London Still Rocks!

I finished  off the month with three more  Meetups  - last Friday, back with  La Isla Flamenco Club , olé! Back in the Gold Bar in the Colab Tower for a show called  Identidades  - tickets from We Got Tickets , as usual. Had a lovely nap first, which perked me up for the evening. Went early, so I could eat in Nando's Clink Street - got a table beside two American -sounding girls, who arrived before I did, but they were so indecisive about what to have, by the time they got their order in, I was halfway through my dinner! Two more things struck me about them: firstly, they were talking about some acquaintance of theirs who was "obsessed with men" - laudable, that they considered it more important to do other things, even in this day and age! And secondly, when they had finally ordered and went off to get their cutlery and napkins, one left her phone on the table.. wooh, that's highly dangerous. Hope she doesn't find that out the hard way.. And so to the ven...

Last night , went to see  Dara O' Briain , yay! Booked ages ago - he was in the  Hammersmith Apollo  (two Apollos in a row). I tell you though - my ticket was on the app, and it took me four goes the day before, just to log in! Happily, it left me logged in for yesterday, so that was the last of those problems - but it was good that I got the ticket out in advance, because when I did finally log in, it said I had no tickets - it took it a minute. The other problem, of course, was that I was in the office yesterday - and it was lucky I peeped at the ticket before I left, because the Apollo doesn't accept large bags AT ALL. If you're standing, you have to leave your bag in a small cloakroom - large bags aren't allowed in the building. Which meant I had to run home with the laptop first - and there's no Tube option for that, I had to take the bus , drop the bag, then Tube to the gig. Happily, I got a seat once I got to the Piccadilly Line . I also needed to eat - Pope...

Tonight,  fourth Meetup in a row, back with   Up in the Cheap Seats   (UITCS) for the first of two nights of comedy, with  I'm Sorry, Prime Minister  in the  Apollo Shaftesbury Avenue . Booked to eat in  Bella Italia Shaftesbury Avenue  for that one. I was so sure of my way, I didn't check until I figured I should have already come across it - and discovered I'd already passed it! Never mind, it wasn't far to walk back, and I was just in time. Got seated pretty quickly - and was about to try to order on the app (which didn't look easy) when the waiter arrived and took my order in person. I'd fully meant to order chicken fries to start, but reverted to my usual doughballs. For main, well, my new favourite in the Cranbourn Street branch is the tortellini, but as I hadn't had them here, I said I'd go back to my old favourite, chicken milanese. I don't typically have it any more in Cranbourn Street, where it's come out burnt a few times. Was please...

Tonight, I tried out a new Meetup group;  London Music Showcase - Gigs & Drinks  specifically exists to promote the  Piano Smithfield  bar. So I tried out the gig there tonight - cheap tickets on TAC, as apparently with all theirs. I booked to eat in  The Old Red Cow  beforehand - gee, seems you know there's a place for you if they respond immediately to your booking enquiry; if you don't hear, it's a no. I had to detour because of roadworks, but still arrived early. Upstairs, and I stated my case to the guy behind the bar - I had a booking for 1. He found me a table.. right beside the drinks reception that was just getting going. D'you think he'd forgotten all about my booking? Anyway, he took a drink order, and when he came back with that, a food order. I'd forgotten how lovely the chicken tender starters were - ordered the steak and ale pie, which came promptly and was accompanied by carrots and peas as well as mash. All lovely, no complaints - I ha...

Last night, second Meetup in a row, when I saw  Up in the Cheap Seats  (UITCS) were going to  Dracula , well.. showing in the  Noel Coward Theatre , by the time I came to book, "cheap" seats were in short supply. There was one left in the Balcony - £50, and predictably, no legroom. There was one left in the Grand Circle - decent seat. £85. I got that one. It's a one-woman show, and has mixed reviews.. Booked to eat beforehand in  The Salisbury , next door. My travel companion of last year was coming too, and elected to join me for dinner - naturally, having been unsure whether she'd make it in time for the booking, she arrived before I did. At this point I was trudging there in unpredicted rain. When I got to the pub, I saw her just inside the entrance to a ground-floor dining area - they have one upstairs too. I had the steak and ale pie - it's very filling, but it's been so long since I had it, and the merlot sauce they serve with it is scrumptious. They di...

Now in the middle of four nights of  Meetup . Last night , I started two nights of horror, with  The Hideout  again for the first time in over two weeks.. was supposed to be  Psycho Killer  (stars  Malcolm McDowell ), but its UK release seems to have been delayed. Hope to see it at a later date, it looks good, some Satanic elements - from the writers of  Se7en . Instead, we headed to  Cineworld  to see  Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die  - an apocalyptic thing, the trailer looked funny. Directed by  Gore Verbinski , stars an unrecognisable  Sam Rockwell  as a visitor from the future, here to save us from the hell of AI. Meeting in  Victory House  beforehand - and yay, that meant I could eat in my fave  Bella Italia ! Ah, I've missed them.. Arrived a bit early - and my walk to the restaurant was made a bit easier by the fact that many of the roads were blocked off - turned out there had been a parade for Ch...