Snow in London - streets, rooftops, cars, gardens

Snow on car, pavement and rooftops in Hatch End, NW London. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Snow on rooftiles in Hatch End NW London, England. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

A novelty for those who have not seen snow. Not seen snow for a while. Or not ever seen snow. 

January 6th 2026 in London, real snow fell. 

Snow In Streets 

 Snow covered the tops and bonnets of cars. (Americans call the front of the car the hood.)

In the street, snows fell on pavements (which Americans call sidewalks).

Snow on Rooftops

 The rooftops went white. Why is one roof white, the other dark, clear of snow? Has the snow melted on a warm rooftop? Is the roof over a warm attic? Does that mean a nice warm house? Or is snow a good sign, meaning that the attic is insulated from the house, so that the house is warmer?

Snow in Back Gardens

Snow covered the grass in gardens, turning the green to white. 

In back gardens (which Americans call back yards) snow fell on the leaves on trees, making what looked like white umbrellas on brown and white supports.

It looks romantic. It might be slippery underfoot. What about driving? The met office issues predictions. The met office, government and AA (UK Automobile Association) issue warning about not driving, or taking blankets, hot drinks in bottles, phones with full charge, chocolate snacks for energy. I would add a toilet container.

However, by lunch time, the snow had stopped falling, started melting, and the heat of cars was clearing the main road.

Snow On Cars

If you plan driving, allow extra time to clear the snow off the windscreen and other windows.

Photographing Snow

If you see snow, rush out and film it straight away. Take both still photos and videos. I missed my chance.

 My husband took photos and put them on his Facebook page. Being a statistician by training and profession, he fulfilled the old joke about the reply of a statistician to a beggar who complained that he had not eaten for a week, 'How does this compare with the same date last year?'

Useful Weather Websites

UK

https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/forecast/uk

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather

https://www.theweatheroutlook.com/forecast/uk/pinner--greater-london#google_vignette

USA

https://eu.usatoday.com/news/weather/

SINGAPORE

https://www.accuweather.com/en/sg/singapore/300597/weather-forecast/300597

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Travel Tips - securing pockets, jackets, bags and cars

Access To Emergency Funds

Have access to money so that if you lose your wallet, leave it behind in the hotel safe, or find all the online systems are down, you can still find a source of money. 

I remember as a teenager, I travelled around the USA on a student ticket on a Greyhound bus. I ran out of money. Luckily my father had a business contact in the USA. He was able to transfer money to me on my father's behalf. I expect my father took his friend out to dinner, as well as repaying the money.

Return Tickets, Cancellation

We like to pay a bit more for a return ticket whic is refundable if you cancel.  Often somebody is holding a party or event just after your return. What a blessing to have a journey whose date can be changed.

Have a return ticket. Then if your money goes, or you are not well, you can still get home. 

Also some countries won't let you in as a tourist unless you have a return ticket to prove you intend to leave. 

Denied Entry to India\

My husband arrived in India with a one wway ticket. The travel agent had told him that he could buy a return ticket in India when he knew his return date. However, when he arrived at the airport, he was not allowed to enter the coutnry. 

An anxioud time. Luckily, a member of the airline was able to go landside and buy him a return ticket. 

Security Pockets

You can buy jackets with inside pockets. Ski wear for example.

 If not, or using old jackets without pockets, you can add your own pockets. One easy way is to sew a thin but large zipped pouch into the inside of a coat which fastens securely. Add a second smaller zipped pocket inside, underneath or behind.

Make sure all pocket have a zip or button. Even if you are not robbed, items can fall out. I bought a large number of small zips to add to outside pockets. A quicker way is to use aaa zip up purse and safety pin it into the pocket.

Protect Luggage and Cars

Luggage attracts thieves. It doesn't matter how secure your suitcases are, if somebody steals your entire car. When travelling, secure your car overnight. 

Bags, Jackets and Pockets in Restaurants

Secure your jacket and pockets and bag in restaurants. It doesn't matter how secure your pockets are, if somebody steals your whole jacket. 

A jacket left in a coat check room can disappear. 

So can a jacket on the back of a chair. We lost a wallet from a jacket on our chair back in a busy restaurant in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. We were there New Year's Eve. The hotel wrned us to move our car off the street outside the hotel into a car park.

We could tell the owner. But what could he do? People were coming and going all the time, coming in asking for a table and being turned away because they had no reservation, so there was no track of them.

Watch out for anybody approaching your table to chat. Move your phone off the table. They put down a newspaper on the table, then lift off the newsapaper with the phone under it. 

Chase after them, but they have already handed it to somebody else on foot or a motorbike.

It's not just buyer beware - of pickpockets. It's diner beware.

Bag Loss in London

A friend of ours had her bag on the floor under a large round table in a busy Chinese restaurant in London, England, UK. The strap was around her ankle. Somebody managed to cut the bag off the handle.

Spain - Bag Loss

I had a bag pulled off my arm when I was off-loading the boot of the car (trunk to Americans) in Marbella, Spain. A car drew up beside me.The back seat passenger leaned out of the window and used a Swiss army knife to cut the straps.

Spain - Second Bag Loss 

Later, our car was parked outside the zoo in Madrid. The empty and torn bag was under the back seat with the handle showing. Somebody smashed all the car windows. The first one to get the bag.

The second window smashed out of annoyance when they found the bag empty. We knew it was empty. The thieves didn't. 

It was a nice bag, too. I was hoping to get it repaired.

We had to remove all the broken glass. Drive slowly because of open window frames and wind. Then to wait in Madrid hours to get a garage, order windows, arrange a rental car to get to the ferry. Rebook the ferry, and stay overnight at another hotel waiting for the next ferry with a space. A whole palaver.

Now we leave nothing visible. Not an empty jacket or bag. You know there's no money in it. The thief doesn't.

We made other trips to France, Spain and Portugal this year., 2024 We were very careful. We lost nothing.

So, remember, buyers beware. diners beware, when parking beware.

Useful Websites

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Home Swaps - Advantages and Disadvantages - And Alternatives

Home swaps. Best done when you have a new almost empty home with nothing to be broken.

 I did this with my family when we were newly married with a small child and an au pair (like a maid or cheap nanny). We swapped our home in London for a week in the Channel Islands. 

Want something short term?  If you can't be around to hand over the keys, and no agent does it, you can ask a neighbour or a family memer who lives nearby. Best not to leave keys under a flowerpot. 

Cars

You can even swap cars. You need to given the right insurance for both vehicles, which includes lots of details, correct names and so on for the insurance documentation.  In fact, if you are dealing with people who say, just call me John, or have nicknames, it's good to have an official reason for demanding documentation well in advance.

What could go wrong?

Crockery

To avoid problems with breakages, some people put away their own crockery, and 12 person sets, because that would risk the visitors breaking one of a set of 12, or something no longer replaceceable, or leaving 12 sets of everything needing washing.

If you  buy a brand new matching set of crockery for four, that can easily be replaced by you or them. They have a small number of plates and cups and bowls and have to wash up after each meal and can't leave a huge amount of washing up deliverately or accidentally if they have to rush to get the taxi to the airport or catch a train or bus. 

We also rented out our home in the UK when we went to live and rent a home in the USA for a year. 

I found it very awkward to come back to the UK to see my family and not be able to live in my own home.

If you don't want to leave the place empty whilst you are away, consider a house sitter.

Pets

You could choose a family with the same pets.

Angela, and neighbour with dog.

You can also book a pet sitter. Compare the cost wwith the cost of putting your pet in a cattery or dog home. All sorts of options are available. 

You can join a Facebook page for English speakers, French speakers and Spanish speakers.

How do you check out the place? You could try Streetview, but check the date to see how recent the picture is.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Home_exchange#

https://www.homeexchange.com/p/facebook-groups-homeexchange

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Home_exchange#Home_Exchange_for_Seniors

https://www.homeexchange.com/p/risk-free-home-swaps?

Romania - what is where? Dracula, bears, Wiesel and the Merry Cemetery

Flag of Romania

Problem
Dracula's castle is cut off by brown bears, says the BBC news report on Jun 11, 2017. What's the alternative to visit? What is where in Romania?

Answer
If you fly into Bucharest, that is towards the south, slightly east. You can drive north and come to the wine region.

Continuing north west into the middle of the country you reach the Carpathian mountains (which form an anticlockwise arc to the border in the north with Ukraine). Here in the middle of Romania, on the top of a mountain, is Dracula's castle, based on bloodthirsty Vlad the Impaler.

Romania Brown Bears
Romania is just one rather large country, but has more than half of Europe's brown bears. On this occasion it is thought that the brown bears were attracted by tourists' food. Dangerous?

Yes. Brown bears are dangerous any time. A mother bear and three cubs are especially dangerous. Oh, dear. Mother bears are like human mothers. They can get very angry if they think anybody might endanger their previous babies.

Singapore Monkeys
Bears can be attracted by kind-hearted souls or photography enthusiasts who deliberately feed them. Deliberate feeding of wild animals is discouraged in many places. The feeding of monkeys in discouraged in Singapore. Why?

Because in Singapore monkeys wreak havoc. They start to expect food when they see tourists with plastic bags. Monkeys grab tourists' food, cameras, and hats. If there's no food in the plastic bags, the monkeys are disappointed, hungry, because they are out of the habit of catching their own food and think it's a trick, they they've been cheated, so they get aggressive. Having got comfortable with humans, knowing humans are not dangerous, monkeys swing up balconies and go into apartments, frightening residents, and causing damage from droppings and breakages.

Canada Bears
In Canada bears are a danger. You have to be careful, not even leaving sandwiches in a car because a bear can bash the car or break a window trying to reach food which it sees or smells.

Romanian Picnics
In Romania, they think its was not deliberate feeding of animals, like in Singapore, more like food left behind after picnics. Puts you off picnics and eating in the car doesn't it!

If you can't get to Dracula's castle, the two other attractions on my itinerary (mentioned in my previous posts) are the house museum of the birthplace of Nobel prize winner Elie Wiesel, of Holocaust fame, and on a lighter note the Merry Cemetery.Both of these are on the northern border of Romania where it adjoins Ukraine. Looking at the map, you might think it's easier to reach these attractions from Lvov in Western Ukraine (Lvov, home of Masoch, whose prolific writings including the book which inspired the idea of Masochism). Unfortunately there seems to be a big barrier of mountains in between.

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

False Friends and Firm Friends in English and Italian Language

False friends are words which sound alike but are not the same but are misleading.

False Friends
Today I got a word wrong on the Italian learning free website Duolingo. The phrase was Due m a c c i n e I guessed two machines. No. It's two cars.

Not duo but d u e.
However, a little later up pops another word translated as cars, automobile .

Trenta is thirty. My first thought was that t for twenty and t h for thirty but i go that wrong so now I remember t r as in trio so Trenta is Thirty.

Leggo is I read. At first glance I thought it was I run, as in leg. But it is leg as in legible and illegible, readable and impossible to read.

Fattoria is a farm (not a factory) - I remember a place where you fatten animals.

Firm Friends
We use the word automobile in English, but it's a very old-fashioned word, rarely used except in old songs.

La quinta is the fifth. At first I got muddled with fourth and fifth. But it's easy. Quadruplets are four children and quintuplets are five. So quinta is fifth.

cavalli - horses (like cavalry)

TRANSLATION ENGLISH-ITALIAN
cars - m a c c h i n e
cars - automobili

TRANSLATION ITALIAN-ENGLISH
automobili - cars
m a c c h i n e - cars

I have to remember to double the letter c in Italian.

I stretched out the word because the predictive text keeps changing the Italian into English if I am not fast enough at seeing and tapping the little x after the wrong suggestion. However, stretching out the word makes it easy to spot each individual letter. Otherwise your eye just skims over the word without registering important differences between one language and another.

How do I remember the Italian for birthday? C o m p l e a n n o - completed years.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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Danger and Safety On Level Crossings For Cars, Lorries, Trains and Pedestrians

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.