We made it in decent time - and found ourselves behind a gaggle of young ladies that showed no interest in anything other than chatting. Afraid we'd be there all day, we pushed past them to claim our reservation. Well, we ended up in the middle - which wasn't ideal, in the middle of the day in the middle of the week, in this location in the middle of town. Noisy does't begin to describe it, and there's nothing here to muffle the noise - chatter deafened us, all around, and we had to shout at each other to be heard. Mercifully, our fellow diners vanished pretty quickly around 2 - it really pays to be outside regular lunch hours, here!
The meal was very good - we started with garlic bread, which for once I had with mozzarella, which suits it nicely. I had pollo pesto, the others had pizzas - thin base - and all plates got cleared. For dessert, they had mini desserts with coffee - mine was a full-size slice of chocolate fudge cake, which unfortunately was more chocolate than fudge. Still, we were well fed - the downside, of course, was a food coma that affected me for the rest of the afternoon, and made me really sleepy just as I was headed on my walk..
Yesterday evening - not with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS), unusually!! Instead, I was back with London Literary Walks - this was The Third Westminster Walk. I managed to find a bus that was predicted to get there without too much delay - and despite heavy traffic on Strand, it actually beat Google maps' estimate! So it wasn't too late when I schlepped into the Colonies.
I felt a bit uneasy with the name - hardly something to celebrate. Anyway, it was pretty packed - and unfortunately, the bar staff are the kind that seem to pass right over me. I was there for a solid 10 minutes - the person who came to the bar with me gave up and returned to her seat - and finally, when the barman looked right at me and then started to take someone else's order, I butted in and insisted I be served first, having been there longer. And to top it all, the wine was insipid. I won't be back.
As someone remarked later, this was more a Victoria walk, leading to Westminster. But hey, it all merges! We passed grand buildings, such as the hotel where Idi Amin stayed in London:
Saw an interesting quote by Prince Albert:
..and finished up with the monuments of Westminster:
Oh, and some remnants of a protest, it seems:
Or rather, we finished at St. Stephen's Tavern, probably a favourite haunt for those with business in Westminster. Certainly, it filled up as the night wore on - we were lucky to get a seat when we did! It's not large, and the upstairs dining area was closed - although you could get food at the bar. The service here, BTW, was excellent - and not only did they notice me, but remembered, later on - despite the crowd - what we'd ordered! Much better. And we had a nice chat to round off what was a surprisingly cold evening.
It went too late to blog last night, of course. Tonight - yes of course, back with UITCS.. for On Your Feet at the Coliseum: the musical about Emilio and Gloria Estefan. A couple of people from last Monday going. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.
..and then we're into next month! On Monday, nothing much I fancy on Meetup - instead, I got a cheap ticket to some quite local comedy - Catch 22 Years is a WIP by Katie O' Brien, at The Glory.
On Tuesday, I'm headed to a Summer Science Exhibition Late at the Royal Society - adults only. London European Club (LEC) organised an outing - then London Science Events did, too. I decided I'd rather go with the LEC, so haven't RSVPed to London Science Events - they'd only be looking for me if I did. Free, no registration required.
On Wednesday, London Literary Walks is taking us all the way out west - for Strand on the Green.
Next Thursday, back with Spooky London - this time, we're off to the Rising Sun. A fascinating part of town, with a ton of history - I've been there a lot, but never been in the actual pub. And with these two events being free as well (not counting drinks!), it'll be a cheap week.
On the 5th, Helen's in town for a training course. The LEC is taking a group to a flamenco (music only, no dance) concert at Rich Mix, and we're going.
On the 6th, the Globe was just in touch yesterday - for that day only, there's a musical performance, evoking the story of King Lear, in the Wanamaker Playhouse. Had a look at the trailer, liked what I saw - and booked it: the matinee, for better availability.
On the 7th, heading with North London Friends to Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras - part of Sadler's Wells' Flamenco Festival. So I'll get that dancing that I'll miss on the 5th! The lady hosting is going with some people from her Spanish class, and heading for tapas after - hell, why not? Even if I don't join them, I'll love the show.
And on the 8th, back with UITCS at last, for Peter Gynt at the National. Modern version.
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