Queen's English as a Second Language Part 12

Toilet/WC/Ladies--restroom/bathroom, as in "Where is the ladies?" or "I need to use the toilet." 

Flyover--overpass, as in "The traffic on the flyover is always packed."

Lush--great/amazing, as in "I had the most lush milkshake last week."

Kind regards--way to end an email or letter. In the US I typically signed my emails "Thanks, Rachael" but here I use "Kind Regards," "Best," or "Best Regards"

Parcel--package, as in "When is the parcel expected to arrive?"

Single File Traffic--one land road, as in "Harrow Road is single file traffic due to construction."

Fab--short for fabulous, as in "I saw the most fab skirt on Oxford Street today" or "You must try the ice cream at Udderlicious. It's fab!"

Treacle (specifically black treacle)--molasses, as in "I don't care for the taste of treacle."

Ring--call, as in "I'll ring you later."

Bloody--mild swear word to add emphasis, as in "fan-bloody-tastic," "bloody good idea," or "I can't see a bloody thing!"

Tick--check, as in "I ticked so many boxes today."

Overtaking--passing, as in "Be careful when overtaking other motorists on the motorway."

Post/Postbox--mail/mailboxes, as in "Has the post come yet?" or "I need to run this to the postbox."

Landslip--landslide, as in "The trains are backed up due to the land slip."

Scoff--scarf or stuff your face, as in "I scoffed an entire package of Jaffa cakes last night."

Where to start on this one...I'll just say that if this were in the US it would be called something like, "I must color now"

Posh--sophisticated, as in "I don't know any posh words" or "Wow, this new routemaster is so posh."
Air con/air co--a/c, as in "I love the Circle line mostly for the air con."

Oh crumbs--exclamation of surprise or worry, as in "Oh crumbs! I spilled on my trousers."

Whilst--while, as in "I finished reading my book whilst waiting for you."

Chips--fries, as in "I'll have a burger with a side of chips."

Twat--a vulgar term for idiot, as in "[insert disliked politician's name] is a real twat."

Splendid--wonderful, as in "The show last night was splendid!"

Fit--hot, as in "His mate is well fit."

Bap--roll (typically filled like a sandwich), as in "I love a bacon bap."

Roleplay--dress up, as in "I've heard roleplay games are essential to children's development."

I apologize this photo is blurry, it is off an escalator and I tried so many times to get a clearer picture with no success

Chambermaid--housekeeper, as in "You have a chambermaid? How posh!"

Tatties--potatoes (I think this is from Scotland), as in "My mum makes the best tatties."

Pay point--register, as in "There is a huge queue at the pay point."

Surgery--one-on-one meeting with politician and constituents (not to be confused with surgical theatre at a hospital)

Toastie--grilled cheese/panini, as in "I want a cheese toastie at Borough Market for lunch."

Istanbul

Over Easter Warren and I met up with my sister and brother-in-law in Istanbul. It was a cold weekend but we had a great time seeing all the sights and eating all of the foods. Seriously, we tasted everything we could. More on that later.

In front of the 'Blue Mosque'

Warren and I headed to Topkapi palace first thing Friday morning and almost had the place to ourselves! Topkapi is an Ottoman palace where the sultans lived between 1465 and 1830. We also toured the harem, the private quarters for the sultan's concubines and courtiers. 

I went to Istanbul for the first time in 2009 and was really struck by all the beautiful tiles lining the interiors of so many buildings. They were just as amazing this time. I especially love the ones with Arabic writing seen in the photos in the upper left corner and the right hand photo. 

Istanbul's signature building is the Sultanahmet Mosque, built in the 1600s. The interior is lined with over 21,000 blue İznik tiles which is why it is often referred to as the blue mosque. 

Another top sight in Istanbul is the Aya Sofya (or Hagia Sophia in Greek). It originated as a Christian church in 537 and was converted to a mosque in 1453 which makes it a fascinating mix of two religions. Mosaics of important figures in Christianity are still being discovered underneath plaster walls. 

The food in Istanbul is incredible. We ate some old favorites but also tried a few new things. We tasted (starting in the top left corner moving clockwise) pudding made out of chicken breast, clotted cream covered in honey, lamb with mashed eggplant, sour cherry juice, pide (Turkish pizza), pistachio baklava, kunefe (a dessert made of syrup, melted cheese, and pastry the consistency of shredded wheat) and kebabs. The middle photo is of Yedigun, a more delicious version of Fanta.

The Basilica Cistern was built in 532AD. It was built to store fresh water (up to 21 million gallons) for the Great Palace and surrounding buildings but was closed when the Byzantine emperors moved from the Great Palace. It was rediscovered in 1545 when a visiting scholar heard stories of locals drawing up water or even fish from their basements. He investigated what was below and discovered the cistern.

Two of the 336 marble columns have stone carvings of Medusa heads. There are several theories of why one Medusa head is upside down and the other is sideways. One idea is that Byzantine builders only saw Roman relics as reusable rubble. Another is that it was done this way because early Christians put pagan statues upside down as a statement about their faith. 

Our last day we went to Kariye Museum, a church where the walls and ceilings are covered in mosaics and paintings. There has been a church or mosque on this site since 536AD. The current building is from the 14th century and was turned in to a museum in 1945. It is a bit harder to get to but definitely worth a visit. 

We did a lot of shopping throughout our weekend in Istanbul, our favorite being the spice market. Vendors would call out invitations to come to their shop and some were funny enough to say things like, "Let me help you buy something you don't need."

We had such a great time in Istanbul and came home with some great souvenirs and memories. I'd love to go back again as there is so much more to see. 

Lambeth Palace

Back in February I was able to tour Lambeth Palace, the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury and his family. Because of an error with the booking site there was only one other person on the tour with me. So we essentially had a private tour and I was able to take some photos of the inside.

The Chapel is the oldest part of Lambeth Palace dating back to the 1200s. It was badly damaged during World War II, particularly the roof and stained glass. It was restored using donations from congregations around the world and each seat in the quire has a flag from one of the donating countries. 

The Great Hall is where the Archbishop received and entertained guests with feasts and banquets. One of these guests may have been King Henry VIII as it is known that he stayed at Lambeth Palace. On a day to day basis the Great Hall was used as sleeping quarters for the staff and servants of Lambeth Palace who did not have homes of their own.

The south front of Lambeth Palace is the entrance to the Archbishop's apartments, offices, and state rooms. Bath stones were used to build this part of the palace but they were damaged from the soot and grime from Waterloo Station (built ten years after the palace was completed) and pollution from nearby factories. You can still see the discoloration of the stones around the door. 

The State Drawing Room was also badly damaged in World War II. A replica ceiling of the original design was only finished in 1999. Hanging on a wall in this private sitting room was a painting always said to be Catherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry VIII. Staff from the National Portrait Gallery noticed the painting and found (after a lot of research and x-rays) that the painting is actually Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII. The original portrait is now hanging in the National Portrait Gallery and a copy is displayed in the room at Lambeth Palace. 

The Guard Room was probably built in the 14th century and the name "the guard room" first appears in work records dating back to 1423. Sir Thomas More was asked to take the Oath of Supremacy in this room. This would have acknowledged Henry VIII as supreme head of the English church. Sir Thomas More refused and soon after was found guilty of treason and beheaded.

My favorite part of the Guard Room were these carvings of faces at the end of the roof beams. I especially like the one on the left because I think it looks like the person is nervously biting their nails. I imagine them doing this during a tense meeting like the one with Sir Thomas More. 

Lambeth Palace has beautiful gardens and even has a view of the Houses of Parliament. You can see one of the towers popping up over the fence in the middle of the photo below. 

There is a lot of sad history to Lambeth Palace. During the English Civil War, it was occupied by soldiers of Parliament and was intentionally damaged. The soldiers even broke open the tomb of a former Archbishop and threw out his bones in the stable yard. During the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, angry mobs stormed and ransacked the palace. The Archbishop escaped to the Tower of London but that was also stormed and he was beheaded by the mob. 

Even with all the turmoil in its history, Lambeth Palace is a beautiful place to visit. The gardens will be open to visitors (for a £5 donation to the host charity) on the first Friday of every month from now until October 2016.