Warning of the week for travellers: seagulls

 

University of Sussex campus, England. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Seagulls watching at Brighton

. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 

You can protect yourself with an umbrella. 

You could protect property with shiny objects such as CDs.

One seagull put white poop on our car when we stopped briefly.  

Useful Websites

https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/wildlife/birds/gulls

https://birdaware.org/solent/gulls-by-the-sea-but-thats-not-a-seagull/

Learning Spanish from Household Products - 20 words for you to recognize

 I looked at a tube of metal polish and learned some new words in Spanish.

Spanish - English

aplicar - apply

bronce - bronze

como - such as

crema - cream

cristal - crystal

de - of

del - of the

esta - this

excelente - excellent

excepto - except

fibrar de cristal

frotar - rub

instructionnes - instructions

las (feminine)/los - the (plural as in the US place name Los Angeles which means the angels)

metal - metal

Miracle - miracle

no - do not/don't

para - for

protege - protects

seco - dry

todo - all

un - a/an

y - and

English - Spanish

all - todo (plural todos)

a/an - un

and - y

apply - aplicar

cream - crema

crystal - cristal

dry - seco

excellent - excelente

except - excepto

for - para

instructions - instructionnes

of - de

of the - del 

metal - metal

Miracle - miracle

protects - protege

rub - frotar

such as - como

the - el, los, las (feminine plural)

this - esta

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

facebook polyglots group to ask questions and discuss

https://www.facebook.com/groups/polygotcommunity/

memrise.com

translate google

WORDS WRITTEN THE SAME IN BOTH LANGUAGES (Pronunciation and meaning could be different)

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English%E2%80%93Spanish_interlingual_homographs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/-ing#-ing_words_in_other_languages

Angela Lansbury is VP PR of Braddell Heights Advanced club and Tampines Changkat Advanced club.

https://www.toastmasters.org/Find-a-Club/00009689-braddell-heights-advanced-club

https://www.facebook.com/tampineschangkatadvTMC/

Spectacles and Straps for Travelling and Staycations

 

I need sunglasses but don't like carrying two pairs. My new glasses are Reactolite so I need only one pair when travelling. After you have protected your eyes with sunglasses, you need to protect your sunglasses.

Protective Case

I travel with a hard spectacle case to put on the bedside table. Also to use inside a handbag. I don't want to risk dropping my glasses, treading on them or sitting on them.

Finding Glasses

I choose a bright colour. So I can find them easily when searching. Also to not leave them behind accidentally. I can recognize my glasses and not think those in a black case belong to somebody else.

Glasses for travelling

If I am likely to be driving I take a spare pair with me. The old pair will do.

Donate

What can you do with unwanted glasses? Donate them to charity.

Neck Chains

Neck chains are handy if you want to sleep on the plane, sitting up.

Reading menus

Borrow glasses from somebody sitting nearby.

Reading maps

A flat magnifier like a credit card

Prescription Record

Travel with a copy of your prescription. Keep it on your phone or laptop.

Useful Websites

Reading credit card pocket magnifier - set of three for under two pounds sterling

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sme/dragon-store2012/Buy-1-get-1-at-8-off/so.html?

https://www.amazon.sg/s?k=sunglass+strap

Wine Bottle Accidents - Why You Need Wine Carriers And Wine Suitcases

My First Wine Bottle Disaster
My first wine bottle disaster was with a bottle of spirits which broke and leaked. My clothes smelled of spirits and were stained. The moral of the story is, always encase bottles in something leak-proof. Always encase clothes in something leakproof.

If I carry long boots in a suitcase, I put a bottle inside a boot. Those were the days when you could only bring into the UK one bottle of wine and one of spirits per person. But what if you have more than one bottle?

When you order bottles of wine from a company on line, they may deliver bottles in protection which, if cut apart carefully and stored, can be re-used.

Broken Bottles
Our worst experience was at an airport. Our red wine bottles got banged. They broke. Two red fountains of wine poured, like taps, out of each side. We raced about like ninnies, with towels, then paper towels from toilets, mopping up. Bits of glass, carried gingerly, were deposited into nearby bins.

Nobody helped. But nobody hindered. Nobody else noticed nor cared.

Luckily most of my clothes are wine-coloured. I avoid wearing white. I buy and drink white wine in preference to red.

There's a good reason for drinking champagne at weddings. The bride, groom and guests should do so, out of consideration for the bride's expensive white dress.

Wine Suitcases
If you are carrying a lot of wines, including expensive wines, you won't want bottles in plastic supermarket bags, banging around, getting left behind and muddled up with other people's bags.

What Could Go Wrong?
You could forget your duty free bag and leave it behind on the plane - especially if your coat is moved to a different overhead locker.

The suitcase could be crushed or jolted. The banging could break the glass. The shaking could make the bubbles explode the cork out of the bottle. The changing pressure could make the cork leak.

Bottles do leak. I've seen bottles leak in wine fridges, all down the other bottles, making a mess, spoiling labels. You don't want to lose precious wine, spoiling the look of a bottle which could have been given to somebody as a birthday present.

Along comes the magic of a specially designed and removal interior for a special size suitcase.

One Bottle Picnic Carrier
You can buy devices carrying one bottle plus a corkscrew and sometimes wine or Champagne glasses from:
Department stores
Camping shops
Wine Shops
Wine Museum shops
Vineyard and tour shops.

Photos by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

On Amazon I found a similar one:

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Wine Travel Case with Two Glasses - Wine Bottle & Stemware Tote Bag by WineUltra.com

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Available from these sellers.

New (1) from £161.64 + £4.48 shipping.

At £165 to carry one bottle, plus £4.48 shipping !

A suitcase costing £300+ carrying six or more bottles sounds like a bargain.

***************
However, If found a similar item on ebay for £4.99 plus postage of £3.99. A Lazenne 12 bottle carrier. 
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A single bottle wooden presentation pack containing a bottle opener from German on ebay for bids at under £5 but £16 postage. 
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A suitcase for 6 bottles at £29.30 with free post and packing.
******************

Magic search words include:
 Wine travel protector.
Picnic backpack
Picknick backpack

****************
From Amazon: An anti shock glass bottle packaging bag by Mono Deal, (I inserted space against spell checker) cost about £10 but not re-usable, meaning, according to the reviewers, that you could not deflate them, but you can re-use them inflated.

Users struggled to find the inflation slot. Some said the holder would only fit a wine bottle, not a larger or odd shaped gin bottle.

You can also use them for transporting bottles of oil or vinegar.

You can buy 2, 3 or 4 pack wine bottle holders, like a double plastic sock for around £10.
************

From John Lewis, similar to mine, but mine had space for one bottle, insulated with interior silver colour lining, with glasses the other side, padded but not so well insulated - though you could remove the glasses and replace them with a bottle.

John Lewis Croft Collection version for two bottles about £20. They deliver as far away as Australia and all over the world.

Wine suitcases
You can buy a wine carrying suitcase to keep wines cool and protected from breakage, loss and theft.
I looked at a small one at a wine show. I thought, that's small enough to carry home. Small enough to hide until the next birthday or Christmas. Then I heard the price.

************

For postage, this offer of packaging:
https://www.ukpackaging.com/bottle-postal-boxes-pulp-bottle-pack-single-box-of-5
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A wine suitcases costs about £300 or more, depending on the size of case and number of bottles. The interior compartments can be removed.

You can see them at wine shows and events. They are used by people in the wine business and are presumably a business expense.

************
The brand names for the one bottle skins include:
Wineskin;
Wine Wings.
USEFUL WEBSITES
https://vingardevalise.com
www.johnlewis.com
www.winerist.com
www.winecruzer.com
www.carpe-travel.com
https://www.ukpackaging.com
www.wineultra.com
www.amazon.com
www.ebay.com
https://lazenne.com/collections/wine-check-luggage-combos (Free wine skin added to your order if I signed up  - and ordered within 7 days.)

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.

Recycling Plastic and Paper Cups to Protect Yogurt and Donuts In Transit

Problems
You have used paper cups which get squashed in transit.
You want to use them again after they are hardly used or not used.
Your yoghurt is in danger of spilling.
Your croissant or sandwich is in danger of leaving grease on your diary and paperwork in your bag.

Answer
A plastic or paper cup (or two or three) makes a great protective container for yoghurt. You can also used plastic of paper mugs as containers for biscuits, muffins, doughnuts, or cakes.

Story
One year I was delayed boarding a plane at Heathrow. We were given vouchers for food and drinks. I bought a strawberry yoghurt and other foods.  The plane was called and I had an uneaten, unfinished, not even started yoghurt. I thought it would be okay in a duffel bag. Wrong.

Unfortunately, when the plane landed, I discovered I had strawberry yoghurt over my diary, my guidebook and my bikini. I washed out the bikini at the destination, which removed a potential stain, but it still smelled of strawberry yoghurt for days.

I am not saying that a plastic cup is better than a proper, solid, capped container, nor even that it is just as good. I am saying it is better than nothing, when you are looking around and wondering, how do I protect papers and clothes from this potential spill?

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Please share your favourite posts.

Memory aids for German words to collect

Problem
How do you remember German words especially ones with similar spellings which confuse you?

Answers
Look for a letter you can associate with the English meaning.
Look for a word association.

German - English

Entwickeln - develop (like English word entwine - but add a wick, burning midnight oil to develop it, and l-n, developing it alone)

Sammeln - collect (save stamps and collect words with double letters; save similar lettets in pairs, el in sammeln and le in collect - another word ending ln, collecting alone)

Sendung - program (I am sending out the program although it is full of dung)

Schutzen - protect
It was used in the sentence The roof will protect us.
I thought of the memory aid word association: the roof will shut out danger. That was enough to recognize the German word in a test. To create the word in my mind i would need a memory aid for the second syllable: 'To protect SHUT out citiZENs.

Tips
Write the new words in the back of your diary. Read the words on the train.

Look up to check your station at the end of every page or line depending on the length of you journey to be sure to get off at you stop.

Author
Angela Lansbury, English teacher and tutor of foreign languages.