London Still Rocks!

I'm now on holiday for the rest of the month! And thus begin 24 straight days of Meetup , and 11 straight days of horror.. Today.. I flew to Dublin for the Bram Stoker Festival (starts tomorrow)! Again, part of the London Museums A-Z (LoMAZ) Dracula shenanigans. Flying to/from Gatwick with Ryanair - I don't know where I got the impression I was coming back with Easyjet ! Booked with lastminute.I flew a day early and am returning a day late, to make sure I don't miss anything - and am hosting a group here.  Anyway, I'm staying in Staycity aparthotel in the Liberties . Was up ridiculously early - the Thameslink was delayed, but I was early anyway, so that worked. And wow, Ryanair Bag drop has improved.. go to one of the "kiosks" - a weighing scale with a digital platform - the Ryanair app recognises you're in the bag drop area and instructs you to scan the QR code on the kiosk to link the phone to the kiosk.. put the bag on the scales, lo and behold,...

Tonight, I was back being sociable, for the first of 19 days straight, with London Fun at Leicester Square Theatre , for Rosie Holt: The Illegal Aliens Have Landed ! Eating beforehand, of course, at Bella Italia Cranbourn Street . Well, I had fun telling them about the hoo-ha at Pizza Express Holborn , where the server thought I was a regular - it had occurred to me that perhaps she'd worked in Bella Italia and mixed me up, and sure enough, that's what the waiter suggested. Anyway, my wine there was delivered pronto.. and the only reason my food was delayed was that each waiter thought the other had taken my order.. probably because I didn't have a menu - because they'd never given me one. Never mind, when that was sorted out, everything came like lightning - my starter within minutes of my order, my main immediately after my starter. As usual, it was all gorgeous - and as for wine, she spotted when I was running low and immediately brought me another. Ah, it;s nice to...

Tonight , the last of three musical nights with CT, I was at the Albert Hall for The Moonwalkers , with a score performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra , and two specially created films about space exploration, the titular film narrated and co-written by Tom Hanks . My ticket was emailed to me this afternoon, with a dire warning that if I tried to change it, my account would be cancelled! I wouldn't eat in the Albert Hall as a rule - it's really overpriced. Neither is it near any reasonable eateries - so I decided to eat in The Sun Wharf . Which was full! probably the after-work crowd. So I ended up in Popeye's - which might not have alcohol, but has really great chicken. And then began something of a nightmare journey - the Jubilee Line was packed, as ever, and I couldn't squeeze onto the first two trains. I might have gotten onto the third, but for a couple of queue-jumpers. I got on the fourth. One of the up escalators wasn't working at Westminster , so ...

T onight, I went to The Liberal Club , of all places, to the David Lloyd George room, where they hold all their public events, for a piano concert called Norwegian Seasons. Fun thing is, CT made sure to warn me that it was formal dress.. but I checked online, and both the club website, and AI, agreed that it's smart casual! Well, that meant I shouldn't have to go and buy an evening dress.. if they threw me out, I was ready! Actually left half an hour later than I'd intended - I mistook the time I'd decided on. Which means I overworked - which is nice, I can compensate for that later. Plus, I needed to put the time in. Anyway, under the circumstances, I decided The Sun Wharf would be wiser to eat in - quicker service, I'd be out faster. Took a bus down there - the usual chaos of buggies, but handily enough, with the maximum of two in the buggy area, as another went to get on, both of those came off. In the pub, I saw one cramped free table, but figured I'd find...