More photos here. Where in the maze around Bank would we meet, though? She suggested the DLR exit - I had trouble finding that, and decided to stay outside to get a better signal while I hunted down eating options. I had an uneasy moment trying to sit down, when I really thought my back would give way. Been under too much stress lately, for one thing. Well, I survived - options were truly limited though, as always in the City at the weekend. I finally lit on Brown's, a short walk away in Old Jewry - I've eaten in the West End branch, and know it's decent.
She duly met me between station and restaurant, and off we went - inside, it was deliciously cool, airy, and brightly decorated, and practically completely empty. I guess tourists would have trouble stumbling across it, down this side street! We could sit pretty much anywhere, so chose a sofa, and ordered mains, leaving room for desserts - chicken schnitzel for her, with chips, half chicken for me.
I had considered the schnitzel, and might have been better off choosing that - my chicken breast was a bit dry and tasteless. Good gravy though, which came in a dinky little pouring pan (without spout, messily), and terrific chips, of which I half considered ordering another portion - I was starved. I didn't ask about the schnitzel, but it got finished, as far as I could see. Dessert was an apple crumble for her, which she was warned was quite hot, so she melted her scoop of ice cream into it. I'd ordered a brownie, but they were out of them - so I chose the next most chocolatey thing on the menu, salted caramel profiteroles. Which turned out to be quite delicious! Think I'm changing my mind about salted caramel.. With friendly and efficient service too, Brown's might not be the cheapest, but it's not exorbitant, and it is always a pleasant choice.
Afterwards, we moseyed slowly down to St. Paul's for her to catch her bus to Waterloo, stopping in on the way for a spot of shopping - she remarked how beautifully uncrowded the City is at the weekends, in comparison with the West End! True - the trick is to find the stuff that's open. Later, we made our way to Caffe Nero (beside St. Paul's), where - for once - I didn't feel like a hot chocolate, and they didn't have a basket of gianduja by the till. :-( I did have a slice of chocolate fudge cake though, which was decent, if unremarkable. And I had to ask her specifically for a fork, as none were on display. Oh, and the WiFi was so complicated to register on that I gave up.
Great to see Helen, but we were soon to part.. She shortly got a bus to Waterloo - they're plentiful, there - and I moseyed my slow way back to the Royal Exchange, where I was delighted to find unoccupied benches - the tourists had mostly decamped for the day. Having said that, I watched two walking groups, whose guides were describing the Royal Exchange, and the Bank of England, just across the road. Largest gold reserve in the world, it seems! One group was distracted by one of those pedibuses, pop music blaring as it was stopped at the lights.
Well, it was getting chilly now, and I needed the loo. Searching for the nearest toilet, I came across a Public Toilet Finder app for the City! It requires access to your camera, then when you open it, you can see the world through your camera viewfinder, and as you pan, the nearest toilet in a direct line comes up, with the distance. I checked out a few, and the nearest free one that was open, and allowed women to use it, was in the Crosse Keys pub - which is how I came to go up there.
A former bank, and dear God, it's a cavernous space! Marble, with beautiful architectural features - stained glass, carvings - and a cacophonous din. Never mind, it had the essentials - a seat, a cold drink, and crucially, a loo downstairs. I ordered a large lemonade, and didn't finish it, staring mostly at the stairs down to the toilet, just to avoid the other view of garish slot machines that line the walls.. when I'd dawdled long enough over my drink, and carried on downstairs to the toilet - I remarked out loud how quiet and peaceful it was down there! By the time I made it back to the Royal Exchange, I was feeling much refreshed.
In the evening, I was back with London Discovery Walks for yet another ghost tour - this one is called Ghosts of the Old City - just like my last Funzing walk! Mind you, on Walking in London's website, it's called The Alleyways and Shadows - which was to prove much more descriptive. Our guide, decked out as a Victorian undertaker, plonked himself squarely in front of the nearby Underground exit - but still had to run off, near the start, to rescue someone who'd come out one of the other eight exits to this station! He had a big group tonight, too - but was determined to lose no-one. And he remembered my face, which was nice!
I like this guy's style - but he was on fire tonight, seeming to see spooky things all around us, playing everything up. Mind you, what really appealed to me from this tour was the fact that it concentrates mostly on alleyways, so you get to creep around the back lanes of London, which I always find fascinating. We got to hear about a ghostly waiter, who'll take your order but never pass it on: a woman that peers from a window where once the Hellfire Club held sway: and we saw the grave that you can enact a ritual on, to release its inhabitant. It was great fun - and I was glad I made it to the end, with my back playing up. I was also glad I hadn't dressed any lighter - the evening got quite chilly.
Tomorrow, back with Up in the Cheap Seats.. all day, as it happens, so I must get to bed soon. See, one of the organisers went crazy booking things the other day - it seems there's a day of free events at the V&A, with the theme of censorship. The day starts with Decorum X: Brunch with Bite.. tickets required. This is followed by a talk on Censorship on the Elizabethan Stage, then finally comes a performance by Belarus Free Theatre (the only theatre company in Europe banned by its government on political grounds, it seems), with Artists Fighting Oppression. Sold out now, but he had tickets for us, if we were in quick. In the evening, we're off to a film music gala at the Albert Hall. What the hey, the V&A is on the way there!
On Monday, another Funzing talk - An Introduction to the Dark Net. At Sink.. For which I earned a loyalty discount, on account of all I booked recently!
On Tuesday and Wednesday, back again with Up in the Cheap Seats: Tuesday is for An Ideal Husband - part of the Oscar Wilde Season, at the Vaudeville. Stars father and son, Edward and Freddie Fox. And Susan Hampshire. Wednesday is for Mood Music, at the Old Vic, with Ben Chaplin.
On Thursday, the London European Club is attending a lecture at the LSE, on Euroscepticism and the Future of European Integration. Then I'm back to the highly non-Eurosceptic Ireland again, for the weekend.
On the 30th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats, for A Gym Thing - got a fright when I saw that, but no, it's a play - in the Pleasaunce.
On the 1st, I'm back with North London Friends - to the Theatre Royal, Stratford East for Our Country's Good.
On the 2nd, Up in the Cheap Seats is off to The Writer, at the Almeida.
On the 3rd, London Literary Walks is doing - ahem - Stalin's Doss House. Meeting at Starbucks, naturally!
Then we're into the Early May Bank Holiday - and I saw an interesting trip, advertised by Carpe Diem, for a long weekend in Bulgaria. So I applied for a place - only to be told that there'd only been six, which were now gone. When I pointed out that the Meetup page advertised 12 places, and that some were shown as still available, they removed the event entirely. Instead, on the 4th I'm headed - with the £3.60 club - to Music Hall Monster: The Insatiable Mr. Fred Barnes, at Wilton's. Could be good.
And on the 5th, as of now, I'm signed up to an overnight trip to Newquay in Cornwall with Eddie's Excursions. This time, I got in the first six - ironically, they're not guaranteeing it'll go ahead unless they can fill a minibus! Watch this space..
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