London Still Rocks!

Today was when they celebrated  St. Patrick's Day  in London - I decided to take myself along to the  festival . A  Meetup  group called  Explorers  was going, but I don't know anyone in it well, so I did my own thing - besides, 210 people signed up! It must've been like a small army.. Naturally, with no specific time to be there, I wasn't up early. I'd expected the buses to be curtailed, so got one to Waterloo and walked from there. By 'eck, it was windy - but sunny, at that point. Saw a sign (the small white one, in the photo) on the bridge that read: "Anti-graffiti paint has been applied to this asset.". And immediately afterwards: Guess they missed a spot! ;-) The parade was finished by now, of course. Lots and lots of Irish paraphernalia to be seen, on sale and being worn: I made my way over, arriving at about 2.30, and found an entrance.. and a really long queue. 11 minutes, to be precise - as we got closer, we could hear the strains of Whisk...

Tonight, I booked for  Tallis Lamentations for Holy Week  by  Tenebrae , at  St. Martin-in-the-Fields . Got one of the last cheap tickets for the nave - no view, but I didn't care; I've been here often enough anyway, have seen the decor. It was only this afternoon that I thought to check where I was going to eat - and on the basic premise of eating on this side of the venue, I thought - why not Bella Italia Strand ? I managed to book - wanted 6pm but it wasn't available, so I took 6.15; it's only a five-minute walk from the church anyway. As it happens, I'm astonishingly un-busy this week - after a flurry of activity at work, they all seem to be cooling down for Easter. So there was no point in hanging around, and I left early. Another coughing fit on the bus , and I was nearly out of Soothers - so I walked the last bit, past a Tesco , and got another pack. Which turned out to be prescient.. Anyway, I arrived 25 minutes early and explained my plight. She sent me dow...

Tonight,  London International Meetup  advertised a trip to see  Thank You for the Music! , an  ABBA  tribute act, at the  Adelphi . But then I saw cheaper tickets on CT, so booked there instead.. it'd be funny if we ended up sitting together. But then, I think the only person going in that group that I know is the organiser, and  last time  we met, he didn't remember me.. Not a group I join often. Anyway, when I checked the official ticket prices, the least expensive were £19.50, so likely the ones they got. Which would mean they were in the gods . And when my ticket was emailed to me today, it was in the Stalls! which means I got the best area in the house, for less than the cheapest official ticket price! Result.. Looking around for somewhere to eat, I saw a Bella Italia across the road , and said that'd do. So I booked, just in case. Took the bus in - vexingly, one sailed by just as I approached the stop . So, that was a cold wait, then.. it...