Walk: Secrets, Sophistication & Scandal, Film: Flow, & Storytelling: The Heart of a Hero - the Epic of Banu Hilali

Yesterday, my now-monthly walk with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies! This one was Secrets, Sophistication & Scandal. The expected rain never materialised, and lo, I made it in time - always handy to meet somewhere visible, like a Pret. We left a little earlier than usual, since people had shown up promptly, and off we set. Massive roadworks on Piccadilly had meant a bus wasn't practical - so I was on the Tube - but it did make crossing roads easier, with all the traffic blocked off..

Now, I've been around a number of these haunts before, but Laurence, I have to say, is great at coming up with new info. Anyway, here's White's, the oldest gentlemen's club in London (membership not currently open):

And we might not be shopping in the Piccadilly Arcade, but these places are always nice to window shop:

We met Beau Brummel, the original Dedicated Follower of Fashion:

and came to Fortnum & Mason:

Wouldn't you know it, we passed The Scotch of St. James, setting for the first event to happen in Black Bag. It's harder to recognise the door now - which is probably the point of this fencing:

Just over the way is the mural, representing Yoko Ono with the artwork that attracted John Lennon to her:

And this is just a nice building:

We visited the little courtyard where the Texas Legation briefly sat - home to the Independent Republic of Texas:

And if anyone knows the identity of this man..

And so, on to St. James's Palace. Apparently they do run guided tours on Fridays and Saturdays, but they're currently sold out:

The Chapel Royal was once joined onto the palace, but after a devastating fire, it was thought more practical to knock through and create an access road:

We had pointed out to us the statue of the contentious King Billy, whom the Orange Order eulogise. Yeah.. I don't think Catholics still toast his death though, although they certainly did once - it'd be too divisive, these days..

And with a couple of plaques to famous women (and I'm loving the AI-generated videos on Facebook that bring old portraits and statues to life, a couple of which include Ada Lovelace)..

..there was also a discreet memorial to Yvonne Fletcher:

Lastly, we came to a glut of memorials:

..including this rather intimidating-looking one commemorating the Crimean War:

And so, gratefully, to lunch. Problem was, Laurence hadn't been able to book anywhere - and this was a Saturday lunchtime! Premium eating time. The day was saved by one of the group, who, as an ex-civil servant, had access to the Civil Service Club! So we mooched over there, checked it was ok - and happily, it wasn't at all busy. From an extensive menu, a couple of us had the chicken katsu curry.. and everything was very reasonably priced. Ah, it's at times like this that you appreciate the value of being in a club..! Well done, that lady - and a lovely, chatty lunch it was, too. And the drinking part lasted long enough to tide me over to my next event..

You see, afterwards, I joined - yes, Movie Roadhouse London again, for Flow, a gorgeous-looking animation centred around a cat (yay!), fleeing a flood with a group of other animals. Very Noah's Ark, but without the humans. We saw it in Curzon Soho. Which was a short walk from where we had eaten. And I joined the group in the cinema bar, where we hung out until film time.

I'd been considering going to this anyway, so when I saw the group was going, it made sense to come with them. The trailer had looked lovely, with great animation of the cat - and cats have such a graceful motion, that was important. I was not to be disappointed - it was gorgeous, with me just obsessing on the cat throughout. The story involves an interesting world of cat statues, in which our protagonist puss prowls, which is suddenly inundated by a flood. So, the cat has to interact with lots of other creatures, until the waters recede at the end. As I say, the animation is gorgeous - I think we focused on that more than on any story. Definitely worth a look, though. And over early enough that we repaired to the bar again afterwards, where our conscientious organiser bought a pizza for us to share! Managed to get buses home, but was too tired to blog last night - it's a long time since that happened.

Today, the Crick Crack Club - another Sunday afternoon at the British Museum, lovely! This one was The Heart of a Hero: The Epic of Banu Hilali, as told by the excellent Chirine El Ansary. Now, this is near my office, so I figured I'd just take the #188 bus, which I also take to work. When there was no sign of it for five minutes after Google Maps said it was due, mind.. I had a funny feeling. Checked, and there was an extra TFL warning I hadn't seen before - sure enough, the #188 bus was diverted, missing my area entirely. Due to - traffic! Crikey. Well, I got a different combination of buses. I was early anyway - I know to be, in case of dire queues.

I arrived nearly an hour early - the queue wasn't too long at all, and it only took me five minutes to get through the gate. The forecast light rain was just starting. And I found a place on a bench to sit, until I judged it was late enough to head downstairs for the show - where I was to find they've introduced some very handy seating! So I took a place on a sofa until it was time to go in, Martin Shaw greeting us all at the door, sporting a very fetching hat adorned with three feathers. It was pretty full, but I had no problem getting a seat nice and near the front:

Indeed, I spotted Jan Blake in the front row!

Now, we'd had a little warning about the temperature - sure enough, I kept my coat on throughout; it was freezing! The museum, apparently, had no heating in this room, for whatever reason - Ben Haggarty, MC-ing as usual, passed a rather snide remark about that. Pity the poor performer, barefoot as she was..

I love listening to Charine El Ansary - I could listen all day. She has a lovely voice with an enthusiastic tone, and her accent lends its own lyricism to what is an extremely lyrical, poetic, bank of Arabian stories. As she wove tales of heroes and lovers, the one thing that did occur to me, happy as I was to be bathed in this atmosphere, was that it would have been greatly enhanced by just the smallest hint of music - perhaps a little bell to be rung occasionally, or a singing bowl. Someone in front of me, at the interval, was praising the simplicity of the performance, also pointing out how the content included no role-playing, no different personas - but you know, there's nothing wrong with a little bit of embellishment, thoughtfully applied. That's what it's there for. And particularly for a story cycle like this - where the imagery is beautiful: and, as Ben Haggarty remarked at the end, very strong: but it is quite repetitive, the same images coming through again and again. Some of the more beautiful ones can be lost in the myriad of them.

All the same, I really enjoyed it - but what with the cold, and my stomach grumbling so loudly I felt sure the whole room could have heard it, I was glad when it finished. Afterwards was the only time this month I could squeeze in a social with my ex-colleagues - well, James, at least; Ivan couldn't make it, and Martin cancelled at the last minute. Anyway, we decided to head to Il Castelletto, where we both arrived at the same time. We didn't have a problem finding a seat - we were the only ones there! I had some scrumptious calamari to start, with chicken in mushroom sauce - now, that sauce is divine, particularly on the potatoes.. but I'm afraid, on this occasion, the chicken was a little tough. I might try veal next time - they do a dish with that same sauce on veal. A lovely wine, and desserts, finished us off. Interestingly, it was really filling up as we left - I guess word has spread! The place deserves it.

Afterwards, looking for a pub, we first thought of the Museum Tavern - sure enough, it was crammed. Looking around the area on Google Maps, I saw all the nearest ones were around the same area - so we headed that way, and came to The Old Crown, where we spotted a free couch. We just stayed for one - but were very impressed with the atmosphere in what is a quirky and cosy pub:

And so, an early night - enabling me to finish the blog at last! No problem getting the bus home, BTW - I was already home by the time James messaged to check I'd got the bus OK.

Tomorrow, I was at first thinking of heading to The Alto Knights, a new Robert de Niro gangster film, yet again based on real-life events. Also stars Debra Messing. The Curzon Aldgate is the closest to me, and I could eat at Cote St. Katharine Docks. But wouldn't you know it, its rating has now plummeted.. sure enough, I wasn't much impressed by the trailer. So I'm considering Santosh instead, which is an Indian film about a woman who inherits her husband's job as a police officer when he is killed on duty. Looks quite good, and is showing at the Curzon Bloomsbury.

On Tuesday, back at last with Over 40 Living the Life, for dinner at the Greenwich Yacht Club. They've had a few of these lately, but they've always clashed with something.

On Wednesday, more storytelling - this time, back at Folklore Hoxton, tickets through Dice again. And again, I'm eating at the Blues Kitchen Shoreditch.

On Thursday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for (This is Not a) Happy Room, at The King's Head, Islington. And then I'm back to Ireland for another long weekend.. this being the weekend of Mother's Day.