Concert: St. Martin's Orchestra

Last night of the week with the Man With the Hat, who was taking both Let's Do London - for less! and London for Less Than a Tenner to Cadogan Hall for a classical concert. So, naturally, I was there.. once I figured out how to get there from the centre. Turns out that the 19 bus goes from practically right outside my office door to just down the road from the venue. Perfect.. and there was a newsagent's just beside the stop, where I could get a bottle of water for this nagging cough. I did leave slightly later than intended - got peckish before I left the office, and made myself a couple of slices of toast - but still got there in plenty of time.

We were in good company at the concert - Sir Ian McKellen evidently has the same discerning taste that we do:

Anyway, I needn't have bothered with the water; they were dispensing it for free in the bar. The bar, by the way, was jam-packed - in contrast with the night before, there were so many people there last night that I knew! (The Man Wth the Hat alone had brought 86 of us with him - not a record, I think, but must have been up there.) And in due course, we headed on up.

We were sat throughout the stalls (and some of us rather smug that we had better seats than the aforementioned Sir Ian). The concert comprised Britten, Copland, Elgar, Brahms, Bartok, and Klezmer dances. And for all of it except the Britten, we were fabulously entertained by the clarinetist, Martin Frost. Rarely have I been so entertained at a classical concert - as well as a varied and appealing programme, we got to hear Martin Frost play with both warmth and sensitivity, dancing around the stage with his clarinet for a partner. And indeed, it was toe-tapping dance music..

Afterwards, the plan was to head to the Royal Court - but there were quite a few of us, more than the night before, and there wasn't really room. So we proceeded with Plan B, the Duke of Wellington, down some side streets. Some people preferred the style of pub, others passed on it because they'd have preferred to stay close to the station, so they went straight home. Those of us who stayed in the Duke of Wellington had a fine chat, and it was great to catch up with people I hadn't seen in a while. Oh, and the nice lady behind the bar told me where to find a napkin for my nose - I'd used up such tissues as I'd brought.

Caught the 137 home - and profound joy, my phone data allowance reset at midnight, so I can now use it for internet at home again! Tonight promises to be unusual.. it's that late-night storytelling event at the Wellcome Collection. Tickets were all free, and are now all gone. I was too late to get a ticket for Ben Haggerty's storytelling performance, but I've booked the second, as well as the first and third talks. That bottle of water might still come in handy. Anyway, there's tons of non-ticketed stuff on. Got an email today telling me that they've overbooked the ticketed events, so even people with a ticket mightn't get in! Hey-ho.. Handy my home internet is functioning again, as it's closer to home for once. So I can take my laptop home again..

Tomorrow, I'm finally going to the much-advertised British Museum Tour - Ideas That Made our World. A Funzing event, as advertised by two of their Meetup groups - London Speaks Sessions and LDN Talks @ Night. So I booked with both.. Also probably closer to home than the office, so unlike last weekend, I might not be hanging around the office for the next few days.