Social, Markets, & Carol Concert

Saturday was our monthly ex-colleagues' meeting - the only day James could make, and Martin swore he wouldn't let anything get in the way this time. Mind you, poor James had a clash - a friend's 40th that evening - so he'd have to leave early, which I warned Martin about. Ivan is still AWOL - but I asked Mark, from my film groups, along. I made a series of bookings at The Phoenix - got a series of confirmations the day before.

I actually made it last of the initial three of us (Martin came later) - told Mark to look out for a guy with a beard. Lo, they found each other, and when I arrived were deep in conversation already - when I found them! They were round the side you see, Mark wanting a smoke.. so deep were they in conversation that I could not get either of them to answer messages, and there I was, traipsing through the entire pub in search of them. I eventually saw them through a window.

We then went in search of my booking, and when I eventually got the attention of the guy behind the bar, we discovered the booking was upstairs. Never sat up there before - it's the dining section really. Up there, Mario (the magician) showed us to our table, and had of course noticed the multiple bookings I'd made - he sensibly agreed we could just keep the same table all day. He was our waiter too (they have table service upstairs), and was prevailed upon to do a wee magic trick.. always ready with one, and he does them so well..

I had steak, as usual, and so did James for once - he's often thought about it, but always gone with the fish and chips in the end, which he really loves. Mark paced himself, only having the cauliflower soup to start - and both were as happy as I was (they really do excellent steak). We chatted till James had to leave, but he promised to come back later, as his other thing was only to last a couple of hours. Martin arrived early, as promised, and when James returned, Martin also ate - a pie for him. It was his first time in the pub, and I do believe he was as impressed as we have been - we've tried several, but this is definitely the most comfortable place we've found for our regular meetings. Mark ate quite late, and had the fish and chips.. wasn't blown away by it, he preferred the soup, but said it was OK.

It was terrific to see Martin in particular, it's been so long - and Mark fitted in like a hand in a glove. Definitely we'll invite him back, and I think he really enjoyed himself and will come again. As Martin remarked, it was great to have four of us again.. dunno what's happened to Ivan, but he's gone completely AWOL. Hope he's OK. Anyway, we really had a great time, and a great sendoff to the old year! Naturally, I was too tired to blog afterwards.

Plus, I had to be up early - for yesterday lunchtime, someone from Movie Roadhouse London (MRL) had advertised the inaugural Tyburn Fair, at the International Community School - (free) tickets from Eventbrite. So I said fine, I'll trot along..

That far out, it was Tube - which was blessedly uncrowded - and while I was a little late, I arrived right before the organiser. The fair turned out to be a little bit of a disappointment - it was quite small, extending over two rooms, and there wasn't a huge amount of stock. Never mind, I found a small something to buy - and if I'd been in the market for something of an occult nature, one of the rooms had tons of it!

But the group weren't that impressed, and when someone started talking about Camden Market, our organiser decided to head out there instead! I wasn't against it, I just had to come back the same way later, so it was a slight nuisance.. Tube again - much more crowded now - and we ended up in the wrong bit of Edgware Road Station, which it turns out has a separate section for the Bakerloo Line, whereas we needed the Circle or Hammersmith and City. Now, all the Tube lines do connect.. eventually.. but we had a bit of fun getting ourselves on the right track. On top of which, we emerged into a deluge! 

Well, we trudged through the crowds.. and I bought another small amount of stuff, making me the one who bought the most things, in the group that day. Our organiser was on a mission, and I was delighted he got to buy the thing he had his eye on - really, when you set your mind to something.. After that, we headed to the food court, being about the best indoor option (we'd tried Honest Burger, but it was rammed - unless we sat outside, in which case we might have drowned). Even in the food court, the only place with seats was Bababoom - so we ate there. Most of the group had the mixed grill, and liked it - our organiser had a power bowl, with beef - as he remarked, only four pieces; it was mostly hummus, and he wouldn't recommend it. For me, I had a breast of chicken with chips - the chips were fine, the chicken OK, although the coating was chargrilled, which I rarely like, and I wasn't mad about the flavouring. We did remark, however, that I had a good serving of wine.. certainly better than in Gold..

Well, that was kind of it - we went our separate ways. Knowing I had evening plans, someone suggested I head to a film in the meantime - but the timings didn't work. That evening, I headed with CT to a Christmas carol concert by Mosaic at All Saints' Church in Notting Hill. Tickets also from Eventbrite. I discovered I could get there by bus in under an hour - so that's what I did. Nearly missed my stop - must have fallen asleep again. And as I waited to change buses, I discovered that the #27 (my first bus) is way more frequent than the #23 (my second).. and that was a cold wait, in the wet and cold.

I was still hours early for the concert - waited in the nearby Duke of Wellington: where I was lucky to get a seat! A couple just left as I was about to give up. I had a few glasses of wine while I waited.. and ended up with a slightly over-attentive staff member becoming concerned that I was there on my own, and when I was getting my second, remarked that I didn't have to get wine.. I ended up having to tell her that I was waiting for a carol service to start, to reassure her that I wasn't drowning my sorrows or something.. whereupon she remarked what a good idea that was, to start Christmas..

I noticed an inventive alternative use for a TV bracket:

And wow, they even have a wee toy train, on an eternally looping journey around the bottles:

And so, at last, to the church:

..where they checked my name off the list. I got myself a glass of wine - and with free seating, got a seat pretty near the front:

Found myself sitting beside a young lady who turned out to be seeing one of the singers! Now, I haven't come across this group before, although this isn't their first Christmas concert here, apparently.. and what a shame, because it was a truly excellent performance! As advertised, a mix of old favourites and new arrangements, some for choir only, some for all, some mixed. From traditional carols to popular hits.. Stunning, flawless performances - one of the best carol concerts I've ever seen. Designed to be a crowd pleaser, and definitely one to get you in the mood!

Needed the toilet at the interval - and saw this:

Never knew that was a thing..

My throat was raw from singing by the end - but what an excellent end to the day. And of course, I fell asleep on the Tube home - only missed one stop though, and wasn't too far to walk back. Too tired to blog again, last night..

Tonight, heading with 45+ Not Grumpy! on Paul's Christmas Pub Crawl - starts in the Lion & Unicorn in Waterloo, where we'll be eating, and heads back towards my home, lovely!

Tomorrow, heading with my sometime travel companion again to Matthew Bourne's The Red Shoes, at Sadler's Wells - eating in The Wilmington beforehand.

On Wednesday, back at Winter's Night Wonder Tales, at The Palmerston, as told by Alys Torrance. Always so atmospheric..

And then, three nights of Meetup. On Thursday, I just could not resist accompanying The Hideout to the re-released The Nightmare Before Christmas, by Tim Burton. Showing in the Cineworld Leicester Square, and we're meeting in Victory House beforehand - and finally, that means I get to book Bella Italia before that! Phew - I have vouchers, and it'd be nice to use one of them before it expires!

On Friday, back with London Social and Cultural Meetup, who are doing a Winter Walk with Hot Chocolate - and heading in search of some mulled white wine, I hear! I'll have to leave work early for this one..

And on Saturday, our Christmas social with The Hideout and MRL is back, happy days! Unusual to have it on a weekend, that's just the way it went - but it was very lucky this was my only free Saturday before Christmas. In the Main Bar at the BFI - and again, I've booked The Archduke for beforehand.