Valentine's Day Feb 14, or July 6 or July 30th

Hand heart. Carmen Fiano - https://www.flickr.com/photos/53812099@N04/14763863277/

The hand heart was made popular by Korean pop groups, and was a sign of friendship made when the north and south Korean leaders met and were photographed together on a mountaintop. It costs nothing, creates no litter, and is a good international sign because it is universal so you don't need to speak another language.

Singapore Valentines - Be Prepared

SPRINGTIME

Februa is Latin for to cleanse, or to clean. Spring cleaning.

In the old calendar mid February was when some birds started courting matching, nesting and mating and work started in the vineyards.

In ancient times in Israel girls would wear white dresses and dance in the vineyard where boys would be waiting to propose marriage.

But marketing has amazing success. If you can create greetings cards, fill restaurants, sell jewellery and gifts and cookie cutters and cups with messages about Valentine's Day or hearts, you will sell them to children and adults, the young and the old, the single and married, anybody who wants to part with money for a message or a product with red and hearts.

ITALY, ROME & VALENTINE - La Festa di San Valentino

In Italy you wish Somebody Buon San Valentino.

More than one Christian called Valentine, a popular name was martyred, and various churches claim to have bits of the saints bodies. 

February14 is the day associated with Valentine's Day by Roman Catholics. the Eastern Orthodox celebrate In July 6th or 30th.

At the Central London Wine Society on Feb 11th Three Valentine's Day wines come to the UK from Europe, notably from France, Italy and Spain. Let's start with Italy.

ITALY

In Italy keys are given, representing the key to my heart, unlocking.

February is is named after the Roman God Februas and was the spring cleaning month.

ITALIAN FOOD

The Italian for biscuit is biscotti.

FRANCE

In France you might celebrate Valentine's Day with dinner, or a dinner on a boat on the Seine in Paris, or a helicopter ride. Your celebratory wine would be Champagne, from the Champagne region.  

Macaroons.

SPAIN, Tapas and Turron

Feliz San Valentín - Happy Valentine's Day. Feliz dia de San Valentin.

In Mexico they say, Happy Valentine's and friendship day.

Delicious Drink

The Spanish white wine equivalent of sparkling Champagne but cheaper is Cava, originally from cellars or stores in caves.

Favourite Food

Turron - Sweet

A Spanish gift might be turron, which is nougat, made from almonds, honey and egg white. A modern version is chocolate covered.

Tapas - Savoury

The Spanish food served in bars with wine is tapas. Originally supposedly tiny pieces of bread or sliced meat put on the top of glasses to keep off the flies. Or to keep off sand blown from the beach, says another story. The translation offered is lid or cover. To make an alliterative reminder, I think of the word top.

We ordered tapas in a bar in summer 2025 in Bilbao, the ferry port on the northern coast on the east (Santander is on the west). We thought it was expensive and would be the bite or two size of cocktail party canapes, but it was a large portion, as filling as a hamburger. Maybe pintchos (pintxos, which is plural, from pinchar to stab) not a pinch but sometimes skewered horizontally or toothpicked vertically to hold it all together.

You can also get dessert tapas.

UK

Chaucer, an early influencer, wrote a poem about Valentine's Day to celebrate the anniversary of the engagement of the 15 year old King of England.

In the UK Cadbury's introduced heart shapes boxes of chocolates. 

Nowadays the innovation is that the chocolates themselves are heart shaped.

|Valentine's Day is big business in the UK, the USA and Singapore which has four languages mainly English, also Chinese, meaning Mandarin. 

IRELAND

|Dublin in Ireland has a church with a relic and those without any love can pray to find love.

WALES

The Welsh celebrate on January 25th, recalling the tragic story of Welsh princess

You can make a heart sign with your thumbs and first fingers.

Happy VALENTINES DAY

Italy

Shakespeare's Ophelia mentions St Valentine's day in the play Hamlet.

AMERICA

American Valentines In Schools For Schoolchildren
When I went to live in America our son came home from school with a birthday card for Mummy, and he wanted to make a card for his teacher, which he said all the schoolchildren were doing. I was surprised, because in those days in the UK Valentine's Day cards were only for the unmarried and courting. 

Search online and you can find recordings of Valentine's day songs for the age of toddlers upwards. In America children give friendship cards to teachers. Finland also has friendship days.

ASIA

Valentine's Day month. I recall being in Singapore for the month of February and visiting several Toastmasters International Speakers' clubs. At the first Valentines theme club meeting I attended,  the table topics master asked, What would you do on Valentine's Day? What is the best restaurant for Valentine's Day? Where would you go, what was the best gift, and so on. She/he - I forget which - was looking for ideas.

In Malaysia Nowadays The Muslim movement has opposed valentines day, because it is western and encourages sex outside marriage, fornication, adultery and immorality. To counter this view, Valentines Day is  being promoted as a time for married couples to celebrate with date nights, buying expensive champagne, boxes of chocolates, and flowers. Plus of course clothes with hearts, and large cards.

In Japan women workers give chocolates to their co- workers, and a month later the men reciprocate by giving chocolates to women.

INDIA

The Hindus are against pubic displays of human affection. Instead, they tried to introduce hug a cow day. This strikes me and struck many others as an against the animal rights of the cow to refuse, besides being impractical and sometimes downright dangerous activity. Cows are too large to hug and do not necessarily reciprocate nor cooperate.

Useful Websites

February 

https://www.almanac.com/how-did-months-get-their-names

Valentine's Day

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day

A neat summary about Valentine's Day

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z6wjrmn#z6jqcxs

ITALY

https://mominitaly.com/happy-valentines-day-in-italian/

To make your own heart shaped biscuits, heart shaped cookie cutters (biscuit cutters we would say in the UK

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/4433235888/heart-set-cookie-cutters?

SPAIN

https://www.tasteatlas.com/tapas-vs-pintxos-vs-cicchetti#modal

Spanish turron

https://www.bascofinefoods.com/1880-chocolate-and-dulce-leche-turron/

Book Page Folding. A Christmas, Valentine's Day Or I Love You Gift to make or buy - bought from a library room for hire in Harrow

Look up how to fold a heart in a book, or paper folding book pages. You can find guides on YouTube. You need a book you don't want.

What if you don't have a book?

Libraries often have books for sale.  You can support your library by buying an old book. Choose a book with a fancy cover, or cover it with suitable wrapping paper. 

North Harrow library

My library in London, North Harrow Library, was the venue for the HOD toastmasters (speakers' training) international club. I went to their Christmas party. i met the man who organized the group to campaign for saving the North Harrow Libarary from closure. the library was costing the council about 250,000 pounds a year to run. Now the library is run by volunteers and it still costs about thirty thousand pounds to run. 

How do they make the money? They have a large table of sales. Books for sale. Folded gift books. Greeting cards. Handcrafts. If you want to hire the library for an evening, a volunteer will open it up for you, and sell you items from the gift table if you wish to buy something. What costs the money, if it is run by volunteers? The usual running costs of a building, heating, lighting, cleaning, decorating, repairs.

At the back they have a fantastic children's play area with large soft toys.  

You have until December 23rd to visit the library. Then they reopen January the third. Activities include computing, knitting and community activities as well as the HOD Speakers' club which trains you in public speaking and evaluating speeches.

When I looked up book folding in Wikipedia I found an article on how to fold the pages when creating a book.

You can also pick up fre books from West Harrow Library station entrance and Hatch End station inside the entrance. They ask for donations or for you to drop the book back or donate another on another occasion. The system is called Freecycle. It makes using the station fun. 

Free Newspapers

You can also pick up free newspapers, the London version of Metro, most days at London railway stations. (The same system of free newspapers is available in places such as Singapore, the central Orchard station when you will see newspapers in the morning though they might have run out later in the day. The same goes for many other cities.

The newspapers are handy for travellers. Free newspapers not only give the capital city and worldwide news. They tell you about seasonal nationwide and local events. They carry lots of travel ads, for railway deals in the country, and trips overseas.

Useful Websites

How to fold a heart in a book

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHrmuWWrbPw

North Harrow library directions and opening hours and activities and more

https://northharrowlibrary.org/

https://www.facebook.com/Nharrowlibrary/

https://bookfolding.net/

[Kara pinyin + Chinese + Engsub] The moon represents my heart | 月亮代表我的心 ...

To learn to pronounce and recognize Chinese characters, 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?y=RDEH4UbwbHY

I was delighted to recognize the heart symbol at the end.

You can also see the moon or month symbol at the start.

You can also attend online meetings of Toastmasters clubs with speeches and impromptu speeches in English, Chinese (Mandarin), Korean, Spanish, French and other languages.

Useful Websites (alphabetically)

chineasy.com

duolingo.com

memrise.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?y=RDEH4UbwbHY

About the Author

About The Author Angela

Angela Lansbury is a British author who has lived in the USA.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

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, 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.

Dubai delights happy honeymooners

 

Raffles hotel tree.

A honeymoon in Mauritius with a stopover in Dubai was changed to Dubai as the destination when Mauritius closed its borders to travellers from Britain.I asked them, "Why did you stay at two different hotels?"

"To cut down on taxi travelling times."

I like a two centre stay, even within one country. Experience different disasters and delights. Whatever the shortfall in the first hotel, you get a different experience in the second one.

In the case of the honeymooners, they had told the Raffles Hotel that they were on honeymoon. The Raffles hotel did not do anything special. However, the place was so glamorous anyway that the couple were not disappointed.

However, the Oberoi made a special effort to make the couple feel like they were on a romantic honeymoon. On the bed were colourful balloons and white fabric folded like two swans meeting to form a heart shape.

The bath had red rose petals.

With prospects of peace in the Middle East in 2020 and ongoing, more people will feel that they will be welcome in Dbai and the UAE. Wiki says:

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain recognized Israel on September 15, while Sudan and Morocco announced their intention to normalise relations with Israel on October 23 and December 10 respectively. The most recent country to establish diplomatic relations with Israel was Bhutan on December 12

A quick reminder of where Dubai is:

Useful Websites

https://www.oberoihotels.com/hotels-in-dubai/rooms-suites/

About the Author

Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, fashionista. Please share links to your favourite posts or one or more of the blogs

Books include Wedding Speeches and Toasts (Ward Lock/Cassell)

Quick Quotations (Lulu.com) 

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

Useful Websites & Resources

https://simple.wiktionary.org/wiki/

https://www.wiki-calendar.com/

https://comicpoemsbynutter.blogspot.com/2020/12/how-to-write-christmas-card-poem.html

For one hour online English language individual tutorials or group workshops contact

annalondon8@gmail.com

Coronavirus Choices - how to avoid handshakes when greeting guests and saying goodbye

Medical personnel are clad head to foot in protection. What should we do and not do? Here are some idea.

Coronavirus alerts have caused us to be wary of hand shaking and kissing as greetings and farewells.

Hand shaking used to be a must when entering the stage to speak and when handing back to the Toastmaster of the Day at Toastmasters International speakers' training meetings. But you also see handshakes as a ritual ending a tennis game, for example at Wimbledon. And you will meet people offering to shake your hands many times.

France has banned la bise, the kiss on the cheek as welcome and farewell. I have found more than 30 alternatives to handshaking and kissing.

If you are being ultra cautious, you should also avoid, high fives, fist bumping, air kisses, and blowing out candles on birthday cakes.

I should also mentions other advice I have heard, to avoid touching door handles.

These include
FACE
Winking
Nodding and smiling acknowledgement.

Even wearing a mask over the nose, your eyes can smile. A voice shows a smile, because on the radio or acting as a phone receptionist, you are advised to smile which is reflected in the sound of your voice from a wider mouth and the instinctive enthusiasm generated by the action.

HANDS
Namaste
palms together


Indian namaste greeting at the Oberoi hotel in Indian.

Martial Arts self handshake.
Cross thumbs and cross one hand over the other. I think it's the right hand over the left.

Here is my friend Raymond from Toastmasters International speakers' training in Singapore, demonstrating.

I once saw a poster advising staff in a Japanese department store, Isetan in Singapore?, how to greet customers. Staff at the door wait with their hands folded. Men fold their hands one way, I think its right hand over left. Women fold hands the other way, left over right.
The staff members nods as the customer enters.

You could fold your arms. But that looks unfriendly. Better to simply clasp your hands together. Or clutch a handbag, umbrella, walking stick, Zimmer frame, clip board and pen, whatever suits the occasion.

Remember not to put your pen in your mouth. Don't touch your face, when tempted to yawn, rub your eyes, scratch your nose, sneeze.

Hats and Salutes
Wear a large hat such as a sombrero.

 Or an Australian hat with suspended bobbing corks designed to keep away flies, also stops people trying to kiss you.

You can touch your hat.

Or tip your hat.

Or removed it entirely.

At funerals or when funerals pass it is in some placed the custom to remove a hat and place it in front, either over your heart and chest or lower.

Boy Scouts
The boy scout salute is a two or three finger salute. The thumb meets the little finger.


Military Salutes
A salute can be  horizontal, hand palm forward at top of hear or at ear level
Army
Air force
Navy


See pictures on Wikipedia.
Other countries have different salutes which include hand on heart.

Hand heart
How to do it? Put your two thumbs together, then your next finger on each hand touching the counterpart.  Bend the two next fingers downwards to make the heart shape.




The V For Victory
Winston Churchill made this popular in the UK. In the UK,  the v sign with the palm facing the onlooker is peace. But the hand reversed means up yours, an insult.

As different countries can reverse this rule, I always avoid v signs to be sure of not giving offence.

BODY
Bow.

Statues in Singapore by Gao Xiao Wu.

Curtsey

To prevent others approaching you, and save yourself from forgetting:

Western
Carry a tray of food, drink or leaflets.

Stand or sit behind a dog.

Sports, Events And Work

Sit on a horse.
Stand on a podium or pedestal, behind a lectern.
Insert a glass window and speak through it. (As done by banks, security entrances.)

Taxis
Drivers can insert a glass to keep passengers at the back.

Open windows to circulate air.
Eastern/Oriental/Tropical

Use a fan


Weddings
On special occasions such as a wedding, you can carry a tray of drinks.

Or your glass of Champagne.

Or raise your glass in a toast.

The bride can carry a bouquet and/or a prayer book.

She can wear gloves which co-ordinate with her outfit.




A mask discourages kissing.

Goggles also have the same effect.

You could wear a work hat and goggles.

Or a motorcycle helmet.



In the early days in Wuhan, photos showed improvised headgear boxing gloves, motorcycle helmets, ski goggles, swimming goggles. Such as plastic bags with holes cut out, hollowed out fruit such as grapefruit.

Keep smiling. Keep well, and keep cheerful. Hope for the best.
As American Benjamin Franklin said, prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

About the Author
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer. Author of
Etiquette for every Occasion by Batsford.
Quick Quotations by Lulu.com
Who said what when by Lulu.com

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Plaque explaining the holes in Dali's sculpture Homage to Newton

I read it two days later. Vital to understanding the Dali sculpture.

The message is relevant to Sir Isaac Newton in the 17th century, to Dali in 1985, and to everybody today.

A few yards to the right, on the riverside, is a squat and solid bird, also with a hole through the middle of the sculpture. See my previous posts.

http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.sg/2018/05/the-bird-sculpture-at-raffles-place.html

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.  

Welsh songs by Katherine Jenkins including All Through The Night

Katherine Jenkins, Welsh soprano. Photo by David Skinner in Wikipedia Creative Commons. Picture taken in 2011.

When I went to Writers and Artists Holiday in Fishguard in July 2017 I heard a Welsh male voice choir sing All Through The Night in Welsh. According to Wikipedia this particular song is very popular with Welsh male voice choirs. I recognised the last word nos, night, because I had learned a few welsh words from duo lingo.

I decided to look up this song and a few others.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ar_Hyd_y_Nos
Wikipedia gives numerous translations or versions of this song in English, all equally beautiful and soothing.

I also liked hearing on Youtube soprano Katherine Jenkins singing Welsh songs such as Calon lan.
It is about valuing an honest heart more than jewels.
Calon or galon is a heart. The adjective comes second. Lan means pure.
Here are translations of Calon lan:
http://www.madog.org/dysgwyr/caneuon/can03.html

She also sings the Welsh National Anthem, Land of My Fathers. I looked at what I had typed and thought: Have I got that right? Should it be singular or plural? Surely one only has one father? Presumably it's like the German fatherland, but means ancestors, all the fathers or ancestors going back, or all the people nowadays, collective, like the people in Dylan Thomas's imaginary village, the men (and women) living there now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEOxEHS6et4&list=RD8NybNB63W4E&index=3

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/fun-stuff/8-welsh-songs-achingly-beautiful-11693991

Her voice is wonderful. She has been awarded the OBE. Wikipedia has a lovely photo of her by David Skinner who loaded it up on Flickr then onto Wikipedia in Creative Commons.

I have always found it easier to learn words when they are arranged in a song, rhyming, with the tune  to remind you of each word and the sequence. Also songs often have repetition.
calon hones, calon lan.
An honest heart, a pure heart.

Mostly Welsh does not use a or the. Adjectives follow the noun in Welsh, the opposite of English. From this phrase I learn the word honest which is easy to remember because it is almost the same, and the word calon for heart, and the fact that adjectives come second in Welsh.

www.writersholiday.net

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

Light Relief - writing poems whilst travelling

Problem
How to pass the time during a delay? How to see the funny side? How to make good use of your time? I write comic poetry and when I remember and feel inspired I write poems about problems. I met a Singapore Airlines pilot at a toastmasters International meeting and said I would give him a poem, but our paths did not cross again. He was always away flying. However, for your entertainment, here's a new reproduction of my poem.

Answer
To be performed wearing a cap with gold buttons.

The Pilot Speaking
by Angela Lansbury

"This is your co-pilot speaking
I promise we're leaving on time
I know you feel like you're dying
Just breathe deeply, and you'll be fine ..."

"This is your co-pilot speaking
I'm sorry about the delay
If you look out of the windows
You'll see goat herds on the runway

"We don't usually tell you
When we see a snake on the plane
I lift my feet in the cockpit
Calmly sigh, 'Oh no - not again!'

"Whilst I am waiting for the vet
I announce, 'We're waiting for parts ...'
I send for vets - and two doctors
Mine quickly checks my waltzing heart!

"We know you've paid lots of money
We pretend complaints don't cause stress
Altitude makes food taste funny
Crew clean toilets, they do their best

"I have you enjoy a pleasant flight
A safe journey, a lovely day
Remember whilst you have a holiday
We're working, driving, smiling, all day."

Copyright Angela Lansbury
April 21 2017

Quick facts
Single animals or whole herds can get onto fenced or unfenced runways, especially in Africa.
Snakes on the plane have happened several times - either in passenger area or cockpit. Planes from some destinations are checked for stowaways - local wildlife which slithers in. Animals and reptiles and pets can also escape when carried officially or unofficially in luggage, or hidden under the passenger's clothes.

Snakes on a plane
Wikipedia:
The (movie) story is credited to David Dalessandro, a University of Pittsburgh administrator and first-time Hollywood writer. He developed the concept in 1992 after reading a nature magazine article about Indonesian brown tree snakes climbing onto planes in cargo during World War II.

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

Valentine's Day and what we get from Italy

Problem
What do we get for Valentine's Day?

Answers
1 Prosecco - from Italy. (Visit vineyards and the area around Venice and Treviso.)Buy from any supermarket London, England and worldwide. (Alternatives: Asti from that city in Italy.)
2 Valentine's Day cards - inspired by St Valentine of Italy
3 Dreaming of and planning a trip to Italy:
Various buildings all over the world are dedicated to Saint Valentine and / or have part of the body of one of the saints of that name.

Who celebrates St Valentine?
Roman Catholic church.
Church Of England.
Eastern Orthodox church.
Restaurants, hotels, businesses, secular and non-religious groups, schools in the USA.

St Valentine or St Valentine's Day are celebrated by:
Anonymous admirers.
Courting couples.
Married couples.
USA - Families, teachers and pupils, colleagues, in the USA.
Japan - women give gifts one month to men; the following month men give equal or larger gifts to women.

Other similar celebrations of love:
Chinese.
Muslim.

Relics of St Valentine:


Story
I searched through my photos with the word heart and found pictures from supermarkets in London last year (with offers the day after Valentine's day) and I found heart shaped white bowls, heart shaped grey slates, heart shaped shortbread biscuits, heart shaped chocolate covered biscuits with chocolate sprinkles. A meal at many restaurants at all prices will provide a setting with hearts. If you are lucky you will go home with a heart shape balloon or red or pink flower. Remember to take a photo for next year's DIY Valentine's Day card.

TOURIST PLACES FOR LOVE AND LOVERS AND ST VALENTINE
ITALY
Romantic places in Italy:
Rome.
Florence.
Perugia, capital of Umbria.

CZECH REPUBLIC
Padlocks

Prague - bridge with padlocks affixed by lovers below the St Charles Bridge. You can buy padlocks nearby (more expensive than ordinary padlocks.) Your padlock won't stay up for ever because they have to remove all the padlocks every so often to make room for more. (Also I imagine to repaint the bridge.)

Padlock Places
CZECH REPUBLIC
Bridge below St Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic.
FRANCE
The Pont des Arts in Paris, France.
ITALY
The Ponte Milvio in Rome, Italy.
GERMANY
The Hohenzollernbrucke (Hohenzollern bridge), Cologne (Koln in German) on the river Rhine, the river that inspired Schumann and Wagner.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/love-padlocks-cologne-s-hohenzollernbruecke-bridge
UK
Nottingham
Wilford Suspension Bridge, the footbridge crossing the Trent between West Bridgford and the City of Love.
Read more at http://www.nottinghampost.com/valentine-romance-blooms-as-nottingham-bridge-lovelocks-multiply/story-30127104-detail/story.html#ubyj010KLEdlJTiM.99

I decided I'd rather spend our money on chocolates - and chocolate drinks with wine, at a cafe up the hill - see my previous posts on the Czech Republic and my reports in Tripadvisor. The most romantic restaurant I tried was the grand Fred and Ginger restaurant at The Dancing House, overlooking the river, with gourmet food and a chance to draw your beloved on the table mat (pencil provided).

Chocolates
Free taste of chocolates at several chocolate shops nearby in the old hillside streets leading to the castle. All sorts of unusual chocolate flavours.
Warning: if you don't feel obliged to buy any chocolates immediately, you will probably decide to return to buy something later for yourselves and gifts for those left behind in your country. (Especially if there's a tempting three for the price of two offer.)

Tips
DIY cards
A wikihow video shows you how to make a frame with wood and wire and card - for the DIY enthusiast, not for types like me who want something fast from a piece of card and scissors.
If you keep a box of coloured papers, and symbols cut from magazines and newspapers, you can quickly create a DIY card with a printed message or photo stuck in the middle. To create a symmetrical heart shape, fold a piece of paper or card in half, draw one half of the heart and cut through both pieces of the filed paper. This is very effective with a piece of white card on a red background, or red on a white background.

Emails

DIY
Heart Shape photo or picture frame.

FOOD & DRINK
Chocolate or gift or message in a heart shape box.
Box with a heart attached to the front.
Heart shape cut out of red apple or melon.
Heart shape toast. (Cut by hand or use a heart shape biscuit cutter.)
Stick a red heart on the front or neck of a bottle of Prosecco.
Play romantic music: Opera, Pavarotti, love songs, your favourite romantic songs.
Collage of all your Valentine's Days or wedding anniversaries.

More information text and photos from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine
If you have missed taking a trip to Italy for Valentine's day, instead you can give a promise of a trip later in the year.

More information on Umbria:
https://www.umbriatourism.it
https://www.umbriatourism.it/en/-/presepi-artistici-e-viventi-in-umbria

See my previous posts on Italy and Umbria and romantic hotels and a bed and breakfast place where you can get married in a tiny chapel steps away from the bedroom.
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.sg/2017/02/valentines-day-romance-and-honeymoons.html
Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

German Words Which Are Easy To Remember

German Parts of the Body

breast / chest - die Brust (Brust sounds like breast, shared letters b r s t, her breast, his chest, chicken breast)
heart - Herz (drop the t) (I had a neighbour called Mrs Hertz, but how do I remember to drop the t? - Memory aid - have you no heart? No I've no t /tea)
shoulder(s) - der Schulter(n) - (very similar, s h u l t/d e r but add the c - s c h)
(How do I remember to add the n and end? Like the ChilterN hills, which look like a body lying on the ground with one of the shoulders raised. If you are in England you will know the Chiltern hills. If in the USA make up a memory aid with children.)
stomach - das Magen (shared letters are M a c/g)

I have been learning these words on Duolingo. When I go back through the review at the end of the lesson, I find I have remembered the words but forgotten the capital letters.

Remember to add the capital letter at the start of the important words. Learning German is important. Remembering capital letters in German is important. Imagine the German teacher shouting at you: Capital Letter CAPITAL LETTER starting Nouns NAMES and NOUNS.

Whose body?
Meine - mine (initial letter n; and it sounds the same, except add er or a at the end in German GER man Meine like a minor or a miner - mine is a minor, my child is a minor, my husband is a minter, mine is a miner, mein is a meine
Seine his or hers hiS or herS or otherS or theirS

Now let me pick some more difficult words.
back - Rucken - my rucksack on my back (words from a song I heard as a child: something like 'I am a happy wanderer' or 'I like to go a wandering - my knapsack on my back'.
Rucken - back (notice the CK is shared by both words, baCK, RuCKen)

After you have closed the book or the page, how can you remember to keep repeating the words to yourself through the day?

I have picked near rhyming words which sound similar to each other and which I did not know before. Easy to remember to repeat, plus the memory aid tells you the end of the word.
breast and heart - B r u s t   u n d  H e r z
back, stomach - R u c k e n   u n d  M a g e n

(memory aid - a drunken man lying on his back in Germany - back d r u n c k e n )


If you are watching a German film with English subtitles, or turn on the German subtitles when watching a German film, you will be able to spot these words.

If you have a German pal or colleague, you can point to the middle of your back and teach them, which will help you to remember their language. If you are teaching a class, each person points to their own back, then another person's back. If there are only two of you, make sure you repeat it three times, not just twice (once by each person with the pupil repeating what the teacher says).

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, English teacher, language teacher, tutor, workshops, public speaking, public speaking training.

Bella's Blooms: new in Hatch End

Colourful Bella's Blooms attracted my eye as I walked past the flowers, blooms and balloons.

Who's Bella? Here she is. Close-up you can see the tattoos on her arms and she'll proudly explain that the little girl on her arm is Alice in Wonderland, representing her daughter, and the boy is the Mad Hatter, for her son.

But don't get side-tracked, look at the flowers and herbs and vegetables. The prices range from £1.95 for a small plant, to £25 and up for lavish bouquets. You can buy indoor and outdoor plants. Potted yellow and green peppers cost £12.50.  

Here's a heart enclosing a flower basket.

More colourful displays including some annuals.

If you are looking for a gift, she sells fancy wrapping paper and is expecting scented candles soon.

bellasblooms.co.uk

More on Bella's tips for keeping plants fresh and watered in my next post.

Angela Lansbury B A Hons, author, photo-journalist, speaker.

Hearts in Costa Coffee Shops

If you are looking for hearts for Valentine's Day, here's a little something for a romantic coffee time or tea time. Heart shape in Costa Coffee. I spotted a heart-shape centre to a biscuit at a motorway stop in the UK. Somewhere between London and Reading. I am not sure if this biscuit is seasonal or regular. Either way, great on the day, or any day to brighten somebody's face, even your own, with a smile

.

Rococo Chocolates London

Chocolate shops - wander in at your peril. They are all terribly tempting and terribly expensive. I asked, "Any special offers?" We fell for the four chocolate blocks for £16. They are usually £4.50 each and we would have bought two. We chose Lavender, Crystallised Ginger, Rococo Rose and Orange and Geranium. The heart shape chocolates and boxes are great for special occasions. I liked what I thought was a chocolate tree, gold leaves and gold foil wrapped chocolates - turns out the gold decorations are Balinese wood painted gold. But what a great idea, a chocolate tree. Just don't turn on the fire, or candles or all your chocolate decorations will melt! 

Where is it? Just round the corner from Belgrave Square, with all the embassies, and Petrus restaurant.

Rococo Chocolates, 5 Motcomb Street, London SWIX 8JU. Other branches in London in Marylebone Street, and Chelsea, also in Chester.

rococochocolates.com

Wonderful Wines For Weddings, Romance & Surprise Novelties: Icewine For Valentine's Day, Wedding Wines, Cork Showing Klee; label with Dirdl

1 Squashed Wine Bottles Displaying Business Cards
The Austrian wine show at the Institute of Directors in Pall Mall, London showed Austria's latest wines and wine related gifts. Business address cards were displayed on a flattened bottle. You can buy these bottles and use them to serve cheese and biscuits with wine.

For a special occasion such as a wedding, anniversary, Valentine's Day, birthday, or birth of a baby, you can have your wine or champagne bottle flattened afterwards as a souvenir. I found flat-bottles.co.uk . Their charge in Feb 2014 from the website was £12+£9 postage for a bottle without label. (You remove your label and save it and stick it back afterwards.)  With labels £18 plus postage. They also do champagne and beer bottles. Other sellers offer bottles as olive trays or spoon rests, with a wine quote (old wine like old friends  better with age) and personalised. The bottle in my picture was at the Austrian wine trade show in London and was made for Weingut Hellmer by an Austrian company. I thought it was flattened by www.mth.com.at but I haven't yet found the website. The bottle itself is from Weingut Hellmer, www.winzer-hellmer.at office email office@winzer-helmmer.at tel:+43 (0)2738/3149

2 Ice Wine In Icicle Thin Bottles
I loved the ultra sweet ice wines which have to be picked at night when the weather is icy, sold in a bottle slim as an icicle. I first found this delicious wine in New Zealand, then in Canada, and did not realise it was closer to home in Europe, from Austria. My favourite eisweins were by Lang; and by Zantho whose bottle labels feature the winery's local lizard.

 Lizard Logos On Bottles Of Sweet wine - how sweet!

For the lizard logo on bottles of ice wine www.zantho.com

3 Dirndl Dress On Labels
Wandering through the show was a girl wearing a wonderful iridescent skirt. The same outfit, a folk fashion of Eastern Austria, is worn by the girl pictured on bottles of wine. The Dirndl dress has a laced corset-style bodice, a full circular skirt, and often a white puff sleeve blouse, skirt lengths varying from knee length to ankle length. You can buy these dresses in various colours for girls of all ages from babies to brides up to grannies, and co-ordinating lederhosen for boys and granddads too.

This wine with its wonderful label is brand new, so they are looking for importers to the UK. If you want to buy a dirndl dress, google dirndl or Salzburger dirndl. The pretty dirndl dress featured in the film Sound of Music so many little girls would love to have one. I met Bianca, above, the daughter-in-law of the people who run the winery.

More details of the wines from www.schmelzweine.at

info@schmelzweine

t:+43 (2715) 2435. 

4 Klee Paintings on Corks & Labels
Another novelty is a portrait from a Klee painting on a cork. Klee was an Austrian painter. The whole painting is shown on a wine label.

For the klee labels and corks check out wwww.szigeti.at

5 New Baby Bottles With Hearts and Keys For Valentine's Day and Weddings
The same company makes miniature bottles, the smallest bottles in the world, holding just a glassful of wine, 125 cl, with trinkets around the bottle neck as gifts. You can have little hearts or keys. Or anything you want to order. The bottles come in conventional colours or silver.

More Details From:

For the bubbly bomb baby bottles, with Bubbly Bomb Vienna designs, Bubbly Bomb Christmas Designs, Bubbly Bomb Wedding Designs - www.szigeti.at

You can buy the bubble bottles from Selfridges, Conran, the British Library or from the producers' website. They specialise in sparkling wines. The bottles with the hearts and keys cost about £8.99, while the ones with silver bottles and pink ribbon are about £12.99.

www.austrianwine.com

For anybody in the trade some more details:

Szigeti, Am Anger 31, 7122 Gols

T: +43 (2173) 2167 F: +43 173) 2514

E:sektkellerei@szigeti.at

W:www.szigeti.at

Contact: Hans-Peter Hofmann

Importer Grays & Feather Ltd.

Haider & Malloth make little lightweight glassy coloured printed papers to go under glasses (in German Glasuntersetzer) Vol.1.

They also double as circular business cards for their marketing staff:

Christopher Malloth MSc, marketing und Sales, Haider & Malloth OG, Am Schrandlsee 2, 7142 Illmitz, Austria.

www.weingut-haider-malloth.at

tel:+43 1 512 29 90-0

More details from:

Facebook: www.austrianwine.com/facebook

Twitter: www.twitter.com/austrianwine

Austrian Wine Marketing Board

www.austrianwine.com

Visit their Webshop shop.oesterreichwein.at

info@austrianwine.com

Next year I hope to go back to their trade show and taste the other sweet wines I missed by wineries: Fritsch; Haider & Malloth Weinkellerei OG; Etz; and Weubrueder

WINE QUOTATIONS

Finally a few quotations on wine:

A glass of wine and thou.

Drink, drink, drink. (Drinking song.)

In vino veritas.

In victory you deserve it; in defeat you need it. (Napoleon on Champagne.) 

Wine, women and song.

Angela Lansbury is the author of Quick Quotations which you can buy on line from lulu.com