Seeds as a Go-ing Away Gift for Guests At A Wedding or Forget me Not At A Funeral

Wildflowers montage from Western Australia. 

By raygday in Wikipedia Commons.

At this week's reception after a funeral, I sat next to former neighbours who, like us, had travelled from a distance. After we had reminisced about our times together, twenty years ago, and discussed the doves released at our mutual neighbour's funeral (described in my previous post) they told us about another funeral novelty, flower seeds.

Poppy Seeds

My former nearby neighbour said: 

'"We went to a funeral where everybody was given a packet of seeds at a funeral, 'so that when the flowers grow you will remember me'. It wasn't planned by the surviving relatives but by the deceased person themselves. They must have put it in their funeral plan which they had arranged in advance some time before they died. 

"We had a packet of seeds which just said, flower seeds. We didn't know what they were. We just threw them out in the garden over some soil which I had dug up. That was lucky. We were amazed when the flowers came up next spring in brilliant colours, They were poppies. We didn't bury them, just threw them out, scattered them. Poppies like newly dug earth. That's why they grew so well, everywhere, after WWI, over the dug up soil, for trenches and burials and so on."

The speakers' wife added:

"We also went to a wedding where we were given seeds. They were meadow flowers. Nowadays you would call them weeds. Wild flowers. Nowadays they are rare and in demand. The bride wanted something that would last and grow, like the marriage, she hoped."

Useful Websites

UK

https://www.wildflower.co.uk/products/wildflower-seed-mixtures/100-wildflower-seed-mixtures/

About the Author

Angela Lansbury was born and bred in Britain, and has lived in the USA and Singapore. Her family has worked in or lived in Spain and Switzerland. 

She is the author of several book on public speaking and quotations.

She is a member of Toastmasters Clubs meeting on Zoom with visitors from the UK and USA, India, Sri Lanka, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Through the Toastmasters mentoring program Angela has connected with individuals in Vietnam and Romania, and Belize, a different connection each month. Please come to the next BHA Toastmasters meeting on the 3rd Saturday afternoon every month.

Angela is a member of Harrovian Speakers, London (two Monday evenings each month (BST or GMT) currently part in person and part on Zoom, and VP PR for BHA (1st Monday evening and 3rd Saturday afternoon Singapore Time; and TCA, one Tuesday evening a month, both currently on Zoom, as well as secretary for Singapore Online Dynamic which is online only and always, Friday evening 9.30 pm Singapore time.   

Please share links to your favourite posts.

York Railway Museum, UK, WWI hospital trains and the first class railway journey there

 

UK flag

York is known for its city walls, its grand cathedral, The Shambles shopping alleys, Yorvik Viking centre and the Railway Museum. My family has just returned from a trip from London to York by train, staying overnight.

The morning train from London arrives at York's historic station, which features in photos and on jigsaw puzzles. My family met up with friends under the clock which hangs overhead on the upper level of the concourse. 

The afternoon was spent walking along the city walls, whilst the sun was out. The weather was a bit chilly in September, but it was a sunny day. 

Next day, exhausted by the walk outdoors, my husband went indoors to the railway museum. It is next door to the railway station, built around a large turntable on the ground which used to turn the trains. (The Roundhouse in London in Camden was similarly a railway building.)

At weekends you could have tea in a railway carriage in the Railway museum. The museum is free. The set tea costs 25.50.

Here's the answer to the question, what was the speed? 126 mph.

Railway Museum. You can't miss it. Photo from Wikipedia. More details of the photo there. Under York Rialway Museum.

Here is the turntable in the middle of the ground floor.

He indulged in paying an extra fiver for the experience of the Mallard train breaking the speed record for a steam train - a record still unbroken. You sit in what feels like the Mallard watching a recording. 

Exhilarating. "Worth it!" says my husband. He's a biker, motorbikes. He likes that sort of thing. Sensation of speed. 

His other favourite train to board was the WWI hospital train. Trains were travelling wards. Reserved for those well enough to survive the journey because of physical injury. Those with mental problems were put into padded cells on the train. The nurses did triage - dividing soldiers into those beyond hope, those with minor injuries, and the core who were badly injured, but could be saved if given sufficient quick treatment and long term care. Or short term care to be sent back to the front. 

The train(s?) had only 2 nurses for 500 people. The nurses were tough, career nurses who chose to do jobs in the heart of the action. It was their vocation. The staff had their own sleeping quarters.

The trains had been planned in 1912, and could be built in 18 days. Trevor said, "The Railway Museum is worth visiting just for this."

Trevor, being a Singapore Permanent Resident, also liked the Chinese train. It was required to have strong pulling power to go up slopes, uphill, but also to be light. The solution was several large wheels to spread the load.

Other sections of the museum are decade by decade. You learn a lot of history. Trains were nationalized before WW2 to co-ordinate transport. In those days railways were essential for moving troops and civilians. They had fewer private cars. Railway staff had special badges to give them status, designated to do useful and essential work for the war effort, so that members of the public would not berate them for being cowards who were able bodied but not fighting at the front. 

Other exhibits include lanterns from the royal train. Much more is in store. No room to display it all at once.

Useful Websites

https://www.railwaymuseum.org.uk/visit

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

About the Author

Angela Lansbury is a travel writer, blogger and author. She is a member of several Toastmasters clubs, Harrovian Speakers in the UK, two advanced clubs in Singapore, Braddell Heights Advanced and Tampines Changkat Advanced, and an online club, Singapore Online Dynamic.  Clubs have websites and Facebook pages as well as being on Toastmasters International find a club.

More photos and text will be added tomorrow. Come back for more. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Is Covid-19 like the 1918 flu and WW2?

Seattle, USA, police wearing masks in 1918. Out of copyright photo from Wikipedia.

I was asked, is Covid-19 like the 1918 flu and is it like WW2.

In a few important ways yes, in other imortant ways, totally different.

Personal Story
Let's start with the 1918 flu. I have a personal interest in this. My late mother, living in London, UK, often told me how her mother, Hetty, had phoned her brother, Nat, in South Africa. Nat, newly emigrated, newly married, was upstairs in bed, with the flu.

Nat ran downstairs to answer the phone. He dropped dead.

My mother's lesson from this was, always have a phone by the bed so that when you are ill you don't stress yourself by getting up.

1918 Flu Fatalities
The Spanish flu, also known as the 1918 flu pandemic, was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. Lasting from spring 1918 through spring or early summer 1919, it infected 500 million people – about a third of the world's population at the time.^[2] The death toll is estimated to have been anywhere from 17 million to 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in human history.^[3]

Now, were the covid-19 and 1918 flue situations in any way alike?

Yes, the 1918 Flu and Covid-19 flu were in some ways alike.
They affected many countries. (Both were classed as a pandemic - pan meaning many)

SAME!
We should learn lessons from the past.
1918 flu
Similarities
1 1918 Coronavirus
It is a coronavirus, same family of viruses.
2 1918 Pandemic
Both pandemics were moved from country to country by people.
(In 1918 by soldiers deployed and returning home).
3 Masks
The public wore masks. (You can see photos.)
4 Killed by Cures & Preventatives
The 1918 had one supposed aid, aspirin. Unfortunately many died from overdoses.
5 Shortages of Coffins, Morgues Burial Plots, Staff

Now, let's see the opposite point of view.
No, Unlike.
1 No vaccine
(Vaccines first appeared in the 1940s.)

Death rate in 2020 Not Yet known - but here's a thought.
In 1918 the world population went down due to deaths - but recovered.

WWII
Yes, Like
1 Censorship
Censorship of casuality figures to maintain morale.
2 Foreigners Segregated, Imprisoned or Attacked
Perceived citizens of enemy countries were attacked or imprisoned and tried to conceal their identity.
3 Food Shortages
Food shortages and ration books.(Rationing in the UK continued until 1952)
Alliances.
4 WWII Communication only by radio.
2020 we can meet on the internet. Work on the internet. Contact family and friend on the internet. Speak to the dying in hospital on the internet.
5 Cnsorship of identities of the dead
UK Postwar newsreels, soon censored when audience members saw dead bodies of loved ones and created disturbance in the audience.

No unlike
1 WW2 countries outside the zone.
Switzerland and Ireland opted out of WW2.
2 Complaints
People in 2020 are complaining about stay home. However usually at least one person can go out to shop or exercise. (In some places not if over 70 years of age. Rules vary from country to country. In WWII in the UK there were curfews at night, no lights, to not attract bombers. Petrol shortages and rationing.
 
Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu#/media/File:Spanish_flu_in_1918,_Police_officers_in_masks,_Seattle_Police_Department_detail,_from-_165-WW-269B-25-police-l_(cropped).jpg

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. (Not related to the actress.)
Author of twenty books including: Quick Quotations; Who Said What When, Wedding Speeches & Toasts.
See books and profiles on Lulu.com and Amazon. Also watch videos on YouTube.
See other posts destinations, online events, singers, songwriters, statues and learning languages.

If you want to learn to speak the Queen's English, or Received Pronunciation. join me at my online toastmasters club,
Braddell Heights Advanced. Wednesdays, 7-9 Singapore time which is seven hours ahead of London, England.
I am also a member of
Singapore Online.9-12 pm, Singapore time, Fridays. In 2019-2020 I am also a member of
Tampines Changkat Advanced.
Harrovians, London. Tiarel, Singapore.
Toastmasters International Find a Club
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=upSEBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=quick+quotations
lulu.com/shop/angela-lansbury/who-said-what-when/paperback/product-21713991
learncool.sg
Please share links to your favourite posts.

Grim and Glad moments at the National Museum of History, Hanoi, Capital of Vietnam

Fortunately we had taken the advice of our hotel reception and taken the outdoor trips to halong bay in sunny weather. On a dull and drizzly December day we looked for museums offering indoor experiences. We looked at the top ten things to do in Hanoi and this was one of them, easy to walk to in the old city where many hotels are situated. Your combined ticket takes you into two adjacent museums. We did the modern one first.

'Vietnam's History from the mid-19th century to the present day - in the museum's building at number 216 Tran Quang Khali Street.

 It's pretty grim. About the fight by Ho Chi Minh, first for freedom from the French, then against the Americans.

You might be surprised to hear 'against' the Americans. Having visited America in the Sixties, when some young Americans were trying to avoid the draft and / or opposed to the war in Vietnam, I somehow expected the sort of argument you might get in Wikipedia, or from the BBC, giving both sides. Silly of me. As somebody once said, history is written by the victors.

The Americans thought they were fighting the Vietcong and the Russian and Chinese communists. Now the country is united, the story is different.

(I started to look at all wars, from both sides. The Romans, The Greeks, WWI, WWII. The British have a romantic view of Lawrence of Arabia. I don't. But I am getting sidetracked.)

This museum is all about Vietnam.

Famine
First, famine was a surprise. I was not expecting that.

But, on reflection, war tends to bring famine. China had famine. Stalin had famine.
France also had famine.  We are led to believe the poor were starving, unable to afford bread, and Marie Antoinette was so unaware of how the poor people lived that she said, 'Let them eat cake'. Previously somebody else had said that and it was later attributed to Marie Antoinette. In WWII the Dutch in Amsterdam were starving. In the UK the civilians had rationing of food, which continued until 1952.

French Guillotine
A guillotine is displayed. the French introduced the guillotine as a method of quick death, less prolonged than hanging.

I enjoyed the other museum about the previous years.

Americans
The French and Americans were not the only people involved in war. The Americans did not think they were at war with Vietnam. they thought they were helping the people in the south against the communists in the nort

Also many people, politicians and civilians, are against any war and every war, not only the pacifists.

For a complete change of mood, go to the other museum.

At the second museum, what immediately struck us was that Vietnam has been at war with somebody or other for centuries. The Chinese. The Mongolians. Who were their friends, their allies?

For a moment, I was tempted to advise tourists, don't visit the recent history first, start with everything chronologically. However, you might argue that you want to end on the happier note.

I loved the art and the statues.

For me, the absolute best part was the museum shop. Pretty silk scarves and necklaces, ten dollars (American dollars) or less.

Travel information
For hotels
booking.com
Comparison site:
https://www.clicktripz.com/rates/search/index
For airlines
travelok.com
vietJetair.com (Comprehensive list of budget airlines in Wikivoyage.)
For transport
https://www.grab.com/vn/en/

Language
Duolingo.com 
(Remember to click on the sound symbol to hear how words are pronounced.) 

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Please share links to your favourite posts. I have several more on Hanoi, Halong Bay and Vietnam.

Motorcycle Museums Worldwide and the secrets of Harley Davidson's Success

UK
England has three great motorcycle museums, south of England and south of London, Birmingham.

I visited the one near the New Forest, south of London. I asked permission to take a photo and the owner suggested that I should sit on a bike for my photo.

Several of the world's car museums also have a section on motorbikes.

USA
Two major attractions in the USA.

Harley-Davidson was and still is a major supplier of bikes, at one time the biggest manufacturer and seller in the USA. The company's popularity and sales have had ups and downs. It has changed hands, but kept the name of the original two owners, Harley, and Davidson, a keen cyclist and a man with the engineering skills to fit a motor to his friend's bike.

However, highlights of the successful times were when it supplied the army in WWI. Later sales went to the police in peacetime. Another success story was developing by adapting to make bigger bikes, smaller bikes and customised bikes. In short, both manufacturing and marketing everything to appeal to both multiple order corporations and private customers.

Useful Website
https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/en/museum

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

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

Christmas Beer Festival, Essen, Flanders, Belgium Dec 16, 17 in 2017

Essen in Flanders, Belgium. The building in the middle has the stepped gable typical of this area.

Problem
Belgium produces so many beers that it's fun to try several. If you like beer, you want to try new ones. If you don't like beer, it's a chance to try new varieties and find out if there's one you like. Where?

Answers
Big centres with cultural attractions are:
Brussels: You will ask to see, or be taken to see the Mannekin Pis. Big city with historic areas.
Bruges: A pretty place with bridges and lace and swans.
Essen: Beer festival in December, cycling moto
Ghent.
Antwerp.

What's Where In Europe?
Spain is to the south. Going north we come to the French border. Further north is Belgium, a country sandwiched between France and Holland, with those speaking French in the South, The Netherlands or Northern Lands to the north. Germany is to the East.

Tell Me About Essen
Now there's a new place to add to the old favourites.
Essen. Essen is not familiar to those who live in England, but it's easy to remember because the German word to eat is essen.  Essen in Belgium is twinned with the town of the same name in Germany! If you go to Essen in Belgium it's a place where you will both eat and drink, Belgian food and drink.

It would be fun to do visit both places named Essen on the same or subsequent trips. Lots of opportunities for punning captions to photos: "Here we are, fressen in Essen."

Fressen sounds like German, or Yiddish, which is mostly German with the occasional Hebrew word) Snacking in Essen. I checked. Wiktionary says: From Yiddish פֿרעסן (fresn) or German fressen (“to devour, gobble”), from Middle High ... fress (third-person singular simple present fresses, present participle ...)

Travelling To And Through Belgium
Belgium is a country I have often crossed, usually by car, occasionally by train or coach, on my travels going from England to Europe. Where is Essen? Essen is on the Northern border of Belgium. Essen is in the middle of the border going east from the coast, or west from central Europe. Essen is north from Brussels, in the twelve o'clock position.

The train passes through it as well. The next train station stop going north from Essen in Belgium is a town in the Netherlands.

Biking Race and Contest
If you are into cycling, The Grand Prix Rouwmoer is a cyclo-cross race held in December, which is part of the BPost Bank Trophy. Cyclo-cross racing can be in the town or countryside or both and involves meeting obstacles, dismounting and carrying your bike across. More challenging for the participants, more fun for the supporters and observers.

Learning Belgian Languages and Spotting Signs
Now that I remember the country's layout, geography, it's easier to guess that you might find more people speaking French in the south, and more speaking Dutch or Flemish, going north or east. Flemish and Dutch sound like a softer version of German, less clearing your throat with the CH sound familiar from the Scottish words Loch Lomond, and more pursing your mouth to make oo sounds.

Belgium's Bilingual Signs
Belgium is the place where you see signs in two or three languages. I remember driving along looking for a place name in French, missing the turning. I soon realized that Gent was Ghent. It took a look at a map for me to recognize that place names in Flemish and French, Gent and Gand, were both the same place, the one we wanted.

I had been looking at Duolingo and wondering which language to learn next. Belgium is a great country for brushing up your schooldays French or German or adding Dutch to your existing smattering of languages.

Belgium For Fun

A popular Belgian books series features Asterix and this one is set in Belgium. You can buy it from Amazon before your visit.

Let's Be Serious
Where next? Also in Belgium, a huge number of wartime sights and museums and trails.
If you are into recent history, where Dad and Granddad were sent in WW1 and WWII, Flanders Fields is the place to go. With the centenary of the 1914-18 war, all the places with connections have made maps and routes and enhanced museums and visitor experiences.

If you are into literature, you will recall the words, "In Flanders' fields the poppies grow, between the crosses, row on row ..." by a Canadian soldier, written at a funeral in WWI and now repeated on Memorial Day, a Monday in May, in the USA.

Belgian Food
Marks and Spencer in the UK and worldwide sell Belgian chocolates at Christmas time and all year. Belgian chocolates are renowned for their soft, smooth milk chocolate, and their brittle dark chocolate formed into unusual shapes. You can visit chocolate factories and go to speciality (the online dictionary seems to like a word which to me sounds like an Americanism, Specialty) chocolate shops in Belgium.

Belgium For Food
Belgium is known for chips which you can buy from stalls, like fish and chips in the seasides of England. This meal or snack will keep you going on your travels, when either driving or walking. To keep warm, instead of cakes, try hot waffles. The French for waffle is gaufre. I thought I had also seen gaufrette. You can buy big ones or small ones.

Belgian Beer

Beer

Belgium is to beer what France is to wine; it is home to one of the greatest beer traditions in the world. Like other European countries in medieval times, beers were brewed in a huge variety of ways with many different ingredients. In addition to the standard ingredients of water, malted barley, hops and yeast, many herbs and spices were also used. This activity was often done in monasteries, each developing a particular style. For some reason, uniquely in Belgium many of these monasteries survived almost into modern times, and the process was handed over to a local commercial brewer if the monastery closed. These brewers would often augment the recipe and process slightly to soften the taste to make it more marketable, but the variety survived in this way. These beers are called Abbey beers and there are hundreds and hundreds with a range of complex tastes unimaginable until you've tried them. 

The Trappist label is controlled by international law, similar to that of Champagne in France. There are only six Trappist Abbeys in Belgium that produce beer qualified to be called Trappist. In order to carry the Trappist label, there are several rules that must be adhered to during the brewing process. The beer must be fermented within the walls of the abbey, the monks of the abbey must be involved in the beer-making process, and profit from the sale of the beer must be directed towards supporting the monastery (similar to a non-profit organization).

Belgium offers an incredible diversity of beers. Several well known mass-produced Belgian beers are Stella Artois, Duvel, Leffe, Jupiler, Hoegaarden. The names given to some beers are pretty imaginative: eg Verboden Vrucht (Forbidden Fruit), Mort Subite (Sudden Death), De Kopstoot (Head Butt), Judas and Delirium Tremens. 

Warmly recommended are also Kriek (sweet and sour cherry beer) and, for the Christmas season, Stille Nacht (Silent night).

Plain blond draughts (4%-5,5%): Stella Artois, Jupiler, Maes, Cristal, Primus, Martens, Bavik.

Trappist ales (5%-10%): Achel, Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westvleteren, Westmalle.

Geuze: Belle-Vue, the lambic Mort Subite (Sudden Death), Lindemans in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Timmermans, Boon, Cantillon, 3 Fonteinen, Oud Beersel, Giradin, Hanssens, De Troch.

White beers: Hoegaarden, Dentergemse, Brugse Witte.

Jenever

The city of Hasselt is well known in Belgium for a local alcoholic beverage, called jenever. It is a rather strong liquor, but it comes in all kinds of tastes beyond your imagination, including, but not limited to, vanilla, apple, cactus, kiwi, chocolate and much more. Hasselt lies in the east of Belgium, and is about one hour away by train from Brussels or Antwerp.

Pubs

Pubs, or cafés, are widespread. They all have a large variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic, hot and cold beverages. Some serve food, others don't. Some might specialize in beer, or wine, or cocktails, or something else. Since 2011, smoking in pubs has been forbidden by law.

Souvenirs and Gifts

In the old days I preferred to purchase permanent souvenirs for myself and others. After all, food and drink will be finished in a week or two. Now that so many people have houses full of clutter and travel souvenirs, some are happy to have food and drink instead.

Buying Gifts
After that I gave gift recipients a choice. Would you prefer something with lace or something to eat? For people who have everything, or whose tastes you don't know, Belgian food can be a good gift.

Once you have acquired a taste for Belgian types of foods and specific brands, you will be able to track them down in supermarkets around the world. In both UK and Singapore supermarkets we have found Belgian biscuits with nuts, suitable for eating with coffee or topped with cheese.

Belgian Towns In Three Languages
Brussels
Antwerp (nl: Antwerpen; fr: Anvers)
(fr: Bruxelles; nl: Brussel; de: Brüssel)
Bruges (nl: Brugge) (West Flanders)
Essen (Flemish region, Antwerp province)
Ghent (nl: Gent, fr: Gand) (East Flanders)
Liège (nl: Luik)
Mons (nl, de: Bergen) (Hainaut)
Ostend (nl: Oostende; fr/de: Ostende) (West Flanders)
Ypres (nl: Ieper) (West Flanders)

Dates For Your Diary
16 Dec - 17 Dec 2017 Beer Festival in Flanders at Essen, Belgium.

14 Oct - 15 Oct

Jenever Festival, Hasselt ...

18 Oct - 22 Oct

Amsterdam Dance Event ...

28 Oct - 29 Oct

Poperinge beer festival
Dec 2018 Beer Festival in Essen, Flanders, Belgium.

You are so near the border with The Netherlands, that you might as well pop across at least for a coffee.

BELGIUM

FLANDERS

ESSEN

UK Government Advice to travellers
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/festival-travel-checklist

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

Health Insurance, Dentists, USA and UK

Problem
The British ask: Why are Americans against 'free' health care. Isn't the NHS a good thing, and free for all at point of demand or delivery?

Answers
UK/British Health care became an issue in WWI and WWII when it was discovered that only about one person in four was fit enough to be a foot soldier. Another factor was that those who could not afford health care or did not care when they were young and healthy got ill and infected everybody else so you got epidemics. Bringing in free vaccinations and preventive measures as well as universal health care benefitted everybody. In the same way as making car insurance compulsory protects others on the road. Even those who could afford it won't pay unless compelled to do so.

Stories
In the USA I went to a dentist. I was surprised at the low cost of the health care. But the dentist only looked at the one tooth which I thought was the problem.

In the UK a dentist checks your entire mouth, including the teeth alongside, the one biting against the one which has the problem.

Tips
Check your health care before travelling. If you travel frequently, it may be cheaper to take out an annual policy. Check any exclusion clauses. This is important especially if you are likely to go skiing or snowboarding on a winter or Easter time holiday. When you travel down under to Australia the seasons are reversed. (And vice versa, if you are based in Australia and travelling up to Europe or North America.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my books on Amazon and lulu.com

Fastest messenger service - pigeons

Here's the club base.

Here's how they travel. 

I am writing about a pigeon carrying a message in my novel, so I was interested to discover a racing pigeon club. The pigeons in Harrow are placed in a crate and taken to Scotland to be released. They were used by Ramses III and in ancient times the messages told people when the Nile was flooding. Pigeons have also been used in WWI and WWII.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer.

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.

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.

Spirit of Remembrance - Tracing Your Ancestors In WWI, WWII and more battlefield tours worldwide

www.SpiritofRemembrance.com

Nikki Archer-Waring

Managing Director

Spirit of Remembrance Ltd

Tel: 44 (0)1634 233785

nikki@SpiritofRemembrance.com

Nikki does tours all over the world all year for individuals and groups. She will research your family. If you have the regiment and service number that makes it easier. She was previously head of travel for the British Legion. 

I asked her about my ancestors, one was a relative by marriage, my mother's first husband, missing in air action at El Alamein in Egypt. Sergeant Harry H Godfrey Volunteer RAF.

Another relative of mine survived WWI. My grandfather, Paul, - went on to sell insurance! 

See my previous post on Flanders and Edith Cavell.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, poet, author, speaker.

Jewish Museum in Warsaw Ghetto Open Tuesday Oct 28 2014

Poland was called Paradise for Jews, before WWII. A museum exhibition is designed to celebrate all the aspects of Jewish cultural life in Poland (instead of only death and the Holocaust elsewhere in Poland). The museum itself is all new and modern with a glass exterior.


I saw the museum being built on a tour of Warsaw. Huge and impressive. A wonderful new museum celebrating old Poland. Inside the museum is the magnificent reproduction of the ceiling of a synagogue in the Ukraine.

Near the museum, still standing, is the only surviving synagogue in Warsaw. The White Stork synagogue building was saved because it was used for stabling horses.

You are bound to be taken past it on a general Warsaw city tour.

Jewish and Polish Favourite Food
If you take a specific tour of Jewish Warsaw, you can end at a Jewish restaurant. Most of the dishes you get in London restaurants are Ashkenazi (German and Northern and Eastern European). That means bagels and beetroot soup, dumplings and potato cakes.

As opposed to southern Sephardi (from the Spanish, including Portuguese and Italian Jewish areas, speaking Ladino), which means more rice and pasta.

Most of the dishes I thought were 'Jewish' turn out to be standard Polish fare. Beetroot soup was on the menu of most of the restaurants I visited on two trips to Warsaw. You have several kosher or Jewish style restaurants to choose from. See trip advisor for the latest reviews.

I was taken to Magat restaurant. Tel. (022) 624 99 24.

I suggest you find out what kosher or merely Jewish style food is available on your route, bearing in mind that arriving on sabbath or a Sunday Monday may affect what is open and whether it will be easy to get a table and if you have to book or arrive early.

(If in London go to the Jewish Museum in Camden Town, and/or try B & K Salt Beef bar and restaurant, Edgware or Hatch End. Not for the atmosphere, not for strictly kosher, just for filling food - chicken soup with kneilach - (dumplings), potato cakes, salt beef and lokshen pudding (noodle pudding). You can get food to takeaway and eat when you get home.

Famous Jews from Poland
We have lots of Poles living in London, UK. Who are the famous people worldwide who were born in Poland, brought up in Poland, or who had Polish ancestry?

Cohen, nicknamed Two Gun Cohen, from a Polish family. As a boy he went from London, England, to Canada, to China, hobnobbed with all the famous greats of China, and ended up back in England. buried up north.

Polanski, the film maker, who has immortalised a piano playing pole in the film The Pianist. Polanski has made many films, including Knife in the Water, Chinatown, Repulsion.

John Monash, Australian WWI hero, who has a university in Melbourne, Australia, named in his honour.

Jacob Epstein, the American-British sculptor.

Nelly Ben-Or, Holocaust survivor, who was hiding in Warsaw in WWII, now a renowned musician living in Northwood, England.

Max Factor Snr, who gave us the word make-up. He founded the international company.
Helena Rubinstein was born in Krakow, previously the capital of Poland.

Isaac Bashevis Singer, Nobel prize winner, writer.

Marie Rambert founded Ballet Rambert.

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/.premium-1.622797
(Article shows good pictures of the inside of the museum.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_the_History_of_Polish_Jews