London Still Rocks!

Now in a run of four more Meetup days. Last night, I was finally back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Jeeves Takes Charge, at the Charing Cross Theatre. Well, I was in the office, as usual on a Thursday. And it turned out to be the last day at work for a co-worker I've been friendly with - and I was on a Teams call when I vaguely heard a few people were headed for drinks. It took just a few seconds for me to drop what I was doing and join them - my bit of the meeting had already been dealt with. So I scuttled off, and caught up with them at the door of the building. They decided The Angel was the closest - as I said to them, I've often eaten there when on socials with the London Horror Film Group (although wow, it's been over a year now), and I could recommend the chicken schnitzel. A couple of others took my word, and ordered it. My boss kindly paid for the first round of drinks - unfortunately, I went for a second before the scrum master who'd come along anno...

Tonight, I was off to a film (second in a row) called Love Me Tender at the Arzner - my first time there, although it's my closest cinema. It specialises in gay film, and this is a French film about a gay, divorced woman ( Vicky Krieps ), fighting with her ex-husband for custody of their son. It was booking out, so I booked. Lovely and late, which allowed me to catch up with myself. Mostly. I thought about eating at the Flour & Grape , nearby, beforehand. Now, they don't take reservations - they say it's fine getting a table before 5pm, but of course I was later than that. I rocked up anyway - happily, it's a short walk from home - and asked. I was told there'd be a 90-minute wait for a table for 1, it being 7pm. Hah! Not only is nothing worth that, but that was around when my film was starting! I had a look at other eateries around, but either they were full or I didn't fancy the menu - I eventually traipsed up to Simon the Tanner , which at least had...

Last night , first of two films in a row, I was back with The Hideout for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre at the Prince Charles . Connor from London Museums A-Z  (LoMAZ) came, his first Hideout event, which was cool.. I got there first, as it happened, but the organiser, Stefan, wasn't far behind me. And quite a large group of us gathered in the cinema bar - I was surprised to hear how many had never seen it before! There's a lot to love about this film.. early on, you get that metallic background noise that permeates through the whole film. And the weird family are seriously, unremittingly, weird. Mostly, I love the short, sharp killings that are meted out for the most part - quick, efficient, and brutal. People treated like pieces of meat. Shock the senses. The only part I've never liked, as I told the group afterwards, is the dinner, which is just a tad too slow for my liking. But I rated it highly - and I wasn't alone, with an overall average of nearly 8/10. Afterwa...

Last Sun day, off with Museum, Art and Culture Socials for a tour of the Crypt Museum at All Hallows by the Tower. Might've been a thing for London Museums A-Z 's Dracula events, but it's pretty small and the museum put a strict limit on group numbers, so it booked up quickly. The WhatsApp group was entertainingly named Tomb with a View.. we were meeting in Costa Coffee Tower Vaults . My walk took me past the Tower - oh, it's ages since I was last here, and I do love it: Well, the organiser, Camilla, managed to beat me to it for once! And as the others arrived, we chatted, with a very good view of both the Tower and Tower Bridge : We headed over to the church in due course.  We were let off on our own, and people made their way through at their own pace. I have to say, they have a fascinating range of exhibits! Like a well-preserved bit of Roman floor: Roman tombstones: Whoopee, another scale model! Roman London: Gosh, this panel depicts one of the Dukes of Aquitai...

Yesterday, second Meetup in a run of three, second of two with The Hideout , the group was off to see The End of Oak Street , where Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor find themselves and their family transported to another dimension, at the Vue Leicester Square , meeting in Victory House beforehand as usual. I finished the last post in Bella Italia Cranbourn Street , eating a delicious dinner! (I also see I included many typos in my haste, apologies.) Made my way around the corner to Victory House afterwards, only to discover that their bar was closed! Well, I hung out with the few who'd come by that stage until the organiser messaged to say that, because of the bar closure, we were going to meet in the cinema bar instead. And so we made our way up there - and for once, the bar was staffed and I could get wine! It was a large group - we gathered in the central part of the bar, but the sofas were soon full, and people had to pull up chairs. We had a good chat before going in...

Right! As a keen drinker of wine, when I saw the London Wine Meetup , I figured this would be a thing to join - I'd never been to anything with them though until I decided to bite the bullet last Wednesday, and accompany them to Vagabond Carnaby . Booked to eat beforehand in El Pellotte , just across the road . I arrived a bit early - had never been here before. It's another of those buildings where the entire front wall folds away - it wasn't busy yet, and I took a table just inside where the wall would've been. With a view of Vagabond: Glasses come branded: I had a croqueta to start.. very moreish, with a gorgeous sauce, but rather overpriced, at £9 for two smallish croquetas. For main, I had the boneless fried chicken, with a side of fries. The wine, funnily enough, I wasn't mad about - for my second glass, I switched from Sauvignon Blanc to Chardonnay, which was a bit better. The food was nice (although I wasn't mad about the sour cream on my main) - but I h...