London Still Rocks!

Back in London - fortunately, considering I nearly crashed the car on the way to the airport ! I was so tired, I literally fell asleep at the wheel. A micro-sleep - I awoke before I crashed into the ditch. Did end up ripping a tyre to bits, driving over rocks - the guy who looks after it will be fixing it before I get back. Hopefully. At least the flight had better aircon, on the return journey. Anyway , yesterday marked the start of a six-day  Meetup  run, finally back with  Mandy Morrow , who's running a new type of event called  Rat-Arsed Tours ! (Historic walk and pub crawl, basically.) Tickets available from  Eventbrite , and it was starting in St. James. We were finally told to meet in The Clarence . And I only just beforehand realised I'd be in the office that day, and lugging my laptop.. uhh.. I could have left a little earlier, but was finishing something, so I didn't. I could walk there from the office though, so I did - and the laptop was fine, it was...

Was very excited about tonight - TAC played a blinder, with tickets for the  Gala de Danza  at  Central Hall Westminster ! This is billed as an extravaganza of music, dance, and art. Happily, how they're doing it is providing a code, which you then use to book your own ticket - as expensive as you like, you still get it for nothing but the admin fee! I booked to eat beforehand at  The Red Lion  - it's always crammed. Well, I stayed a little bit late working, to finish something - not too much. What delayed me more was running into my flatmate as I was trying to get out - he'd been away, wanted to tell me all about it. By the time I was finally ready to go, no bus would get me there in time - it'd have to be Tube . Mind you, it occurred to me that I could expedite matters by taking a bus to the station , considering traffic wasn't as bad as previous days - I'd picked the later showing, which made things easier for me. Sure enough, the #381 was soon along, and d...

Wow, what a week.. I need the upcoming bank holiday! Last Tuesday, I was back with  Up in the Cheap Seats  (UITCS) to see  Opening Night , a musical with music by  Rufus Wainwright . Before it closes! That's at the  Gielgud . Mind you, I'd begun to hear bad reports.. I am, however, getting very proactive about booking dinners, and ate in   Bella Italia Shaftesbury Avenue   for this one. Delicious food and generally really quick service - you can't lose. Except with the buses. Now, I took the same bus for three days in a row - and the first two days, it was such a disaster that I ended up on the Tube for the remainder of the journey. On Tuesday, it was also rammed with schoolkids, so I ended up upstairs: All was well until we got to Waterloo .. and the traffic just - died. I was doing something on my phone - busy, as always - and didn't notice until people started getting off the bus. In the middle of the road . The driver was letting them off, becaus...

Today, I was with  London History and Culture: Experience London/Britain/Europe , for  In the Footsteps of the Tudors - Free In-Person Guided Walking Tour with Maggie . Another new group for me. Tickets from Eventbrite - and it's just as well someone put a reminder up yesterday that we had to book through Eventbrite, because that had completely escaped my notice. Rain died off in the morning, and it was a bit warmer, mercifully! This walk wasn't until evening. So I wasn't too rushed, for a change! Slightly, though - and with the buses delayed again, I took the Tube . Arrived with a little time to spare - bless the location finder on the Meetup page, which links straight to Google Maps . I wasn't the only person slightly confused - but in due course, saw the group at the bottom of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth memorial : Wow, what a change from yesterday - it was warm and sunny, to the extent I wished I'd brought a hat. Anyway, we next meandered around the ...