London Still Rocks!

These three days have been  Meetups  again - last Monday, I was with  London Museums A-Z  for a trip to the  British Museum  to see the exhibition on  Sufi Life and Art . Admission tickets to the museum for that day all booked out, apparently - although, as the group said, anyone without a ticket might be better off at the rear entrance.  Got a bus quickly enough - as I was saying to someone later, they're infrequent enough that you can't time it exactly, so I often end up early. Now, we had dire expectations of a very busy museum - but no. As we remarked, probably because of the lovely, sunny day. Hardly any queuing time, and I was inside, grabbed a seat by the wall, as usual, and ran into one of the organisers. As I made my way towards their delicious ham & cheese baguettes.. Had it almost eaten by the time others started to arrive. I think it was a little harder for newcomers to spot us this time, as most people got seats - I remember when...

Today, second film in a row,  decided on   Underland , a documentary about people working, and researching, underground. Showing in the  Barbican , which is closer, but only in the morning - so I fancied going to the  Curzon Bloomsbury  in the evening. Handy for shopping, of course.. especially significant, considering my local Tesco was closed today, being Easter Sunday! And I booked, because it saves time in the cinema. I was just in time for the bus - which was rammed. Finally found a seat upstairs, at the back - it was worth the effort, I'd be on for a while. The stop indicator wasn't working at all for most of the trip - when it came on, it was running behind. Not too helpful then, for all the tourists, out and about! There were certainly a lot of families with children. (No change of drivers though, imagine!) For this trip, it's handier and quicker if I get a second bus the last bit - it wasn't a long wait, but boy was it cold! Made it early to the cinem...

These two days - barring last-minute offers I can't refuse - I'm thinking documentaries, both in cinemas of which I'm a member. Today, was looking at  Everybody to Kenmure Street , a documentary ( Emma Thompson  takes part) about a movement of  Glasgow  locals when a couple of their neighbours face deportation in a dawn  raid ! Was looking at it before, but didn't go - happily, it was on much closer now, in the  Garden Cinema . When I looked today, it was mostly booked, so I booked myself. My bus came on time - probably a factor of so many people being on holiday. And then.. you guessed it.. stopped for a CHANGE OF DRIVER! Anyway, our driver was kind enough to tell us that his replacement was delayed for seven minutes.. I checked what other buses I could take from there, got off - and lo - there was one of them! (The #1 , in fact.) So I did get there in time. Had booked a member's ticket - no confirmation required, either while booking or from the guy at t...

Tonight, back with  Up in the Cheap Seats  (UITCS) at  Sadler's Wells , for  Solera  - flamenco with  Paco Peña . ¡Olé! Eating at The Wilmington again- and could go a little earlier, it being a bank holiday. Mind you, I didn't have all day to get ready - got up very late, having taken so long over the last post ! And then, Google Maps having told me to be out for a certain time, and me being out for that time - it turned out the bus had been 10 minutes early! So, getting the next meant I was a little late. En route, two teenage girls got on at the central, exit doors, made their way upstairs without paying - even when the driver tried to get their attention, one just looked at him, then followed her companion. I swear, it's impossible to police fare-dodgers.. Never mind, there wasn't a problem at the pub, they had plenty of space. On serving duty were a guy who turned out to be French Canadian (as he told the next table), and the guy who was so helpful ...

Well, again on Monday I was too tired to blog - and Tuesday saw me booking some things ahead, which took up all my spare time. That evening , I was back with  Movie Roadhouse London , who were dipping their toe in horror as well.. subsequently also advertised with The Hideout .. we were seeing  Brain Damage , an 80s body horror about a guy infected with an alien parasite..  hmm. Showing in  The Nickel Cinema   - which turned out to be around the corner from  The Wilmington , so I booked there again. Now, I might have known that the organiser would have an idea where to eat - and he found a few places closer than that - so I cancelled my booking for The Wilmington, which hasn't been great for food lately anyway, and has never been good for service. First, he suggested an Italian - but it turned out to be one of those places you have to email for a booking, and they never got back to him. So instead, we ended up in The Lady Ottoline !  Well, the buses w...