London Still Rocks!

Rumours of my death are much exaggerated.. no, I'm still here, I just literally have been too busy! Apologies for the delay, please do read on.. Last Wednesday night, back with the much-neglected  London Literary Walks  - this one was The Modernist Walk , and we were meeting in  The Garden Gate, Hampstead . You can eat there, but I couldn't book for just one person, so had to take pot luck. Mercifully, it rained that morning - stopped later, but it really cooled the city down.. he picked a good day for a walk! Unfortunately, that far out, bus would take too long - so I got the Northern Line all the way to Belsize Park and walked from there. I was a bit late leaving, so would have liked a bus to the station - but the traffic problems persisted, so I assumed my buses would never reach me, and I ended up walking. Sure enough, not a bus passed me on the way. And so I was a little later than intended, arriving at Belsize Park, where I set out on the last leg.. with the sun ...

Tonight, third of four Meetups in a row, I joined the  World Music Meetup . They were headed to the  British Museum , which is currently running a  Silk Road exhibition  - and tonight, they ran an event called  Music of the Silk Roads , in the midst of exhibits relevant to the music. So, that sounded good.. I had to skive off work early - just as well I was up to date! There was any combination of buses I could take - happily, I found a combination that got me to the museum at about 4.50; we were to meet at 5.15 for a 5.30 start. As I walked the last bit to the museum, I prayed there wouldn't be a long queue.. lo, there was hardly a queue at all! and me used to having to plod along the pavement for up to 45 minutes before I get in. We'd been advised to get a timed ticket for museum entry - and indeed, why not?! They're free, and it means you can enter via the main entrance on Great Russell Street - non-ticket holders have to go around the back, and I was comin...

Tonight, back with the  World Music Meetup , for another concert at  St. Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace  - again, it's nearly a year since I was  last  here, or with this group. It's a lovely group, but so often clashes with other things.. This time, the  concert  was with  Delband , who perform traditional  Iranian  music with a twist - and sold out quickly. I planned to eat in the Lord Aberconway - cheers for another great eating suggestion, Laurence ! But the concert was at such a time that I could choose to eat before or after. With work I wanted to finish, I chose after - and yay, managed to get what I wanted done! Happily, it wasn't far by bus, and I arrived at the venue in good time. The t-shirts are cool - we discovered that the design incorporates lyrics from the songs, and were designed by a member of the band. As we waited for them to come on, I nearly fell asleep.. it's been a long day, a long week. By 'eck...

I currently have a run of  Meetup s.. Tonight, back with the  World Music Meetup  (and  TunedIn London ), for the  Omar Rios Trio , playing at  St. Ethelburga's . Also livestreamed - and sold out, days in advance! With time tight, I headed to Liverpool Street Station to eat - I wanted something hot, so made a beeline for Panopolis , where they do moreish steak slices. And wow, was it a tasty antidote to the freezing cold outside.. Afterwards, with a few minutes to kill, rather than wait outside in the cold until they opened the door, I made my way upstairs, to Marks & Spencer , for a snack - where I came across hazelnut paste-filled mini wafer rolls! Oh wow, I lived on a diet of the larger version of these as an undergrad.. bought a pack, and made my way to the venue. Where the door was open by now, and was I glad of the heater at the entrance.. Interestingly, they were giving out red ribbons for people to wear if they didn't want to appear in photogr...

Tonight, back with the  World Music Meetup  (and  Tuned In London ) for a  concert  by the  Scottish / Zambian  singer  Namvula , at  City Hope Church . Tickets through  Billetto . And yes, closer to my new place, so it'd be really nice to be able to stay there tonight.. In the end, I decided against it - the simple problem is that so many of the things I'm going to are closer to the old place! but I did decide to take down the case I was trying to take down last week - when I lost my phone. Happily, things were so much easier this time - the buses weren't too slow, nothing got lost - and, crucially, I managed to get all the locks open! Hallelujah. A real shame it took so long, though - I could have moved a lot more stuff. The traffic near the new place was like treacle - by the time I'd dumped the case there, it was time to set off again. I could take any of a number of buses - for two stops! I could also have walked, but honestly, I wa...