Wonderful Welcomes For Weary Travellers - The Waiter Who Remembers Your Order

 Most Memorable Memory From Portugal

Years ago I was on a press trip to Portugal and about twelve of us travel writers had lunch at a castle, sitting at a large oval table, welcomed by the mayor who sat under the window. The waiter took our order and the mayor began his welcome speech. 

The waiter delivered the starter to the major, and then every other order to the correct person, in turn.

I was so impressed by this that at the end I asked the waiter how he did it. He explained:

It is very simple. You start with the person under the window who is number one. The other orders have been listed clockwise, numbered like a clockface. You could never get more than one order wrong.

I noticed that Brittany Ferries (a French company) had numbered tables in their Azul (French for blue) restaurant.

Numbered table in the Brittany Ferry restaurant Azul.  

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

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Horror And Humour - Naming Living And Dead Bodies In Texas, USA

Problem
How do you identify a dead body? What should you do to prepare for the worst?

Answers
1 Evacuate when told to do so.
2 If you prefer to stay to guard your property from looters, or are too frail to travel, the Mayor, Rios, of a town in Texas, tells people to write their name and National Insurance number on their arm.

Why the National Insurance number? I imagine it's the same as the National ID number (NRIC) in Singapore. It ensures that if you have more than one person of the same name you can be sure which is which. (For example, there are 13 people with my name, Angela Lansbury, on LinkedIn alone. It would take hours to try to identify a dead body from a name if they were not found in the house where they lived.

Light Note 1 on Disembodied Arms
On a lighter note, somebody suggested that you should write your name on the torso instead, in case the body and arms were separated. Somebody else said you still need the name on the arm, in case somebody discovered an odd arm by itself.

Having the name on your arm might save a member of the family from the grim task of identifying the individual dead body, or looking at dozens. Or hundreds.

At least you could photograph the name and number before burial.

Light Note 2 - Identity change

A chance to go missing. Write your name on somebody else's dead body.

Hm. Why is the body of John Brown marked as Joan Brown?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4825052/Texans-stayed-told-write-SSN-arm.html#reader-comments

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and Photographer, author and speaker. Please share your favourite posts. 

Photographing Groups So All Are Seen - including the photographer

How do you photograph a group so everybody can be seen, with VIPs in the middle?

First take the VIPs or prize winners alone. Then the committee. Then photograph the whole group.

You can't ask visitors or ordinary members to stand at the sides. But you can ask the VIP such as the mayor or president, or visiting speaker to stand in the middle.

You can't tell one person to move back. You can ask the smaller people to stand at the front. Or ask the VIPS or prize winners to sit on chairs at the front holding their trophies.

Sometimes the VIP or President is the person keen to have a photographic memento and also the person with the clever camera or the camera kept handy. In order to get them in the photo, somebody else should swap places with the photographer to take another photo including whoever took the first photo.

An alternative is to use a tripod and a time lapse. The photographer then sets up the camera, on time lapse, makes sure there is a place to stand in the group, warns the group the countdown and dashes into place - reminding everybody to smile.

If you are planning to do this for the first time, practise taking time lapse photos of a group of chairs and rushing into place.

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

Harrow's Heroes and Heroines Displayed In The Civic Centre

Harrow's civic centre has tributes to heroes and heroines of Harrow and the world.

At the entrance turn right to enquire from the reception desk; turn left to see the Kodak history display

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II visited Harrow.

Tiles include well known people such as: the poet Byron; runner Roger Bannister. You'll also see organisations including the masons; and landmarks great and small.

Winston Churchill went to Harrow school.

Byron was at Harrow school. He is buried here. So is his daughter - in St Mary's church - that's the famous spire you see on the top of the hill when you are driving towards Harrow or passing Harrow in the metropolitan line train.

(I'm updating this today and loading up more pictures but so I don't lose my work I'm adding them to the site and not waiting until it's finished. Come back and read more later.)



Current Mayor in 2014
Harrow is a very diverse borough. Schools and pupils and teachers do well.

Harrow Council Chamber, The Lights, The Mayor and The Mace

Harrow Council chamber is a wonderful tiny modern theatre with perfect acoustics. Our speakers from Harrovian Speakers (a branch of Toastmasters International) were fascinated by the lights and control of meetings. At Harrovian Speakers we limit speaking times with green orange and red lights, like traffic lights. But at Harrow Council they make do with only green lights. When the green lights are on you may speak. When the green lights flash you have one minute to go. When the light go off you must be off. If you refuse to go the mayor can stand up and walk out and the meeting is over.

Should a speaker be so irate that he attacks the mayor, the mayor is defended by the mace. The mace was originally a club, though now it is disguised by beautiful ornate decoration so you might not know its real purpose.

In 26 years of Harrow Council meetings the present holder of the mace has never needed to use it. Once in St Albans an irate person went to attack the mayor and was hit with the mace. This being modern times, the irate party tried to sue. However, the law was on the side of the man with the mace. So now, please sit down, children, and do what you are told!

(Many, well-behaved, school groups are invited to entertaining talks and walks around Harrow Civic Centre.)

Angela Lansbury, author, speaker.