Where's the country? The city? The airport? The challenge. Where's the tourist office?

Would you expect to recognize a country from its shape and the surrounding sea or the neighbouring countries?

Can you position the capital? You might expect the capital to be the centre, or on a river. Some capitals have moved. Some countries have changed shape. A guide in Poland will tell you that the capital is now Warsaw but it used to be Krakow.

Can you identify countries from a blank map? I can remember cities I have visited, such as News York, Paris, Moscow, Singapore, but I have to check many. Where is a handy source?

Problem
I have trouble remembering which is Serbia, and which is Slovenia, Montenegro and Macedonia, Afghanistan, and the other stars, Iran and Iraq, Mauritius and the Maldives.

Cities also confuse me. Minsk and Pinsk. I have a really hazy idea of where to find Burma and Bhutan. I lose whole countries. I shall have to make myself a jigsaw, the sort I had as a child with all the countries of Europe and the counties of the British Isles.

As for placing Bermuda and the Bahamas in the right place, to me it's like pin the tail on the donkey. The tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn sound like a foreign language or the name of an exciting novel.

The tourist board will send me a map and tell me. But where is the tourist office? Some of the websites you visit are incoming tour operators. How do I find free maps and independent information?

Answers
Most years I go to at least one of the international tourism exhibitions such as The World Travel Market which takes place in London, UK, in November. Other tourist events include the Pow Wow in America.

Whilst the world has about 196 states, some of them are war zones or not places I have visited or can recommend. Here are the main tourist and business travel countries which have offices in London and / or tourist information websites. I shall add details later when I find them. I suggest if you are in another country that you screen capture the list of countries, add any extras you need, and add the addresses or websites as you come across them on the internet or on the backs of maps from your holidays or trips to tourist offices and travel agents and tour operators.

Answer
UK

www.VisitEngland is the official tourist board for England. More tourist boards in the next post. Many of them use the word visit at the start.

USA

Albania
Andorra
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
The Bahamas
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Burma - see Myanmar
Cambodia
Canada
Chile
China
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Egypt
Ethiopia
Fiji
Finland
France
Germany
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Korea, South
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malaysia
Malta
Mexico
Monaco
Montenegro
Monaco
Myanmar
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
North Cyprus
Norway
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Saint Lucia
Samoa
San Marino
Serbia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Ukraine
UK
USA

Captals
UK London
England London
Scotland Edinburgh (but Glasgow is larger)
Wales Cardiff

Albania
Andorra
Argentina
Armenia
Australia The capital is Canberra but the big city is Sydney.
Austria Vienna
The Bahamas
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium Brussels
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Burma - see Myanmar
Cambodia Capital Phnom Penh but tourist city Seam Reap
Canada capital Ottawa but major tourist cities Toronto and Montreal
Chile
China capital Beijing but tourists are equally attracted to Shanghai and Xian
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus N
Cyprus S
Czech Republic Prague
Denmark Copenhagen
Egypt - Cairo or Alexandria?
Ethiopia
Fiji
Finland
France Paris
Germany
Hungary
Iceland
India Delhi
Indonesia Jakarta
Iran
Ireland, Dublin
Israel Jerusalem
Italy Rome
Jamaica
Japan Tokyo
Jordan
Korea, South
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur
Malta
Mexico
Monaco
Montenegro
Myanmar
Nepal
Netherlands - Amsterdam?
New Zealand
Northern Ireland, Belfast
North Cyprus
Norway
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia - Moscow?
Saint Lucia
Samoa
San Marino
Serbia
Singapore - Singapore - a city state
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa - Pretoria (Johannesburg, Durban)
Spain - Madrid?
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand - Bangkok
Tunisia - Tunis?
Turkey - (Istanbul or Ankara?)
Ukraine - Kiev (Lvov and Odessa)

Now try adding the capital city. It's a challenge, isn't it! Tricky. The capital is not always the largest city nor the main tourist centre.

To give but two examples, the USA, the city everybody thinks of first, for shopping and entertainment, is New York. But the capital, or seat of government, is Washington DC.

Cambodia's capital is Pnomh Penh, but most tourists go first to Seam Reap to see Ankor Wat.

The capitals of many US states are places nobody has heard of, unless they live in the place or the state.

Tips
List the countries you are visiting this year and note the three vital facts you need in the back of your diary so you have it handy when you travel.

See my next post for tourist board websites and cities.

The following website lists capitals in alphabetical order, useful for a quiz.
http://geographyfieldwork.com/WorldCapitalCities.htm

For the countries in alphabetical order
https://www.countries-ofthe-world.com/capitals-of-the-world.html

I have several other posts on this subject. For example:
Capital cities - alphabetically - and the largest cities - would you have guessed?

Author

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

Films (movies) set on water - nights to remember

Problem
What was the name of that film?

Answer
I have looked up my favourites and listed them for you here.

Starting with the good old, bad old days:
Mutiny On The Bounty (1935).

HORROR FILMS!
Big ships and small boats, panic stricken crowds on Titanic, mutineers, pirates, sole survivors and true stories of sinking submarines.

Story - Watching Titanic Three Times
I watched three versions of Titanic, hired videos for 24 hours from the local video hire shop, in New Zealand when her members of my family were skiing and I had a cold. Entertainment all day. The moral is, if you like to holiday near water, learn to swim and provide enough life jackets for everybody.

Titanic Tragedy 1912
1997 starring Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet. Puts in new elements and removes old ones.

A Night To Remember -1950s, but closer to the original story line which included The Unsinkable Molly Brown. (That's another movie title which was taken from a newspaper headline of the time).

Places To Visit

• Molly Brown's house in Denver, Colorado, USA. I visited this when I lived in the USA and on a travel press trip. Guides showed us the features of her house, no time or inclination to discuss the controversial events on the Titanic. Looking back I can foresee legal issues. At the time I visited survivors were still alive, albeit babes now elderly. Molly Brown was shunned by the local ladies of the day who regarded her as an upstart.
• Titanic complex in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where the ship was built. on my wish list.

You can also see underwater documentaries of the finding of the remains of the Titanic.

More Big Ship Movies:

Lusitania
Open Water
The Poseidon Adventure (Terrorists take over a ship which turns upside down and passengers try to escape the Terrorists and the ship.)

Oceans and Fishes
Jaws
The classic shark movie. Several sequels.

Wicked Whales:
Moby Dick. (1930)
Moby Dick. (1956)
Moby Dick. (1981)
Moby Dick. (2010)
In the Heart Of The Sea (2015) researches the 1820 disaster which inspired the novel which inspired the later films.

How about seeing something more cheerful? Have a whale of a time watching:
Free Willie. A small boy saves a friendly, endangered whale.

More Movies On The Seas and Rivers
A Knife In The Water by Polanski.
An elderly couple pick up a young hitch hiker on the way to their boat and decide to take him along. Big mistake. The plot of the movie reminds me of the cynical saying: No good deed goes unpunished. You might wonder how much Polanski's experiences of WWII influence his plots or are echoed by his plots.

Raging Rivers
The River Wild.
One of my favourite films. Stars include Meryl Streep as the endangered mother, with children and a devoted dog, and two new male friends who turn out to be robbers on the run who leave her husband for dead. Plus of course the raging river rapids they all have to negotiate.

DOCUMENTARY FILMS ON WATER
https://www.watercache.com/blog/2011/10/must-see-water-documentaries-provide-insight-into-future-water-crisis

Tips
You will find lists of films in Wikipedia and the movie website.
www.imdb.com
https://mollybrown.org (Also see Wikipedia and TripAdvisor.)
https://www.visittheusa.co.uk

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

KEEPING COOL: FAVOURITE FOUNTAINS AND WATERSIDE WALKS WORLDWIDE

Giant Fountain Depicting a Boat in Hays Galleria, London, England. Photo by Angela Lansbury, copyright.

Hays Galleria, London, England

 One side of the open sided but roofed Galleria opens onto a busy road and nearby railway station, whilst the other side open onto the riverside. These buildings were once the dockside warehouses, now redeveloped.

Problem
I love water. Maybe it's because I'm a Pisces. Most people like watching fountains, or taking waterside walks. If you don't like nature (I have one friend who told me she doesn't) you can watch fountains in a shopping mall by day, or lit up changing colour at night. Where can you to go to see fountains? Or walk beside the water? Or take a houseboat.

Answer
London, England; Italy in Europe; Las Vegas in the USA; Singapore; or Russia. These are the places where I have seen the best fountains. But for waterside walks, Cambodia.

My favourites are:

UK
Everybody's favourites are the fountains in London. Trafalgar Square is the best known. In many fountains it is forbidden to jump into the water.

ITALY
The famous Trevi fountain in Rome.

Fountain at Bugis shopping area in Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury.Copyright.

SINGAPORE
The famous and largest fountain is the fountain of wealth in the business district of the city state.

OUTDOOR FOUNTAINS WHICH WILL COOL YOU
But I enjoy the jumping fountains which children can run between for a laugh. Such fun. I love the ones that are lots of small knee high pencils of water you can get up close and run between. You find them in busy, popular places.

WATERSIDE WALKS
My favourite - Cambodia.

INDOOR FOUNTAINS IN HOTELS
Singapore has several hotels with dramatic waterfalls or stepped and floodlit fountains.

Floodlit fountains in Sheraton Towers Hotel, Singapore, near Newton MRT underground railway station. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 

LAKESIDE HOLIDAYS
America - just look at the map and pick your favourites. Canada. America. River rafting. Kayaking.
New Zealand. I went on rafting

THEME PARKS
A recent accident caused a ride and later the whole park to close for several days in the UK. One accident was when a girl stood up to change seats. Another was when a group of lads did not stay sitting but stood up for excitement and when the raft hit an obstacle and jolted he was thrown out. Stay seated and stay safe.

HOUSEBOATS
My favourites were in the USA. The scariest boat trips? In the deep south, such as the Everglades, with warning to to throw food which attracts crocodiles. Great for photos but not for safety. So many films evoke the joys and dangers of the waters in America.

If you can't get out and travel, travel with your walking fingers on your computer keyboard. Stay home and watch a romantic film or a horror movie.

WATCHING YACHTS
Colourful yacht races and regattas. Thames river in England. Southern England. New Zealand. California beaches and boardwalk: LA beaches and ship tour; Big Sur; Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco. Marinas.

TOURING SHIPS
For historians and tourists:

• Pearl Harbour.
• Ship tour of Queen Mary, Los Angeles, California, USA. 

If you haven't the time or opportunity to go inside the great cruise liner, see the impressive outside for a selfie. Good to end on a jollier note. It's very cool, in the metaphorical sense of the word.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. I have several posts about the bridges and boats in Singapore and the water walk through a lake in Cambodia near Ankor Wat which was voted the top site int he world. Please share links to my posts.

NEVER TOO LATE TO SKATE In London, England or Singapore

PROBLEM
I'd like to skate elegantly like Torville and Dean, winners of the skating championships. I'd love to do ice dancing. But I'm not tall and thin, don't possess a skating outfit, or ice skates.

ANSWER
You can take lessons and skate all year.

TIPS
ENGLAND and SCOTLAND
You can go the art galleries  or look on line for paintings of people skating on the River Thames during the Great Frost.

Do not skate on frozen ponds. Not in England or Scotland. Very dangerous. Remember Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up, inspired by James Barrie's older brother who fell through the ice and died. Barrie made his brother immortal in the popular pantomime and bequeathed the profits from the play to the Great Ormond Children's Hospital in London, England.

(I say London, England because I have many readers over in America and there's a London in Canada. I found that out when I moved from the USA to the UK and people forwarded my post to London and some of it reached me months later having first gone to Canada.)

Back to the subject of skating. All year you can skate, ice skate, in England at the Queens Ice Skating rink in London, England. They have a cafe. If you are just watching, you can sit under a nice warming blanket.

No experience? You can have individual or group lessons.

Not sure if ice skating is your thing? You can also try ice hockey and ice karting.

In winter ice skating rinks are set up in London outdoors. Not only fun for skaters. It's fun to watch.

You can visit the statue of Peter Pan and take a photo of it, or a selfie with it.

FINLAND
Brought up in England where parents and police warn people not to skate, I was alarmed when I went to Finland and found that companies hire out motor vehicles to take you on trips across the frozen ice. So if you want to go our on the ice, pick a country where the temperatures are really low and the activities are organised by adults who have experience and insurance.

SINGAPORE
Over in Singapore there's another kind of skating. People skate along the streets on the latest version of roller skates. Children have skating shoes. Adults invest in fold up versions of foot power scooters which I used as a toddler and small child to visit the shops in London in the 1900s.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. For pictures see my other posts on ice skating and indoor skiing. Please share links to posts.

A Hot Long Weekend, in London or worldwide - where to go?

Baskin Robbins ice cream parlour in Hatch End. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

If you are not keen on sugary ice cream, look for a frozen or iced yogurt.

Problem
It's hot in London, England. Predictions say that over the bank holiday weekend it will be hotter in London, England, than in Nice, in the South of France, than Lisbon, in Portugal, and hotter than Barcelona in Spain. Where can you go to cool off, or enjoy the sunshine?

Answer
If you like it hot (to adapt the title of the film starring Marilyn Monroe), a good time to be in London, England. The restaurants with pavement seating are enjoying a boom.

Let's Do Lunch! says the sign outside Izgara restaurant in Hatch End. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

What do you need? What might you look for?

Air  Conditioned Car
An air conditioned car, to hire. Make sure when you collect it they show you how to turn on the car conditioning. If you have a car with a sliding roof, or a convertible, you will be popular.

Trip to the Seaside

But traffic was very heavy in London suburbs Friday 26th because everybody was heading home or out for the long weekend. It's the same every bank holiday. Long delays. Check before you travel.

Maybe you'd be better off taking the bus, which can use bus lanes, or the underground railway, or the overground. Or a bicycle, and head along the cooling canals and rivers.
the Thames goes through the middle of London.

Lido
Go north west to Ruislip and there's Ruislip Lido, a lake, an artificial sandy beach and on certain summer weekend you can pay to take a ride on a a miniature train. You can walk around the lake looking at swans and dog-walkers, and meander off through the forest. You might even see a cow in a field near the car park.

Ruislip Lido where you can watch the swans on the lake from the restaurant. Photo by Angela Lansbury, Copyright.

A cheap and cheerful carvery restaurant offers good value meals in an art deco building. My favourite.

Train
You can take the train from London to Brighton, if you are happy with a pebbly beach. Brighton is south of London, in East Sussex.

Beach
You will find beaches in England, Scotland and Wales. In Wales, a beach near Cardiff, costal areas like Tenby, more on the north. Cornwall and Devon are famous for their coastal resorts.

Lakes
Or you can drive to England's Lake District. Rival to new Zealand from a photographer's point of view. Wonderful reflections of green hills and green trees in water. If it's not too hot, but lots of rain, you'll get to see a waterfall or two, if that's what you want.

Going further north, more lakes are around Glasgow. Yes, not just little harbours. Scotland also has lakes. You will recall the Loch Ness Monster. No need to be afraid. Apart from a distant ripple nobody has actually seen it, although some pretty serious expeditions by scientists have hunted, as the museum will tell you.

Parks
Picnic in the park. Central London has parks with lakes. Outer London has many more. Famous parks include Green Park, Hyde Park. A map will show you parks, and which ones have lakes or mini zoos and playgrounds for children.

Garden Centres
Some garden centres have cafes with indoor and outdoor seating areas.

LAKES, RIVERS AND BOATS
Water Rides At Theme Parks

Boating on lakes
There is a boating lake in Regents Park.

RIVER TRIPS
Take a river trip down the Thames in London.

RIVERSIDE WALKS
Walk along the Thames past statues and landmarks, to end up at a waterside pub.

RIVERSIDE PUBS
Several historic pubs.

DRIVING TO THE RIVER
Take trips to riverside towns such as:
Maidenhead
Cambridge, where you can see people punting on the river Cam.

Go to south London to Greenwich to see the Cutty Sark, a restored ship. On England's south coast, at Portsmouth, learn about England's maritime history and Henry VIII's ill fated ship, the Mary Rose.

THE OPEN TOP BUS
Take on open top bus tour around London, other cities in Britain, and many cities worldwide.
The bigbustours.com in London at the World Travel Market gave me a bag saying they went to Abu Dhabi, Budapest, Dubai, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Las Vegas, London, Miami, Muscat, New York Paris, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Shanghai, Vienna and Washington DC.

I also saw an open top City Sightseeing bus tour in Singapore. For price comparisons and review of who does what, and who does it best, see TripAdvisor.

CitySightseeing open top bus in Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

INDOOR SNOW SKIING
England and Singapore have artificial snow ski slopes.

The Snow Centre near Milton Keynes. Photo by Angela Lansbury, copyright. 

SWIM, SAUNA AND SPA
Find an outdoor swimming area.

Visit a spa or a hotel with a spa which is open to the public.

ICE FOOD AND DRINK
Go out for an ice cream.
Ice cream bars all over London.

Visit London's Ice Bar. That's a bar which is made of ice, and you drink icy drinks. Follow their instructions on clothing.

Choose a rooftop terrace and drink a cold alcoholic cocktail or non alcoholic m o c k t a i l. (I inserted s p a c e s because spell checker has already changed the m back to c once.)

Evenings
The evenings stay light longer at this time of year. Play floodlit evening tennis. Maps will show you the locations of public tennis courts, tennis clubs and golf clubs.

HOME OR AWAY
Organize an outdoor barbecue in a back garden. Look for events and festivals of food and drink in parks and attached to stately homes. Check out the National Trust website for what is near you.

Sit in a pub with a garden. Many around central London and also in the suburbs and out in the countryside.

INSECTS
Cover up against insects. Some are active by day, others at dawn and dusk, some attracted by flowers and picnics. Others by your perfume. Others fly in when you open windows and attract them with light. I just learned today that one of my neighbours in London, England, has been in hospital over a week because of a wasp sting.

Tips
Take with you:
Brimmed hat
Suncream
Insect repellent
Sting relief
Bottle of water
Clothes and scarves to cover up against insects and change in temperature.
Carry a fan or improvise one from stiff card.

Mural of skiers. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

ACTIVITY
Visit an ice rink. In London you have a choice of Queens, or Alexandra Palace.

Skiing
Go indoor skiing. I've been several times to S n o w z o n e near Milton Keynes. Non-skiers can sit by the window of the cafeteria and watch the skiers being pulled up the slope and skiing down. You need to book your hour's slot in advance. You can hire ski gear. Check what is available. Look for which days and times and deals are better bargains.

WALKING OR SITTING
Or just stay home and buy a motorised fan. Read a book about mountain climbing, drink iced water and suck on an ice lolly.

ESCAPE THE HEAT
If all else fails, and you can't stand the heat, take a trip to a cooler country such as Iceland or Greenland. Your holiday could be fly-drive, or a cruise. Alternatively travel down under to Australia or New Zealand where the seasons are reversed and you will have their cool winter.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/london-weather-temperatures-could-hit-30c-as-spring-heatwave-continues-before-thunderstorms-move-in-a3548681.html
http://eishaus.co.uk (Ice bar)
http://www.alexandrapalace.com/ice-rink/ice-skating-london/
www.queens.london/Ice_Rink/Ice_Skating‎
http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/infoandadvice/uksnowsports/ukslopesmap.aspx#.WSjaQjOZNo4
https://www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/lidos-and-outdoor-swimming-pools-in-london
https://www.thebeachguide.co.uk/south-east-england/article/beaches-near-london
http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/attractions/london-s-best-fountains-9620460.html
www.bigbustours.com
https://city-sightseeing.com/en/home
https://www.theoriginaltour.com

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have several other posts on London, England, taking a canal boat, indoor skiing, Europe, hot countries like Singapore with its river and breaches, and cool countries. Please share links to posts.

Update on Papu Miya pizzas Menu, London, England and Memories of Pizza in America

Problem
What to order when you enter a take away shop - or even a supermarket, faced with so many choices, and can't decide?

Answer
You look at the online menu first. I did that recently when supplying cakes for a book group meeting. I compared the cakes, ingredients and prices at Morrisons and Tesco. Should I go for a nut cake, plus another in case anybody was allergic to nuts?

Today I looked at the Papu Miya website. They have medium crust pizza. more filling than those thin crust pizzas. But I suppose more calories. I can vouch for the fact that I liked the Papu Miya vegetarian pizza with pineapple. Fruit and vegetable. I am always wondering about how to increase my fibre and fresh fruit intake.

The Papu Miya website offers food to order in advance and collect. You can re-heat it if it gets cold on the way home, or to a party, or you leave it for a short while before eating.

The menu includes both vegetarian and fish and meat options. You can add salads, potatoes, and garlic bread.

Stories
London, England
Why didn't I photograph the pizza and the box? Because I was busy eating pizza with one hand and typing the minutes of the meeting with the other hand. Next time I shall take a photo of the food. I shall later today add more photos.

Rockville, Maryland
When my family lived in Rockville, Maryland, on the East side of the USA, a short drive north of Washington DC, or a train ride, we were within walking distance of a highly acclaimed pizza mini-shop.

When we first saw it, after reading about it, we were surprised it was such a small shop front, and not over excited by the highly praised pizza. It was just a thick crust pizza. However, every time we took a trip anywhere else, and bought pizza from another shop, or ordered in a restaurant we frowned and muttered, "Not as good as the place at home!"

A slice of pizza was our reward and sustenance after a walk from our home in Parklawn Place to the nearby shopping mall. Funny how of all the things I remember, it is a slice of pizza, probably because each time I see a slice of pizza anywhere in the world it triggers a memory.

Anyway, here's my latest find in London, England:
www.papumiya.com/Contactus
More details of the Papu Miya Menu and address in two previous posts.

In the UK we say take away. In the USA you would ask for take out.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, English teacher and language learner and teacher. 

Delicious Dates, for New Year's Eve and everyday, in the UK, Iran and Israel

Iranian dates, brand name Sofra. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
What's sweet to finish a meal but also healthy?

Answer
Dates.

Story
At Christmas time in England we always used to buy the elongated oval straight sided trays of dates with a date picking fork-ended pole in the middle. I think they came from Morocco.  They were tight as sardines and dried out.

We didn't mind that they were dried. That meant they stuck to your teeth less. They were just right for filling with an almond and rolling in coconut for a special treat on a special occasion such as a party. I  remember preparing for a New Year's Eve party, checking that each day was empty of its stone and filling it with an almond, rolling it, placing it on a fancy white or silver lacey doily to make the plate look festive.

Later, as a student, I took a clockwise trip around the Eastern end of the Mediterranean, to visit thee countries, Greece, Turkey and Israel.

It was in Israel that I discovered fresh dates. We took a hike to Ein Gedi. E i n (pronounced ay in, and also written on maps of Israel and other countries in the area as Ayin, in Hebrew and other related languages.  Hebrew and Arabic are related to Aramaic.

Our tourist group got out of our single-decker tourist coach. (For my American readers, in the UK we speak of long-distance coaches. A double decker bus in the town or the city does a short circuit or yo yo route between bus stops.

We trotted off along an unpaved path through the date palms following the increasingly distant guide.  It was hot and tiring and I was hungry and thirsty. I looked down and dates were scattered along the path.

I ignored them. I wanted to keep up with the group. They were not mine but belonged to the owner of the trees. They were dirty. I could not eat one until I washed it. The dirty date from the ground would also make my hands dirty. I would need to wash my hands before and after eating. I had no water. They were probably crawling with insects.

Eventually the idea of eating a date, the curiosity to check if one really was an edible date, the push of curiosity, overtook any other idea which was a brake on action. I took a tissue out of my pocket, bent down and wrapped up a discarded date, a misshapen windfall, which I was sure would not be good enough for salvaging by the tree's owner.

When we reached the warm yet cooling water we were able to put out hands, and some people feet, into the refreshing water. I washed off the date, removed the stone, and cautiously ate it.

The sun had warmed it. It was soft. It was sweet. It was as different from a dried Xmas box date as the number ten is different from the number one. It was huge, soft, suckable. It settled into your teeth so you could continue sucking it off and smacking your lips long after the last morsel had been swallowed.

I can't say that any commercially packed date has ever reached the nirvana of that date I ate and still remember from years ago. But I do look at larger, softer dates and lick my lips.

These dates were brought several weeks running to the Toastmasters International Speakers' club meeting in Harrow. They were supplied by our Sealant at Arms, who sets up the room, also responsible for securing food and drink for the interval in the middle of the speech rehearsal evening. They cost about £1.99. He bought them from a Turkish shop near Debenhams department store in station road, in Harrow. I looked on Google and could not find the shop. I shall have to ask him for the name and address.

I found that keeping dates in the fridge made them dry and hard. Leaving them out makes them softer and sweeter.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have other posts on food and what to see and buy in Harrow, plus trips worldwide. Please share links to your favourite posts.