London Still Rocks!

T onight, third in a row of six days of Meetup and the last of three days of mythology, I was at Watkins Bookshop (yes, they have their own Meetup group) for the launch of a book called Pantheon, about the Roman Pantheon and the society that birthed it. Had to leave a bit early, as it was an early start - and thank goodness, as I'd absolutely run out of anything productive to do! but at least I could walk there from there.  Had forgotten where the stairs were, but found them eventually, and got a seat to the side: Hmm. From the beginning, as she spoke about "connecting" with these gods, it was apparent that she considers all gods, from time immemorial, as equally valid and in existence, just disregarded as the civilisations that worshipped them fell. She even described how, when she travels, she always takes the time to give her respects to the local gods where she arrives. She did make a couple of interesting points about, for example, how all the mother goddesses...

Last night  second in a row of six days of Meetups , and of three days of mythology - whee, I hosted storytelling with London Museums A-Z (LoMAZ) again! The Crick Crack Club  (CCC) - in the form of Lucy Lill - performed  Doom Scrolls - The Never-Ending Prophecies of the Sibyls in Folklore Hoxton . Female prophets, the theme - and I was still getting new sign-ups practically up to the end. It sold out at least two days beforehand, as they tend to do - two people cancelled after I said it. One person, mind, went on the CCC's waitlist and got a last-minute ticket! I booked to eat in the Blues Kitchen Shoreditch beforehand. Made it a bit early - the guy at the door recognised the name, and led me quickly to a booth - at that time, it was pretty empty anyway. Service, I have to say, was better than I've experienced here before in general - quite attentive. I had the roast chicken for the first time.. it came with a lovely, thick gravy, but on a bed of chickpeas, which I wo...

Just started six days of Meetup ,  and three days of mythology, in a row. Tonight, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Bloodsport - After Helen of Troy , at the Theatre Royal Stratford East .. all about Helen of Troy , and what it means to return to your home, after abandoning it and starting a war . She's played by Michelle Dockery , and it's set in modern-day Essex . To be honest, I don't like the eating options out there - so when it turned out I needed the pharmacy this afternoon, and I was peckish, and not far from The Sun Wharf - I had a late lunch there, which was delicious, and quickly served. All my work done - until the next bit - meant I wasn't in a hurry back. So I could work late, and just head to the theatre in time to meet the group. God-awful noisy Tube to get there, too - although at least not too crowded, and I soon got a seat. Boy, it was packed - the bar was fun to queue at. I saw a message that they had a table near the bar - joined them when I...

Tonight, went to Laughter to the Rafters , a comedy show in aid of The Passage homeless charity, and starring Dara O' Briain , Ed Byrne , and Sara Pascoe , among others. That was at the Hackney Empire . I booked a table at the Pizza Express across the road for beforehand - I've had trouble before, with them being full, and eating options around there aren't great. Headed off by bus .. my second bus departed early, and I was despairing of making my reservation in time - but then the next one arrived early, and in fact I made it on the dot. For starter, I initially thought calamari - but a lot of places don't do them terrifically, and in the end I plumped for the chicken goujons as a starter, with the BBQ chicken pizza as main (crucially, with a BBQ sauce base). I love BBQ sauce. And I had the Romana version, which is thinner - I think I might be slightly coeliac, and a thick crust will give me indigestion. I tell you what though, I got sick of the hard sell - everyth...

Well, Lake Bled is the #1 excursion from Ljubljana , and we took a tour with Get Your Guide on Saturday. Ickily early start, 7.50am.. under a 10-minute walk from my apartment , but still. And excuse me, since when has Guinness been English?! Pickup was at City Hotel , and I was first there, joined by the others in due course. I still hadn't found anything to eat.. I found out too late that there was a bakery right around the corner.. Anyway, our friendly guide rocked up, and we piled into the minibus for the drive to Bled. And I had a great time as we got closer to the mountains.. I have a real thing for mountains.. I mean, our guide was chatting all the way, telling us everything he could think of about Slovenia , but for me, he just couldn't compete with the scenery.. I do remember the big sport in the country is cycling, and some Slovenian chap keeps winning the Tour de France .. Well, as he said, we were effectively a private tour, since our group filled the whole minib...