Anyhoo, you may remember that, what seems an age ago now, I nagged the letting agent into giving me the keys to my new place on Saturday. First though, I had a walk to go to.. arranged to meet the letting agent at the property afterwards. The walk was at lunchtime - Victorian Covent Garden, hosted by the excellent Hazel of London Guided Walks. After doing her Christmas lights walk, I was keen to go on another - she's entertaining, but also has a wealth of knowledge! Has two Meetup groups - Walk About London, and Walks Talks & Treasure Hunts, which I'd signed up with that day.
Late night - as usual - so, scuttled off to meet her at midday. Fast route required - train to Waterloo, Tube to Charing Cross - we were to meet her outside Paul, outside Charing Cross Station. Naturally, I exited on the wrong side of the road - but they were easy to spot, just across the way. And when the rain that hadn't been forecast materialised, we shuffled sideways to shelter under cover, while we waited for the last of the group to arrive.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect on this walk, but she's full of fascinating facts - most of which I, at least, had no idea of. Mind you, when she stopped to show us the ornate Victorian cash register in the window of the Charing Cross Theatre, I was bemused that she seemed to assume that we wouldn't know what a cash register was. Goodness, they're not quite that rare! Yet..
So, off we meandered through backstreets, in sporadic drizzle, as she told us all sorts of interesting tales of Victorians. And we found out lots we hadn't known before. By the time we got to Covent Garden itself, where she finally left us, we truly had a new appreciation of the history of this area, shaped by people with a great zeal for improvement.
..and off I rushed, arriving slightly late to collect my keys, as she'd run over slightly. Home then for dinner, and had to rush straight off again to make the Arab Christmas concert that London European Club had organised, at Rich Mix. We were to meet at Casa Blue beforehand, and it was a good job I'd already looked up how to get there, because - in my flustered state - I'd forgotten my phone. Which led to a rather boring journey. Which made it not a great surprise that I was nearly asleep by the time I got off.
So, an easy walk from Shoreditch High Street - past Rich Mix itself and on to Casa Blue, at the corner of Brick Lane. It's not huge, and I found them after a few seconds - in a corner at the front, the Meetup sign a bit droopy on the table. So first, I went to get a drink - only to find that this is one of those places that has conditions on card use. In this establishment, the minimum spend is £10, and a large glass of wine is only £6.. What can I buy for £4? I asked her. She stared at me. Someone suggested I buy two large glasses, and I normally would have, except that it was now 10 minutes to 7, and I was afraid we might be leaving at 7. A small glass turned out to be £5, so I bought one of those (not as good value, but never mind).
We stayed quite late in the pub, as it happened - we were only just up the road from the venue, after all. When we finally made our way there, it was a bit chaotic - there was no proper queueing system, people clustered around the lobby and door - they hadn't opened the concert space yet. They were asking for booking reference numbers, but of course I didn't have my phone, and hadn't printed it out. Still, they found my booking in the end - once they figured out that Caroline was spelt with a C.. Eventually, they decided the lobby was getting too crowded, and I was asked to join the queue that had begun to form along the side of the building. Our organiser cannily spotted someone he knew at the head of the queue, and stayed there, so got in among the first.
When we did shuffle in, finally, he was easy to spot - one of the taller people in the room. And bless if he hadn't found us spaces in the very front row! So there we joined him. It took ages for the concert proper to start - I'd thought it was starting half an hour earlier than it was, and at that they were late. So, the first half saw a singer and an oud player, and we were into the interval.
Now, the first half was good, but I've heard more impressive - and indeed, a couple of our number decided they had had enough at this point, and left. The interval saw Christmassy biscuits handed around, which our German organiser identified as definitely German Christmas fare. And I was to be sorry in the second half for those that had left, as it was a great improvement - not for a moment doubting the ability of those in the first half, but the arrangements were better in the second. We had the elegant Merit Ariane Stephanos, and a priest - Abouna Shafiq Abouzayd - with the most powerful voice, and an obvious passion for the history behind the songs, and the development of the language - some of which he explained to us. John Banks accompanied on the side - generally instrumental, but when he did sing, he proved to have a fine voice. It was a haunting performance.. Merit got us all singing along to the chorus for the last one, and we were still singing as we trotted down the road after.
The pub we'd had in mind was closed for a private function, and the next was too crowded - we headed instead to Boxpark, the pop-up facility just above Shoreditch Station (how handy!). This whole set of pop-ups is a collection of shipping containers, used for various purposes - we climbed the stairs, and passing through the plastic sheeting, found ourselves in a large open space, filled with long wooden tables and benches, with various stalls at the side, selling things that could be consumed at the tables. We had some drinks there, and our organiser passed around some German goodies, warmed by high, standing heaters. It was cool, but they did close early - we were shooed out before 11.
Just as well really - I made my first run of stuff to the new place after I got home, packing as much as possible into the car, and with the awesome assistance of Waze. Which meant it was quite late when I got to bed - I was glad the next day's walk was to start an hour earlier! Fast route again, of course, train and Tube - and we met outside St. Paul's Tube Station. Also outside Caffe Nero.. now, I hadn't had time for breakfast, and I knew they do good hot chocolate. So that was what I decided to do. When I told Hazel, she recommended the Chocolate Milano - a bit more expensive, but worth it for really good chocolate. And you know, with thick hot chocolate, and of course the cream on top - she was dead right. An absolute must for chocoholics!
This walk was Heretics and Horrors.. basically, a tour through bits of London that suffered from the Great Plague, the Great Fire, the blitz.. we started around St. Paul's, which covered the fire and the blitz, of course:
Naturally, the "heretics" part of the tour was covered in the area around Smithfield, talking about Bloody Mary's execution of Protestants. And her father, Henry VIII, got a mention too:
For me, one of the most interesting parts of the walk was when we visited the "Queens' Church". Now, a couple of queens are buried here - hence the nickname. And it features on many walks - in particular, I've already been on two ghost walks that stopped off here. What's interesting about all this is that both ghost walks claimed quite definitely that one of them was Queen Isabella (the "She-Wolf of France"). The second of these, in particular, was quite interesting - the guide on that occasion, although he knew many things, patently didn't know his stuff about her, and looked quite scared when, in response to his question about whether any of us had heard of her, I said "yes". Well, I kept quiet, but honestly, the story was rubbish.. he mixed up his kings and queens, the family relationships.. I suspect he got mixed up because he had some inkling of the true story. Hazel was able, quite competently, to tell us on Sunday that the queens buried there were as follows: one was not Isabella, the wife of Edward II, but rather Margaret, wife of Edward I. And the other was her mother-in-law. So now you know.
With a lot of information to cover, we finished a bit late again, and I spent the rest of the day moving. Jeez, I knew I had a lot of stuff, but not quite how much - the plan was to get it finished that day (yeah, right). So I did my best.. but not a hope. As this became apparent, I revised my plans for the week.
On Monday, I was supposed to be with Kensington Classical Music, at Pushkin House, for a piano recital. Just up the road from the new place, it would've been ideal. Sadly, this was one of the things that got axed.
On Tuesday, London European Club had a very interesting evening planned - "Beat the January Blues and Discover the Curse of the Green Fairy". Basically, a lecture about absinthe, with tasting afterwards. Tragically, all tickets were sold out by the time I heard about it.. What the hey, I probably wouldn't like the taste anyway. With the free comedy in Hammersmith cancelled again, I was supposed to be with TNT Comedy again that night. Nope, it was another nightmare night of moving, including being locked out, and discovering that the lock-out number they STILL give doesn't work. Well, I pretty much finished moving my stuff that night, although I still have to clean the old place.
On Wednesday, the Man with the Hat took London for Less Than a Tenner to Top Secret - inaugural visit of the year. And walkable from office and home! This was one I was determined not to miss. And I didn't - feels weird, including past events in the preview; I'd have included it in this post, but honestly, the reason I stopped where I did is that there's a limit on the number of characters you can include in the labels that are attached to the post. I didn't want to leave any out, so this will follow in another post.
Yesterday, again nothing on Meetup - instead, I went to the opening night of Amaluna, Cirque du Soleil's latest show, at the Albert Hall! Cheapest tickets from the venue website, as long as you don't mind a slightly restricted view - for my money, a handrail in my sightline wasn't too much of an obstacle. To be included in the post with Top Secret. Today, it's back to Ireland for the weekend, and something of a rest - although I have to TRY to finish cleaning the old place on Sunday night.
On Monday, I've booked for Festival of the Spoken Nerd, at Soho Theatre. Yes, it's a comedy.
On Tuesday, I had signed up for free comedy in Hammersmith (!) with Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith Wimbledon and Farringdon, and London Live Comedy. But.. then I saw that Funzing UK had advertised Rising Stars: East England Burlesque Festival 2017. So I booked that instead - hey, I can get straight there on the Central Line! And I love burlesque. After booking, I got an email from them to point out that there are two events there that night, and that to avoid confusion, the name of mine has been changed to "Star Watch"..
On Wednesday, I've signed up with London Speaks Sessions, London for a Tenner or Less (as usual, NOT to be confused with the Man with the Hat), and LDN Talks @Night (or more particularly with Funzing) for a talk on The Science of Psychedelics.
On Thursday, free comedy in Hammersmith.. same two groups as above.
Next Friday, I'm finally headed to The Comedy About a Bank Robbery, at the Criterion Theatre. Same team that did The Play That Goes Wrong - which is excellent - so I'm looking forward to this. Best value tickets from the venue.
Saturday 21st, I'm out with the Man with the Hat again - this time, it's Woolf Works, a Wayne McGregor triptych, inspired by the works of Virginia Woolf and showing at the Royal Opera House. Both his groups are going: London for Less Than a Tenner, and Let's Do London - for less! As usual, I have a cheap seat.
Sunday 22nd, the ever-busy Man with the Hat is headed (with Let's Do London - for less!) to a dance production - at Sadler's Wells, unusually for him. The Red Shoes, choreographed by Matthew Bourne, is completely sold out for its whole run. Our Man with the Hat has tickets, though.. but he held them back (under his hat, as you might say), with sales starting at 11am on New Year's Day. They sold out in 15 minutes - I checked. That's the speed of U2's ticket sales.. of course, being a seasoned purchaser of U2 tickets, I managed to get one. All he needs now are a stetson and some glasses.. (speaking of which, U2 are touring, and I have tickets. Purchasing still in progress. Watch this space..)
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