Film: Megalopolis

I'm back to Ireland for the weekend. Mind you, it wasn't a fun journey - again. My flight was delayed - I found out on the plane - so I thought I'd grab something to eat in the airport. My misfortune was to figure that my best bet in the departure lounge was Terracotta, an Italian. 

Oh wow, was that a mistake. First off, as I was being seated, the person attending to me warned me that they closed in half an hour (9.30, like everything else here). It took some argument before she conceded that that meant I had to have ordered by 9.30, not finished eating! All right - so I ordered a glass of wine, a chicken Milanese, which comes with pasta.

Ugh. The wine was insipid, the chicken was tough, the tomato sauce covering the pasta was watery - and I see previous reviews confirm that. Not to mention that, for all that I was assured that yes, I could keep eating - I have never been made to feel so uncomfortable. They told me to pay at the till when I was done.. then decided I wasn't eating fast enough, and brought the bill to my table.. and I paid on the spot.. gee, I finally decided it wasn't worth it, and left almost half my dinner. And then had trouble getting out, because they'd already set up the barrier across the entrance, which no-one could be bothered moving for me. No, avoid this place.. even when they're not rushing you out, the food is mediocre at best.

Oh, Ryanair gave us vouchers to compensate for the delayed flight.. £3. But everything was closed by then.. I sat at the gate until an incomprehensible announcement announced boarding.. AND while this was the one time I managed to get a decent stream of cold air on the flight.. during the flight, it turned to hot air and I had to turn it off, it felt as though I couldn't breathe! Honestly.. and it was 1am by the time we landed..

For this weekend, I had some trouble finding a film - either I'd seen them, or wasn't interested, or they weren't on at a suitable time! Finally settled on Megalopolis - a Francis Ford Coppola film, it's one of those with a roll-call of stars: Adam Driver is the visionary artist who dreams of a Utopia, coming up against the opposition of the greedy mayor, Giancarlo Esposito. Also stars Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Dustin Hoffman, and Jason Schwartzman. It's a fantastical re-imagining of ancient Rome in present-day New York.. the characters generally favour toga-style fashions, and even have ancient Roman names.. Certainly looked interesting. And wouldn't you know it, I had to go to Ennis to get a showing early enough.. Interestingly, The Hideout/Movie Roadhouse London were going to the same thing on Friday night..

I managed to make it on time - and BTW, discovered that the cinema has a deal for this month, €5 for all tickets up to 5pm on Fridays, and all day Saturdays and Sundays! Well, delighted to have made use of it.. and it seems to be working, as the screen was surprisingly full for a matinée.

Wow. I expected this to be a visual treat, and it is.. Adam Driver mysteriously has the capacity to stop time, which seems to have been introduced purely for the strange side-effect that the person invoking it, when perched high up in the air, upon stepping into the void, will only fall so far.. Dunno quite what that has to do with stopping time, but never mind.

Never mind either, I guess, the fact that, for all the film's obsession with Ancient Rome, he keeps quoting Shakespeare - hell, he even has a completely gratuitous run at Hamlet's soliloquy.. perhaps it was always a dream of Adam Driver's to speak it. Or Francis Ford Coppola's. I mean, it sounds fine - but if you know anything about history, it's quite incongruous.

The story is actually really, really simple. So you know what? Just watch the visuals - which are amazing, statues coming to life and all sorts. The Bacchanalia is beautiful. For that reason alone, it's worth watching. The story? Meh..

Tomorrow, I'm at Bellringers, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) at Hampstead Theatre. Got a good seat from someone in the group who couldn't use it in the end.

On Tuesday, the same group were supposed to be at Cake: The Marie Antoinette Playlist. At The Other Palace. I booked my ticket from Todaytix. Eating beforehand at the Bag o' Nails, where I'd booked before and had to cancel, when my event was cancelled. Except.. guess what happened? The show's run is finishing (very) early! Before this date.. so the event is cancelled, and I got a mail from Todaytix, with a voucher code for the amount spent, to be used for future bookings. I preferred a refund - who knows when I'd get around to using the voucher? Checking the email carefully, I saw a link to the support page to request a refund - clicked the link, went on chat, probably got a bot - but as I had all my details, the process was pretty quick, and I got my refund. Yay. Ironic that I'd only just booked it - ironic, also, that I've now booked for the Bag o' Nails exactly twice, and had to cancel both times.. gee, must be cursed!

I had some trouble finding an alternative - with nothing decent on Meetup or my cheap ticket sites for the day, I was back to Time Out! I had to scroll a long way down, though.. Giant, with John Lithgow, at the Royal Court, was sold out for the day: Shifters, at the Duke of York's Theatre, had no decent seats available for the day at a decent price (and that theatre has plenty of bad seats).. after pages and pages of scrolling through things I didn't want to do, I've finally booked for Coriolanus, starring David Oyelowo, at the National. Eating at The Archduke again. Hmm.. beef bourgignon..

On Wednesday, I finally leave on my long-anticipated trip to Romania with the 45+ Not Grumpies! (Told the mother yesterday - predictably, it didn't go down well.) That afternoon, most of us are flying Ryanair from Stansted, to be met by an English-speaking guide and transferred to the Continental Forum Hotel, in time for an evening tour of Bucharest. (I've already downloaded the Rough Guide to Romania!) Now, just the other day, on the WhatsApp channel for the trip, our guide explained that we'd be going straight on the sightseeing tour when we arrived. Which rang a warning bell for me - when were we going to eat? So I confirmed with her that we'd be better off eating in Stansted - just as well I checked! Mind you, that leaves a long day to get hungry - I think I'll probably eat something on the flight.

On Thursday, we're heading straight off by coach to Transylvania.. walking tour of Sighisoara, where Vlad the Impaler was born! Staying in the Hotel Korona that night.

On Friday, we're off to Brasov - apparently has the narrowest street in the country. Walking tour, staying in Hotel Kolping that night.

And Saturday, we're headed to Bran - for the famous castle - and Sinaia, for Peles Castle - before heading back to Bucharest for our flights home.

Safely back - hopefully - next Sunday, I had booked with Cultureseekers for the Charlie Chaplin Guided Walk. Finishing at The Jolly Gardeners Pub. But you know - just the other day, Over 40 Living the Life advertised a trip to the Immigrant Comedy Show at the Camden Comedy Club. And I'm guaranteed to have a good time with them, which I probably wouldn't with Cultureseekers - which I hadn't yet paid for.. so I've booked for that now instead. Could technically go to both, but I couldn't be a***d. And this gives me a chance to try out the food at the Blues Kitchen Camden, which is right across the road..

And on the 7th, back with UITCS, who are off to Southwark Playhouse for Foreverland - more biotechnology SciFi.. possibly less spooky than The Substance! Booked, as usual, on their excellent PAYG offer, where you pay in advance for discounted tickets to five shows, no time limit..