturday lunch."

In Europe - Portugal and Spain

As for Europe, we crossed from Portugal to Spain at Christmas, and they told us what time the restaurant stopped serving evening dinner. We assured them we would be finished by the finishing time. We were slightly puzzled when the staff filed to clear up our dessert plates and sat down to eat their evening meal. Later we realised that we were still on Portuguese time, which was not the same, but an hour different. They must have been equally puzzled by our behaviour.

About the Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Member of Harrovian Speakers Toastmasters International club in NW London; also VP PR for Braddell Heights Advanced club in Singapore.

See my other posts on Hatch End, restaurants, and destinations worldwide. Please share with family and friends and colleagues links to your favourite posts.

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

Scary Skywalks in Madeira and the Grand Canyon in the USA

Madeira
Madeira has a Viewpoint near the capital, Funchal. The lookout is free, with a glass section underfoot. The open top buses stop there.

The name is Cabo Girao - Skywalk, at de Lobos, which Google Translate interpreted as meaning wolves, but Wikipedia suggests chamber of sealions.

USA
Skywalk over the West Rim, Grand Canyon in Arizona in the USA.

Source	Skywalk, Arizona, USA Uploaded by v.dzhingarova
Author	l0da_ralta

Costa Rica
Another skywalk is in Monteverde, Costa Rica, Central America.  I'll have a guess at what the words mean. Monte verde is green mountain. The adjective comes after the noun, like frhe French Moulin Rouge, red mill. Costa Rica is rich coast.
Photo of Skywalk, Monteverde, .
Athor, Artur Sotillo from La Canada, CA, USA.








Useful Links
Chicago Tilt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKwgchbA7gw 
Shows it tilting 30 degrees with visitor and interview with the designer.
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g35805-d9884785-r468510664-Tilt-Chicago_Illinois.html
visitmadeira.comhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Câmara_de_Lobos
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabo_Girão

Don't even think of it - the Tilt Ride in Chicago and other scary thrill rides

Problem
I'm not scared of heights. I don't mind lifts and escalators. I cope with planes on take off and landing. But some things I draw the line at. Which ones?

Answers
1 The Tilt, Chicago. Up on the 94th floor. Each person stands at their window. It tilts forward. I was sent a video on Facebook.

2 The glass bridge.

3 The scariest road. South America.

4The rollercoaster which keeps looping the loop. I like to eat and although I would like to diet I don't want my food all over my clothes.

5 The old Tilt-a-whirl.  Photo by Daryl Mitchell from Canada. Loaded from Flickr to Wikipedia.
An amusement park has several more - Conneaut Lake Park, Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania, US.
Try Blue Streak (rollercoaster), Flying Scooters, and Historic Tumble Bug, the Toboggan.

Useful Websites

Toboggan, at Conneaut Lake Park, USA, by Jeremy Thompson from LA, California.


Flying Scooters (2011), Conneaut Pale Park, USA, by Jeremy Thompson from LA, California.





Tumble Bug Ride, Conneaut Park, by Allen.0272.


Splash City Water Park at Conneaut Lake Park by Allen.0272 in Wikipedia.




First drop on Blue Streak (2012)at Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania, USA, by daveynin from USA.


Other thrill rides include:
The Hot Seat Thrill Ride at Fun Spot America, in Kissimmee, Florida, USA.
the Super Shot on top of the Stratosphere, Las Vegas, USA.


Useful WebsitesThrill Ride (Super Shot), Las Vegas, USA. By Alex Proimos from Sydney Australia.
visittheusa.co.uk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conneaut_Lake_Park


Fun Spot America, in Florida. By Melissa Hillier.


The First Longest Glass Footbridge in the World, photo אביהוד2017 in Wikipedia, at Tianmen Mountain, Zhangijiajie, China.

Madeira has a Viewpoint which is free, with a glass section underfoot.The open top buses stop there.

Useful Links
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKwgchbA7gw 
Shows it tilting 30 degrees with visitor and interview with the designer.
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g35805-d9884785-r468510664-Tilt-Chicago_Illinois.html
visitmadeira.com
See next posts for Skywalks.

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

What time is it in LA, Chicago, New York and London, England? Pacific, Central and Eastern time

Problem
A webinar asks me to sign up and choose a time. What time is it where?

Answers
The webinar says the times available are:

Pacific                                 Central                    Eastern
(Los Angeles)                     (Chicago)                New York
10 am                                  Noon                       1 pm

2 pm                                    4 pm                        5 pm

My laptop, set to UK time, says that the meeting starts one day or two ahead plus such and such a time which is 5 hours ahead.


Pacific                                 Central                    Eastern
(Los Angeles)                     (Chicago)                New York           UK
10 am                                  Noon                       1 pm                   6 pm

2 pm                                    4 pm                        5 pm                   UK 10 pm

I can't find a tab for columns on blogger.com in which I create posts for blogspot.com on which you read posts. However, I shall check to see this looks OK.

I now have a magic, easy to understand comparison of time zones in the USA, plus a comparison between the USA, all three regions, and the UK. I can sign up for a webinar, recommend it to friends in the UK when they are at home in the day rather than out for the evening, or returned from work.

As soon as I clicked publish on this post I got the feedback that people in the USA were the greatest number of those logging onto my post. But the second highest number was people in Germany. (Could be Americans in Germany.) So to help them I thought I must check the time difference between the UK and Germany.

I bet most people in Germany know. However, the clocks changed last week. Also, as a freelance writer and former sub-editor I know don't rely on what you think - ALWAYS CHECK!

Germany - and most of Europe, is one hour ahead. That means that 10 am in the UK is 11 am in Berlin.  11 am in the UK is noon - are they about to go out to lunch in Berlin? Or are they free to chat about non-work items and watch videos? Noon in the UK is 1 pm in Germany. 2 pm in the Uk is 3 pm 3 pm in German. 4 pm in the UK is 5 pm in German - are they going home - is their switchboard no longer answering? 6 pm in the UK will be 7 pm in Germany - are they home already, not keep to take business calls when they are with family? A really handy comparison.

When recording videos, podcasts, and speeches, I must remember not to say good morning, afternoon or evening, unless I explain when the recording was made, but instead say, hello. because people could be watching the recording any time.

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

Museums About writers in America, Ireland and England

CHICAGO USA
https://americanwritersmuseum.org/visit/ 

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

DUBLIN, EIRE
https://www.dublinpass.com/dublin-attractions/dublin-writers-museum.html

Britain has many museums devoted to particular authors. For example
England
Shakespeare - Stratford upon Avon
Jane Austen - Bath
The Brontes - Haworth, Yorkshire

Wales
Dylan Thomas boathouse (Two Thomas trails)
Fishguard (Scene of films Under Milk Wood and Moby Dick) See my previous posts on Fishguard.

Scotland
Robbie Burns House, Ayr

visitbritain.com

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

American Money Museums - and do you know which president is on which bill?

Photos from Wikipedia, in public domain.

USA
I visited a banknotes and coin museum in Washington DC in the USA. I never really thought about the fact that American's first President Washington, is on the one dollar bill.
Thomas Jefferson, third President, is on the $2 note.
Lincoln, the 16th President is on the $5 dollar bill.
$20 Andrew Jackson.
$50 Ulysses Grant.

The $100 note has Benjamin Franklin, who said a place for everything and everything in its place. (Also attributed to the happily named Samuel Smiles and Britain's Mrs Beeton.)

Handy pictures of the notes and presidents on this website:
https://www.leftovercurrency.com/exchange/us-dollars/current-us-dollar-banknotes/

The USA has at least half a dozen money museums:
Atlanta
Chicago
Cleveland
Denver
Fort Worth
Kansas

Washington DC Free tour. Very interesting account of various presidents and VIPs shown on coins and notes.
https://www.moneyfactory.gov/washingtondctours.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Numismatic_museums_in_the_United_States

TO VISIT THE USA
visittheusa.co.uk

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

Why Should I Go To The Harley-Davidson Museum, Where, What Events?

Harley Davidson Museum, USA. Wiki.

The museum opened in 2008 and if you haven't been there yet you should.

Problem
Why should I go to the Harley-Davidson Museum, if I don't own one?
Learn about the history of Harley-Davidson and America.

I'm more interested in music.
There's a picture of Elvis on a Harley-Davidson.

Isn't the name Harley-Davidson magical?

From the museum you learn so much. They supplied the army during the WWI, which helped their turnover. By 1920 Harley-Davidson was the biggest motorcycle manufacturer in the world.

Where is it?

Answer
It's 90 miles north of the city of Chicago, in the state of Wisconsin). See below.

Map from Wikitravel.

When can I go there for a special event?
Annual Events for
Armed Forces Day Celebration May;
Bike Night Thursday nights May-September;
Custom bike show on Labor Day Weekend;
Veterans Day Appreciation, November.

Personalised paint jobs on the bike started in the Depression when the company wanted something to add appeal to sell bikes. That started the tradition of customising Harley Davidson Bikes.

Admission fee, about $18 - check website for latest prices, and prices during exhibitions. Reductions for seniors, students, children and military with ID.

Don't want to pay the time nor the admission fee? Go to the shop; then dine at the Motor Bar and Restaurant. Alternatively, the Cafe Racer.

You can also do a Harley-Davidson factory tour.

What Else To See And Do In Wisconsin?
Milwaukee Art Museum is amazing inside and out. Outside it has bird's wings which open and shut several times a day according to weather.

Two breweries and one distillery offer tours, so you can get a drink, usually free, if you are not driving.

Wisconsin speciality foods include a rich, yellow custard made with egg yolk and cream.

Wisconsin is called the City of Festivals and has the largest music festival in the world.

Motorcycle Themes Around America And Worldwide

Where else can you go connected with motorcycles?


A Harley-Davidson is displayed at the Motorcycle Hall Of Fame Museum, Pickering, Ohio, USA.

Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum, USA. Wikipedia.

 England has several motorbike museums. I visited the one near the New Forest, south of London, 

Harley-Davidson Theme cafe, Las Vegas strip, USA. Wikipedia.

If you can't get to any of these, you can buy online from the Harley-Davidson museum. Their shop stocks:

Baseball hats, biker caps, boot straps, leather jackets, boot straps, vests and more. 

Address and tel:
Harley-Davidson Museum
400 West Canal Street
Milwaukee
Wisconsin 53201
USA
Tel:1-877-HD-MUSEUM or
1-877-436-8738

USA
Virgin Airlines (wonderful airport lounge New York and airline socks in jolly red);
www.virginatlantic.com

Harley Davidson Museum, Milwaukee, WI, USA
www.h-dmuseum.com
The Harley-Davidson Museum contains a shop and two eating areas, one of which is open to the outside so you and stop for food or drink even if not visiting the museum.
If you buy a new Harley-Davidson you get a year's free membership of the Harley-Davidson  group with offers on insurance and other benefits.

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

Potholes Filled With Pictures Made of Mosaics In Chicago, Painting, Pranks, Penises in UK

Problem
Potholes - everywhere - and one right outside your door. How can you fill it?

Answer
Pothole fillers who got tired of waiting have been working on potholes in the USA and UK. How to find them? There's an online map for the Chicago pothole art. Here's where to see them:

USA
Chicago - mosaics in potholes - made by Jim Bachor, mosaic artist. Every year he has a new theme, such as ice cream of flowers, something attractive. He encourages publicity by leaving a goody bag for/from the Best Neighbour with instructions on how to post links to his artwork.

What to see in Chicago:
The C l o u d Gate in Millennium Park. (Spaces inserted in text to defeat what I shall call the automatic "spell spoiler".)
Pothole Art by Jim Bachor 'The Pothole Guy': approx 45 sculptures, since 2013
Artwork by Jim Bachor at Chicago city's Thorndale Red Line "L" station.

USA Tips
Update - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4459346/Child-killed-3-adults-injured-truck-hits-car-NYC.html
More information from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/0366e18c-09e6-4847-8afe-1e3977a9a81a?intc_type=singletheme&intc_location=bbcthree&intc_campaign=bbcthree&intc_linkname=article_mosaics_contentcard33
http://www.bachor.com/4600-north-kenton---map (where to see potholes he filled in Chicago)
http://www.bachor.com/pothole-installations-c1g1y (shows his mosaics in potholes)
http://www.bachor.com (shows his mosaics which are not in potholes)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Bachor (History including his commission 'Chicago Transit Authority that was installed in the city's Thorndale Red Line "L" station.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2656250/Talk-street-art-Chicago-artist-fills-citys-potholes-marks-one-beautiful-mosaic.html
http://chicagoist.com/2017/04/05/jim_bachor_pothole_art.php#photo-1
Jim Bachor is on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

UK Pothole
In the UK, in the city of Manchester in the north of England, potholes have been outlined by prankster nicknamed Wanksy (for any foreign language readers, this is a pun on the name of graffiti artist Banksy, combined with an insulting rude word). W a n k s y (spaces inserted in text to defeat 'spell spoiler' (Angela Lansbury's term, coined today, 26 April 2017) which prefers winks) has used graffiti to draw penises around potholes to draw attention to them. I'm a fairly prudish person in some ways, when it comes to what is said, done, and painted in public places, but I think, for once, this is 'hilarious' (as the Daily Mail likes to say).

UK Tips
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/11570595/Meet-the-man-using-penises-to-fill-potholes.html

Artistic or obscene? Amusing and practical? Both have their places in filling potholes.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Online Speakers Clubs, Ideal For Frequent Travellers and Expast

HOD Tall Tales Contest in London. I am wearing the Santa costume in red on the far right. I was the contest chairperson. I always wear bright colours and outfits or props to be noticed. Somebody said to me, "You are a very visual person.'

Problem
I am a member of two Toastmasters clubs in London. But when I travel I miss competitions.

When you travel to another country, you miss meetings of clubs in your own country. You are out of sync in other time zones.

Answer
Toastmasters International has several online clubs. These are based in America: Chicago; The UK: London: Europe; Switzerland. To join an online club you must first:
1 Be a member of a regular club.
2 Be familiar with the two basic public asking manuals, the Competent Communicator and the Competent Leader.

Why else would you want to join an online club? I can see that those older members who are over 50/60/70/80/90/100 might still want to listen to and contribute to or run meetings, without having to travel. I have also seen articles in the Toastmasters magazine about people who are blind, deaf or handicapped who are able to attend meetings with the help of mentors and sometimes volunteer chauffeurs.

Story
The clubs advise you to get online before the meeting start time to check you can connect with them. I've tried conference calls with toastmasters groups, sound only. I've done this twice or three times. Each time we had about five people and one of them was having trouble. They could hear us but we could not hear them, then vice versa. So we were online on screen, then phoning each other.

The advice was going, "Tell her to look for the icon. Can she see it on her screen? Look for the sound level. What symbols can you see? Can you email your questions so we can read them out? Can you type them on your screen?"

On one occasion I was the one who could not get through. We ended up in the absurd situation that I was talking on the phone and they could all hear me on line talking to one of them on the phone. I could hear them on screen advising the person who was advising me on the phone.

London
Witty Storytellers
Charted 2016.
They aim to end up with a collection of stories.
Meeting online 2nd and 4th Thursday at 6 a.m. London time (GMT).
(London, England SE3 7TN UK)
Phone:+44-7805-5101-65.
http://wittystory.easy-speak.org

Switzerland
Netizens Online club, Switzerland.
If you are already a member of a Toastmasters Club you can contact them through EasySpeak, the inner-club network.
http://www.toastmasters.org/Resources/Online-Clubs-List
A pioneer club. Started 2012.
They meet online the 1st and 3rd Sunday of every month.
Next meeting Jan 8, 2017, at 9 am.

CANADA
Community Club
Buddies.
Chartered June 16 2016.
Phone: 1-613-991-1059.
Meets online, Nepean, Ontario, Canada.
2nd and 4th Saturday, 9-10.00 pm (21.00-22.00 hrs) (GMT+8)

USA
Community Club
Great White North Online
Charted (became official) in September 2016 - quite recently.
They meet online, 2nd and 4th Sunday 18.00 GMT-5
US phone: 503-724-2755.

Another in house club is run by Huron in California for their employees.

To me this looks great. I am not sure about the storytelling, which is a bit of a challenge for me, nor about being up at 6 am. I also want a club which is on the same time zone when I travel elsewhere. However, I am hopeful that within a year more clubs will start online.

Story
In Singapore I have visited 50 clubs and in London, England I am a member of two. When I travel from one country to another I sometimes win a contest at Club level but cannot enter the Area competition because I am away. Online clubs are allowed to do their club competitions on line. My aim is to end up with video presentations. I would like to showcases of myself as a stand-up comedian. I would also like to read the opening or an extract from a novel I have written or a poetry book or a self help book. An online club would be ideal for this.

I sat in at two meetings in Singapore where an iPad was used to enable a member far away to join in the meeting. At the first a member was at university in Australia. He was the President or Area Governor and opened and closed the meeting with a speech from Australia and the iPad showing him listening was displayed on the large oval meeting desk in the Community Club.

At the second meeting, I attended a bilingual Tamil club in an Indian Community Centre. The President had gone back to India. He was on an iPad watching us and we could see him and his family walking around behind him in India.

Tips
For more information on clubs worldwide see Find A Club, Toastmasters International.
http://www.toastmasters.org/Resources/Online-Clubs-List
GMT is Greenwich Mean Time.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, public speaker, contest judge and chairperson, teacher of public speaking, English language and languages.
Please follow my posts and blogs on blogger.com, look at my websites and follow me on Facebook. LinkedIn, Instagram and twitter. Please like and share.

Italy promoting wines, breads, oil, cheese and coffee

This event was a trade only show on Sunday and Monday. It is open to the public on Tuesday. At about 10.30 a bottle of wine will be arriving outside. I suggest you arrive and collect your badge earlier. I have several posts on what I enjoyed.

First the food and drink: Events: I went to a coffee tasting organised by Lavazza, a wine tasting on Prosecco. Stalls: I saw many more coffees and wines, salamis, and tried sausages, cheeses including blue cheese, pizza, tomatoes, several varieties of panettone (bread with sultanas in a dome shape, popular at Christmas time and all year, the most delicious Sicilian pastries with fruits and almonds, and pistachio ice cream. 

As for novelties: my favourites were silver covered almonds and presentation packs of a six bottles and a scarf or tie. I'll do separate posts and pictures of my favourites.

After the show, whether you are an importer, restaurant, caterer, or just an individual, you can order several of the foods and drinks which were displayed, and you can use a discount code. 

If you can't make the show in London, you have more chances in Amsterdam in November 2016; or in Warsaw, Poland; and Chicago, USA in 2017.

Open in London at Business Design Centre, Islington,Tuesday 19 July 9.30 am-4.30 pm.

More details from: 

www.bellavita.com

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.