London Still Rocks!

Today - yay, he's back!  Laurence Summers  was taking the  45+ Not Grumpies  on a walk around  Shoreditch & Spitalfields .. and I'd completely forgotten, but  Helen  said she'd come on this too! Cool.. promised to be a great day out! Dragged myself out of bed - it's not that far anyway, and with no delays of the sort I had the last time I headed to Shoreditch , I arrived quite early! In time, in fact, to grab a Mars bar from the Nisa I'd passed on the way to where we were meeting, at the art' otel Hoxton . Brilliantly sunny, and quite warm for the afternoon, it was - I perched on the ledge running outside to eat it, until he arrived. And others I hadn't seen in ages - and Helen trotted along after a few minutes. It was a decent-sized group, all told. And no, reading up about it, it doesn't seem Shoreditch was named for Edward IV 's mistress, Jane Shore , being thrown in a ditch - the name predates her. Anyway, she seems to have found her way t...

Tonight, I was back with CT for the  Backyard Comedy Club , first time in  ages ! And my sometime companion from Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) was coming - which almost made it a Meetup .. Buses tonight at last, yay! She actually got there a bit before I did - ordered wine, and when I got there, we ordered nibbles. Which, apart from pizza, is all they offer. Which was fine by me - all I needed was something to keep the proverbial wolf from the door. We were the first there, and it not being busy, they brought our food to our table, rather than us having to go and collect it, which was nice. And we had pretty much eaten by the time the show started, which meant that - although we could take it in with us - we didn't have to. Also nice. Happily, we got a table at the show - I do like that about this venue. Far and away the most comfortable comedy venue I know of. As to the entertainment - jeez, I could have done without the MC , who wasn't great. Happily, the front row were con...

Last Wednesday night, the second of three Meetups in a row - I was back with  London Literary Walks  for  The Magic Toyshop . Meeting in  The Alexandra, Clapham , which only does pizza - so I booked at  Carmen Tapas , just up the  road , beforehand. Clapham turns out to be quite easy to get to, for me - I could have got a bus, in fact. If I'd started out in time. But I was finishing off the blog.. so I ended up on the Northern Line instead. Which was boiling.. mercifully, someone gave me a seat after a couple of stops. I was still late for my reservation - happily, it was right across the road from the station . With a warmer turn in the weather, they'd opened up the full-length window, and some people were sitting outside. I was to discover that I hadn't needed to book - I think they were the only people there! Well, she told me to take any seat, so I did - not right beside the already occupied table.. My choice was croquetas de jamon (ham and cheese c...

Last night, the first of three Meetups   in a row. I was with  Up in the Cheap Seats  (UITCS) at  The Old Vic  for  The Real Thing , by  Tom Stoppard . Ate beforehand in  The Duke of Sussex  - which does sell out, so it's better to book. I really wish I hadn't - and I won't be back. Yes, I was seated quickly - all the tables in the dining room had reserved signs, but I was the first to arrive. On perusing the wine list, I was to discover that they know how to charge.. happily, for once, my NZ Sauvignon Blanc was on the cheaper half of the list - which didn't make it particularly cheap, but I was happy enough with it. As to the food.. they've gone pretty much vegetarian. If you don't want vegetarian, your choices for main course extend to the bacon cheeseburger, or two kinds of fish - I had the battered fish n chips. She asked whether I wanted fries or chunky chips - I said fries. To be fair, it all arrived quickly - that was the last thing t...