Last night, my first Meetup of the year with Civilised London! And as usual, it was dinner! (My third day in a row to eat out!) We were off again to Little Georgia, meeting beforehand at The Crown.
Great to see them.. only three of us went to The Crown, where we had a fine chat before dinner. We could have eaten there, actually - and the organiser said that one day, he probably would organise a Meetup there. For now, though, we just squeezed in a second drink - which he was kind enough to buy for me! Really, one of these days I'll have to start repaying the favour. Anyway, it's a good sign when the bar staff remember what your last drink was.. and they were unfailingly cheerful and friendly here. Lovely place to come, for food as well as for drinks, I'm sure.
And so, to the restaurant - which, like The Crown, was hidden in scaffolding. I was happy I was following someone else's lead - wouldn't have recognised it myself. One of the others had already arrived, and picked us a table at the back - there were five of us in the end.
We shared starters - cheesebread and (I think) aubergine salad.. for mains, a couple of us wanted lamb stew but they were out of it. (Tends to happen, here - well, if they need supplies from Georgia, they have a long way to come!) So we settled on beef. Sadly, I didn't make much of a hand of mine - it was spicier than I was in the mood for, and though it was tasty, I couldn't finish it. Wine was interesting; they're Georgian as well, and my companion in beef, when she heard I preferred white, steered me towards the amber wine - made using red wine techniques, which leave the juice to ferment on the skins, and result in a wine that is darker in colour than white, and has additional tannins. It's an unusual taste, quite unlike what I'm used to from white. Which made for an interesting dinner! ;-)
More excellent conversation, and we headed for the last venue of the night - The Angelic. Where, wouldn't you know it, I had another glass of wine bought for me. Jeez - I swear, one of these days I will return the favour.. honest.. Conversation, again, was good - and great to see people again! Roll on the next. Handily enough, my bus left from right around the corner. By the time I got home, I was far too tired too blog, of course.
Tonight, headed with London Classical Music and Theatre Group - and I was lucky to see it, what with Meetup not even suggesting the event when I was looking for something that day! If it hadn't been for some mention over the last couple of events with them, of some event happening this week.. Anyway, we were off to see the LSO at the Barbican - wildcard tickets sadly sold out by the time I booked.
Damnit, work got in the way as usual, and I set out later than intended. So I was too late to meet them beforehand - especially as I was at the top level - the lift proved handy, and up I went. No bad seats here, of course:
The first half was Shostakovich's 14th Symphony - excellent, but a bit of a downer, which I wasn't honestly in the mood for. Not with this seemingly interminable job hunt still in progress. Well, I connected with the group at the interval, which was lovely - and when we went back up, it was to something much more enjoyable. I'm a huge Beethoven fan - and it was a real treat to hear his 7th Symphony, whose second movement is one of my all-time favourite pieces of classical music. Pieces like this make life worth living.
Afterwards, it wasn't late - but the Barbican bars close after the show interval, so we headed down the road to the The Jugged Hare. It being crowded and noisy, we didn't stay long.. instead, our organiser had the inspired idea to pop into the nearby Cote - which wasn't busy - and ask whether we could just stay for drinks. No problem at all! and more excellent chat was had. And wow, you'll never guess.. as she was leaving, one of our group - whose very first Meetup ever it was - reassured us that we didn't need to pay, she'd taken care of it! Lordy me. This is turning into a cheaper week for me than I deserve..! Looking forward to meeting this group again as well - unfortunately, I already have something scheduled for the night of their next advertised outing. Ah well, some other time..
Tomorrow, headed with the London European Club to the Puppet Theatre Barge, for a performance of The Red Balloon!
On Saturday, back with the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners, and Laurence Summers - got the last spot on his Passage through Pimlico walk! which, as he was telling me Tuesday last week, is through a not very well-known part of town! Well, this one should at least be warmer, being in daytime.. and we're getting lunch after.
On Sunday - Crick Crack is back! Now, this is an interesting one - Japanese ghost stories, the event is called The Game of Candles, with each story represented by a lit candle, which is blown out when the story is completed. Taking place at the British Museum, Tim Ralphs and Sarah-Liisa Wilkinson performing. Sold out now - they're only doing half capacity.
And on Monday - another interesting talk by The Garden Talks! This one is What Conditions Create Witch Hunts? Have to say, Meetup seems to have awoken from the doldrums..!
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