A Free Tour in London

 Looking for something free to do, or something new to do? Here's this month's find.

Board showing free tour of Methodist Central Hall. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 

 And look at those colorful brick paving stones.  The world is full of wonders when you stop to look around.

Many important events have taken place here. Starting with the Suffragette movement, in real life and in a film about it years later. 

The impressive organ. The central dome is a feature. So is the plaque to the meeting of the United Nations.

Useful websites

Wikipedia gives you general history. But wikimedia has many more photos. I found this interesting caption

Westminster: Methodist Central Hall The Hall was completed on the west side of Storey's Gate in 1912 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. A full history can be found at the Central Hall website here http://www.methodist-central-hall.org.uk/history/history.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodist_Central_Hall,_Westminster

Colourful and Clear HQ of Internet shopping, Visit the Headquarters of Amazon, Ebay and Lazada or see them with the help of Google

You can take a guided tour of the Amazon headquarters. Who'd have thought it. I shall come to that shortly. 

Meanwhile, many of us are at home, or even shopping online on the move for items to be delivered to our holiday hotel or second home, or to wait for us at home when we get back. The internet offers you a host of chances to buy and sell. Let's look at them alphabetically.

Aliexpress began in and is based in China. It began as business to business but now puts you the consumer in touch with sellers.

Amazon in Seattle in the USA has a free audio tour of its headquarters.

Amazon building in Seattle, USA.

Ebay is also in the USA.

eBid has categories such as: Clothes, shoes, accessories; Jewelry and watches (American spelling), and Whatever's left.

ebuygumm appears to be UK only.

Lazada started in Asia.

Here's the Lazada office in Singapore.

If want to stay home, there's a world of colour.

 

Google's main symbol is colourful. I was hunting for the symbol for google docs when a friend pointed out that all the google symbols have colours.

This is Gmail.

However, google docs and google translate are both blue.

Google docs

Google translate

Happy travelling and happy shopping.

Useful Websites

aliexpress.com

https://www.ebid.net/us/

https://ebuygumm.co.uk/fees

https://www.lazada.sg/sell-on-lazada?

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

Useful overview

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

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Plovdiv in Bulgaria, the Perfect side trip from Sofia, For Photos, Wine Tasting,

The pictures of Plovdiv's old town houses and museums look gorgeous. Plovdiv is a European city of culture in 2019 so lots of events are organized. Trips to Plovdiv are offered from Sofia and other cities, but cheaper if you share a trip with three or more, and start early in the morning.

We hired a car and drove from Borovets, mountainside ski and walking centre, to Plovdiv city and back in a day.

Just outside Borovets is a village with an army tank on the main square, and what looks like a small plane in a front garden.

Our first stop was a detour to a winery on the outskirts of Plovdiv. We saw the oak wood barrels and stainless steel vats and were given a free taste of three wines. If we had given them warning, they would have ordered in some snacks to go with the wine.

We then drove to the centre of Plovdiv and parked buying a three hour parking coupon from the strolling warden.

The tourist office in the centre gave us a map and suggested a restaurant.Right in the centre is an excavated Roman ruin, with a balcony restaurant facing it. Our friends sent us a picture of themselves drinking strawberry milkshakes overlooking the Roman ruin.

Beside the sunken Roman is a modern mosque. Walk on uphill on the cobbled narrow streets thought the craft quarter. The old houses are painted in bright colours and some have overhanging balconies. Many walls are painted with giant murals, or graffiti.

We had lunch. The toilets had a sign saying put your toilet paper in the bin, not down the toilet. (Same as in Greece.)

At the top is a small cathedral, free to enter, like all the Orthodox Christian buildings. No photos! Inside it was highly ornate, and dark.

We had lunch at Smokini.

Travel and tour tips:
TOURS
Free Plovdiv tour at 2 pm Oct to April and 6 pm May to September. No need to book. Just show up.
www.freeplovdivtour.com

VITISTOUR
Wine tour of Bulgaria, Plovdiv tours by car, bike or scoot; Plovdiv Communist tours.
facebook.com/vitistour

VISITS
Free visits: First Thursday of the month for students and retired people.

HOTELS
Hotel Rila, 2010 Borovets, Bulgaria, reception tel:+359 750 32441
www.rilaborovets.com

Winery estate DRAGOMIR
Moving from near Plovdiv to another nearby address between June and September.

WINE TASTING
The House of Distillation, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

www.bulgariawinetours.com
Half day and full day wine tours from European 65 per person.

Facebook: street.of.crafts.plovdiv

Welcomemaps.eu plovdiv

Walking tour of Plovdiv from !2 euros, every day at 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 hours, lasting around 3 hours, includes map and a coupon for 15% offPyldin restaurant, 3 entrance  tickets to Small Basilica, Amenian museum trakart. Starting point
1 Rayko Daskalov st (tourist info centre).

Maps
Large free map from
Official Tourism Portal:
visitplovdiv.com

Wine Map Bulgaria

Useful Phrases Card from
365 Culture Tour Of Sophia (Costs about 22 Leva)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plovdiv_Synagogue

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

TRAVEL TO BULGARIA Summary

Bulgaria - hgighly recommended, cheap and cheerful. Sofia the capital is easy to walk around.


Useful Websites For Travel To Bulgaria
TRAVEL TO BULGARIA
Travel from Stansted to Sofia
ryanair.com

HOTELS
Budget
Central Point hotel boutique
Great location and cheap price.
Ground floor rooms, some have a walled patio. Our room 210 had a view over next door's lawned garden and the hotels's ground floor rooms' downstairs patios, our room quiet at night. Front rooms have a better view of the park and distant road but are noisy at night from revellers drinking around bars in the park.

SOFIA
WALKING TOURS / FREE TOURS
www.freesofiatour.com
www.365association.org
https://365association.org/tours/culture-tour/
ww.sofiagraffitittour.com
Free walking tour of the city in front of the Palais of Justice, but finishes outisde the Alexander Nevski Cathedral.

Churches and Cathedrals (free entry)
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

The national gallery in The Palace
Very dull. Reductions for the retired. Good shop.
ww.nationalgallery.bg

Next door is the Natural History Museum. which is excellent. Huge animals and tiny birds such as the teeny hoopoe with a needle like beak, and iridiscent stones in all colours, green, purple, blue, pink, from all over the world in amazing shapes from an almost invisable diamond to a knee high quartz - actually on a table so it was waist high when I was photographed beside it.


Wines:
Enjoywine
www.enjoywine.bg
Family owned shop specialising in Bulgarian wines offers tasting of three wines. Sells amusing birthday cards.

Synagogue
Entry 4 leva
www.sofiasynagogue.com

Shopping
Elephant Bookstore
31 Tsar Shishman Street,Sofia, Bulgaria.
Everything from Harry Potter to Alice and Wonderland, Freud and Einstein, books and mugs and cards and pictures and cards and umbrellas and masks.
wwwElephantBookstore.com

PLOVDIV
Pretty and historic, and centre of Bulgaria's top wine region.
You can visit it on a day trip from Sofia.

Plovdiv airport 'the South Gate of Bulgaria
www.

More later.
 Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

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.

Free, fun and educational tour at the Fullerton Hotel, Singapore

Photo from Wikipedia.

At a meeting of members of Toastmasters International Speakers' and leadership training clubs in Singapore, I met member of the Singapore Tourism Board. I asked her if there were any free tours of Singapore and she sent me the useful information about the tour.

The grand Fullerton Hotel overlooks the river and has four restaurants. It was constructed in 1928 and served as the General Post Office.

THE FULLERTON MONUMENT TOUR of the Fullerton Hotel

Day/time:
Mondays and Thursdays 11.15am (Open to public)
Saturdays | 3.45pm (Open to public
Registration: Call The Fullerton Hotel’s Concierge at (65) 6877 8078
In order to provide a personalized experience, each hour-long tour is limited to twenty participants. Please call and place your name on the tour list.

A MARITIME JOURNEY TOUR of the Fullerton Bay Hotel

Day/time:
Fridays | 3.45pm (Open to public) 

Sundays | 11.15am (Open to public)
Registration: Call The Fullerton Bay Hotel’s Concierge at (65) 6597 5312
In order to provide a personalized experience, each hour-long tour is limited to twenty participants.

Near the hotel are some interesting statues in the street.

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

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