Food in Flanders, Belgium: Antwerp area's beer, cheese, chocolate and spicy pastries

Antwerp in Belgium is a port city which has been known for centuries for diamonds and Belgian beer but now is promoting favourite fresh foods and flavours.

Brussels is the big bustling capital; Bruges is known for pretty bridges; but to keep things easy, let's look at the cities in alphabetical order.

ANTWERP

To sum up what you will find in Antwerp: drinking beer from or buy local beer glasses, try herb l i q u e u r, follow a chocolate trail, sit tasting cheese at a cheese and wine bar, walk a culinary trail, or get up and go cycling the soldiers of the Great War trail. These foods are from Antwerp or the Antwerp province and you will find them in Belgium and exported to other countries - maybe in your local supermarket in London, Singapore or the USA.

FOOD
Culinary walks Antwerp www.culinaireandelingen.be
The Chocolate Line   Antwerp www.thechocolateline.be
Mokatine - coffee flavoured sweet. They sell eight flavours of toffee /caramel sweets in a wrapper, as well as other treats such as marzipan.
www.roodthoft.be

Here's a Mokatine recipe for a Mokatine cake with coffee buttercream, which seems quite tricky as the temperature is critical:
http://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/mokatine-coffee-cake-recipe

Belgian BiscuitsAntwerp produces Boileke and handjes.

Lier vlaaike
Round raised pastry, like a half height muffin, with a dark brown pastry top and a white base or low cup and with filling of breadcrumbs, milk, syrup and spice,  four spices, with a spicy aroma.
The name Lierse is protected so if the product is called Lierse it should come from Lier bakers affiliated to the 'Orde van het Lierse Vlaaike", using the standard recipe. The outside dough is water, butter and flour. The mould is 5 cm in diameter and 2.5 cm high.

DRINK
www.elixir-danvers.be

SIGHSEEING
Cycling in the footsteps of the soldiers of the Great War Kempen  (Kapellen Brasschaat) www.spoorfletsen.be

visitantwerpen.be
The letters be on the end of the website name stand for Belgium.

More Regional Foods
Saffron
Saffron, grown in the province, sold in a little round tin.
www.belgischesaffraan.be

Caviar
In a similar looking round silver metal tin, from Royal Belgian Caviar as the label says.
www.royalbelgiancaviar.be

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, author, speaker.

Remembrance Sunday in the UK and Leefe Robinson's grave

Remembrance Sunday is observed throughout the UK with the wearing of poppies and two minutes silence, laying of wreaths on memorials, services in religious buildings and parades.

In Harrow traditionally the mayor of Harrow goes to lay a wreath the day before on the grave of local hero Leefe Robinson, an airman in the Great War. Photos of him are in the entrance to the Leefe Robinson pub and restaurant, which is opposite the site of his grave in the cemetery extension across the Uxbridge Road.

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

http://www.millerandcarter.co.uk/restaurants/london/millerandcarterharrow ('Formerly' Leefe Robinson, they say.)

http://www.wimbledonguardian.co.uk/news/13954478.Silence_fell_and_servicemen_marched_as_Harrow_celebrates_Remembrance_Day/

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

The Volunteer Pub, visited in Baker Street, London

The Volunteer pub is on the corner beyond the Sherlock Holmes Museum where you see crowds on the pavement as you walk north from Baker street station from the Marylebone Road along Baker Street towards the greenery of Regents Park.

You will see the pub sign hanging outside.

The surprise is the huge mural on the wall inside of the Great War soldiers.

No the volunteers did not join up inside a pub. The pub came later. Apparently, according to the staff behind the bar, an office where men could volunteer was on this site, then afterwards the pub was established with a name reflecting the location's history.

What about the food? They serve a surprisingly restaurant style food, considering we were perched on stools at high tables. I ordered egg with avocado.

My companion knew this pub because he and the third member of our group used to work in this area. My friend chose Eggs Benedict. He thought the egg should have been runnier. I would have been quite happier with it, as I am not a fan of chasing yolk with a fork and leaving half of it on the plate.

My avocado with egg seemed a very healthy late breakfast for a weekend.

The staff were very jolly. I asked the girl who was serving, "Why is this pub called the Victory?"

She hesitated a moment, before replying, "It isn't called The Victory. It's called the Volunteer."

"Oh. That's explains it," I replied, nonchalantly.

My friend was in hysterics.

Oops. The Victory is a pub in Pinner, named after Nelson's warship.


At The Volunteer, the Gents toilet is downstairs. The Ladies is upstairs. See my other posts about Sherlock Holmes and keeping your bag safe.


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

Looking For Something New? A Laugh? Cartoon Museum in London, England and Ohio, USA

Are you looking for a laugh? Looking for something new to do in London? I was looking for something new to do in London, en route to the chocolate shops and events for this week's Chocolate Week in London. I remembered the Cartoon Museum.

Goodness, what a lot to see and do. The website has links to past and future exhibitions children's activities, films of clay models, animated Japanese manga and other animated short films created by children. Alice in Wonderland and information about illustrator T e n n i e l who was a well-known personality of his day and illustrated Punch magazine.

Finally a link to a website about the Ohio university collection and cartoons in America about WWI, then known as the Great War because they had not yet had WWII.

CARTOON MUSEUM, LONDON, UK
http://cartoonmuseum.org/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/alice-in-cartoonland

CARTOON MUSEUM, OHIO, USA
http://cartoons.osu.edu/exhibits/

PINNER, HEATH ROBINSON (in a building in the park)
http://westhousepinner.com/heath-robinson-2/

Here is my self-portrait which is true to life with the blonde hair, blue eyes, red lipstick, red lipstick on my cheeks, and the black hat forming a halo. Note the cartoon signature. The dots in the letters a at the start and end of my name have made the eyes. Curves above each a represent eyebrows. The g in the middle descends into my nose.

Below is a sketch I did. I turned a treble clef into a violinist. The musician is self-absorbed, involved in playing the music, not looking at the audience, like so many musicians. I learned to make my signature into a picture from a fellow artist I met at a Toastmasters International club meeting in Singapore at the YMCA.

Your screen might not show it, but in the drawing I have edged my blonde hair with gold. This drawing does not flatter me. I do not do flattery in illustrations. I have not yet learned how. I do character.

The Cartoon Museum, 35 Little Russell Street, London WCIA 2HH

tel:020 7580 8155

www.cartoonmuseum.org

Entry £7 (Concessions: £5 Student; £3 under 18)

Monday to Saturday 10.30-17.30. Sunday 12 noon to 17.30.

I wrote this from their website before visiting and added my photo of the outside later. For more details on my visit to the Cartoon Museum see my later post. Follow me on blogger.com and/or Facebook for updates on events at the Cartoon Museum and other places in London and around the world.

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

Sept 13 Roald Dahl birthday library events

Roald Dahl was born on September 13, 1916 in the middle of the 1914-18 Great War, known as the First World War from the time of the Second World War. On September 13 celebrations and events will be held.
http://www.roalddahl.com/create-and-learn/join-in/roald-dahl-day

Buckinghamshire

Museum Shop and Cafe Twit open to all

The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre

81-83 High Street, Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire

HP16 OAL

Tel:01494 892192

www.roalddahlmuseum.org

www.roalddahlstore.com
http://www.greatmissendenpc.co.uk
This is a two centre visit to the museum and the library which has an exhibition,, but check the opening times and your journey times if you want to do both. Other places feature in Roald Dahl's life and stories.

Another place to visit is an upmarket restaurant which he used to visit near his home which has illustrations from his books.
http://www.nagsheadbucks.com - mentions Roald Dahl museum and offers two for one offer on website to customers. This is the one with the illustrations. The sister restaurant is the Bricklayers arms.
bricklayersarms.com
 See my earlier post on the museum in Buckinghamshire. Search on this site for Dahl or for a post on 10/12/11.

Wales
If you go to Wales, notice the plaque in Roald Dahl Plass, recalling the fact that Dahl was born in Cardiff of Norwegian parents.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Dahl In Wikipedia you can see the plaque in Roald Dahl Plass and another on the sweetshop.

London
http://uk.matildathemusical.com

Angela Lansbury, author of Larry The Talking Dog (lulu.com)

Pinner War Memorial

At the top of Pinner High Street, just before you reach L'Orient restaurant and St John the Baptist church, you find the war memorial with a couple of benches where you can sit and look down the high street.

On the road side of the memorial is an inscription relating to the Great War.

Photos courtesy of Trevor Sharot.

On the opposite side of the memorial is an inscription relating to the Second World War. You probably recognize the words: For your tomorrows they gave their todays. The original was adapted from a classical Greek text, translated into English. It was devised for a memorial in Asia and has been copied many times all over the world, in various versions.

Angela Lansbury, author of Who Said What When. 

Remembrance Sunday Irish Pipers in Harrow - The Glen Trew Pipers Leading the Freedom Parade

To remember the lost in The Great War (WWI) and all wars before and since, the armed forces, whether volunteers or conscripted, and civilian casualties, and celebrate the peace on Remembrance Day in Harrow, North London, England. This group look like a Scottish band in their kilts and sporrans but they are Irish, called The Trew, from the area south of Dublin on the South East coast or Ireland (Eire). Trew rhymes with true. One of them said he wanted to change their name to Harrow Pippers. They look very handsome in black and green, notice the black hats with green decorations, with pipes and a drum.

They led the parade which they do every year. They play for public events, private parties and charity events. Their repertoire includes Battle of the Somme, Irish favourites, Scotland the Brave, and Auld Lang Syne. If you want to join a pipe band, they practise on Sunday mornings and welcome new members. 

If you go to Edinburgh in Scotland, look for the bronze statue of the piper honouring the pipers in wartime who raised morale and entertained the troops and gave their lives. The statue was put up in 2014.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_public_art_in_Edinburgh

More information on the pipers I met:

https://twitter.com/theglentrew

https://www.facebook.com/The.glen.trew.pipe.band

http://glentrewpipeband.weebly.com

Battle of the Somme on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW2ojn5agr4

The police were out, too, protecting the performers and the public.

Piper's Memorial at Longueval.

Longueval is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France. 

Wikipedia. Photo by Weglinde.

Flanders Fields Remembered in 2015

A massive amount of money has been invested in events and improvements to the memorials to The Great war, especially the ending of the war celebrated as promoting peace. In the run up to the centenary Flanders has prepared to cope with increasing demand from visitors, so there are audio visuals to improve the access to information and flow of visitors. The emphasis is on remembering members of your own family, using the records released in the census, which aren't yet available for World War II.

You may recall the soldiers were expecting war to be over by Christmas, and how the German and UK and allies from Europe and the Commonwealth all gathered to shake hands on Xmas day in No man's land. A football match re-enacting the Xmas truce of 1914 will take place.

Other events celebrate the life and commemorate the death of heroine Edith Cavell, whose statue is in central London.

The really handy easy to remember website using the dates of the 1914-1918 war is flandersfields1418.com

Nikki Archer-Waring

Managing Director

Spirit of Remembrance Ltd

www.SpiritofRemembrance.com

(See my later post on her company which takes you on tours.)

Other key events are Anzac Day which commemorates the Australians and New Zealanders in Gallipoli. The opening of Talbot House is about the vicar who came back to All Hallows by the tower (of London) who is buried in London. Events in London will be matching those over in Europe.