London Still Rocks!

Tonight, back with the much-neglected  London Literary Walks  (LLW)! Well, if he will hold walks on a Wednesday.. This one was The  Westminster Walk , meeting in  St. Stephen's Tavern .  They do food, but I hadn't been able to book - headed out in good time to eat though. Google Maps , again, was rather delirious, telling me that, to get to the pub about 6, the only bus I could take was the #381 , which I should catch - on Tuesday morning?! Happily, the departures board made more sense, and I did get there without too much delay. Where I found - sure enough - a waiting list for the dining room, and not a table free in the rest of the establishment. So I got a sandwich from the adjacent Tesco - cheese and onion, specifically. And a packet of crisps - salt n vinegar, rather than cheese n onion. Ate them outside. The sandwich was fine - very soft cheese, mind. I should have known better with the crisps - they were too salty for me. Took myself over to the pub aga...

Tonight, back with  The Hideout ..  Until Dawn  did sound appealing, particularly with the time loop feature. With a choice of two Odeons in  Leicester Square , both showing it, we headed to the  Odeon Luxe West End .. of course, I ate beforehand in  Bella Italia . I say "of course", but I actually forgot to book it.. only remembered yesterday! Not that it mattered - it was nearly empty when I arrived. And I could have sat outside, it was such a gorgeous evening - I compromised by sitting technically inside, just inside the (open) full-length window, so I got a nice, warm breeze. Now, at the end, he pointed out to me that everything I had, I could get on the set menu.. well, why didn't he tell me that to begin with?! I mean, I don't even use the menu there any more.. he could just have given me the set menu price.. My, it was gorgeous though, just what I fancied. And you know, I could have eaten later.. we weren't meeting that early. But it was lovely not t...

This evening, back for the first time in ages with TAC, for a talk on  A History of Britain in 10 Enemies , at  The Conduit . It was an early one - I'd have to eat afterwards. Made it in good time - technically, you have to show up half an hour beforehand, which I did. Happily, she had all our names on the computer - just as well, considering there was zero internet reception, and as I hadn't thought to download the ticket beforehand, I now couldn't display it! Not a problem - except that the house wasn't quite open yet, as she said - give it 10 minutes or so. She assured us she'd remember our faces. No problem with the delay either - the bookshop across the road is a sheer delight to browse. I even, finally, found something to buy - although, sneakily, I bought the Kindle version, later - a collection of short horror stories by Bram Stoker , of all people, called The Burial of the Rats !  Back to The Conduit, and I'm not sure she did remember my face - she se...

Today, our monthly ex-colleagues'  meeting.. this time, just Ivan and James, and we were trying  The Phoenix , which we thought of before but didn't go for. James and I were perplexed, not having heard from Ivan in a while.. but what the hey, we set off to meet anyway. Buses were diverted from around me, and as I set off on foot for the Tube , it became obvious why! Yeah - see where that crowd is..? That's where my bus should be! The London Marathon , that is - as James remarked, we perhaps shouldn't have picked today - never mind. They certainly picked a smashing day for it - temperatures 20 and over in the afternoon, brilliant sunshine.. Me, I arrived at London Bridge to catch the Tube - awful crowds. I've never before seen a queueing system implemented there. Both Jubilee , which was my aim, and Northern , Lines crowds were directed through the same entrance - when I saw the hordes heading for the Jubilee, I decided to see whether I could make it on the Northern...

Today, back with  Laurence Summers  and the  45+ Not Grumpies ! This walk was  From Muck to Money.  Made it in good time - time, in fact, to mosey to the nearest shop and grab a Mars Bar . By the time I moseyed back, the crowd had gathered - and it was a larger crowd than usual, today! Must've been the spring-like weather.. I regretted not bringing my sunglasses. Well, we started with the tale of that brewery flood - which I had heard before, on his Soho Walk . Today's walk, however, covered quite different ground - for example, I didn't know that Queen Matilda founded St. Giles' Church ! At the time, it was attached to a monastery and leper hospital.. and around the side is a wonderfully detailed panel, depicting Christ in the centre, with the Saved to His right, and - of course - the Damned to his left: Over the side stands what used to be a storehouse.. and apparently, the very tall door would be useful to pass very tall scenery backdrops through! Today, t...