Some easy useful Spanish words for breakfast

 Words which are handy for breakfast.

desayuno - breakfast (I think of break fast, destroy, say, you, know, say uno)

Fruitas - fruit(s)

Agua - watet

Apel - apple

Cafe - coffee

Confitura - conserve / jam / preserve

De - of

Dos - Two

Gracias - thank you

Limones - lemons

Miel - honey

Naranja - orange

Peras - pears

Pizza - pizza

Platanos - bananas

Platos - plates

Por favor - please

Te (with an accent) - tea

Tostado - toast

Uno - one

Vino - wine

Y - and

For A Warm Welcome in Wales - Drive West - Cardiff Castle, Welsh cakes, whisky, wine and wooden spoons

 

A Weekend Or Week In Wales

Drive west our of London, past Heathrow. on the M4 motorway, past Reading on your right, Windsor on your left, and across a wonderful bridge into Wales.

Padding Station's Bear and Brunel

Or you could take the train from Paddington station, stopping to see the station's statue of Paddington Bear. Then see the seated statue of Brunel. He built the railway out West, tunnels, big bridges, and finally the big ship taking travellers further west America.

On the road you will see signs in Welsh, Croiso, which means welcome. The train has bilingual signs, and the stations as you come into Wales also have bilingual signs.

The train takes you to the Welsh capital, Cardiff. You will rcognize the Welsh flag, of the red dragon against a green background.

Cardiff is a great city, with a great castle, and a big free museum. Castles and impressive castle ruins make greaaat photo opportunities and walks along the coasts. 

Welsh delicacies, include the dessert dishes, Welcsh cakes which I bought on the train home. I should have waited until I reached home, Small fat panckes with raisins, best when you heat them up with melted butter. Wales is also known for whisky and wine, weaving, and wooden spoon carving.

Old Wales

Just across the border, a drive over the hill to your right, is Caerleon, with its Roman Museum.

Along the coast is the Dylan Thomas area. If you drive on, or stay on the train to the end of the railway line, you reach Fishguard, where the ferry will take you on to Ireland. The west is wet, with rain on the hills of Wales, where you see white sheep contasting with the green greass in summer, Welsh lamp on the menus of restaurants, bed and breakfast places, and histotoric hotels. You might recall the name of the book, How Green was my valley. 

New Wales

What's new in Wales? A football museum in Wrexham opening in 2026. If you are planning ahead, you have time to learn a few words of Welsh, with the help of Duolingo.

Here are some signs you may see

Welsh Words - English

aber - estuary

allanfa - exit 

bore - morning

bws - bus

car - car

cath - cat

croeso - welcome

eglwys - church

fach - small

felin - mill

fferi - ferry

llan - church

mawr - big (I think of more or magnificent)

o - of

plas - mansion (not just a place, a mansion)

pont - bridge

toiled - toilet

toiledau dynion - men's toilets

toiledau merched - ladies toilets

twr - tower

tywel - towel

y - the

English - Welsh

Good morning.

Bore da. (BOR-eh dah) (The adjective is after the noun, literally morning good.)

Good night.

Nos da. (NOHS dah)

Useful Websites 

Languages

duolingo.com

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Welsh_phrasebook

translate google

Handy Italian words for speaking at dinner in restaurants, and reading menus

Flag of Italy.

The three colours of the Italian flag, green white and orange, are used in a starter in restaurants, called the tricolore meaning the three colours. Green could be vegeble or salad. White could be cheese. Red could be tomato.

 Italian - English

a noi non piace

anatra - duck

bianco - white

carote - carrots

dieta - diet

dopo - after

e - and

ecco - see / look / here you are (giving or showing something)

felici - happy

frutti - fruit

frutti

funghi - mushroom(s) (think of fungus. In English we say mushroom omelette, but you receive more than one mushroom. The Italian uses the plural, ending in i). 

grazie - thank you (think of grateful)

ho bisogno di - I need

incidente - accident

insalata - salad

lei - she

lui vuole - he wants

mi scusi - excuse me

molto - much / very

molto gentili - very kind

nero - black

opzioni - options

pepe - pepper

pesce - fish

(il) petto - breast (eg of chicken, or chest in hospital)

pollo - chicken

prego - (in answer to grazie) you're welcome / not at all

rosso - red

salmone - salmon

segno - sign

(in) segreto - a secret

signore - sir

sono - I am

sono a dieta - I am on a diet

subito - straight away

troppo - too much

tonno - tuna

verde - green

vino - wine

vino bianco - white wine (For wine to drink, or white wine sauce on food. The adjective goes after the noun in Italian, as in casa mia meaning my house)

vitello - veal

vogliamo - we want

vuoi - do you want

English - Italian

accident - incidente

after - dopo

and - e

black - nero

carrots - carote

do you want - vuoi

duck - anatra

excuse me - mi scusi

fish - pesce

green - verde

he wants - lui vuole

I am - sono

I am on a diet - sono a dieta

I need (I have need of) - ho bisogno di 

many - molto

mushroom(s) - funghi

options - opzionni

pepper - pepe

red - rosso

salad - insalata

salmon - salmone

she - lei

sign - segno

sir - signore

straight awa y/ immediately - subito

too much - troppo

tuna - tonno

thank you - grazie

veal - vitello

we want - vogliamo

white - bianco

white wine - vino bianco

wine - vino

You're welcome - prego

Useful Websites

Duolingo

Wikipedia - Italian language

Wiivoyage Italian phrasebook

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Souvenirs From New Zealand - Sheep soft toys, Shell Jewellery, Must Have Ski Hats and Maybe Wine

What gifts can you take from New Zealand to other countries for your children and grandchildren, or other people's? What is unique to New Zealand, yet found in the largest souvenir shops?

Soft Toy Sheep

Soft toy sheep from New Zealand. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

 The numbers of sheep in New Zealand are declining, but the numbers of soft toy sheep seem to be increasing. You find them everywhere. If you still have room in your luggage, you can find them at Auckland airport. The New Zealand sheep have a charming, happy, contented U-shape smile. (Much nicer than the glum bears and scowling dolls sold all over the world.)

Jewellery

In the Around New Zealand shop the Paua shell jewellery is delightful. That iridescent green. Lovely shapes.

It looks like it is set in silver. It isn't real silver? No.

Why not? Silver is cheap. At those prices I would expect silver. Not some unknown metal which might tarnish, or cause a skin reaction. I was worried that my relatives would say that they or their children can only put silver in their pierced ears.

Paua jewellery, ear-rings. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Despite my misgivings, I bought, mainly pendants rather than ear-rings.

I found a guide to silver ear rings and allergies online from wholesaler Blake Brothers Inc. It seems that with sterling silver, what to beware of is whether nickel or copper is mixed in with the sterling silver. 

At about 30 New Zealand dollars per purchase buying three or four comes to 100 dollars. For a hundred US dollars minimum purchase you can buy sterling silver stud ear-rings from a wholesaler, Blake. But it seems you must pay more for free shipping.

Wines

Wines in the duty free shop at Auckland were at various prices. Although you cannot take food and drink into New Zealand, the amount of wine you can bring back to the UK is large. If you only buy from supermrkets in other countries you might see a bigger variety in New Zealand.

Comparing prices with international online sellers who supplied to the UK, we did not see any irresistable bargains. We had already bought from the wineries' cellar doors some wines which are hard to find and not exported because they are from small producers.

Summer Caps & Winter Hats 

Another last minute gift from the airport was New Zealand ski hats. Beanie hats in rainbow colours. There are also many baseball caps with the word New Zealand.

Never mind the prices. Use up your coins. You can't exchange coins at the airport. Also we found the exchange rate for money from New Zealand dollars in notes to English pounds sterling was not good.

You can find guides to the goods available online to help you make decisions in advance, and you can order in advance, although when you get to the airport you can check the size and weight of all your desired purchases.

I looked at silver plate and 925 sterling silver paua and blue and green jewellery on Temu so if you don't buy and want to look online later.

You can also get Paua shell pendants on ebay and etsy, but note the size, and whether you get a pendant aone, a cord necklace, a thin chain or a thick chain, a rough chain, or a flat, smooth, comfortable chain.

Finally Manuka honey.

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Useful Websites

https://www.aeliadutyfree.co.nz/auckland/

https://blakebros.com/blog/is-sterling-silver-good-for-sensitive-ears/#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20sterling%20silver%20is,to%20cause%20an%20allergic%20reaction.

https://www.temu.com/uk/elegant-925-sterling-silver-bracelet-with-synthetic-zirconia-for-women-boho--daily-gift-occasion--jewelry--valentines-en

https://www.temu.com/uk/boho-chic-blue--pendant-necklace-with-4mm-beads-handcrafted-vintage--for--birthday-or-holiday-gift-g-601099719201802.

Please share links to posts which you find entertaining or useful.

Dancing Petrel Wine In New Zealand

 Vineyard and winery, cellar door.

Damcing Petrel wine bottles. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The dancing petrel on the wine bottles is the sea bird. We visited the winery and spent a pleasant afternoon talking to the owners about their wines and the location.

The different colours of petrels are for the different wines, white, red and rosé.

I started with the wine made from my favourite grape, gewurztraminer, which is German for spicy. I like sweet, aromatic wines. 

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Italian Restaurant Menu Translations

 I am learning Italian, on Duolingo, ready for a holiday next year. Therefore every Italian restaurant menu is a welcome challenge. So are all the multi-language lists of ingredients on chocolate bars, cakes, tins of olives and sardines, and packging from supermarkets.

Here's my most recent look at an Italian restaurant menu.

Antipasto - Starter 

Primo - first course

affumicato - smoked (like our English word fumes)

aglio - garlic

di - of

e - and

fiori - flowers

gamberi - prawns

Insalata - salad

insalata verde - green salad

forno - (in the) oven / baked

fritti - fried

melone - melon

prosciutto - Parma ham (ham from Parma)

salmone - salmon

spinaci - spinach

trota - trout

zucca - zuccini

Pasta

Spaghetti - notice ending in the letter i for plurals

Fettuccine - flat noodles

funghi - mushroooms (like the English word fungus)

porcini - wild mushrooms

vegetariana - vegetarian

Main Courses \

con - with

di - of

fegato - calves' liver

filetto - filet

fritti fried (like our word fritters)

grilia - from the grill/in the grill  - grilled

manzo - beef (think of meat

mare - sea

pepe - pepper (like texting, shorten the English word to get the Italian)

pesce - fish

risotto - rice dish

Wine

rosso - red

vino - wine

vino bianco - white wine

vino rosso - red wine

Payment

carta di credito - credit card

Useful Websites

Duolingo

duolingo.com

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Learn Norwegian with Duolingo

 

Norwegian is an easy language.

I have started learning on Duolingo.

These are the words I have learned, and most of them are short version of the English word. Effortless. Instant success. I noted them all down on today's diary page. I have a page a day diary big enough for making notes like this as well as my appointments. (In case the notes obscure my appointments, the appointments are already in my phone alarm).

English - Norwegian

a - en

bread - brod

brother - bror

father - far

hi - hei (pronounced high, the same as in English)

mother - mor 

no - nei  (pronounced nigh)

sister - soster (with a line across the letter o)

tea - te

thanks - tagg

water - vann

wine - veen

Norwegian-English

en - a

brod - bread

bror - brother

far - father

mor - mother

nei (pronounced  nigh or ni as in night) - no

soster (line across the o) - sister

takk - thanks

te - tea

A little more and harder?

Norwegian-English

du- you (similar to French tu)

er- is/are

Ja - yes (similar to German and Malaysian and South African)

kaffe - coffee

melk - milk

min - my (like mine, but the Norwegian adjective comes after the noun)

og - and

vin - wine

Useful Websites

duolingo

wikivoyage norvegian phrasebook

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Spanish words on your Mexican or Spanish or South American restaurant menu and in the restaurant

 I have been religiously learning Spanish words prior to y next trip to a Spanish speaking country, Spain. Spanish is also useful for South America as well as central America, nd is increasingly used in the USA. I practise on Duolingo every day. I also have Berlitz's earworms. Here are some handy words and phrases>

Spanish - English

agua - water

bebidas - drinks

blanco - white

botella - bottle (Double l pronounced like y)

cerveza - beer

cuchara - spoon (starts cu like cup shape)

dua - two (like duo)

menu - menu

mesa - table

por favor - please

rosado - rose wine

sal - salt

te - you singular

tinto - red wine (think of tinted)

vaso - glass (my memory aid is glas vase)

vino - wine

English - Spanish

beer - cerveza

bottle - botella

drink/drinks - la babida (las) bebidas

fork - 

glass - vaso

knife - c

menu - menu

my - mi

please - por favor

red wine - vino tinto (adjective second)

rose wine - rosado

salt - sal

Spoon - cuchara

table - mesa

two - dua

white - blanco

wine - vino

waiter -

water - agua

you (singular) - te

Quiz

Questions

Give the Spanish for

1 table

2 knife

3 fork 

4 spoon

5 two

6 wine

7 water

8 waiter

9

10

Answers

1 mesa

2

3

4 cuchara

5

6 vino

7 dua

8 agua

9

10

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

Wikivoyage phrasebook

Grand tasting Singapore trade tasting

Great view

new glasses with number on the base from June 3023

These pictures are from a French wine tasting for the trade, educators, such as my husband, and sommeliers who buy for restaurants and advise customers on which wines suit their tastes, menu choices and budget.

I have attended events in hotels such as Raffles hotel.

 And Marina Bay Sands, and at Singapore's Expo near Changi Airport.

Highlights of 2022 and 2023 have been in depth looks at European regions of France and Spain, the USA and California, and Soth America, as well as Asia, Australia and New Zealand. From the USA I learned that there is a California wine month Facebook at California wines. 

Sake

At a talk on Sake I learned that many wines once opened keep just 2 to 4 days, whilst an opened chilled sake lasts a month. 

Actually, I can drink a small bottle in one mealtime, never mind another. That is only if you are doing a tasting and have lots of leftover bottles and have already consumed your week's allowance in two hours.

 SAKE tends to be off dry or slightly sweet. Maybe that is why I like it, or rather the first and sweetest of the 3 I tasted. The acidity is less than wine. Then we got onto the subject of Sake meter value, SMV for short, and the talk was too technical for me to absorb after absorbing three glasses of Sake. My notes say, how sweet it is, or density versus water.

As with wine you can have clear or cloudy Sake, as well as sparkling Sake.

Californian Wine

California has a California wine month. Celebrated in Singpore by wine importers. 

If you buy wines by the case, or get on a wine shop mailing list, you are likely to be invited to wine tastings. Many clubs and businesses also have wine clubs which organize wine tastings.

Who goes to the wine tastings? Apart from customers of wine shops and members of wine clubs? Guests, family or friends of the customers. Members of 67 Pall Mall in London and Singapore. People on the mailing lists of wine sellers such as Berry's of London (near Piccadilly and the Ritz hotel).  People studying for the diploma in wine. Sommeliers and would be someliers. Restaurants, supermarkets, and clubs, will send a member of staff who will be buying or serving wine so that they can buy best sllers, or in quantity at good prices, and advise customers.

Wines, special wines, and Riedel glasses make good gifts for wine drinkers or people who entertain and run events.

If you buy wines from a wine shop, restaurant, supermarket, or online from a website, you will probably be invited to leave your email or whatsApp contact and they will send you invitations to wine tastings. Many of these have high prices, but they are good for socialising, if you make the effort to talk to other people. I often take my own food, or research nearby restaurants, or eat first.

You can take a course in wine tasting. This is handy if you eat out a lot, entertain, or run a restaurant or hotel or events, or even organize a club and activities. A bit wine tasting might include low alcolhol drinks, non alchol drinks, juices, mxiers, waters, so even if you don't like the wine featured, or don't drink alcohol, you are likely to find something of interest. you might learn about a region to visit, how to pronounce or speak a foren language, or meet somebody in a related business such as marketing or graphic design.

Useful websites

https://registration.fhafnb.com/fha-food-and-beverage-2024-visit?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=(Orion)-FHA-

In Singapore the tanglin club has two wine groups, one of which is TAWS, the affordable wine society.

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Coffee comic poem by Angela Lansbury, Coffee, Tea, Beer, Whiskey, Guinness and Wine tastings

Coffee cup.

 When you start to cough

It means you are dry

So have some water

Yes, give it a try

When you are tired

Make yourself coffee

Invigorating

Off you go, lovely

The Chinese like warm watet 

The English used to like drinking tea

I never start with neat whiskey

Coffee's the wicked, wake up drink for me

I start with a strong Nespresso coffee

Starbucks if I'm out at eleven

Apple juice at tea time

Midnight more coffee heaven.

I don't need expensive alcohol

I'm a cheap dinner date

Satisfied with Prosecco

One glass sets my smiley state.

But to stop cough leaking, waking once or all night

I see your smirks and laughter

Doctor said, three caffeines a day, not seven

Last caffeine at lunchtime, tap water thereafter.

I take a trail tour once a year

Trail the supermarket if not.

Travel reading wine bottle labels

I'll soon be a polyglot.

-ends-

tasting and Tours  - UK and Ireland

Guinness

You can visit the Guinness factory in Ireland.

UK and Scotland

Scotland has whiskey factories and tours.

Wales

Wales has many places open to visitors.

England

More than 300 wineries. Big tour centres include Denbies, with supermarket, restaurant, cellar tours, and depending on season and latest policy outdoor tours chugging up the hillside to see the sunlight on one opposite hill, shadow on the other, which makes sense of the mystery of why terroir is important and the same owner can produce two wines in different styles and prices.

Berry Brothers and Rudd wine shop in Piccadilly, London has tastings and  pre-Xmas events. Most are highly priced, occasionally there is a free tasting with offers to buy the bottles you have tried.

London has the Pall Mall club for serious drinkers, with a huge range of wines by the glass and bottle, and storage of your own bottles.

Champagne

You can visit Champagne tour in France, in the city of  Rheims.

Green Tea & Japanese Tea

You can have organised tea ceremonies at tea shops in Japan, Singapore and other countries.

Wine Tours

You can take wine tours around France and Portugal. Some organizers do the same tour every year. Others change the venues so there is always something new for repeat customers.

Coffee

Every country has its own brand. Italian coffee names have captured the market.

Singapore

Supermarket wine is expensive. You can get deals buy buying cases. A big club in the branch of the Pall Mall club.

USA

California is a great region. I liked the ice wines.

Canada

Wineries. Ice Wine.

Australia

Many wineries.

New Zealand

BYO, bring your own in restaurants. Buy a bottle in the wine shop near your restaurant. This gives you a huge rage of wines to choose from. (You may be asked for corkage, which is usually reasonable.)

Wine, weddings and legends at rustic Restorant Legjenda in Shkoder, Albania

 

A tunnel of greenery leads to the rustic Restorant (restaurant) Legjenda (of legends) in Shkoder. Photo from Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Opposite the Castle of Rozafa, in downtown Shkoder, just before taking the motorway into or out of the city, you see the entrance to romantic and amusing Restorant (Restaurant) Legjenda (Legend).

A tunnel of greenery leads you to the gardens. They are filled with amusing statues surrounding the restaurant. You can inhale the aroma of the flowers and hear the birds singing.

The rustic restaurant has stained glass windows.

Paintings of the Legend

Inside the rustic restaurant is a mosaic bar.

Along the back walls are frescoes, intriguing panels and paintings of the legend of the castle. Three men. What are they doing?

Restorant Legjenda in Shkoder, Albania. Table laid for dinner with candle and fanned napkins. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

 Romantic though they look, the story is a bit grim. Three brothers were building the castle and had no success. Did it keep tumbling or crumbling? They consulted a wise man. (I would say an unwise man.) He told them that the first wife to bring them food next day should be walled up inside the castle and all would be well. They should not warn their wives.

Two of them, the oldest, did warn their wives. The third was honest (or stupid) and did not warn his wife.

She was apparently resigned to her fate, not the least distressed. Her only worry, or her chief worry, was for her young child. Her wish was that she should have one half of herself outside the castle wall in order to hold her child on her knee and breastfeed her child.  Another version said, an eye, a breast and a hand. Up in the castle, a stone relief shows her half encased with parts of her body showing though holes.

(I was hoping for a twist, some happy ending. Maybe some kind soul can update this story.) 

 The legend says that the child survived, grew strong, fulfilled his mother's hopes and grew to be a brave and successful soldier. (Not killing his two uncles, or better still the wise man?)

The moral of the story? People often ask why three Albanian brothers were so stupid? Once answer is that only the third one was Albanian, and he was the only honest man. 

Albania has a notable Nobel Prize nominee writer still alive. But he wrote a grim story about Italians coming to find their dead comrades after WW2. So there's no point in me, or you, writing to him, asking for a rewrite of the legend with a happy ending. If you can come up with a modernized happy ending, let me know.

Apparently the Brothers Grimm and Goethe heard this story. The brothers Grimm grimly, but happily, repeated it in translation. Only Goethe complained about the nastiness of it.

I was troubled when I heard the story. I am still troubled by this legend's unhappy ending, days later. 

I think I have the solution. I shall rewrite the story. Here goes:

The Legend of Razafa Castle 

Three brothers were building a mutual home, a large castle with many rooms, walls, and turrets at the end. The three borthers were all married, but the youngest brother was the first to have a son.

 The two oldest brothers were jealous, and they carefully numbered all the stones to be sure each brother build his section of the castle. But each day they found yesterday's stones had all gone.

They went to visit an old wise man who lived nearby was also building a house, for his himself and his little grand-daughter,  much more successfully than they were. His house was almost finished. They asked him the secret of success.

He said they should give him just ten stones, three bottles of wine, red, white and then next morning, wall up the wife who first visited them with food.

That evening, unbeknown to her husband, the devoted third wife decided she must help.

In the morning, before breakfast, at dawn, the third wife, escorted by her two chastity guards, went to consult the wise man. In his grand house, she noticed that the stones which had vanished from the castle every night, had built the grand walls of his palace. 

She asked him to accompany her back to the castle, with her two chastity guards. One the way she fell, ripping open her gown.  (Or when she entered, the old man attacked her and she screamed.) 

The chastity guards / body guards demanded that the old wise man should give her his black cloak to cover her modesty, and, in exchange, gave him the torn purple woman's gown.

When the group reached the castle, the two brothers jumped on their supposed sister in law, silenced the person in the  black cloak, and put the person behind the walls. 

Meanwhile, the young wife, pretending to be the old man, hid in the grand palace of the wise old man. With her child, the little son, who played with the old man's grand-daughter..

That night the walls were safe. After a week, the brothers decided to visit the old wise man to thank him. They entered his home, searching, and were astonished to see the numbered stones. Then they found the young woman, and were overjoyed that she was still alive. They took her and her son and the little grand-daughter back to their castle.

They were angry with the old man but when they went to kill him, his grand-daughter, burst into ters. The youngest sister's son raised his arms to stop them.

So they, relunctantly, forgave the old man and returned him safely to his house, But they took back all the stones needed for their three brothers, three wives, and umpteen children in the castle. 

On the gate of his house they engraved the words, 

Do not believe any unscientific predictions, stories or legends you hear here.

What happened years later? They had returned to the castle, and released the old man. He had gone mad, from old age and the shock of the incarceration. 

But his grand-daughter married the son of the youngest brother!

Now a road runs between the Rozafa castle and rustic Restoran Legjenda in Shkoder. The river still runs both sides of the restaurant. The greenery forms a barrier between the noise of the cars on the big, busy road and the quiet oasis of the restaurant. You can hear the birds singing.  But ...

Sometimes at night, it is said, you can hear the sounds of a wedding party. Listen, and you might hear an old man singing,  merry on three bottles of wine. Sometimes you can hear the sound three brothers and their three wives laughing. Sometimes you can hear the merry, laughing tourists in the restaurant.

Story by Angela Lansbury, Wed 28 Jun 2023. Copyright.

I feel much better now that I have rewritten the story with no deaths, a happy ending, the good and innocent rewarded, and some humour.  

Here is the address of the restaurant. Rruga is Albanian for road. The code for Albania is 355.

Food and Drink

The restaurant is very popular for weddings. I tried a very good freshly squeezed juice. 

Vines and Wines

They make their own wines from vines growing in neat rows in the garden. The roses on the ends of the rows are not there for decoration but an early warning sign of potential problems with the vines because roses are even more susceptible. 

Bar Restaurant Legjenda

Rruga Agron 1

Schkoder

Albania

tel: 355 699 33 20 24

355 69 40 777 40

Useful Websites

Rozafa Castle

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

Lake Shkoda Nature Reserve

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Shkod%C3%ABr_Nature_Reserve

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Fourth set of Albanian words

 

My husband said, "The only words I need to know are hello, goodbye, please, thank you, may I see the drinks menu? And, 'where is my drink?' "

English - Albanian

hello - Përshëndetje

goodbye - mirupafshim

please - ju lutem

thank you - faleminderit

may I see the drinks menu - Mund të shoh menunë e pijeve

where is my drink? - Ku është pija ime?

Albanian - English

Përshëndetje - hello Mirupafshim - goodbye Ju lutem - please Faleminderit - thank you Mund të shoh menunë e pijeve - may I see the drinks menu Ku është pija ime? - Where is my drink?

Useful Websites

Use  Translate Google

Wikipedia Albanian Phrasebook

Secret London - The Cavalry & Guards Club for a wine dinner - with chocolate mints or without mints! Why!

 Near Green Park station and Hyde Park Corner, just near the Hard Rock Cafe, you might pass the entrance to the Cavalry and Guards Club. How would you visit it if you were not a member? By being a member of a reciprocal club elsewhere in the UK or in many countries of the world. Or look at their website. I shall tell you about that later on. Meanwhile, here is my first hand experience.

I have attended wine club dinners in three different rooms. Most recently in a room on the second floor (which the Americans would call the third). The British English speakers say ground floor, first floor, second floor.

The club's chefs provide a gourmet meal. 

Lunch

We had an arrangement for taking our own wines and paying the room hire and corkage as well as the cost of each person's lunch. Clubs for wine and dine events have their ups and downs. Ill health can strike individuals, as well as covid causing many problems, interfering with the size of group meetings permitted, and making the sick or infectious stay away, and the healthy choosing to stay away out of caution. The rail strikes meant that one event had to be postponed.

Why No Mints?

The set menu we were offered included coffee and mints. My husband, who is a wine educator, banned the mints. Why? Because, he said, the flavour of mint would overpower the taste and aroma of the vintage port he was serving at the end of the meal.

If you want to take a peek at the club's grand staircase and paintings online, their website shows you lots of photos.

Useful Websites

https://cavgdsclub.co.uk/

More Swedish Words - More Travel Triumph

 I spent a lot of time travelling on trains today. But I also learned a few more Swedish words.

Swedish - English

fisk - fish

Morgon - morning (like the German word morgen)

pasta - pasta

vi - we

vin - wine

English - Swedish

fish - fisk

morning - morning

pasta - pasta

We - vi

wine - vin (the same as the French)

I've read several articles about the shortcomings of Duolingo. But it does what I want. It gets me started. It keeps me learning. Yes, I could make more progress later by going on to do other things. Meanwhile, it's better than nothing and it relieves the tedium of travel and relieves the stress of delays.

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

https://visitsweden.com/

Cookery courses - travel to a bakery or cookery course - or learn online

 I looked up the IRCA recipes and found that they offer courses on bakery (making bread and pastries), gelato (Ice cream) and chocolate!They are in Italy, where they offer one to one courses and one to many courses. But also soon online.

If you want a free demo of what to do, the contests at the trade shows offer opportunities if you are not anchored to a stand. If you are looking for a distributor, you could stagger your lunch times so that your stand is always manned but use a lunch break to go off and watch the contests.

Courses

Who are the courses for and where can you do courses? For students and the professionals, to update, to train your own staff, as a perk or prize, as a holiday where you come home with a skill, to improve your status as a spouse or on a dating site, or to gift for a birthday or Xmas for a child (or spouse or sibling) or a grandchild. 

UK Armed Forces

At an exhibition in London I saw a stand by the navy. School leavers without academic qualifications and aptitudes, those who are more practical and like using their hands and seeing results, can sign up to the catering corps and receive in house (or on ship) training, accommodation taken care of, instant friends and social life.  

Not the usual situation of take a training course and then have the stress of applying for a job.  Instead a guaranteed job at the end of the training in a situation you already know,

Singapore

For the retired or approaching retirement, Singapore has a Skills Future programme which subsidizes courses within Singapore.

 Annual Training

For some years now it has been a requirement for workers to take about four days of training every year to update themselves in new technology, and to brush up their old skills and re-ignite their enthusiasm, as well as connecting with colleagues or others working in the same field as well as the experts. You have probably heard about teachers being away from schools on training courses - sometimes as surprise or inconvenience to parents!  My father who had two optician's shops, after retiring did locum work a couple of days a week, and he had to take updating courses on the latest equipment and identifying abnormalities inside the eye for noting possible diseases to ensure that patients got checked out medically. My son did an NLP course with doctors from a London hospital, keen to improve patient's morale and the doctor's bedside manner and the staff-patient relationship and communication.

My husband took a course on wine with WSET in London, which has now expanded worldwide. I have seen courses on chocolate making offered by chocolate shops at Xmas time. You can also give a cookery course to newlyweds, as retraining for the redundant, or as a new interest. The opportunities are expanding.

Warning

After a day at the exhibition, despite walking around the Singapore MRT stations, and around the exhibition halls, my weight had gone up!

Useful Websites

www.fhaHoReCa.com

https://www.irca.eu/en/company/history

https://www.irca.eu/en/recipe/recipe-detail-slug~192476

https://www.myskillsfuture.gov.sg/upskill/?

The best and worst of Cyprus and Greek-Cypriot Style Wonderful Wine and Food, Imperfect Plumbing and Power cuts

 

The best of Cyprus, like Greece, great wines, museums and archaeology. 

Wonderful Wines

We had a wine tasting at the Wine Museum. The wine museum had a video of stunning slides, plus straight-forward, but illuminating, stories about wine through the ages. Originally wine was stored in clay pots underground, with pointed bottoms to collect the unwanted debris of skins called the lees. (Getting rid of the lees is one reason for decanting or taking wine out of the bottle and leaving in a flask, nowadays.) 

Cyprus has a wine trail, numerous wineries open to the public, offering tastings for a small fee. The famous wine of Cyprus, Kommanderia, is named after the military commanders.

From the forts which you see around the coast, are a series of archaeological areas. Near Paphos, the small seaside town where we flew in, are the so called tombs of the kings. These ancient, king-size rock cut tombs, a short flight of steep steps down to an arched and sometimes open to the air area surrounded by one two or three niches which once held bodies and bones. No kings were around at the dates of these tombs. So I think of them as king-size.

This was free. You just register for a ticket. At the entrance are a small number of gifts. Books. And jewellery in the local style, rings covered with cloth. Great idea. I have some old rings whose tops are no longer shiny or of interest. I could cover them with cloth to match an outfit or co-ordinate. Inexpensive, as jewellery goes. About ten Euros.

Coffee - Cypriot

Cypriot coffee you might know of as Greek coffee or Turkish coffee. If you have eaten and drunk coffee in Greek, Turkish or Cypriot restaurants in those countries or London, England, or elsewhere, you will be familiar with the heavy grounds and great flavour of the coffee which can come ready sugared or half sugared or with no sugar. 

You find the famous worldwide coffee brands everywhere. Starbucks. Caffe Nero. The local version is called Cafe Island, with ecological actions and ideas at the centre of their marketing.

If you are not into alcohol or coffee, you can try Pomegranate wine.

Chris N Tsolakis, owner of the family business, the Rose Factory, near Rodon Hotel, Agros Village, Cyprus.  The factory makes rose liqueur, rose tea, and rose cosmetics and more. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
 

Marvelous Mezze

If you can't decide what to eat, opt for mezze, a mixture, a mini buffet. On our first evening in the large city of Limassol, further south east along the coast, we had a mezze. After the first course of hummous, taramasalata, beetroot, bread, yogurt dip (tahini), olives, I was already full and thought, that was a good, tasty filling meal. But that was just starters! The main course was grilled meat, kebabs, sausages and British style thick chips.

In the tourist places everyone speaks English, as well as other languages. Cypriots in the tourist industry are polyglots. When it comes to the main Europeans languages, Greek, English, German, French, sometimes some Spanish.

What else, apart from speaking good English, is left over from the British days? An English enclave marked on the map. Lots of UK visitors and hence the locals speaking English. Also, they drive on the same side of the road. You see Marks & Spencer shops in Paphos.

Limassol in the centre and coastal promenade road is full of outlet stores. Big name brands. Also seconds and second hand stores, and even charity shops.

I've left to the last what's not to like. Only fair to warn you what to expect and how best to cope.

Mosquitos

More than the UK, more than Singapore, where the government organizes and enforces fogging around major public buildings and private condos once or twice a week according the number of cases of malaria and dengue fever.

We took spray-on Deet. And Stingoes (sting goes) which we had to order in bulk from Australia or New Zealand. 

In Limassol we had so many insects and I had so many bites that I got up in the middle of the night and put on my Mosiquard high neck shirt, my face covering Outdoor hat, and my hiking trousers and thick socks. What I need is a roomy onesie in mosquito-proof fabric, or pyjamas with tight elastic at the wrists and ankles, insect-proof socks, maybe an insect-proof sleeping bag. I am sure a camping shop somewhere has something suitable. I don't want to set up a tent or mosquito net inside a hotel bedroom. Though some people travel with mosquito nets.

Toilets and Plumbing

I vividly recall going up to the American representative of New York at the World Travel Market trade show in London, when I was a London based very active travel writer. I asked her, "What would you say to a tourist who said, I don't want to go to New York or the USA. It has no history. I'd rather go to Greece."

She glared at me and replied loudly and angrily, "Greece! Two thousand years of democracy - and they still can't get the plumbing right!" She meant, in New York, and America, the UK and Europe, and most of the world, you can flush the toilet paper down the toilets. 

In Cyprus, like Greece, the pipes are thin, narrow. They quickly clog up. Signs above toilets warn you that you must throw the toilet paper in the bin beside the toilet. 

Yuck. Where does that smelly stuff go? 

Could an American billionaire set up a business installing large pipes and sewage systems in all the modern buildings being built in Paphos and elsewhere? Or would that simply pollute the sea? Maybe there's a business opportunity for somebody.

So now you know. What is good about Greece and Cyprus? Wine, food and archaeology are good. Mosquitos and plumbing need some prevention or precautions.

After the plumbing and pee, another P, power cuts. However, the hotels have their own emergency generators. When the garage could not give us petrol because the power went off the pump, grandad called a younger man who went to start the generator and we were away again. Some of the garages (petrol stations) had assistants who put the petrol in your tank and wiped your vehicle's windscreen. Like stepping back in time, sometimes bad, sometimes good.

Recommended - tips 

5 star

Casa Mespilea, Paphos, Greece. Highly recommended.

Caffe Nero, great.

5 star

Agrovino Lofou Studios, Cyprus. 

The huge rustic bedroom contained a fully equipped kitchen and washing machine. In the restaurant, the jolly owner played the bazooki. Highly recommended. He knows the owner of the Wine Museum, who often dines here.

Wine Museum, Cyprus. Highly recommended. The owner is also a pianist, composer and singer, who you can see singing on YouTube.

One star/Not rated

Eins, Limassol. 

Advantages

1 Fully equipped kitchen. 

2 Newly decorated. Red grouting in shower room.

3 Others loved it. 

4 Padded hanging wall pillows to protect your head

5 We agreed the location was great., 

Disadvantages

We left after one night, although we had paid for two, because of 

1 mosquitos, probably some repellent somewhere  in the large number of kitchen items in the under sink drawer. The rooms needed insect netting on windows, instructions to the cleaner not to leave windows open letting in insects, and English language catalogue of sprays listed alphabetically and place in a numbered box grid so you could find a fly spray.

2 noise from people leaving local bars, all through the early hours of the morning, on Friday night. We reckoned Saturday would be worse.

3 Lack of parking and no pull in. We created a traffic jam in the narrow street with people honking when we stopped to unload and next day to put suitcases into our car.

4 Claustrophobic and depressing View of back alley wall. Either ask the alley owner to paint the wall, or install flower pots, or install blinds with a fake outside view

5  Building site and scaffolding alongside and opposite. Alarmed me. Felt unsafe.

Come back. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Useful Websites

Agrovino Lofou Studios, 

A Tour of France - where to go? When?

 

The flag of France

Our friend has asked for advice on where to visit in France, by train, majoring on two locations. Her first thought was Paris and Alsace. She wants to be somewhere warm. On second thoughts she has struck off Paris and Alsace and because she like wine, she is heading south to Burgundy and Bordeaux.  

My family replied:

Yes, avoid Paris in August. Why? Because the restaurant owners and people head off to the cooler coast and the beaches when it is stifling hot in the city of Paris in August. 

However, do consider Alsace. It has beautiful scenery and architecture. It is also a renowned wine centre.

France is a huge country. Bordeaux on the west coast is a long way from Burgundy in the east. Bordeaux has vineyards spaces out along the banks of the river, all rather separate. You would want a whole week to do justice to Bordeaux. You cannot do the whole thing in half a day. The famous places are hard to visit unless you are on a guided tour, or guide yourself in a hire car.

Useful Websites

https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/coming-to-france/coming-to-france-your-covid-19-questions-answered/

Author

About the Author Angela Lansbury

BIOGRAPHY

Angela Lansbury B A Hons ACG ALB PM5 EH5 DL5 VC5 
The Author of several books including  Etiquette For Every Occasion. Wedding Speeches & Toasts. How to be the Best Man. Quick Quotations. Who Said What When.

Blogs travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Club Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), Previous President

Join BHA 1st Wednesday 7pm and 3rd Saturday 2 pm Singapore time 

Vice President Public Relations (VP PR) of Tampines Changkat Advanced;

Secretary of weekly online Singapore International Dynamic Toastmasters Speakers’ Club;

Member and past president of Harrovians toastmasters club, UK; Past member of HOD Toastmasters, London. Past member in Singapore of: Toastmasters Club of Singapore (TCS); Tiarel; and Senja Cashew.

More details from Toastmasters International find a club.

Regular attendee at annual Swanwick Writers’ School, England.

Regular attendee at annual Writers’ Holiday, Wales.

Contributor to poetry readings, and after tea courses on: Speaking On Radio To Promote Books; and Plots And Character.

Winner of many club and area speaking contests in the UK and Singapore.

Language advisor to Empire Toastmasters club in Indonesia.

Language and speech workshops in Singapore.

Speaker on radio and TV in England, Scotland, the USA, and Australia.

Compiler of a school course on public speaking for teachers to prepare pupils for school open days with attending ceremonies before government ministers, Singapore.

Former member of Harrow Writers’ Circle, London, and two writing groups in Singapore.

Angela is on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter. She would be delighted to link up with new friends.

 Please share links to your favourite posts.

Books by Angela Lansbury
How to be the best man. (Ward Lock / Cassell.)
Wedding Speeches and Toasts.(Ward Lock / Cassell.)
Unforgettable British Weekends.
Poetry Workshop Workbook.
The Tailor and the Spy. (Lulu.)
Larry The Talking Labrador. (Lulu.)
Writing Poetry for fun.

Quick Quotations

Who Said What When

 

A few words of Spanish from maps and daily life - how many do you know?

 

Spanish - English

agua potable  drinking water

antorcha torch

arriba above

bebida drink

calle principal main street

carne meat

casa house

cena dinner

cerveza beer

ciudad town

comida meal

computadora laptop

de of

desayuno breakfast

fresa strawberry

gran casa big house

leche milk

mercado market

naranja orange

nuez walnut

olivos olives

piscina (swimming) pool

pueblo village

puente bridge

puerta door

queso cheese

revista magazine

ser be

sopa soup

tiempo weather

vino blanco white wine

vino espumoso sparkling wine

vino tinto red wine

English Spanish

beer cerveza

breakfast desayuno

bridge puente

door puerta

drink bebida

house casa

milk leche

soup sopa

town ciudad (c like city)

red wine vino tinto

village pueblo

walnut nuez

white wine vino blanco (adjective after the noun)

A modern sukkah for the Jewish autmn harvest festival of Sukkot

Dinner table in Sukkah with Palwin wine. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Palwin wine

The Palwin wine is kosher. It has a long history. The name Palwin comes from Palestinian Wine. 

Notice the label features grapes. 

The bread is challah. A white or yellow soft bread. Served on a platter or a bread board on a silver or decorated tray. It is covered with a cloth embroidered with suitable symbols.

Sukkah, 2021. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The sukkah is decorated with fruit and depictions of fruit. Gardens in London, England have apples and grapes. (In fact the UK has more than 300 commercial wineries and vineyards. The famous Rothschild banking family established kosher wineries in France and Israel. You can see Rothchild cellars and the exhibition of wine labels at Waddesdon Manor.)

My family was a bit worried about the cold when invited to share an evening Sukkot meal in a sukkah. But there was a small electric heater plugged in to a socket in the kitchen, with the lead through the open kitchen window. 

The guests helped clear up. You do not want to leave crumbs on the table or floor to attract insects and rats. (This summer rats chewed wiring in our car engine which cost a lot to repair.) Fruit suspended in the air is okay. 

What is the difference between a sukkah and Sukkot? A sukkah is the temporary building. Sukkot is the festival.

Useful Websites

https://sukkahmart.co.uk/pages/about-sukkot

https://sukkahmart.co.uk/products/safari-sukkah

https://amenvamen.com/sukkah-kit-reviews

Sukkah kit

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264476751808?chn=ps&norove

Handy Spanish words for tea, coffee, many, mountain and more

 

Bar la escueva

Escueva means school

 A few words of Spanish

English - Spanish

and - y

another - otro

bar - bar

beautiful - hermosa

big - grande

certificate/diploma - diploma

city - ciudad

flag - bandera  (like the word band)

Hello - hola

here - aquí

is - es

mountain - montaña (like the US state)

in - en

language - lengua (looks like language and linguistics)

mi - my

nothing - nada

of - de

or -o

please - por favor

restaurant - restaurante

river - rio

royal - real

thank you - gracias

that - esa/eso

the angels - Los Angeles (the US city)

the (masculine singular, feminine singular/masculine plural/feminine plural) - el/la/los/las 

very - muy (spelled like much)

wine vino

where is - donde esta

yes si

one - uno

two - dos

three - tres

four - cuatro

five - cinco (memory aid - think of five sinks)

six - seis

seven - siete (think of seven settees)

Spanish - English

uno - one

dos - two

tres - three

cuatro - four (note the c not a q)

cinco - five

seis - six

siete - seven

...

angeles - angels

aquí  here

bandera - flag 

bar - bar

café - coffee
con - with
de - of
dia - day
en - in
esa/eso - that
hermosa - beautiful
ciudad - city

dónde está - where is

el - the

es - is

gracias - thank you
grande - big
Hola - hello

instituto - institute

la - the

los - the plural

leche - milk

lenga - language

mi - my 

montaña - mountain

mucho - much, many

muy - very

nada - nothing (it's nothing, in reply to thank you)

no - no

o - or

otro - another, other 
por favor - please

real - royal

rio - river

si - yes
restaurante - restaurant

té - tea
vino - wine

y - and

Useful Websites

Berlitz

https://www.berlitz.co.uk

Earworms

https://www.earwormslearning.com//

duolingo

https://www.duolingo.com/

memrise

https://www.memrise.com/languages/learn-spanish

translate google

MONDLY

https://www.mondly.com/blog/2019/03/27/spanish-accents-how-to-type-pronounce-and-master-them-all/

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

WIKI WORDS

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

About the AUTHOR

Angela Lansbury is an aspiring polyglot. She learned French (O level and A level) and Latin (O level) in school.