Walk: London at Night

Well, I was all set for lunch from Tesco's today, but got waylaid by someone in the office, who fancied Wagamama's, and fancied us coming too. So off we set, in glorious sunshine. Certainly, there's a good range of restaurants on Earl's Court Road.

I'd never actually been in Wagamama's before, but just followed the others there. Décor is quite basic - long wooden tables with long wooden benches to sit at. The music that played throughout is best described as eclectic. Menus are handily laid out for ease of reading, and I soon isolated the teriyaki dishes and picked the chicken one - I love teriyaki! and it'd been ages since I'd had any. A "tropical" (apple, orange, and mango) juice drink completed my order, and all was delicious. I'd happily go again. Mind you, when it came to paying, the server was falling over himself advertising the restaurant's app to us, which you can use both to order (just show the number to your server when they arrive) and pay at the end. Of course, we preferred to be awkward and pay with a mixture of cash and (mostly) cards.

Not that I still felt fed by evening, when the time came to head for my walk! I'd booked a London at Night walk with Meetup - Westminster Bridge to London Bridge. Free - one of these where you pay what you want at the end. I left on time tonight, and arrived at Westminster with 15 minutes to spare. Just as well, because I had to study the exits carefully. I got lost the last time I was here, after all! The directions said to take the exit for Westminster Bridge, but more precisely you should look for the exit for Westminster Pier (Exit 1). And Westminster Bridge is where you come out, without too many steps to climb - thankfully.

Ah, it's a beautiful area - and despite leaving my camera in Ireland, I did get some decent snaps on my phone (photos here). The sun was beautifully framed over the Houses of Parliament, and I was early enough that I could spare some time to frame a few shots. Then I threaded my way through the crowds, across the bridge, to the lion statue, where our guide was already waiting. It turns out he runs the walks himself - has fliers and everything! We hung around for a while, for latecomers, then started off down by the river.

Ah, I love meandering along the riverbank. You're at a lower level than most of the city, passing under arches with road and rail thundering overhead, and can look straight down into the murky depths of the Thames. I didn't know quite what to expect from this tour - the last walk I'd gone on that had meandered along the river had been very historical. Well, the walk tonight wasn't short on facts either, but took plenty of time for us to look around us at the iconic landmarks we passed.

We started in the tourist area, wading through the crowds in front of Sea Life Aquarium and the London Dungeon, which mixed with those queueing for the London Eye, just across the walkway. We stopped in the park beside it for a little factual talk about it - then it was onwards, past the Royal Festival Hall, the BFI, the National - all places I know so well.

After that, as it got darker and we went further along, the City loomed into view, and the crowds thinned. We stopped for a while outside the Tate Modern, where we were buzzed by skateboarders - doubtless finished for the night with skateboarding in the area just under the Southbank Centre - who zoomed past on their way onto the Millennium Bridge, then zoomed along that. In a bit, we followed, for the best view possible of St. Paul's. They ain't kidding.. I am SO going back with a proper camera!

I was gutted that I hadn't known how good the view was, given the proximity of the bridge to the Globe, where I've been so many nights. Anyway, as we neared the Globe, I was able to show off my superior knowledge of it! ;-) (The guide hadn't been there yet.) After that, we wound our way under an archway where a young lady was performing a lovely song in a high, sweet voice - right opposite the "No Busking" sign. (Good for her!) I'm sure I've heard her before. Some very good buskers around - in the last post, I forgot to mention the excellent, one-armed guitar player at Piccadilly Circus last night. Truly, there he was, strumming away on his electric guitar - with his stump. Impressive.

We stopped at the Clink museum - site of one of the first prisons in England - and at the ruins of Winchester Palace, then at the Golden Hind. Finally, we climbed onto London Bridge for a spectacular view of Tower Bridge, lit in the distance. A spectacular tour, led by a genial and knowledgeable guide - I'd recommend this to anyone with an interest in this city and its history, check out this link. And free, at that! I was happy to donate.

On my way back, I found myself babysitting a Japanese couple who arrived today on honeymoon, straight from Tokyo. For the weekend. Lordy.. so they fell upon this tour (good plan) and were now headed back to the hotel, to sleep (better plan). They'd loved the tour, but were really looking forward to their beds! First though, I figured they needed some help on their first trip through the Tube system (they'd walked from their hotel, near Westminster) - and I think I was right, especially with their jetlag.. and since we were all headed for Westminster, I guided them en route. Well, up to Westminster station, where they probably got lost looking for the right exit..!

Well now, tomorrow could be interesting. I was looking for something, and my Meetup groups didn't have anything that appealed - long hikes featured prominently - so I figured I'd have a look-see what all the other groups were doing. And who happened to be doing the most interesting thing, but Fill My Weekend! You might remember that this is the group that expelled me for daring to point out that they'd charged over the official price for a meetup event.

Well, tomorrow they're touring the Houses of Parliament. Ooh, I thought - I'd be interested! Last time I was in the area, I saw a sign for tours of the Houses of Parliament, and it occurred to me that I haven't been. Well, I checked their Meetup page - out of curiosity: I can't go with them anyway - to discover they charge £52 for this! When I investigated more closely, I saw that this includes the most expensive options - a guided tour, and afternoon tea on the Terrace.

So then I checked the official prices, and discovered that to purchase this deal for myself would cost £52.50 - so for once, Fill My Weekend is providing value! Mind you, I also discovered that a group booking, for 10 or more - the group has 38 people going - gets a discount. And given that, the group organiser's profit per person is working out at about £10. That's £380 clear profit - less "Paypal charges" and the price of printing name badges. Nice work if you can get it! Mind you, I see he does have "(including Paypal charges)" after the price on the Meetup page now. I flatter myself that I effected that change..

Well anyway, it's all moot as I can't go with them any more. Which doesn't tax me in the slightest, because I haven't the faintest interest in afternoon tea on the Terrace (£27 extra and I don't even drink tea!) and I can quite well make do with an audio guide. At a total price of £18. I'll see about booking it tomorrow (to avoid the queues) when I see what time I can drag myself out of bed for.

On Sunday, I have my rescheduled Meetup walk with Ken's Events, around Wimbledon and Putney. Assuming I'm not feeling too decrepit - good shoes also a good idea. On Monday, I'm headed to a classical concert in the Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre, for the centenary of the Armenian genocide. And it's set to be quite a classical week, because I'm flying back to Ireland the next day, for a performance of La Traviata in the University Concert Hall, Limerick on Wednesday - and on Thursday, we've booked for a classical performance by a string quartet in the Limetree Theatre. That'll be interesting, as it's a new venue and I haven't been before. Then staying in Ireland for the weekend.