Concert: Discover - Series III, Nordic Journey
Tonight, I headed - for the first time in years - to join Kensington Classical Music Meetup at a concert called Nordic Journey, at the Leighton House Museum - tickets only available by contacting the organiser directly, as advertised on the Meetup event page. Except I later discovered I could just have bought one on Eventbrite.. I also, last night, discovered that the organiser had pulled out, so I'd be going on my own. Interestingly, as I was examining past events from the group, I discovered he'd advertised this exact concert last week.. so, technically dated last week, but with today's date on the blurb! So, perhaps he and the other person who signed up for that were actually there tonight! If so, they were keeping a low profile..
You know, now that people at work know I'm off for a few days (as described below), they're getting very keen to give me things to do. I am, in fact, inundated - mainly with quite small stuff, but it does get irritating, constantly having to field queries. So I was a little late leaving. Now, it's a long way there - so it was going to be Tube, but I decided to get a bus to London Bridge, where I'd catch the Tube. Unfortunately, I'd just missed one.. and during the 10-minute wait for another, we at the stop were plagued by a group of youths, the aim of one of whom was to be as loud as possible - and he was of an age to be able to roar quite loudly. The bus shelter got banged a lot, there was swearing, they were chasing each other around.. to the slight distress of a nearby couple with a pair of small kids. And wouldn't you know it, when my bus finally came - they got on it! Mercifully, upstairs - where I could still hear them clattering and banging. With that, and the crowdedness of the bus, no wonder I was in a bad mood by the time I finally alighted - what an unfortunate chugger it was who insisted on asking whether he could have a minute of my time, and got a sharp reply.. (I hate chuggers, though, they're so invasive.)
The idea was to take the Jubilee Line to Westminster and switch to the Circle Line, which would get me to High Street Kensington, where I needed to be. I got down to the Jubilee platform to find a very packed train ready to depart, and resigned myself that I wouldn't be getting on that one. But then.. it didn't move. And some of us started checking the TFL website - turned out that the "platform edge doors" in Southwark, the next station along, weren't working, so we were blocked until they got it fixed. (The Jubilee Line, more recent than most, has transparent perspex walls along the platforms at central stations, you see, to stop people falling/jumping onto the tracks. The automatic doors in the platform barriers are aligned with the train doors, and open at the same time, to allow passengers to board and exit. Unfortunately, now the doors had stuck..)
The driver said he'd tell us what he could, as soon as he had any information - but was also informing us of our alternatives: and sure enough, when I see a transportation problem in London, I don't hold my breath waiting for it to be fixed. Now, London Bridge is also a stop on the Northern Line - which, one stop north, intersects with the Circle Line (kind of) at Bank / Monument Station. So, off I schlepped in that direction - joining heaving masses with the same idea. Squashed onto the Northern Line, got off at the next stop - and happy days, the staff there were evidently expecting a surge of people doing the same thing, and had posted, as they so often do, temporary signs indicating the quickest way. Which actually wasn't that bad - I've had much longer journeys walking between lines at Green Park!
Unusual for me to be waiting specifically for the Circle Line - I don't often head in that direction. But anyway, it wasn't too long in coming - and I got a seat. A long, long journey from there, though - and further than I anticipated having to travel. So, by the time I was trotting down Kensington High Street, it was almost time for the venue to open - so much for eating beforehand, which I'd intended! I wasn't starving - although the Pret I passed looked tempting - so I just headed straight there.
Sadly, their cafe was closed by this stage. But they found my name on the list and I paid, got a brief spiel about how I needed to head upstairs for the concert, but I was welcome to have a stroll around first. It's one of those Victorian houses that was owned by an art collector, and has since been turned into a museum - sure is full of ornate fittings!
There's an obvious oriental influence:
Notice the strategically positioned pinecones, just to remind visitors not to sit on the antiques!
And so into the music room:
The piano is in a little alcove - and our pianist began to play, at the appointed time, without preamble:
Estonian herself, she was the first Nordic contributor.. also the composers, of course, starting with a couple of composers from that part of the world whom I hadn't heard of, but also incorporating some Grieg.. all of which sounded quite heavy to my ears, I must admit: sort of classical heavy metal. I was happier with the Sibelius.
An hour or so in total, there was no interval - but for the last piece, she brought on the Alkyona Quartet - quite a lot of people to squash onto that small stage!
A very enjoyable evening, all told. And finished early - although not early enough for the performers who had trains to catch, as I overheard the cellist complain to someone outside, afterwards! And so she hurried off to catch hers, and I went in the direction of the local Nando's. Where I was told I could pick any table that was free - which were most. WiFi is terrible there, though - I had to order at the till, for the first time in years - had to dig for my physical loyalty card! Service was quick - just as well, because I was starving. And it was delicious.
En route, I'd passed a Waitrose - so I headed back there, afterwards; they have a great chocolate selection! And the Tubes home were unproblematic - even if TFL is still warning of a dodgy door in Southwark..
Tomorrow, we have another work social! Back to Fairgame, which was such a hit last time - and I see this one is sold out.
And on Thursday - I'm accompanying my sometime Meetup companion.. to Switzerland! She's a big fan of Jakub Józef Orlinski, who's appearing in Agrippina at the Zurich Opera House on Sunday - and as she's never been to Switzerland before, and I'm dying to see it again, we're taking a few days there. We're flying Swissair from London City, conveniently (well, she's coming back on Easyjet), which I booked with Booking.com - and we're staying in the Aldstadt Hotel, booked through Vio. Ooh, the sheer luxury of having the means to travel in Switzerland without having to stay in a hostel!
We'll do a bit of sightseeing too, of course - but the only thing we've actually booked is a tour, with Viator, to Interlaken and Grindelwald, on Saturday. Because I can't imagine going to Switzerland without seeing them again..
We fly back to London on Monday. My boss approved my days off pretty quickly, last week. And I have to say, Swissair customer service is excellent, with us having received confirmation emails detailing the menu, the baggage allowance, and even advising us where to go when returning, because of construction works in Zurich Airport. Ah, I feel so comforted..
Comments
Post a Comment