London Still Rocks!

Tonight, I was with  Over 40 Living the Life , for the first time in  months . We were headed to a magic show -  Influence: The Magician's Story , at the  Collective Theatre , a new venue in London! Promised to be less controversial than last night . Although, who can ever be sure.. We were meeting early enough that I didn't have much time to eat - and TBH, there isn't a lot near this theatre that enthused me. They don't do food themselves. I took the Thameslink to Finsbury Park , what with everything else taking too long (no WiFi whatsoever, despite their advertising it) - fabulous views of the Shard en route, which has gone all Christmassy: ..and went to the Pret at Finsbury Park. Which was good as ever - but I thought it ironic that they advertised their "comfy seats". Which I read as I stood to eat mine - there is no indoor seating, but the indoor heating trumps the cold, outdoor seats! And so to the theatre, where someone asked me whether I was here fo

The rest of the week is theatre - none of which was listed on the Meetup page when I did a search for each day! I had to look on the individual group pages to find these, knowing that these are busy groups. So, these past two days, I was finally back with  Up in the Cheap Seats  (UITCS), and tonight it was for  a new production of  Pinter 's  The Homecoming , at the  Young Vic . Now, when I was here before , I had a great experience at the nearby Bar + Block - my first introduction to them. And you had to book - so I did so again today. It's nice and convenient for my new flat - so I got there early. Had to wait a couple of minutes - behind another lady - to be seated, and had visions of the slow service of the Aldgate branch again! but no. Interestingly though, it seems - for once - that bookings weren't required, tonight. I couldn't fault the service - the waiter brought a menu with her as she showed me to my table, I was never kept waiting too long. Skipped a start

The rest of the week is theatre - none of which was listed on the Meetup page when I did a search for each day! I had to look on the individual group pages to find these, knowing that these are busy groups. So, these two days, I'm finally back with  Up in the Cheap Seats  (UITCS), and tonight it was for  Backstairs Billy , a comedy set in 1979, based on a real character, a  page  to the late  Queen Mother , played by  Penelope Wilton . Playing in the  Duke of York's Theatre . This isn't the Duke of York's Theatre, it's the Coliseum - their decorations are nicer! And I do love the theatre-inspired Christmas lights on the street : Prezzo is just down the road, so that's where I ate. No problem getting a table - in fact, it's where I was sitting last time I was here. Had garlic bread again to start - very moreish. For my main course, I thought I'd try the saltimbocca. Funny thing though, it sounded a lot tastier than it was - the menu claims it is cooked

Today was film again..  Curzon Bloomsbury  yet again, and I finally got to  May December , in which  Natalie Portman  plays an actor portraying  Julianne Moore , who got involved with an underage boy, and has now married him. Based on a  true story , except they've changed her profession from being his teacher to being the owner of the pet store where he worked. Promised to be nice and disturbing. Well, when I checked this afternoon, there was hardly anything left - so I needed to book, soon as! To be fair, this was the only showing there today, and it's not showing that widely - and wouldn't you know it, my bank has decided to throw a hissy fit over my online purchases! so my card wouldn't work, and I had to use an alternative. Which was NOT appreciated, with seats going fast - by the time I sorted it, I got the last seat. All's well that ends well.. Wow, I just made the bus - ran for it, and bless him, he waited for me. Walked the last bit in persistent drizzle -

Last Saturday, at  The London Horror Film Group 's  Christmas Social  - again, at  The Angel on St. Giles High Street . Now, I missed not doing a   Laurence   walk on a Saturday - but I appreciated the lie-in! It was to my surprise that I noticed, that afternoon, that it was starting at 4..! Hey-ho, off I went - terrible traffic though, and I was slightly late in arriving. Was slightly confused about what door to go in by (we'd been upstairs last time , were now downstairs, and this pub is complicatedly segmented) - until I saw a Frightfest hoodie, and followed that! No matter that I was a bit late - hardly anyone came for ages after that. My first order of business was food - decided it was cold enough to try the steak and ale pie. And gee, that was a good idea! It's not as large as the Greene King one - more manageable. Recommended it to two others sat near me, who seemed to appreciate it as well - plates were cleared all around. Conversation was good, and more and more