Wey-hey, I'm back! Never fear, just a wee holiday..
Last Thursday, the Crick Crack Club had an event in The Cube, Bristol - which had the advantage of having streaming tickets, one of which I bought. I was in the office, and for once yes, heading home afterwards! The event was The Three Snake Leaves - and ironically, is happening in King's Place in January, which I'd have preferred - I always prefer to go to things in person, and especially storytelling. But never mind..
I decided to eat near the office - and as it happens, it's quite close to the British Museum: so I did what I always do there, and tried the Museum Tavern. But, as so often, it was packed. So I tried my very very acceptable Plan B - and headed to Il Castelletto. Found myself sat beside a group of friends / family, one of whom kept exclaiming how lovely it looked! Well, yes..
Now, the last time I was there, the people at the table beside me had calamari that was so good they asked for a second portion, despite their mains already being on the way. I tend to have garlic bread, but find it a little much, and it can also be burnt - so I thought I'd try the calamari myself, this time. Wow, what a revelation.. I've never had such good calamari! Never. Not to mention the most terrific tartare sauce on the side - kind of sweet, whatever they added to it. And then I had the chicken in cream and mushroom sauce to follow, with those spectacular potatoes - friendly service, too: man, if you're in the area, do seek this place out! I did remark to myself, as I walked down there, that you'd never know - it's down a dark side street, really out of the way, not on Museum Street with most of the restaurants: but it's probably the best in the area.
Well, what with having to shop as well.. I was late for the start of the storytelling. But I knew they'd send on the link to the recording, which they did today. So I now have a week to watch that.. so I skipped the blog, had an easy night.
Then I was back to Ireland for the weekend. No films left there that I hadn't seen, and would like to see! So I had a relaxing weekend, too. The trip back was slightly eventful though, what with
Storm Bert - apparently, weather around
Heathrow was "atrocious", my flight was delayed, the
Tube, which I caught at about 23.50 (the last train), only took me to
Acton, and there was nothing going Eastward out of there by the time we got there. Bus it was.. and my goodness, the floods we splashed through on the way! Happily, for such a long trip, I only needed two buses, changing in
Parliament Square, and ringing my mother from there to pretend I was home already. I did, in fact, get home just after 2am.. I'd still have been later on
Ryanair, who were, of course, also delayed..
For today, other things did crop up, but I was feeling Christmassy, so just headed around the
Southbank Winter Market.. and brr, was it cold..
This was what I saw first - but it's all food stalls! I wanted a peek at some shops.. which turned out to be in the other direction, under the
Hungerford Bridge:
Even on this side, it's mostly food - to be fair, a decent selection: the other stalls comprised a jewellery stall: one that sold, to its credit, old maps - that was interesting, but I couldn't find a reason to purchase: a stall of jokey cartoons you can hang on the wall: a stall of angora wool products: and a stall that sold things made from honey or beeswax. D' you know, the quality of Christmas markets has really gone down, in general! I mean, the quality of the goods sold was probably high enough, it's just lacking in variety.. Well, I needed to eat - but it was way too cold to eat there, with the breeze off the
river.
So I took myself to
The Archduke - which finds itself almost cut off by building works these days; you have to plan how to skirt the blocked-off areas. I didn't have a booking, but had no trouble in getting a seat - beside the piano, as it happens! Just as well there was no live music this evening.. Seeing a card advertising calamari, I decided to have that for a starter. Now, it's not a dish they normally do, and I wasn't expecting much. Certainly not in comparison with Il Casteletto.
Yeah, no. Rubbery. Lovely sauces served on the side, though - a sweet chilli, which I love, and a decent kind of mayo. But I wouldn't have the calamari here again. The beef bourgignon, of course, was gorgeous, served with that lovely, buttery mash as it is. Service was quick, and I was well warmed by the time I left. Glad to have another easy night.
Tomorrow - yes, film again, and indeed, documentary again. This time, it's
The Ballymurphy Precedent - about the
Ballymurphy massacre, where 11 innocent people were killed by members of the
British Parachute Regiment - the same regiment that would be responsible for
Bloody Sunday, five months later. As someone in the film rightly points out, if the Ballymurphy massacre had been properly investigated, likely Bloody Sunday wouldn't have happened.. and it was the catalyst for so much more.. Complete with intro, it's happening at the
BFI, and was selling strongly, so I booked. Eating at The Archduke again afterwards.
And on Thursday, I was thinking of film again -
Cure is an unusually highly rated horror film, showing at the
Prince Charles. Set in
Japan, where a detective is flummoxed by a series of inexplicable murders, committed by people who all seem to have lost all trace of memory of the event! Now, I mentioned this to the organiser at the
Frost Descends social - and lo, it turns out to be a film he always wanted to see, and never got to! Not only that, but it's said to have kick-started the subsequent wave of
Asian horror. So.. now it's a Meetup, with
The Hideout! Unusually for events in the area, we're headed to
The Bear & Staff - well, he did say he wanted to find a different place. And I've eaten there before, and found it good - so I've booked to eat there beforehand.
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