Statues of Famous People in the UK, USA, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, HK, Australia, S Africa and more

Statues of favourite, famous people as well as religious figures and heroes and heroines of mythology are all around.  Let's start with where I am now, writing this in London, England.

London, England

You can sit next to comedian Spike Milligan in a pleasant park in Finchley, NW London, or pose beside author Oscar Wilde right in the city centre near Trafalgar Square.

For inspiration see the bust of Einstein in the sculpture section of the Victoria & Albert Museum. On a fine day, see the outdoor statues. On a dull day see Sherlock Holmes outside Baker Street station and the waxworks in Madame Tussaud's.

Statues In London

Nelson's column is a landmark in Trafalgar Square. You need to set your camera to multiply times three to get more detail. 

The world has many statues of Queen Victoria, royals, world famous figures, and local heroes. 

In London we have statues of Oscar Wilde in the centre, and  Amy Winehouse in Camden. I have a book just on statues of London.

Sigmund Freud sits in Hampstead near the Freud Museum, London, England.

Photo by Mike Peel and another in Wikipedia.

A temporary Freddy Mercury memorial picture is on the Spanish steps at Wembley, London, England, in the autumn of 2026. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4z8mzx7gwo

Shakespeare's bust is outside the free Guildhall Art Gallery in Guildhall Yard in London. 

Engineer Brunel sits on Paddington station. the other side of the station is a small statue of Paddington Bear.

A statue of Abraham Lincoln is in Parliament Square, London, England.

You can also see a bust of Mandela in London, outside the Festival Hall on the South Bank (of the river Thames).

 The Three Graces by Canova in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England, UK

National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh (jointly owned, moving between these two museums), UK

Statues in England

Up north in Manchester, England, is a statue of Chopin at a piano, commemorating his visit to the city in the last year of his life.

A statue of Queen Elizabeth II with her corgi dogs is in Rutland, England.

Another is in Newcastle-under-Lyme in Queens Gardens, England.

Another is on York Minster, in York, England.

Manchester England, has a statue of Abraham Lincoln on Lincoln Square. Recalling the support Manchester gave Lincoln in the American Civil war.

The Beatles statue is in Liverpool.

And politician Margaret Thatcher's statue is in Grantham Lincolnshire, by the Grantham Museum, England.

The statue of playwright J B Priestley, who wrote An Inspector Calls, is on Princes Street outside the Museum of Science & Media in Bradford, England, UK. He was born in Bradford.

Scotland Statues

Statues of Robbie Burns who wrote Auld Lang Syne, sung by people all over the world on New Year's eve, are in Ayr, Edinburgh, Glasgow.

Wales Statues

A statue of Gandhi is in Cardiff, Wales, UK.

A statue of seated Dylan Thomas, poet who wrote Under Milk Wood and poem Do not go gentle into that goodnight, is by the Dylan Thomas theatre in Swansea, Wales, UK.

David Lloyd George, statue standing by Caernarfon Castle, Wales. Prime Minister, credited with introducing the National Health Service.

Statue of Aneurin Bevan in Cardiff, Wales, jointly credited with founding the National Health Service.

Australia's Statues

Questacon (Canberra, Australia): A prominent Albert Einstein statue marks the entrance to Australia's National Science and Technology Centre.

Statues In Canada

A statue of Queen Elizabeth II is in Toronto, Canada.

A statue of Queen Victoria is on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Statues of several Canadian Prime Ministers are on Parliament Path. 

Some statues may have been moved or removed. Check before taking a trip to see them.

Denmark Statues

The Little Mermaid, immortalised by Hans Christian Andersen.

A statue of the author Hans Christian Andersen is in Roseborg Gardens in Copenhagen.

Statues in France

The statue of the thinker is in the Rodin Gallery in Paris, France.

Dreyfus statue, Paris, France.

Burghers of Calais, group statues, in Calais France, by sculptor Rodin.

Statues In Greenland

Erik the Red and Leif Eriksson, explorers.

Australian Statues

Captain Cook statues are in Sydney and Melbourne.

Belarus

Statue of Marc Chagall, famous for his paintings, stained glass windows and sculptures. A statue of him is in

Bosnia Statues

Bruce Lee (Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina): A notable bronze statue of Bruce Lee stands in Zrinjevac Park, erected as a universal symbol of youth, solidarity, and pop culture neutrality across ethnic divides. [1]

Canada - Statues

See a statue of jazz pianist Oscar Peterson seated at his piano in Ottawa, Canada.

A-maze-ing Laughter statue is a popular photo spot in Vancouver.

China - Hong Kong

Bruce Lee Hong Kong: A famous life-sized statue honouring the martial artist stands in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong,

Czech Republic statues

See the statue of author Kafka in Prague. There are several statues associated with Kafka.

Germany's statues

Goethe Monument, Liepsig, Germany.

Walhalla Temple (Donaustauf, Germany): A bust sculpted by Ulrich Uhlig is displayed inside this hall of fame honoring distinguished Germans.

Israel

A replica of the Washington DC monument to Einstein is in the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Jerusalem, Israel. 

Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Jerusalem, Israel): A bronze sculpture of Einstein created by Georgy Frangulyan stands at the Edmond J. Safra Campus, honoring Einstein's role as one of the founders of the university.

Italy & The Vatican Statues

Outdoor statue of biblical David in Florence, Italy.

The Muses from Classical Antiquity (Roman) in The Vatican Museums, Rome, Italy.

Lithuanian Statues & Busts

The Three Muses statue, Vilnius, Lithuana. Situated above the main entrance to the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre on Gediminias Avenue.

Monument to John Lennon.

Monument to Frank Zappa.

Monument to Leonard Cohen.

Monument to the Vilna Gaon. (Child prodigy and later leader of Jewish community thinkers, who had memorised the entire bible at the age of 9.)

Mexico's Statues

Monument to Christopher Columbus in Mexico City.

Parque México (Mexico City, Mexico): A bronze bust of Einstein sculpted by Tosia Malamud stands in the Condesa neighborhood.

New Zealand Statues

A statue of Queen Victoria is in Auckland, on the North Island of New Zealand.

A statue of Captain James Cook is in Christchurch on the south island of New Zealand. I nearly got run over by a tram, as I was trying to photograph the statue, backing across the road to get it all in.

A statue of Burt Monroe, world motorcycle speed record holder, is shown on his motorbike in Invercargill, the southernmost city on the South Island of New Zealand.

Norway's Statues

Henrik Ibsen, playwright, has a statue in Oslo, outside the theatre.

Statues In Poland

A giant statue of composer Chopin in Warsaw is a landmark which you pass, or stop at, in guided tours of the city.

A statue of pianist Arthur Rubinstein at his piano, 

Portugal

Monument to the Discoveries, has Prince Henry the navigator and a series of statues of other famous explorers including Vasco da Gama. 

Christ the King.

Russia's Statues

Statue of Lenin in St Petersburg, Russia.

The Three Graces by Canova, neoclassical sculptor (1757-1822) in The Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia,

Singapore Statues

Singapore has a statue of Sir Stamford Raffles. 

Many more outdoors statues include a bird, a horse.

I love the children jumping into the water. 

The giant statue of the mythical Merlion spouts water. 

A plaque honours writer Joseph Conrad.

In Madame Tussauds on Sentosa Island you can see Lee Kuan Yew.

South African Statues

Statues of Mandela are everywhere, for example, in Cape Town, 

Nelson Mandela in Pretoria, 

Nelson Mandela in Durban.

Nelson Mandela, in Nelson Mandela Square, Johannesburg 

and more. 

Statues in Spain

A statue of seated Maimonides is in Maimonides Square in Cordoba, Spain.

The Three Muses are in The Prado, Madrid, Spain.

Statue of Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, in Madrid, Spain.

Statue of painter Velazquez in Madrid, Spain.

Monument to Columbus, Salamanca.

Monument to human towers, Tarragona, Spain.

Sweden's Statues

In Malmo, Sweden, you might want to see the jolly multi-person parade of statues in the Optimist Orchestra.

Switzerland's Statues

Freddie Mercury (Montreux, Switzerland): A famous 3-meter bronze sculpture by sculptor Irena Sedlecká stands overlooking Lake Geneva. It depicts Mercury in his iconic 1986 Wembley Stadium live pose. 

Rosengarten (Bern, Switzerland): A statue located in Bern's Rose Garden park commemorates the city where Einstein developed his Special Theory of Relativity while working at the Swiss Patent Office.

William Tell statue, Altdorf, Switzerland.

USA Statues

Visitors to New York are greeted by the giant Statue of Liberty. 

A statue of Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point, was placed in Times Square, New York, on September 10th 2026, the first anniversary of his death.

A statue of Scottish poet Robbie Burns is in New York, USA.

Another popular place, memorable and recognizable is the Lincoln Memorial, a giant statue of Abraham Lincoln seated outdoors in Washington DC in the USA. 

Albert Einstein Memorial (Washington, D.C., USA): Created by sculptor Robert Berks and located at the National Academy of Sciences, this massive, 12-foot bronze statue depicts Einstein seated on a three-step granite bench with a paper displaying his equations ($E = mc^2$, the photoelectric effect, and general relativity).

University of South Alabama (Mobile, Alabama, USA): Features the "Einstein Bench," a bronze sculpture depicting Einstein sitting on an outdoor campus bench.

Mount Rushmore in South Dakota is well known. A more recent mountain carving is Crazy Horse.

In the USA another statue of Einstein which you can sit next to is in Los Angeles at the Griffith Observatory.

Bruce Lee in Los Angeles: Famous life-sized statue honouring the martial artist is along the Avenue of Stars.

More Statues Worldwide

Useful Websites About Famous People and Statues

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

https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2017/05/wheres-statue.html

https://www.reutersconnect.com/item/artist-sergio-furnari-reveals-his-statue-of-turning-point-founder-charlie-kirk-in-times-square-in-new-york/

https://www.stephenshouseandgardens.com/visit/spike-milligan-statue

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

https://www.un.org/ungifts/pianist (About Arthur Rubinstein)

https://www.mayflowercruisesandtours.com/iceland-greenland-erik-and-leif/

See Tripadvisor for top ten monuments or sites in each country, and Wikipedia for statues in each country.

America has many statues, as well as carvings of presidents, not only Mount Rushmore.

-ends-

Placenames in Australia and New Zealand named after famous people

Flag of Australia

 I wondered about how many places in Australia and New Zealand are named after famous people. My first thought was Victoria after Queen Victoria. My second thought was Melbourne, after her minister, Melbourne.

I did a search with Gemini and was delighted to find a whole lot more, especially Tasmania and Cook.

Australia

States, Territories & Capital

• Victoria: State named after Queen Victoria of Great Britain.

• Queensland: State also named in honor of Queen Victoria.

• Tasmania: State named after Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who was the first European to reach the island in 1642 (formerly Van Diemen's Land).

• Brisbane (Queensland): Capital city named after Sir Thomas Brisbane, Governor of New South Wales (1821–1825).

• Sydney (New South Wales): Capital city named in honor of Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney, British Home Secretary.

• Melbourne (Victoria): Capital city named after British Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne.

• Darwin (Northern Territory): Capital city named after naturalist Charles Darwin by his former shipmate Captain John Clements Wickham of HMS Beagle.

• Hobart (Tasmania): Capital city named after Robert Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire, British Colonial Secretary.

Major Cities & Regions

• Adelaide (South Australia): Named after Queen Adelaide, wife of King William IV of the United Kingdom.

• Perth (Western Australia): Named by Sir James Stirling after Perth, Scotland, in honor of Sir George Murray, British Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (who was born in Perthshire).

• Townsville (Queensland): Named after founder and sea captain Robert Towns.

• Alice Springs (Northern Territory): Named after Alice Todd, wife of Sir Charles Todd, Superintendent of Telegraphs during the construction of the Australian Overland Telegraph Line.

• Flinders Ranges / Flinders Island: Named after navigator and cartographer Matthew Flinders, who first circumnavigated mainland Australia.

---

New Zealand

Major Cities & Regions

• Auckland: Largest city named in honor of George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland, First Lord of the Admiralty.

• Wellington: Capital city named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, hero of the Battle of Waterloo.

• Christchurch: Named after Christ Church college at Oxford University, heavily associated with British politician and founder John Robert Godley.

• Nelson: City named in honor of British naval hero Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson.

• Picton: Town named after Sir Thomas Picton, a British general who died at the Battle of Waterloo.

• Gisborne: Named after William Gisborne, New Zealand Colonial Secretary (1869–1872).

• Palmerston North: Named after Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, former British Prime Minister.

• Hastings: City named after Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General of India.

• Napier: City named after Sir Charles Napier, British general in the Anglo-Sikh Wars.

Geographic Features

• Cook Strait & Mount Cook (Aoraki): Named after English explorer Captain James Cook, the first European to circumnavigate and map New Zealand.

• Tasman Glacier / Tasman Sea: Named after Dutch explorer Abel Tasman.

• Foveaux Strait: Named after Joseph Foveaux, Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island and administrator of New South Wales.

• How many more do you know? Please contact me through comments. 

  -ends-

  This post will be updated later today and in the future.

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A word of Swahili - Jumbo, and jumbo elephants

 The word Jumbo, in English meaning large, comes from the Swahili for thing or head man. The name reached England and English because it was the name clever circus man Barnum gave to an elephant. an African elephant. a big eared elephant. The word means thing, or headman and was chosen because big elephants in Africa can be eleven feet tall.

Reading Wikipedia, I learned that Jumbo the elephant was capured after poachers had killed its mother. It was transported north and across the Mediterranean sea to Italy, onwards overland up to France, then across the Channel to the UK.

It was held in London Zoo, where it was enormously popular. It gave rides to the public, notably Queen Victoria's children.

The animal then became aggressive and dangerous. It banged walls tring to break out and broke both its tusks but grew another pair. 

Well, I never.  So elephants can regrow tusks, the way that sharks regrow teeth. I hope one day we will be able to regrow teeth - and bones! (I am in a wheelchair, temporarily I hope, with a hairline crack in my spine which is honeycombed from osteoporosis, the break probably caused by pushing something heavy sideways.)

My husband said, ' The poor animal was probably aggrrssive because it was trapped in a small space and grew frustrated.'

I replied, 'But animals on safari attack jeeps. Elphants in safari parks are not enclosed in small spaces like zoos.'

My husband replied, 'Agreed, But the tourists are invading the animal's territory so the animals are defending their family, like any male defends its family..'

Me - oops - a worrying, yet enlightening thought -  is that why we have attacks on immigrants, seen as invaders, and armies fighting? But we are not animals. Humans have language, diplomats and trade and should be able to manage situations.

Anyway, an inteeresting digression, but let's go back to the elephant story. 

The big elephant in London zoo, trying to break out, was considered dangerous, liable to escape, and offered for sale to the Americans. More than 100,000 children wrote protesting (obviously encouraged by parents, teachers, public opinion they heard, whoever, whatever.) 

Nevertheless, the sale went ahead. Jumbo the elephant was bought by Barnum, who exhibited animals and ran a circus. Jumbo was shown in New York and attracted crowds so successfully that Barnum recoverd his money in only three weeks.

From Jumbo we get the alliterative and memorable phrase Jumbo Jet. 

Useful Websites

See my earlier, recent post on the Swahili language.

Wikipedia African Elephants

Barnum

https://betterplaneteducation.org.uk/factsheets/elephant-african-overview?\

Please share with your famil and friends and colleagues the links to this post and other favourites from my blogs. I have about twenty blogs but the three I write on nearly every day are this one, travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com 

dressofthedaywith angela.blogspot.com

  and 

comicpoetryHazelnutter.com

Where can you see statues and monuments to Queen Elizabeth, Diana, William, Harry, and the royal family?

You can see a statue of Queen Elizabeth II in the city of York, in York minster. 

The proposed sites for the latest statue of Queen Elizabeth included Trafalgar Square, which was vetoed, and  St James's Park near Buckingham Palace in London.

London has statues of Henry VIII and Charles I and Charles II. You will find more statues and plaques of famous people in St Paul's cathedral and Westminster Abbey. Also fountains and gates.

The statue of Princess Diana and her sons, William and Harry, is in Kensington Palace in the Sunken Garden. (Not to be confused with Kensington Gardens.)

London also has a famous fountain for Diana. 

And fancy gates which were installed commemorating the Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth's mother. 

Statues of Queen Victoria are all over the world.

Useful Books

London statues

Useful Websites

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

Xmas trees and decorations - the countries they came from

 Santa in Thailand, entrance hall at Sunwing Hotel, Kamala beach, December 2023. TUI is the low cost airline. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

It may surprise you to see real or more usually artificial Xmas trees in India, thailand and other parts of the world. Where did this custom start and when?

1 Trees in Germany/Europe in winter with candles supported on branches provided light and warmth.

2 King George's III's wife, Charlotte, brought one to the UK in.

3 An engraving, not a photo, of Queen Victoria and Albert (who was German) with their tree in 1848, makes trees popular in the UK

Later additions were glass baubles. Recent imports from Germany at Xmas time include gingerbread biscuits and stollen cake.

Christmas cards

Christmas crackers

Dickens writes about Scrooge in the Christmas Carol.

Grinch, an anti-Xmas character is created by Dr Seuss. The character is voiced by Danny Kaye and Wlter Matthau and others.

Ladybird Books

I have an ol Ladybird book (for children - but conveniently succinct for adults) which tells the story of the Xmas tree and Xmas customs.

New (to me) in 2023, the book Christmas tree.

If you have only one book, and don't mind folding the pages, you can create a tree decoration for the dining table. This makes a cone shape tree.

Useful Websites

Daily Mail

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12881075/The-secret-history-Christmas-tree-fairy-lights-began-West-End-stage-tinsel-emerged-Germany-17th-century-Queen-Victoria-popularised-baubles.html#reader-comments

Wikipedia

How to make a book Xmas tree

Pages taken from books (or old printed paper from your printer wastebin). Tthis makes the cone shape tree.

https://www.rokolee.com/diy-book-page-paper-trees-xmas#:~:text=Fold%20the%20first%20page%20over,to%20all%20of%20the%20pages.

https://www.instructables.com/Bibliophiles-Christmas-Tree/

https://www.wikihow.com/Make-an-Origami-Christmas-Tree

Looking for the world's worst poet, McGonagall, and the Scottish Tay bridge disaster

 

McGonagall's family was from Ireland, from County Donegal, as their name might tell you, but settled in the north of Scotland in Dundee. McGonagall one day received a call from a voice telling him to write poetry. His first poem was to praise a minister of religion.

He had grasped the concept of rhyme, but not of syllable counting, of intonation, so his poetry created an unintended humorous effect. He tried to make a living from selling his printed poems and performing them. 

He performed as Macbeth in the Shakespeare play, the starring role. However, in the last act, where Macbeth is supposed to die, McGonagall refused to die.

He once performed a poem against drinking in a pub. He was surprised when the annoyed publican threw peas at him.

He wrote a poem about the local wonder of construction, the Tay Bridge. When the bridge collapsed with a train on it, killing numerous passengers, he wrote another poem, which was dreadful, but got widespread publicity. 

Go to Dundee where he and his family lived in their early years. He had a wife and seven children.

He wrote a poem about the grand Tay Bridge.

The bridge after the disaster.

The poet McGonagall.

He wrote another poem to Queen Victoria.  Despite the fact that her lackey's lukewarm response showed she was not amused, treated the fact that he got a reply as an endorsement.

The poet honoured.

• But I may say Dame Fortune has been very kind to me by endowing me with the genius of poetry. I remember how I felt when I received the spirit of poetry. It was in the year of 1877.
  • "The Autobiography of Sir William Topaz McGonagall", published in the Weekly News
    • McGonagall's "knighthood" was an honorary one conferred on him by King Theebaw of the Andaman Islands: "Knight of the White Elephant of Burmah".

• I was seized with a strong desire to write poetry, so strong, in fact, that in imagination I thought I heard a voice crying in my ears –

  "Write! Write"

  I wondered what could be the matter with me, and I began to walk backwards and forwards in a great fit of excitement, saying to myself– "I know nothing about poetry."

  • "The Autobiography of Sir William Topaz McGonagall".

You can see a plaque on a site where he lived in Edinburgh. A bench where he was buried in a pauper's grave has been photographed and can be seen on the website although unfortunately the bench and its plaque have gone.

Tay bridge disaster column in Dundee Museum of Transport, Dundee, Scotland. Photo by John White.

British comedian Spike Milligan featured McGonagall many times.

Useful Websites

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

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20119/william-topaz-mcgonagall

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

The Tay Bridge Disaster poem in full:

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Tay_Bridge_Disaster 

Tay Bridge Disaster Virtual Cemetery

https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-cemetery

About the Author

Angela Lansbury, is a semi-retired travel writer still researching bucket list countries and seeking out the special, unusual, people, places,  landmarks, hotels, museums and trails, fabulous foods, recipes, clothes and online souvenir shopping.

Angela Lansbury is a member of Toastmasters International.

About the Author Angela Lansbury

The Author - Quick Quotations

Angela Lansbury B A Hons  is the author of ten books by regular publishers plus another ten self-published books. 

About Angela The Speaker & Trainer

Angela Lansbury is a teacher of English and other languages to Toastmasters clubs and businesses.

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Vice President  Public Relations, Immediate Past President. VPPR

Former Area Director S3. Club Coach for Nee Soon South Toastmasters Club.

Also Member of: TCA Toastmasters Club; Singapore Online Dynamic; Harrovians UK

Past meetings have included Garen Tee on using story telling in business, on 

bha.learncool.sg/meet/bha . 

Recent meetings of BHA included an educational session on using Powerpoint for posters.

Next BHA meetings, always first Wednesday evening, 7 pm Singapore time. Next meeting is  the third Saturday afternoon, June 19th 2pm Singapore time.  Inauguration of the new committee by the incoming Director of S, plus a lively speech on teamwork.

 

Angela The Blogger 

Angela has several blogs speeches, comedy and song writing and organizing, writing intermittently, but writes almost daily on these three:

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

See many varied posts such as the post on sculptor Tom Harvey.

Please share links to your favourite posts. 

How Do You Remember The Australian States? What have they in common with learning Chinese Numbers?

AUSTRALIA

Where are the states of Australia? Could you quickly teach them to somebody else? How do you remember them?

Problem
I was learning Chinese numbers on Duolingo when up popped a suggestion that I try their Tinycards. I know and like the Tinycards. Before I could find the ones on Chinese numbers, up popped the suggestion that I try the states or territories of Australia.  I've always wanted to know these. There are fewer than a dozen. Fewer than half a dozen. Five big ones. How hard is that! I thought I would try this quiz and add to my general knowledge about countries. How does it work?

Answers
It's a bit like the multiple choice questions in the Chinese numbers.

Chinese Numbers
In the Chinese numbers, they offer five choices. One of the choices is Yuan, which is the currency, and this comes last. So you are left with four choices. You start by process of elimination. The same applies to learning the Australian territories.

We start on the left, the West, the nearest point if you are flying into Australia. Western Australia has to be to the left. Northern is to the North. South is in the middle in the south.  But note that although it's Western and Northern, it's not Southern but South. I got that wrong the first time.

(Perth, with an E and an R, is in Western Australia.)

Now we come to New South Wales. It's not in the centre south because we've already done that one.

So let's look at the last word of the three, Wales, which is furthest East of the three word New South Wales.  That sounds is a bit like Wales on the Map of Great Britain, lower down, but not on the west of Australia, on the east.

Photo by Adrian Gigante from Sydney. In Wikipedia.

Think of Sydney Harbour Bridge, like the bridge across to Wales. Think that Down Under, where the seasons are reversed, they do things differently.

Severn Bridge. Wales. UK. Photo from Wikipedia. Public domain.

The Severn Bridge, Wales.
Now, next, what is north of New South Wales? Queensland. Wales is part of Britain, the Queen's land. (Of course, these places were named in the time of Queen Victoria. But you can think of Queen Elizabeth II.

I looked at the map and didn't even notice Victoria until I brought it up on the more detailed map.

It's in the east and south.

Logically, going south on the east coast, we say Queen Victoria, so Queen(sland) is to the north of New South Wales and Victoria is to the south, Victoria from the past being less important and smaller than the Queen.

Melbourne is named after one of Queen Victoria's ministers, the Prime Minister. The name was not chosen by Victoria by the Governor of Victoria. So it is in what was his territory, Victoria.

Look at the map and say the names, three or four times. However, I think that's hardly necessary. I know them all. You also learn by teaching. Maybe you could teach somebody else.

Useful Websites
https://tinycards.duolingo.com/decks/2JvHmk3/chinese-numbers
https://tinycards.duolingo.com/decks/oM9Qei/australian-states-territories

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please save (bookmark) and pass on links to your family and friends.

Queen Victoria Station Is Being Updated and Upgraded

Problem
Bits of the above ground mainline Victoria station are under wraps, literally.

Answer
However, other parts look great. Concentrate on the positive.

Queen Victoria profile white on blue in tiles on the underground at Victoria station. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Down On The Underground
I like the pictures of Queen Victoria on the underground decorating the platform walls. Blue solid silhouettes, resembling the pictures of her on the early Victorian pennies.

Up On The Main Concourse
When you come up the mainline station, you are impressed by the structure of the ceiling. It is similar to Paddington station in London and historic York station further north in England.

Vicoria station arched ceiling. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

I have also see another grand arched station in Europe from that era - I haven't yet visited it but at least I have seen a picture of Lvov/Lviv/Lemberg (spelled differently in Austro-Hungarian Empire German, Polish and Ukrainian).

Standing on a station puts you in touch with the whole country as you look at the names on the Departure signboards. Then, if you are waiting on the concourse, or through the gates onto the platform, or sitting on a train waiting to depart, you might recall other journeys you have taken, or journeys taken by other people.

All around you are excited people.

I was there July 2018.  On the underground train, the atmosphere was crowded but noisy and jolly. Groups of young men were singing football suppport songs (England had just won and got through to the semi-finals). Girls sitting down, cluthing bags and shopping bags, smiled and joined in.

I thought, not everybody on the train will be a supporter of the England team. However, if I were in Spain and I heard the locals singing songs supporting their teams, I would find it amusing and adding to the ambience.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have posts on other London stations and statues of Brunel at Paddington. Please bookmark your favourite pages to come back and share links with your friends. If you would like a talk about London or any other country in the world, on video or in person, please contact me.

Where To Find Old England - in Charity Shops and memories

Problem
The England of today is not the England of yesterday.

Answer
You can see the England of yesterday in charity shops such as Oxfam, Barnado's and St Luke's. Wedgwood is still made in some of the old designs. English favourite china is the willow pattern plate, which you never see in China, Hong Kong or Singapore.

The Post-war years:

TV 
Bill and Ben. Weed!
Dixon of Dock Green.  

Radio
Are you sitting comfortably? 
The Archers.

Food
Doorstep sandwiches. 

The novelty of eating Indian food for the first time. 

Going to America and finding they had more than three flavours of ice cream; in the UK you had vanilla, sometimes strawberry, and occasionally, if you were lucky, chocolate. 

Drink

See-through glass milk bottles with the cream on top. 

Making tea in a tea pot with tea leaves. 

Being shocked at a home or restaurant which used tea bags.

Money
A penny with Queen Victoria's head on it. 

Houses
Coal fires. 
Outside toilets.
The scullery. 
Granny's TV set with a magnifier in front of the screen. 
Going to Switzerland where they had duvets instead of blankets. 

Work
Printing paper with holes in the side. Posting your film to get it developed and ordering double prints. Changing a typewriter ribbon at work. 

School
School milk.
Passing the eleven plus and going to Grammar school.

Recordings
You can still buy 78 rpm records in antique shops.

Cameras
You can buy old cameras in camera shops in Central London.

Art Deco
Several areas of London have scattered art deco buildings. These include some tube stations in London. (See my previous posts on art deco.)

Museums
The Geoffrye Museum has rooms decorated in the style of various ages. (The correct spelling is G E O F F R Y E.)

Useful websites
Barnados
ebay.co.uk
Oxfam
St lukes
Youtube

Worldwide - the Salvation Army

Author
Angela Lansbury