London Still Rocks!

Tonight, decided on film again - and that was  Under the Flags, the Sun , a documentary about the  Paraguayan dictatorship . Showing, of course, in the  Curzon Bloomsbury , home of documentaries in London. Going from the office, I could walk there - and for all the promised rain today, it didn't rain a drop on me. I left the office late, still had plenty of time to eat beforehand - the film was late. GBK , of course, where you pay in advance - and I was rather sorry I tipped. Service was weird - it took ages for my wine to come, and then she came down with a beer and a red wine. She'd mistaken the table of course - and didn't seem to know anything about my white wine. Still took about five minutes after that - he brought it. And when my food finally came, she was the one to spot that the burger "without tomato" had tomato.. So that also took ages to replace. I was glad I'd come early.. and wouldn't you know, she came down later to apologise - "My bad,...

For tonight, finally got a ticket for  Till the Stars Come Down , at the  Theatre Royal Haymarket  - used a voucher, and got a cheap ticket on  Seatplan  - not to mention a valuable review of the seat. Glad to see the vouchers are now instantly available, too! Went in early, and just as well - I was waiting for ages at Waterloo to change buses. When one did finally come, there was a wheelchair on board already - now usually, drivers only allow one on at a time, and another was waiting to board - someone accompanied by two friends. However, this time, the lady in the wheelchair already on reassured the driver they could both fit - she just swivelled so she was perpendicular to the direction of travel, and when the second came on, she did the same. And, side by side, they had the most marvellous chat - one was much older than the other, but they seemed to have gone to the same university, and the older one was admiring the younger one's outfit. A most convivial ...

Well, having led a very sociable weekend, I now have a few days on my own! Yesterday, decided on film - and what came up at the top of the list was   Dying   (!). A   German   comedy drama about elderly parents and their stressed, middle-aged children, it looked good - showing at the   Garden Cinema . An early start, so I had to skive off early.. Did make it in time, for once here - not in time to eat beforehand, so I figured I'd eat afterwards: which meant I was a bit nervous when I heard it was three hours long! But then, it did start at 5.. at the bar beforehand, I'd forgotten they only do one white wine by the glass - she suggested their "wine of the month", and gave me a taster, so I agreed. Still not great, to be honest - their wines here are ok, but not amazing. I mistook my row - the row lettering is a bit weird - and therefore ended up sitting near a nice, older gentleman with whom I got chatting, and who informed me that he'd only discovered the existe...

Last Friday night, I was back with   London Social & Cultural Meetups , who were having a wander around the   National Portrait Gallery . Quite a rush to get out, what with getting the blog up to date.. it took half the day. So I didn't have time to eat before meeting them. The bus was a bit tardy - and Lord, it was crammed: and wow, the ignorance of some people; a guy with a crutch, walking stiffly, got on with me, and not ONE of all the kids occupying seats got up to let him sit. To add insult to injury, a couple of teenage girls blithely went and sat in a couple of seats, when they came available - he did manage to get a rear-facing seat at the same time, but I don't blame him for giving them a dirty look.. Anyway, I got to sit soon afterwards, and the crowds had mostly eased by the time I got off. The bus was finishing early, but happily was going far enough for me. Checking, it seemed I'd be as fast walking the last bit as taking a bus for one stop - so I did, sto...