Replacing Historic Buildings Burned Or Destroyed - Lessons from Greece, Italy, Japan, Poland, Thailand, UK, USA

Old buildings burn down. Why? Many causes have been reported. 

Natural causes. Broken glass is heated by the sun's rays. Dry wood burns more easily. Rubbish collects and becomes a fire risk. 

Squatters wire up electricity unsafely. They light camp fires to cook. They want to heat themselves and the building in hot weather. They light fires to create light.

Animals chew through wiring. This happened to my friends' home when they were on holiday.

Rats eat wiring. Rats ate wiring in my car in London.Why? To sharpen their teeth, like cats. Because they don't know if something is edible until they try eating it. (Our son, as a toddler, ate sand on the beach, thinking it was sugar. A nasty surprise!) 

Don't the animals know something hard is not edible? No. Nuts are hard. Tasty nuts are hidden inside hard shells.

Sometimes down and outs build fires to keep warm. Children set fires for fun. for the spectacle. Fire-fighters want the credit for rescue. Arsonists enjoy the power. Owners want to claim insurance. Owners want to clear the land quickly to replace with modern, higher, buildings they can sell. Burning is quicker and cheaper than paying for demolition. You cannot get permission to destroy, and/or it takes weeks of waiting. Finally, electricians using sparks to repair, rebuild, replace parts, accidentally set fire.

How can you find the cause?

Poland's Rebuilt Old Quarters

In Poland I visited the old quarter of Warsaw. The basement restaurants were clean and new. When I asked, I was told that what was destroyed in the war, had been rebuilt in the old style. 

The same applies to other historic old styles. I was impressed. We don't do that in England. Or do we? More often we replace the old with new. 

UK Listed Buildings

But now we have regulations protecting listed buildings. Renovations must be done in similar style.

UK and Mock Tudor

In England we built new buildings in new places copying old styles. Victorian buildings were often mock Tudor, black and white, a style favoured for some semi detached housing estates. 

Italy Influencing The USA

In Italy I was shown buildings with frontages which were Palladian style. I had never heard of Palladian style. But when I saw it, I recognized it immediately. Two or four or more columns at the front, not just over the doorway, but up two stories or more, to a flattened triangle across the whole roof area.

In the USA and UK, many public buildings are built this style. Called neo-classical. Such as a town hall, even a railway station. Many mansions and homes would be built in this style. In Washington DC, The White House.

The White House, Washington DC. USA. From Wikipedia.

Thailand Building Styles

In Thailand I visited the home of silk king, Jim Thompson. I learned that i that country, and other Asian countries (borders have changed over time), because of rainy season typhoons and flooding, houses were moved from place to place to avoid bad seasons and bad weather, or simply to relocate. 

Plugs and Panels

Instead of metal nails, traditional wooden plugs were used. Like modern Ikea furniture, the building could be flattened, compacted, made lighter, transported more easily. Re-assembled from a picture, or from memory of that building, practise on similar buildings, or skill and initiative. Like a jigsaw.

Buildings were traditionally built from prefabricated panels. Maybe they slotted in. Like modern sliding doors of glass, and sliding windows.

The living areas were above, on stilts, to avoid water below, where animals were kept. 

Singapore Style

Nowadays Singapore public housing can be built this style, around a central courtyard. Thai buildings had a flowering or perfumed tree in the middle of the courtyard to provide shade. A bit like cloisters in a European monastery, or the quad of colleges in Cambridge, England.  

Singapore city, designed by British Raffles, had shaded five foot ways to shade pedestrians (as well as the shops and shophouses) along streets of shops.

Just hope you don't end up with an extra plank or wooden plug, wondering, where did this go? Will my building fall down without this piece!

Singapore early housing estates were built with speed. The story goes that the minister, who had no experience of house building, was told to submit a plan by the end of the year. Instead he started building straight away. At the end of theyear his ony plan was to conitnue cosntructing equally quickly!

Japan And Post-Earthquake Reconstruction

In Japan, where historic and important buildings suffer from earthquakes, old buildings are replaced by the same style building, using the construction blueprints which are preserved elsewhere.

Plutarch's ship of Theseus Puzzle

If you replace a ship's planks one by one, at which point is it new? The planks are used to create the building elsewhere, and new planks copy the original indistinguishably in the old location, which is the original building?

AI and Reproduction

One might pose the same question about the Parthenon. If the reproduction is on the old site, but the original is in the British museum. Do the tourists really care which is old and which is new? Children might not know nor care.

Do we need an original photo, death mask, skeleton? Or will an AI image work as well?

Dead Bodies Tell Tales

I want the original skeleton of a living being because it contains DNA. It could prove murder, inheritable disease, lifestyle, diet. Or even create a clone. 

With cloned animals and plants more questions are raised. 

Useful Websites

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15686631/Absolute-inferno-Grade-II-building.html

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

Helen Keller Statue in the USA

 It is not blindness or deafness that bring me my darkest hours — it is the acute disappointment in not being able to speak normally. Longingly, I think how much more good I might have done if I had only acquired natural speech. Helen Keller's biggest regret.

Helen Keller statue, Washington DC, USA. Picture from Wikipedia. More details there.

Angela Lansbury is he author of Quick Quotations; and Who Said What When.

You can look at the books on Amazon .com and Lulu.com

Please share links to your favourite blog posts.

Small World - How Many Countries Are You Connected To? How Many States Do You Know?

 How many countries are you connected to? Statistics may surprise you? How many places are on your list for been there, done that? How many are on your wish list. 

1 Which Country Are You In Now?

The first country you learn to identify as a child is your own. Then the capital city. Or the biggest city.  Or the most important city. If you are in the travel trade you know the most historic city or the one visitors should take a trip to see. Or the landmark. And the flag. Then the summer city for escape from your city to a beach or mountain top. 

For example, if you live in the USA you learn that Washington DC is the capital. New York is the magnet. 

You might wish to tell the world. You may prefer to keep it a secret. Just make a mental note. I am in such and such a country and such and such a city. Plan your elevator speech, what you would say in an elevator for two minutes, as if you were a tourist board representative meeting a foreign visitor in an elevator (in the UK we say a lift). 

Where do you live now? 

Which cities or tourist sights have you seen in the past year? Google is tracking you and advertisements will tell you. Your websites will be adapted to where you and your computer and mobile phone are or were

2 Where have you travelled? 

Your passports, identity cards and visas and bus and train tickets can tell you your story. Stickers on your luggage, and luggage labels, may act as reminders. 

3 Have you lived overseas? 

Are you an expat? 

I am. I live in the UK and Singapore. But I also lived in the USA. I lived in Maryland near Washington DC and travelled all over the USA at weekends and on travel press trips.

If you are in the USA, or have visited the USA, add the states. 

That might keep you busy for a while. Some people do scrapbooking and keep an album, a picture book of their travels with photos, stickers, flyers, printouts, Italic writing for headings and pretty borders and national flags and colours. 

4 Holiday Lists

Count up every country you have visited on holiday. Add the stopovers. Maybe another list or another colour. 

5 Ancestors

Add the places your ancestry or

Add anywhere you have

Then list every country where your parents, grandparents, and great grandparents lived or were born.

6 Planned Trips and Wishlists  

Useful Websites

Free map creation

https://traveltip.org/countries_visited

123 Ancestry (Currently 59 US dollars plus extra for postage)

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/dna

About the Author

Angela Lansbury was born and bred in Britain, and has lived in the USA and Singapore. Her family have worked in or lived in Spain and Switzerland. 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, a different connection each month. Please come to the next BHA Toastmasters meeting on the 3rd Saturday afternoon every month. 

A shared church, synagogue and mosque in Berlin

 As you travel and land safely, you might mutter to yourself, thank God for that.  Some people choose to visit a prayer room before departure or after landing.

Multi-faith buildings are not new. First let's point out that a building which was built for one faith, later sold or taken over and converted for use by another faith is a different matter.

If you tour the East End of London, England, you are likely to see the outside of a former synagogue, which the Hebrew lettering, now used as a mosque.

In Spain, a well known tourist attraction is a huge many-columned mosque which after the departure of the Moors, was converted into use by Christians with a church built in the middle.

In another city, you can see a synagogue which was saved, because it was given a new function as a church.  But let's look at new ideas for multi-faith buildings. 

USA

Shared City Building in Washington DC

The idea of a multi-faith building had advantages of shared cost and co-operation, and security as it's harder to destroy a building of another faith if your own is alongside. However, I have seen at least two instances where the entire building was shared. In Washington DC a building was shared by a church and a synagogue. Each group kept its religious items separately and brought them out for services. As a visitor I was unaware that the building was shared until we left. The minister swivelled the signboard as he left. It had the synagogue's name on one side and the church's name on the other side. Saturday for the Jews and Sunday for the Christians. Just switch the sign around ready for the others.

Shared buildings have been used in North West London. While a small, new congregation is waiting or their brand new building, or still fund-raising, they hire the hall or whole building of another religion, sometimes one whose congregation is dwindling.

Airports

Another simpler system was used at a couple of airports and a hospital. A prayer room had the sign for three or more faiths was outside. On request you could ask for the cupboard for your religious faith to be opened.

Northwick Park Hospital, London, England

Another system was used in Northwick Park hospital. If I remember rightly, their chapel has some abstract stained glass windows, as well as entry at more than one level, so you could have individuals praying privately at level 3 signposted for one religion, for level 5 for another. Most of the area, except a table with flowers, is invisble to those above and below. The signs indicate the times when your floor is available. You might have to request a key, or get it unlocked, or, visit a sick person daily, you can be told when the minister will be visiting. If you know more about these places or others, or have any idea, please tell us all.

North London Synagogue

In London in Northwood, a church and synagogue are built alongside and often have events to which the other congregation is invited.

At Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue I went to see a synagogue when they has a sukkah, and spent some time talking to the wife of a member of the Christian congregation next door.

In Singapore multi-faith services are regularly held, for both joyful and serious occasions.

Useful Websites

https://www.christiantoday.com/article/prince.charles.could.be.crowned.in.multifaith.ceremony/7737.htm

https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/plans-unveiled-for-shared-faith-house-dubbed-a-churmosquagogue-in-berlin

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

About the Author

Angela Lansbury teacher of English (advanced and English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language, French and other languages, aspiring polyglot.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Member of many toastmasters  speaker training clubs and speaking contest judge.

Angela Lansbury, the author of 20 books including Wedding Speeches & Toasts, and Quick Quotations, has lived in the USA, Spain and Singapore. 

She  has several blogs and writes daily on at least two of the following:

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

 Please share links to your favourite posts.

Coronavirus Crisis Update To Start The Week - but end the day with Comedy

Regarding the Coronavirus crisis, first the bad news. then the good news. Some of the news is bad for some but good for others.

USA
You can still see cherry blossoms in Washington DC.
Too many sightseers go, so roads are shut.

Armchair travellers can admire online photos of cherry blossoms. Cherry blosssoms planted years ago are still bringing delight.

Given by the Japanese, to the Americans. A hundred years ago.

The bad news? Increasing lockdowns.

UK
Tree blossoms bloom quietly in London, England. Daffodils are out in March. Weather could be worse. It snowed on March 23rd in 1979. I was in hospital in Watford, North West London, about to give birth.

I try to always end on a high note. End my day by breathing deeply. End with a beautiful picure of nature. End with a cartoon or comedy film (movie).

My favourite comedy film?
The Ladykillers, the first version in 1955 starring Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Frankie Howerd, Herbert Lom, Jack Warner and others.

Useful Websites

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8140517/We-no-longer-respirators-aged-SIXTY.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8140449/Hundreds-flock-Washington-DCs-famous-cherry-blossoms-bloom.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed

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

About the author
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Hunting For A Home In The USA

We went from the UK to live in the USA.

USA
Positives - Space
In the USA rooms are larger. Near Washington DC we had large rooms and walk in closets for hanging clothes.

Negatives - Noise
Our main problem was noise from neighbours. The building construction was flimsy, with wooden floors meaning your footsteps were heard by the people below. Even walking normally, your steps were heard. If children ran up and down, the problem was exacerbated.

Working Late
In Asia the Chinese work hard and late at night you can see the restaurants still open. Similar work ethic appplies to East coast America, New York and Washington, DC. We would sometimes go into work at the weekend and the place was never empty. Somebody was always there working. HR and marketing department were phoning, recruiting staff, or conducting interviews.

In the evening, we would pop back to the office to collect papers or check on a programme left running on a work computer. Somebody would organize pizza or something else on expenses to feed everybody. Your colleagues were people you saw day, evening, and weekends. They became lifelong friends.

We lived in Connecticut in a shared townhouse, also Rockville, Maryland in a top floor, third floor flat in what the Americans call a condo. I suppose the addition of a swimming pool meant that it was a condo.

Shared Company House
Whilst we were looking for a place to rent, the company put us up in a house they owned. Somebody had worked out it was cheaper to house three of four company staff members plus overseas visitors in one house, rather than pay lots of hotel fees. Maybe somebody bought a house then went out of town and rented it to the company, or sold it to the boss.

The system worked well. On arrival instead of being alone in a hotel you had friends from the company to advise you where to get a good meal, go out for the day, hire a car, or buy bedding. New arrivals could borrow items or take them from a cupboard of stock left behind.

Small items such as kettle or toasters could often be bought on the company's expense, if it was for shared use. You just bought cheap. You left it behind, or replaced it with a cheaper item, if you had spent above the amount that the Accounts department thought reasonable.

Similarly with the bedding. If you took a fancy to the sheets, you replaced them with something on sale. If not, they went back into stock and you bought new for your new home,or used the stuff which was eventually shipped over.

Condo Or Flat?
The Americans use the word condo exclusively for a complex with extra facilities. They use the word flat for a simpler dwelling. The Brits simply use flat to mean one storey dwelling rather than a two storey house.

That's the reverse of the American yard and the British back garden. To the British a yard is hardly more than a yard, a few feet of paved area for storage at the back of a terraced block. A yard in Britain is small. No flowers nor trees. In Britain we would say,"It doesn't have a proper garden, only a small yard."

I remember my shock when a visiting American in the UK told me, "I like your yard."

Story and storey
Americans also say story for storey. For Brits a story is a tale with a plot. A storey is a level in a building.)

Points to consider:
View
Size of rooms
Noise from outside
Noise from neighbours and below and above
Likelihood of neighbouring land being built on
Cost of heating or aircon - or both
Nearness of swimming pool or gym or on site

With Streetview you can now check the outside and outskirts of the streets and buildings.

Author
Angela Lansbury

Night time or day time swim in tropical Singapore

When it gets cool, it is time to cool off. This pool is in a condo.

If you want to go swimming in the daytime outdoors, or at night, pick a hot country. You might like Florida. Even Washington DC. I lived in Rockville, Maryland. The pool in our complex where we rented was open in summer from around Easter until autumn.

In Singapore the temperature is tropical so outdoor swimming pools in the condos where expats stay are open all year. When are they closed? For events, such as a poolside dinner for national day.

If you live in a house and don't have a shared pool in the complex or estate, you might want to join a club which has a pool. If you work for a large international company, they might pay for club membership as part of the perks, the deal, the incentive for moving.

Japan, like England, has four seasons, and few blocks of flats will have pools.  

Now you know what to look for, whether taking a job long-term as an ex-pat, or orgnaising a conference or business trip to stay in a hotel.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, photographer and author.

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

Photos from Wikipedia, in public domain.

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

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

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

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

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

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

TO VISIT THE USA
visittheusa.co.uk

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

Wishlist - bible museum in the USA

Problem
A bible museum has opened in the USA. Sounds like it's for Christians. Is it trying to push some religion or sect?

No, it sounds like a traditional museum with a bit of up-to-date technology thrown in.  Hm - what's in it for me? And how can I drag along the rest of the family?

Okay, I'm marginally interested, but why would you want to visit a bible museum if you are, or your family and friends are:

Agnostics
Agnostic? Because it is new, and interesting.

Atheist
Atheist?  Historical - it confirms your views and your curiosity about how the bible was spread.

Jewish?
It's got the Bible (which Christians call the Old Testament ) as well and artifacts from
Jewish museums you might not get to visit overseas or in the USA.

A Practical Person, Scientific
Look at it from the point of view of
art,
archeology,
collecting antiques,
comparative religion,
conservation,
culture,
geography,
history,
law (Leviticus, ten commandments),
music (inspired by religion such as Ode to Joy - the last movement choral movement in Beethoven's 9th symphony; Handel's Messiah).

Romantic
It's nostalgic.

If you are not into museum culture, mostly glass cases and reading, family and kids are more keen on theme parks - it's not all old scrolls and books - it has some 3D biblical scenarios

So far, so good.

Where is it?
Washington DC. It opened Nov 17 2017.

Opening and Closing
Closed for Christmas, New Year, Thanksgiving.

Useful Websites:
https://www.museumofthebible.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_the_Bible

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_biblical_places
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_modern_names_for_biblical_place_names

Similar or Related Subject Museums:

• Bible and Orient Museum (Switzerland)
• Bible Museum Münster (Germany)
• Biblical Museum of Natural History (Beit Shemesh, Israel; combined zoo and education about the Torah which is the basic books of the bible or Old Testament)
• Museum of Biblical Art (Dallas, Texas, USA)
• Museum of Biblical Art (New York City, USA)
• Dead Sea Scrolls in Jerusalem, Israel
• In addition or instead you can visit Jewish and Holocaust museums in Washington DC and New York and worldwide. 
• Historical museums often contain family bibles. My favourites include a) Jewish Museum, London, UK; b) Jewish Museum, Amsterdam; c) Sinner's Bible missing out the word 'not', leaving Thou Shalt Commit Adultery, in museum of Harrow School, Harrow-on-the-Hill, London, England, UK. 
• Whilst travelling in the USA, you might also be interested in the Amish in the east coast states of the USA; and the Mormons who have a museum in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

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

What's Free In Washington DC?

Problem
What's free in Washington DC?

Answer
The Holocaust Museum. Not everybody's idea of a fun morning or afternoon, but certainly fascinating and educational. Plus a must for anybody with a survivalist personality who always wants to know how did the survivors survive.

A recent revelation in the news is novel featuring the story of people who hid in a cave.  I saw a movie about this or a similar story on Singapore Airlines.

The novel is 344 Days Underground, written by Valeriy Gritsiv, grandson of a survivor. This is about caves. I think the movie was about sewers.

The Holocaust Museum attracts historians, groups, schools, people trying to trace ancestors. In fact, it's so busy from spring to autumn that they issue timed tickets. You can order tickets on line but have to pay a small fee (currently a dollar) to the online ticket agency.

At London's major art museums, the major queues (in the USA called line-ups) are for the much publicised temporary exhibitions, the impressionists, whatever. You can get in relatively quickly to see the general collection, perhaps whilst waiting for a timed ticket. However, at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC it is the other way round; most people want to see the whole of the main exhibition about WWII.

Ticket times and costs
The winter is a good time to visit the Holocaust museum because it is less busy. Also many of the other city outdoors highlights are closed or less attractive in winter time.

https://www.ushmm.org/information/visit-the-museum/admission-tickets

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

Elie Wiesel Station Named After Him In Romania In 2017

Problem
Where can I see sights connected with Elie Wiesel?

Synagogue in Sighet, by Vberger in Wikipedia.

Answer
1 USA Washington DC's US Holocaust Memorial Museum, which he founded.
2 Romania, his childhood home, now a museum, in Sighet, now called Sighet Marmatie.
3 Plaque in Sighet's railway station, renamed in September 2017, Gara Elie Wiesel.
4 Poland Auschwitz-Birkenau, where he was sent with his family amidst 15,000 other Jews, where his mother and younger sister died. His other two, older sisters survived.
5 Buchenwald, where his father died, and where Eli Wiesel was liberated by the US army.
6 Nobel Peace Prize - Scandinavia. Oslo, Norway, Peace Museum; also Stockholm, Sweden.

Story
Today there are 7,000 Jews in Romania. I had hoped to visit the museum in Romania, but I was with a group. I saw the lovely exterior of the synagogue in Brasov which is described in my other posts on Romania.

Romanian Language
As you can see from the word Gara for station, Romanian has many words similar to Italian and French.

He spoke several languages including Romanian, Yiddish, French and English. He wrote 57 books including Night which was about his time in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. He was on the Oprah Winfrey show and went with her to Auschwitz. Other well-known people he met, as you can see from photos, included US President Obama, and the Dalai Lama.

More Information
www.duolingo.com - learn Romanian for free on the internet on your computer, laptop or smart phone.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Elie_Wiesel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_Wiesel
Romanian Tourist Board:
www.romaniatourism.com

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g608955-d3458082-Reviews-The_Elie_Wiesel_Memorial_House_The_Museum_of_the_Jewish_Culture_in_Maramures-Sigh.html
http://auschwitz.org/en/ (The Polish might pop up first. No flag of the Union Jack. The English translation is obtained by finding the word English across the top of the page.)
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g190479-d579345-Reviews-The_Nobel_Peace_Center-Oslo_Eastern_Norway.
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g187426-d8590907-Reviews-Buchenwald_Memorial-Weimar_Thuringia.html

You Tube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9PuCf9zmts (His family and his time in the camps.)
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=166354255 (No interesting gravestone but a good little summary of his life.)

http://time.com/4392279/elie-wiesel-dead-life-pictures-photos/ (Excellent series of pictures, shows amongst other illustrations:
The famous picture of Buchenwald you will probably recall, of emaciated men lying on three level of bunk beds - with a circle showing which is Elie Wiesel;
Elie Wiesel meeting one of the Russian liberators of Auschwitz, General Vasily Petrenko;
Elie Wiesel with President Bill Clinton at the dedication ceremony for the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington DC;
Elie Wiesel being hugged by President Obama who presented Elie Wiesel with a medal.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my other posts on Romania and the Romanian language. Please share links to your favourite posts.

French Food, Restaurants and Celebrations For Bastille Day, July 14th French National Day - Vive La France!

The red, white and blue of the French flag light up Wembley Arch in London in Sympathy with the French.

Problem
How should I celebrate Bastille Day and where?

Answers
First - what's it all about? The storming of the Bastille, a prison in Paris, capital of France. In 1789. Year of the Revolution. Taxes were high, food prices were high, and King Louis XVI was unpopular, and so was his wife, Marie Antoinette, who was supposed to have said, 'Let them eat cake'.

When I was researching my book of quotations, entitled Who Said What When, I discovered that Let them Eat cake was supposedly said by another unpopular character more than a hundred years earlier. No record of a time and place for Marie Antoinette saying any such thing in her lifetime. The same applies to a lot of famous quotations.

How do I remember which of the many Louis kings was married to Marie Antoinette? Louis 16, and for him and his wife and the rest of France he was not sweet sixteen. In fact on Bastille Day things went very sour for him. He is supposed to have asked one of his ministers, "Is this a revolt?" And he got the riposte, to use a French word, "No, it is a revolution!"

Bastille Day is celebrated in France, Belgium, Canada. If you want to practise your French, it is also spoken in Switzerland and Saint Martin island  in the Caribbean. Many cities have French quarters or French associations.

Romania's capital, Bucharest, has a landmark copy of the Arc de Triomphe and a statue of Charles de Gaulle. The Romanian word for thank you is m e r s i.

Hotels and restaurants and French areas worldwide have had red, white and blue of the French flag, French music, and French food.

In France expect to see military parades and fireworks and lights on public buildings. This year, 2017, American President Trump enjoyed a Michelin meal in the restaurant in the Eiffel Tower. The menu featured the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. You could make your own menu if eating at home.

What could you do with red, white and blue? White meringue, with red raspberries and blueberries.

French Wines
Red wines from Bordeaux and white wines and sparkling Champagne.

French Water
Perhaps Perrier water. I recently discovered that Perrier water comes in many other flavours, such as Lemon.

In the UK you can buy a croissant cooked on the premises daily at my local branch of Tesco. Reminders of French and French language are all around in England. For example, you might enjoy:

au gratin, (with cheese)
bain-marie, (double boiler)
ballet,
banquet,
banquette, (long seat usually along wall)
biscuit,
bouquet,
bouquet garni,
buffet,
café,
canapé,
casserole
consommé, soup
chocolate eclair,
coq au vin, chicken with win
c r è p e, (thin pancake)
croissant, crescent shape flaky pastry
croquette, fried cylinder of mashed potatoes or other food in a casing
croque Madame
croque Monsieur,
croutons, diced fried bread, often in soup
duck a l'orange
entente cordiale
entrecôte,
flambé,
French onion soup,
gourmand,
Gourmet,
hors d'oeuvres, starter, literally outside(s) (dishes) of the work(s)
marrons glacé,
menu,
Pains perdue, (bread lost or egg lost sunk in the bread)
pâté
patisserie,
petits pots de chocolat, (small pots of chocolate)
pommes Anna, (sliced potatoes, layered usually with a cheese and cream sauce and onions)
soufflé
terrine
valise,
vinaigrette
vol au vent
and RSVP!

I have been keeping a list of French words used in English and so have other members of my family.

French Music
At some point you might play The Marseillaise. The French songs which come to my mind are the one I learned at school as a child in England, Sur le Pont d'Avignon. Later I loved to hear Edith Piaf sing Je Ne Regrette Rien. You might also like a song associated with food or drink, such as The Night they invented Champagne! Or I love Paris in the Springtime.

You could also celebrate by seeing a show called An American in Paris. It is being shown in London. There has to be a joke in there somewhere. I am looking for it.

Stories
In London the Borough Market area has had French bands. If your budget does not stretch to Michelin restaurants, you could celebrate French food in Cafe Rouge which has branches all over Britain.

One of my favourite French cheeses, Gaperon d'Auvergne. French cheeses are available in London at a grocers' with a chilled cheese room and a café , La Fromageri, which is near Baker Street station and Madame Tussauds. (Madame Tussaud was also French -  and started her career taking waxworks of the victims of the guillotine).

Bastille Restaurants
Where do you find Bastille Restaurants? Place de la Bastille is in Paris.
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/RestaurantsNear-g187147-d188456-Place_de_la_Bastille-Paris_Ile_de_France.html
Washington DC has a Bastille Restaurant.
One restaurant is holding Bastille Day event menu on Friday July 14th and Saturday 15th. Another is holding a Bastille Day celebration week until Sunday July 16th.https://www.tripsavvy.com/bastille-day-events-1040032

But you also find restaurants called Bastille in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and in San Jose, Costa Rica.
http://www.labastillerestaurant.com (Belfast, N Ireland)
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g309293-d2479270-Reviews-Restaurant_La_Bastille-San_Jose_San_Jose_Metro_Province_of_San_Jose.html (San Jose, Costa Rica).

Tips
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastille_Day
www.duolingo - to learn French free on line
www.caferouge.com (French restaurants all over England, Scotland and Wales)
https://www.lafromagerie.co.uk (French food, cafe and cheese shop)
wwww.us.france.fr (official tourist board website)
https://flights.ryanair.com/en-gb/flights-to-paris
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g187147-Activities-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

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

July 4 in the USA: what did you and I miss? A quiz for you on the USA.

Map of the USA from Wikipedia.

Problem
I wasn't in the USA on July 4 this year, 2017. The British papers which I read on line, the BBC News and the Daily Mail, did not report much. I found a few people and places in London, such as pubs and American theme restaurants which were offering American food and drink.


In Hatch End we have Baskin Robbins. Their website says:
Headquartered in Massachusetts, USA, Baskin-Robbins is part of Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DNKN) along with sister brand Dunkin' Donuts. 

We are forever indebted to the Americans. I remember going to the USA in 1967 and being astonished to see shops selling several varieties of ice cream. Back in London, England, post-war, an ordinary shop or restaurant only had vanilla ice cream. The top places offered you three sorts, vanilla,  chocolate and, if you were lucky, strawberry.

B, back to July 4th, 2017. It was too late to go there because I was out all day in London at Imbibe at Olympia. I had hardly had time to notice it was the 4th of July, and looking at families with children whose faces are painted feels like I'm introducing on somebody else's family party.

One reason for the shortage of news from the USA on July 4th could be that London, England is five hours ahead of New York. So it's still 1pm, lunch time in New York when Londoners get home from work at 6 pm.  New York is still early evening, 7 pm, if we go to bed in London at midnight, if we stay up that late. The West coast, San Francisco is even further away, timewise.

July 4 Picnic
When I lived in the USA, in Rockville, Maryland, in the late 1980s, on July 4th we went for a picnic on a hillside in the south near the military cemetery overlooking Washington DC.  The fireworks were not until late in the evening, a long wait, and they were far away. Now I understand why we saw so little festivity.

We didn't realise that family picnics are just that, like Christmas Day, a day off work when families can get together. We expected parades or events all day everywhere. Nothing much happened in our park. Just a lot of families having picnics. We would have seen more at home all day enjoying our swimming pool in the morning then watching morning parades from the west coast on TV in the east coast in the afternoon.

Never mind. No point thinking about the past. Learn from that. Plan to be where you can see something happening next time.

Another member of my family had a picnic in Central Park on the 200th anniversary in 1976.

July 4 Plans
Nowadays everything is on line for you to enjoy, even if you are in another city or another continent. So what can you see of the 4th of July celebrations that you missed this year?  What could you look out for or join next year?

Answers
1 Don't rely on other people. For your selfie photos stock up on American flags and face paint and keep everything together in a bag with stars and stripes on it, as you would for Christmas. Note where in your attic or basement the American theme items are kept.
2 Check your dirty ahead and see which clubs are meeting that week so you can suggest an American theme. Bake red white and blue cakes or biscuits or put flags on the food. Ask all your friend to bring red white and blue. Find a flag for your emails, websites, newsletters and blogs.

Quiz on America
Plan a quiz for children or adults on:
1 American states.
2 American state capitals.
3 American Presidents.
4 Who was your favourite American President and why?
5 Which President did the most for America?
6 Which First Lady most inspired you?
7 Make a quiz on American quotations.

My Quiz
1 Which year was the Declaration of Independence? 1666, 1776, 1886, 1996?
2 America declared independence from: Canada, France, Great Britain, Mexico, Russia, South America, all of the above?
3 Who was the first American President? Jefferson, Lincoln, Kennedy, Washington?
4 Who are the four Presidents on Mount Rushmore? Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, ....?
5 The National anthem is: America the beautiful. The Star Spangled Banner.
6 The motto is: All for one and one for all. In God We Trust.
7 Where is Mount Rushmore? Washington state? Colorado? North Dakota? South Dakota?
8 Which of these states are on the west coast? California. Washington. Oregon. California. New Mexico? Alaska?
9 Which of these states are on the East coast? New York. Virginia. West Virginia. Florida. Texas. South Carolina, North Carolina. Maryland. R h o d e Island. Massachusetts. New Hampshire. Vermont. ...?
10 Which of these states border Mexico? New Mexico. Texas. California? ...?
11 Which states border Canada? New York State. Michigan. Washington State. North Dakota?
12 Name an American film star who became a President.
13 How many American states are there? And how many stars on the American flag?
14 Name an American female film star with the initials M M.
15 Name an American singer with the initials E P.
16 Buffalo wings are made of what? Chicken. Buffalo.
17 Which American President said: the business of America is business.
18 Which President said: Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.
19 Name three to ten ten tourist sights in the USA in NY, Washington DC, Dakota. Add one American connected site in London, England.
20 Name the previous and current presidents of the USA.

Answers
1 1776
2 Great Britain. Being independent, all of the above also applies, but specifically America wanted independence from Britain. (And from the taxes. Remember the Boston Tea Party?)
3 The first President was Washington. Maybe that's why the capital is called Washington DC. Maybe that's why there is a Washington state, but no state named after others.
4 George Washington. Abraham Lincoln. Thomas Jefferson. Theodore Roosevelt.
5 The Star Spangled Banner.
6 In God We Trust. All for one and one for all is from the novel The Three Musketeers.
7 South Dakota.
8 See map above. I can tell you. But you will remember better if you look at the map and memorise it.
9 See map above.
10 See map above.
11 New York state - of course, Niagara Falls is both sides.
12 President Reagan
13 How many states in the USA, 50, (although some say, 52, but only if you count 'territories' etc, Puerto Rico, and Washington DC. The stars on the American flag are therefore 50. (13 stripes - recalling the early days of the USA.)
14 Marilyn Monroe.
15 Elvis Presley.
16 Chicken. The dish of chicken wings was invented in Buffalo. I discovered this when I lived in the USA. At the Grand canyon we saw lots of Buffalo. Buffalo wings was on the menu. I was disappointed when I got chicken and not Buffalo. I complained that the server had brought the wrong dish. She thought I was crazy. I discovered my error a year later when I met a lady from Buffalo and asked her if her state had any national dish. Thinking about it, I still blush and wince and cover my mouth and shake my head and tut and run my hands through my hair.
17 President Calvin Coolidge.
18 President J F Kennedy.
19 Statue of Liberty. Mount Rushmore. Lincoln Memorial. Washington Memorial. Benjamin Franklin House museum in London, England.
20 Barack Obama. Donald Trump.

Use as many questions as you like, one, five, ten, or fifteen. Add your own questions. Award prizes or certificates or titles such as Top of the Class and Last But Not Least or Last But Not Lost. (I just made up 'last but not lost'. If you use it, please attribute it to me.)

You can use the quiz to entertain the family when travelling by car or train or plane, having a party or picnic or when hiking. You could make prizes for the winners, which a small certificate. Or list everybody's score and time answering.

On July 4, 2017, I did a competition at Imbibe exhibition at Olympia, London, on the WSET stand. (WSET stands for Wine and Spirits Education Trust.) I was immensely pleased to have my name up on the wall.  Even if everybody's name is on the wall, and you are last, your name is still on the wall.

Photo of Angela Lansbury Proudly Pointing to Her Name on the Top of the Class board at WSET stand at Imbibe, London, July 4, 2017, England. 

Tips For What To See In The USA or UK on July 4

Morning - see parades in person or on TV news. Parades:

Evening - see fireworks. Fireworks: San Francisco. New York.

All Day: Lights on Miami Tower in Florida.

MORE INFORMATION FROM

http://www.baskinrobbins.co.uk

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

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

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

US visitor and visa information:

https://uk.usembassy.gov/visiting-united-states/

https://www.visitbritain.com/gb/en

http://www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org

https://americanmuseum.org (near Bath, England, UK)

WSET

http://www.westlondonwineschool.com/catlist.

Imbibe.com

FLIGHTS

www.virginatlantic.com

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Author of Quick Quotations (Lulu.com)
Author of Who Said What When (Lulu.com)
My two previous posts are on the IMBIBE exhibition and one post mentions Prince Charles and Camilla. If you work for a tourist board please keep me updated with new attractions, museums, hotels, restaurants, films and books. I have several other posts on Benjamin Franklin, quotations, the USA, and London, England and tourism worldwide, everything from monuments to tips on packing your suitcase. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Problem - which cities are capitals?

Problem
Which cities are capitals? The word capital is confusing. It evokes an emotive reaction. We use the word capital to mean excellent. Capital also means the head. Often the capital city is the administrative head, the seat of government.

That leaves opportunities for other cities to be better known. Sometimes one city is older, more historic.

The former capital has the history, but stays smaller, such as Cracow in Poland, has the photogenic old, historic square. Warsaw, the big city, has a delightful old quarter, rebuilt, nice and clean, like a theme park.

When the government spends its money on its favoured city, the city expands and has museums added. Sometimes the small former capital has the character. The new big city is too big.

For a long time as a tourist, as well as a resident, in America, I preferred San Francisco to Los Angeles. Yes, Los Angeles has: a great theme park, and a great ship. Plus Avenue of the stars. But San Francisco has the bay and the bridge and the prison tour and the trams and the crooked street.

Driving across the border to Canada, or visiting as a tourist, I preferred Montreal to Toronto. Yet later, Toronto grew and the museums and attractions grew and Montreal became smaller, a relative backwater. In the 1960s, Montreal was the place.

In the next century, the French speaking only Montreal was not such an attraction for those who spoke English. The Chinese restaurant owners and workers struggled with French and moved to Toronto. So did the tourists.

I speak fluent French, although Parisian style French. I pronounce yes in French as 'wee', Parisian style, instead of 'way' which is Canadian style. French speaking Montreal seemed to have shrunk. Without English street signs and English speaking people it's harder to get around.

Whilst Toronto had grown. Montreal was now a one day or one weekend city, second on the list, instead of the big city, the big attraction. The place I flew into and out of was still Toronto, but now I planned to stay there at the start, not head straight off to Montreal.

But what is the capital of Canada? Not Montreal, not Toronto. The administrative capital is Ottawa. When I went there I visited some interesting museums. Everybody in government and public buildings had to be bilingual, to keep everybody happy and comply with their laws. When I was living outside Canada I had hardly heard of Ottawa and could not have said it was the capital.

Russia has had its capital moved. Moscow and Petersburg or Stalingrad.

Cambodia is another place where you have your attention drawn to two cities. The capital is Pnom Penh. But the major tourist destination is Siem Reap, for Ankor Wat and other ancient temples.

Answer
Let's make a list.

Story 1
I first discovered this problem, that the capital is not the big city with all the tourist attractions, in the USA when I went to live there. New York is the big city and probably the one most British people would fly into. But the capital is Washington DC. Not to be confused with Washington state over on the West.

Washington DC was chosen as being not he borders or the north and south, so as to avoid flak from the side not chosen if one side was chosen to have the capital. The result was the building of a new city.

Washington DC has lots of tourist attractions. The huge Smithsonian Museum complex. The monuments to the presidents.

Australia is much the same, a new city became the capital. Canberra. It has a fine museum to the war. And another museum. A Parliament building. I visited them on a day trip by coach from Sydney. But that's the problem, I sort of remember, but that's all. They were worth visiting.

However, all the history is in other places, notably Sydney. You see far more attractions and character in Sydney, photographic, identifiable, memorable landmarks: the bridge, the opera house.

New Zealand presents another problem.

In my previous post I listed the countries of the world and asked you to list as many cities as you could. How did you do.

(If you haven't tried that, do it and come back.)

You are not competing against me or anybody else. You are competing against yourself, trying to increase your knowledge and your score.

Here's what I guessed:

I looked at the list of countries, then went to bed and tried to remember countries whose capitals I knew well.
I wrote the letters of the alphabet vertically. I folded the paper vertically to make two columns, and wrote the countries on the left and the capitals on  the right. I filled in these:

Afghanistan - ?
Algeria - Algiers? Not currently a major tourist destination.
Australia - Canberra
Austria - Vienna
Bangladesh - ?
Belgium - Brussels
Belarus - Minsk
Bolivia - ?
Brazil - Brasilia (not Buenos Aires)
Bulgaria - ? Plovdiv?
Cambodia Pnom Penh
Chile - ?
China - Beijing (but my favourite city is Shanghai)
Czech Republic - Prague
Denmark - Copenhagen
Egypt - Alexandria
England - London
Estonia ?
France - Paris
Germany - Bonn (But Berlin, former capital of East Germany? is now a great attraction.)
Greece - (My first thought was Athens. But I remember going to Thessaloniki? I'll go for Thessaloniki. (But I'll guess that Athens is the bigger city and the main tourist stop.)
Hungary - Budapest
Isle of Man - Manx?
Israel - Jerusalem. But tourists fly into Bauhaus (art deco) Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is new, founded in 1909.
Italy - Rome
Japan - Tokyo (Not Osaka?)
Jordan - Amman
Latvia - Riga?
Lebanon - ?
Lithuania - ?
Mexico - Mexico City
Morocco -
Nepal - Kathmandu
Netherlands - Amsterdam is the main tourist area. Is the capital Rotterdam?
New Zealand - Wellington?
Norway - Oslo
Pakistan - (Lahore, pretty city on the coast in the south?)
Peru - Lima
Philippines - pass. I've been there. The capital escapes my mind. I've been to the capital of the south island too. Maybe that is the admin capital.
Poland - Warsaw. (Previously Cracow)
Portugal - Lisbon. (Previously Porto?)
Romania - Bucharest
Russia - Moscow. (Previously St Petersburg; Stalingrad.) Scotland - Edinburgh.
Saudi Arabia - (Mecca and Medina are both religious tourism attractions.)
Scotland  - Edinburgh (both the capital and the historic city). Edinburgh has the castle, the Tattoo, literary trails. Industrial Glasgow is larger with good art museums.
Serbia -
Slovakia - (Dubrovnik? Mostar?)
Slovenia -
Singapore - Singapore (city state)
Spain - Madrid (certainly a major city, but is the admin capital Barcelona?)
Sweden -
Switzerland - is it Bern? Not Geneva nor Zurich?
Syria ?
Taiwan - Taipei
Tunisia - Tunis
Turkey - Ankara. (Istanbul is the main city with the Blue Mosque?)
Ukraine - Kiev. (Another main tourist city is Lvov on west the border, a third, south, is Odessa.)
Venezuela - Caracas?
Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh city and Saigon?
Wales - Cardiff

I have not included: P a r a g u a y; U r a g u a y; Uzbekistan; Turkmenistan, Caribbean islands; Pacific islands, Mongolia.
See previous posts for lists of capitals and countries.

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

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

Trees you should see on your travels and what they give you

As you travel you see trees which provide shade in summer and a pleasant environment. They also contribute to your country's economy, and that of the country where you are taking a trip. Here are some examples:

Maple Trees And Maple Syrup
The maple trees you see in Canada provide maple syrup. Most of the world's maple syrup comes from Canada. Maple trees grow in other countries but it is not economic to make maple syrup. The Canadian maple tree provides maple syrup, contributing to their economy, brightens up my breakfast porridge in London and Singapore, supplies supermarket shelves around the world (it's there, if you look for it). The maple trees contribute to the colours of autumn or fall, as one says in Canada and the USA. It is the symbol on the flag and on many souvenirs you buy in Canada and overseas.

Apple Trees and Apple Cider
In America apple trees were supposedly spread by Johnny Appleseed who marched along, eating apples, and dropping the cores and spreading the pips. Apple trees provide apples.

England is famous for Cox's orange pippins. Gardens in England often have apple trees.

In London we also have the French apple Golden Delicious.

Cider, and Calvados (apple brandy, distilled) are made in Northern France where you can buy them from places doing tours and their shops, as well as trying them in restaurants.

Increasingly over the last decade we have been importing apples from Australia and New Zealand which were never known in England in the 1950s and 1960s in my late parent's life as young marrieds post world war II. You will see Gala apples and Pink Lady in the UK. They are now everyday items in Tesco and Waitrose and other supermarkets in the UK.

From Australia we get Granny Smith's. You pass the place where Granny Smith grew her apples on a coach tour south of Sydney, Australia.

Pear Tree Products
In England pear trees are less common, but also get planted alongside the apple trees in English garden. (Alas the pear tree in my old home in England has died this year, after getting some kind of patchy orange spot blight on the leaves last year.)

In Northern France they grow pear trees making perry. Some Calvados has pear juice mixed. (I asked my wine expert who Pay d'ays and poe jontais? has pear juice too. I shall look that up later today.

Cherry Trees and Kirsch
Cherry trees are a feature of Washington DC in the USA in spring time. The trees were given by Japan as a peace offering after the end of WWII. We also have a lot of cherry trees in London suburbs.

Kirsch is made from cherries.

Almond Trees
Yes, obviously almonds, almonds to eat, as a snack food.

In France I had trout with almonds at a restaurant. The French cake friand can be made with almonds. I tried a friand with almond and lemon in London. (See my previous post.) Apparently, according to an article quoted in Wikipedia, the friands are also popular in Australia and New Zealand. I must admit I never noticed them in Australia or New Zealand. Perhaps they were there but not mentioned by name, or I saw the name but was not as interested and intrigued then as I am now.

In England, a great chocolate eating country, we have Cadbury's fruit and nut chocolate.

Many cakes are contain ground almonds. Macaroons.

You can also make almond flour and almond milk.

Walnut Trees
Walnut trees provide walnuts to eat. Walnut wood is used for furniture.

Olive Trees
You see olive trees in hot countries. I saw olive trees in Malta. I had not taken much notice of the gnarled trees lining the streets until I noticed loves underfoot.

Palms, pines, pineapples, dates, coconuts
Add pine trees, pine nuts, palm oil plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia, coconut palms, date palms providing dates all around the Mediterranean, which are imported from Morocco, and Israel, especially popular at Christmas but available all year.  Coconuts provide coconuts to eat, coconut milk to drink in Singapore and Malaysia and Thailand at restaurants and hotels and from roadside stalls. I took a tour of a pineapple plantation and canning factory in Hawaii. Pine furniture is available  , increasingly taken over from other woods.

English Oaks and Other Woods
The English oak tree was used for building boats and making furniture. In the USA many houses are built with wooden frames. Plus of course floorboards, beams, floorboards, fittings and furniture and finally wooden fences around property.

Scandinavian Fir Trees
From Norway we get the Norway spruce, the Christmas tree which appears in Trafalgar square in London every Xmas time.

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

Souvenirs - Local Quotations - JFK and places in the USA

I like to collect quotations from every country I visit. When writing a travel article or blog you can attach them to places associated with famous people.

An error is not an error unless you refuse to correct it.
John F Kennedy

You could attach this quotation to a story about The Whitehouse in Washington DC, or Dallas, Texas, or the museum in Boston, or a car museum with a Kennedy car.

Angela Lansbury BA Honours, author, travel writer and speaker.

Seasonal Cherry Blossom in England

In England the daffodils are in the front gardens in London, and the cherry blossoms are in the high streets and suburban residential side streets.  

I imagine the cherry blossoms must be blooming in Japan, and in Washington DC, whose streets bloom with cherry blossom trees donated to the USA by the Japanese as a postwar peace offering.

Time quotations

Today the clocks went back.

Quotations on time listed in alphabetical order:

A stitch in time saves nine.

A thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday
Bible

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
Kipling poem If

Give me one minute more
Song
Give me five minutes more
Song by Frank Sinatra

Hickory, dickory, dock
The mouse ran up the clock
(Nursery rhyme)

How did it get so late so soon ...
Dr Seuss

Now is the hour
(Song)

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone
Poem Funeral Blues by W H Auden

There is a tide in the affairs of men which if taken at the flood leads on to victory.
William Shakespeare 1564-1616

Time and tide wait for no man.

Time heals all wounds.

Time is everything. Five minutes makes the difference between victory and defeat. (Horatio Nelson, 1758-1805), won the Battle of Trafalgar but died on his ship the Victory. Also said England expects every man to do his duty.)

Time is money.
Benjamin Franklin

Time you old gypsy man, will you not stay, put up your caravan, just for one day.
Ralph Hodgson (9 September 1871 – 3 November 1962 - see article in Wikipedia.)

A modern Greek proverb, 'Man raises but time weighs', is inscribed in the USA on the Thomas Jefferson building, Library of Congress, Washington DC.

Quotations are inscribed above eye level on a frieze around the outside of Bluewater giant shopping mall in the UK.

For more quotations online see brainy quote

GREENWICH MEAN TIME VISIT, LONDON

Greenwich Park, Greenwich, London, SE10 9NF

Find the time line and be photograph astride it.

In Belgium there is a sculpture of time.

Berlin's projected three-faith complex

In the USA when I lived in Washington DC we had one building shared by a church and a synagogue (for economic reasons?). The sign outside pivoted reading synagogue on Saturday and church on Sunday. You simply locked away your cross or star of David in a cupboard before shutting the front the door as you left and turned the sign when you got to the gate. Does anybody know the name? It must still be on the internet. Heathrow airport has a multi-faith room.