Tourist Card

Buy a travel card, 'visitor pass' or 'tourist card' that combines free public transport with entry to museums and other attractions. They often come with discount offers for shops and restaurants.

Better Teeth Cleaning

The latest advice on cleaning your teeth is not to rush to brush immediately after eating as you could be brushing away vital tooth enamel. The acid found in fruit, wine and many food groups can soften tooth enamel, so wait at least an hour after meals to give saliva a chance to neutralise the acid.

Cut down on snacking. The enamel on your teeth is softened every time you eat or drink and takes around an hour to recover. Constant snakcing does not give teeth long enough to revert to their natural state.

Dentists now advise brushing before breakfast and before you go to bed. Use a soft or medium toothbrush with a small head for two minutes, twice a day. Brush carefully, getting into all the back corners, but don't brush too hard.

Toothpaste for children under three should have fluoride at 1,000 parts per million; for everyone else fluoride at 1,350 to 1,500 parts per million is fine.

Spit - don't rinse, to let fluoride act on the teeth. Then floss gently (or use an interdental brush if recommended by your dentist) to remove plaque and bacteria.

Chew sugar-free gum after eating. Your teetch are at more risk of acid attack after food, and chewing gum helps produce more saliva, your mouth's natural defence against acid.

Finish your meal by chewing a cube of cheese to counteract the acidic effects that eating has on your teeth. It helps stimulate saliva flow and the calcium will help strengthen the tooth surface.

Electric toothbrushes can harbour bacteria, which can spread to your mouth. So after every use, remove the detachable brush head and rinse the body and head under cold water to remove debris. Allow it to air dry before re-attaching.

Good Housekeeping June 2013, April 2016 and January 2018

A World By Itself

A World By Itself: a history of the British Isles: edited by Jonathan Clark
Heinemann, 2010

Various factors underlie this new history. Scholarship on the history of the British Isles now sees all history as progress; there is also a rise of nationalism in Ireland, Scotland and Wales; in the wider world there is the collapse of communism, the issue of integration into the EU, and the advance of multiculturalism. More and more people in the English speaking world as a whole sense that their collective landscape now looks profoundly different from that inhabited by their ancestors even a few decades ago.


In A World By Itself, six historians offer the most definitive and compelling history of the British Isles to date. Tracing the political, religious and material cultures from the Romans to the present day, this is at once an urgent reassessment of our shared past, and an inspirational celebration of British history. It focuses on the major themes and most dramatic moments of the last two millenia: the rise and fall of empires; reformation, revolution and restoration; wars both civil and global; and the enduring question of what it means to be British.

Hayfever Advice

The number of sufferers has risen fourfold in the past 50 years, while climate change means the hayfever season is lasting longer too. So here's what you need to know.

1. Combining a steroid nasal spray or nose drops with anti-histamine tablets works best for most people. Start treatment early and use it regularly, even on low pollen days.
2. Take allergy medicine when you travel, as hayfever seasons vary from country to country. Olive pollen can be a problem in the Mediterranean, while ragweed affects many travellers to the US.
3. Some hayfever sufferers develop pollen food syndrome, reacting to sertain fruits and vegetables with an itchy mouth, scratchy throat and swollen tongue. Birch pollen allergy (where symptoms start in spring) is linked with allergies to apples, cherries, peaches, pears, tomatoes,carrots or celery. Grass pollen sufferers (symptoms start in May) may react to melon, tomatoes, oranges or wheat.
4. Avoid situations where pollen levels are high (such as freshly cut grass), make sure doors and windows are shut on high pollen days and close card windows and vents.
5. Avoid pollution and tobacco smoke, which can irritate the nose and airways and make you more susceptible to allergens.
6. Wear sunglasses to keep pollen out of the eyes.
7. Stay inside, if possible, during high pollen times - early morning and late afternoon and evening.
8. Have a shower before bed to remove pollen from skin and hair.
9. Don't hang washing outside, as pollen can get trapped in the fibres.
10. Smear Vaseline around the base of each nostril as a barrier to pollen.

Finally remember that hay fever seasons vary from country to country, so check before you go.

Good Housekeeping July 2010

Don't Sweat the Aubergine

Don't Sweat the Aubergine by Nicholas Clee
Published by Black Swan, 2012


Apparently, on average, people cook no more than two dishes from each cookbook they buy. Why? Because most of the other recipes seem just too daunting. Here is a book that answers the questions you always want to ask and solves those frustrating kitchen conundrums - why do some writers tell you to wash and soak rice before cooking while others never mention it? Why won't mince 'brown' the way they tell you? Will an aubergine really taste better if you sweat it with salt first? This book has the answers.