How To Find A Car Parking Space And Find Your Car!

Problem
You drive around and can't find a space. You find a space and go off. When you come back you can't find your car.

Answers
I wish everybody would arrange car parks like the one at Disney which had animals and names and colours. The only trouble is if you remember it was a four-footed animal on blue, then you walk out through the next parking lot which is another animal on green and then past donkey on red by the time you get back you think it was camel on green and your family think it was zebra on turquoise.

In White Flint mall in Rockville, Maryland , USA, my husband was walking through the full car park back to his car when a smartly-dressed woman in an elegant two-seater drew alongside and asked, "Are you going back to your car?'

He replied, "Yes, why?"

"Hop in," she answered. "I'll drive you back - because I want your parking space!"
He got in.

Enterprising lady. Sounds like the start of a romance.

No, he didn't marry her. Why not? She must have decided he was a dolt because he couldn't find his car.

Eventually she tired of driving him around.  She saw a space ahead. She suggested that he get out.

Finding A Car With Photos
However, he learned his lesson. The next time he found himself parked in a huge car park, he took photos as he walked away from his car, all along the route, each time he turned. He turned to face backwards, the way he would face when returning. It worked a treat.

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

Update on Papu Miya pizzas Menu, London, England and Memories of Pizza in America

Problem
What to order when you enter a take away shop - or even a supermarket, faced with so many choices, and can't decide?

Answer
You look at the online menu first. I did that recently when supplying cakes for a book group meeting. I compared the cakes, ingredients and prices at Morrisons and Tesco. Should I go for a nut cake, plus another in case anybody was allergic to nuts?

Today I looked at the Papu Miya website. They have medium crust pizza. more filling than those thin crust pizzas. But I suppose more calories. I can vouch for the fact that I liked the Papu Miya vegetarian pizza with pineapple. Fruit and vegetable. I am always wondering about how to increase my fibre and fresh fruit intake.

The Papu Miya website offers food to order in advance and collect. You can re-heat it if it gets cold on the way home, or to a party, or you leave it for a short while before eating.

The menu includes both vegetarian and fish and meat options. You can add salads, potatoes, and garlic bread.

Stories
London, England
Why didn't I photograph the pizza and the box? Because I was busy eating pizza with one hand and typing the minutes of the meeting with the other hand. Next time I shall take a photo of the food. I shall later today add more photos.

Rockville, Maryland
When my family lived in Rockville, Maryland, on the East side of the USA, a short drive north of Washington DC, or a train ride, we were within walking distance of a highly acclaimed pizza mini-shop.

When we first saw it, after reading about it, we were surprised it was such a small shop front, and not over excited by the highly praised pizza. It was just a thick crust pizza. However, every time we took a trip anywhere else, and bought pizza from another shop, or ordered in a restaurant we frowned and muttered, "Not as good as the place at home!"

A slice of pizza was our reward and sustenance after a walk from our home in Parklawn Place to the nearby shopping mall. Funny how of all the things I remember, it is a slice of pizza, probably because each time I see a slice of pizza anywhere in the world it triggers a memory.

Anyway, here's my latest find in London, England:
www.papumiya.com/Contactus
More details of the Papu Miya Menu and address in two previous posts.

In the UK we say take away. In the USA you would ask for take out.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, English teacher and language learner and teacher. 

Flying from cold to hot or hot to cold - weather, whether or not

Problems
Your flight goes from a hot country to a cold country and back? What do you pack and wear on the plane there and the plane home?

Answers
Pack and dress layers so your clothes suit all seasons. Take gloves and warm underwear and socks. They are small to carry, hard to find in a hurry in the wrong season, and give you a warm base. Carry or pack on top of suitcase or on the right so you know where it is when you need it instantly on arrival, or pack in hand luggage one or two pairs of heavy boots and a warm hat or scarf and umbrella. Similarly, for hot weather and staying in hotels overnight, I take a swimsuit, a bikini if my figure and local customs allow one in hand luggage or handbag. Then if you arrive at sunset you can dash to the pool without spending an hour unpacking.

Story From Finland
I once had to waited half an hour for my luggage from a coach party to be delivered by porters at around six. I gave up, grabbed a towel and raced down to the hotel sauna which would be closed by the time we finished our welcome dinner bound to go on later than eight pm. Instead of showering in my hotel room I showered in the swimming area, got to try the sauna. The group leader (It was a press trip to Finland) apologised that we were not able to sample a Finnish sauna (where you rest on a towel in the nude). I just smiled and retorted, "DOn't worry. I've seen it already." One person thought I was joking. Another one asked, "How did you do that?"

Story From Europe
I went to Warsaw in ankle deep snow and recently to Prague. I took two pairs of boots. My ankle boots gripped my ankles and were good for walking up and down hills. My loose Wellington type boots were for snow but were tiring for long walking. It's good to try to a short foray around the block, ostensibly to take a photograph, to try out your shoes, before committing yourself for footwear for a whole morning walk, a walking tour, or a day out.

Story From The USA
My family learned to ski at the weekend when we lived in Rockville, Maryland in the USA. We went to the snowy hills to ski at weekends in winter.

We drove up north for the autumn cool to see the Fall leaves falling from the trees along the wet and windy east coast.

We would drive south to Georgia or Florida for shoulders season Spring conferences. In high summer it was so hot that local business people left the city and hotels were cheap.

Europe
Across the ocean, jokingly called 'The Pond', in Europe, Paris is deserted in hot August when families go away on holiday and some of the best restaurants are closed just when tourists arrive expecting everything to be open.

Singapore and New Zealand
I like to go from Singapore to New Zealand to ski.

I often go out to Spain or Singapore for Christmas or the cold January to February or March months.

Tips
Book a hotel near transport such as a bus stop or train station. (In Singapore called MRT which you can remember as meaning mass railway transit or travel). In Singapore the central crossroads has the Marriott hotel and adjacent Tang's Shopping mall linked to an underground walkway which goes from Orchard MRT station adjoining IO shopping mall. From Orchard MRT walk underground along the air conditioned and free from sunlight and rain along Orchard Road under shopping malls via two basement levels of shops and restaurants and at one point an Aquarium with lots of small fish in fish tanks.
Similar underground links and above ground links connect hotels to shops for all weather walking in other countries. Some are in Canada and others in South Africa.

Author
Angela Lansbury. Please read my posts on other blogs on blogger.com, see my profile here or on Facebook and LinkedIn. I am a travel writer and photographer and author and public speaker and train speakers and teach English and languages. Like my pages and share.

Funny Photo of the Week

My funny photo of the week:

January sale starts in December. December 7th to be exact. From the window of Moore's in Pinner.

That reminds me of when I lived in America behind White Flint Mall in Rockville, Maryland, on the outskirts of Washington DC. We drove out of town for the evening and I moaned, "Last day of the winter sale. Oh, no, I've missed it!"

However, next day we drove back and a member of the family said to me, "Good news - look!"

A sign said, "First day of Spring Sale!"

More offers on lunch time and early bird meals in my next post.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
type in Angela Lansbury, author or travel writer or poet. Fortunately there are only four people with my name. Most people I look up on Facebook and google and linkedIn have twenty namesakes worldwide. As for people called Patel, Cohen and Levy, Singh - several million of those.
Follow me on Facebook and like my pages here and there and everywhere including linking to me on LinkedIn, Watching me on YouTube

Danger and Safety On Level Crossings For Cars, Lorries, Trains and Pedestrians

I hate level crossings. We have a few in London, England. When I lived in the USA we went to stay for a night at a large hotel on the East Coast. I remember sitting at breakfast and reading about the rich family who had founded the Wyeth art collection and the hotel and probably much of the town. Unfortunately one of the prominent members of the family was killed on the railway level crossing. I thought it was a freak accident. Within the next few weeks a similar accident happened nearby.

I then discovered that the railway line ran parallel to the coast the the coastal road with dozens of level crossings. The high speed trains ran up and down the line at great speed. mLots of accidents.

In the UK we have also had accidents. More often pedestrians.

A favourite question is, "What would you do if you ruled the world?" I would make all train and road crossings into traffic lights. The train has to stop completely - at every crossing.

So do the cars. You have to stop a few yards back from the barrier. The double barrier should be on both sides of the road before the actual crossing. A gap both sides should enable you as a driver to move off the crossing if caught.

The train should only move over the crossing if a sensor shows the crossing is empty. Yes, it would cost the train company a lot of money. So does building a railway. So does having the line out of action for a few hours or days until the accident is cleared. What about the cost of replacing the train, re=training another driver, the cost of compensating the family of the driver, the injured passengers, the pedestrians, or car driver. Does the cost of the insurance go up or down with the accidents?

When I lived in Rockville, Maryland, swimming pools in my area had barriers the height of tennis courts, lockable gates, and two lifeguards on duty. It was a local legal requirement and linked into an insurance requirement.

If you could not insure your train and train driver unless you adapted all railway crossings, it would be done. You would either make safer crossings, or build bridges for pedestrians, or sucked roads tunnelling under the road. Yes it would take time and money. Have you seen the length of the bridges over the sea off the East coast of the USA? And the banks with raised roads in The Netherlands? And the long bridges linking islands off Malaysia to the mainland? And the tunnels in the USA and Switzerland? Roman viaducts across valleys? The Channel tunnel? When somebody wants to complete a project, eventually the money is found, the workers are found, the plans are made, and it gets done. You might need legislation, government funding. It can be done and it should be done.

What has inspired my rant? A video. Watch it and you will be as shocked as I was. The barriers come down either side of a truck in America. The truck is smashed. The driver is lucky to be alive. Three train passengers died and the driver lost his legs. If you have any connection with insurance or government or journalism, please campaign to get safety improved.


Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Airline and Hotel coffee not to your liking? Travelling With Your Own Coffee Maker

Is your coffee to weak, too strong, too stewed? On an airline if you are in first class you are more likely to get freshly made coffee. But whichever class you are travelling in, if you think you are the last person served or the coffee has been sitting around too long, you can tell the staff that it doesn't taste right and ask them to make another pot.

In a hotel, the alternative if you are too shy to ask, is to make sure you are served early. Turn up on time for the meal or snack at coffee break. Watch when the new coffee pot is delivered.

I like weak coffee. So do most Americans. Which is odd. Because Americano is so named because that's how the Americans like it, and I am British, although I did live in Rockville, Maryland, north of Washington DC, for more than a year.

A couple of years ago I was at Fishguard Bay hotel, which is the venue for Writers' Holiday every July, and a member of my family wanted to work in the bedroom, drinking coffee. The coffee in the hotel was not to their liking, so they drove all the way to Carmarthen to buy a Nespresso coffee machine and some Nespresso capsules.

I stayed at Fishguard Bay Hotel this year and had no problems drinking the coffee, although I usually reject airline coffee. My solution is to have a lot of milk with my coffee. I also add cold water from the water jug on the table.

I have given up sugar. I thought I might indulge in sugar again, whilst on holiday. But that is one temptation I have resisted. In addition to the danger of falling into the habit of taking sugar in coffee for the rest of the year, the food at Fishguard Bay Hotel is so filling, and the portions are generous.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Safety and swimming pools worldwide

Two well-publicised fatalities in swimming pools: one in the USA, one in the UK. (Demi Moore. Barrymore.)

Pools in Private Residences in Australasia
In Australia and New Zealand it's the law that you fence off swimming pools so that children don't fall in after it was found that more people died in swimming pools than in the ocean. This was featured on stamps - as I learned in the post office in New Zealand.

Pools in Condos in the USA
When I lived in a condo in Rockville, Maryland, USA, the pool was surrounded by tennis court style see through wire netting over six foot high - nothing you could vault over. The pool was locked at night. Insurance or local bye-law or state law or all three said you had to have a lifeguard on duty when the pool was open. In fact you had two lifeguards. So if one had a sandwich break, or went to the toilet, or turned up late, or went off early, or turned their back to talk to somebody, the other guard was still sitting watching the pool.

 It's time that worldwide swimming pools were fenced off. Maybe make it mandatory to add a warning sign on the gate.

Private Pools in the UK
Friends of mine living in Hendon used to have a pool. The husband, who was in the medical profession, would not allow his wife or children to swim alone. If the wife was alone she would invite a friend or neighbour into the house if she wanted to swim.

That was to guard against anybody getting into difficulties in the water. Falling in. Or having a heart attack or fainting fit whilst swimming.

What should a warning sign say?

1 Only enter if you can swim and are sober.
2 No unaccompanied children.
3 No parties of more than 100 people without a lifeguard.
4 Nobody to swim solo.

Safety - you can learn from living overseas and seeing what other countries do for safety.

Neighbours in Pinner have a pool. Theirs has a low gate. They had four children.

They were also worried about the safety of their neighbour's children. Even when the swimming pool owners were away on holiday, they were concerned that their neighbours children would leap over the low fences between the gardens for a secret dip - even without the swimming children's own parents knowing.

US and Singapore
Many condominiums in Singapore and the USA have swimming pools. In Singapore I went to a meeting in a condo which had been in the newspapers because a toddler had drowned in the unfenced pool. The family had been preparing for a wedding or similar large celebration. Both mother and maid thought the other one was looking after the child. the family were busy making food, serving drink and greeting guests. I thought back to the USA, where I had loved in a condo with a gated pool. That accident could not have happened if the pool had been gated.

What about pool parties? I've been to blocks of flats where they have barbecues beside pools. People eat and drink, stand by the pool watching swimmers. Party goers and visitors walk by the pool. People stand in groups, step back and fall in.

Children and adults, drunk or sober, push each other in for a joke. Women trip over long dresses or dogs or their own bags left lying on the ground. Waiters and bar staff carrying drinks on trays at shoulder level have their eyes up on the drinks or guests and trip over obstructions such as recliners pulled across the path.

I used to wonder why hotel pools and condos closed pools at night. I thought it was to stop people falling in when it was dark, or to stop late night parties making noise when others wanted to sleep. But I now realise that people tend to drink more in the evenings and get drunker as the night goes on. An old saying comes to mind, better safe than sorry.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, author, speaker.