We crawled down Shaftesbury Avenue, as ever.. I'd have been 20 minutes earlier, otherwise! Passed the old office, still being renovated - I see the Nisbet's down the road has expanded to take over the premises of the Italian restaurant that used to be next door! Not a surprise - the loss of all those offices must have hit them hard. Pity though - they had good food, at an excellent price.
In Belgravia, it was a short walk - once I figured out which way I was going - to The Plumber's Ams. Did you know that this was the pub that Lady Lucan staggered into, after being hit on the head..? Anyway, these days it has free WiFi and dinky toilets. The house white is a bit watery, though. The guide came and grabbed me, since he hadn't managed to secure the upstairs room as he'd said he would - it was full on this occasion. We stayed for the usual half hour, to allow people time to get there - and most who had responded did make it in the time.
Belgravia is really interesting.. interesting shops, interesting history.
More photos here. Did you know it was a hotbed of espionage? We passed Topham's Hotel, where spies used to hang out, and sometimes interview other spies. I idly wondered whether the lady sweating over a huge suitcase - which she now had to lug up the last few steps to the door - knew about that. Ian Fleming used to live just up the road. In a change of pace, we came across Philip Treacy's shop:
We passed Noel Coward's house:
We saw chocolate aplenty:
And we heard lots about Mozart, who used to live around here:
Finally, we repaired - once again- to the Fox & Hounds, and after a bit scored the comfy sofas at the back. Where we passed a convivial time till we went home - I was glad to have our guide to lead me to Sloane Square, from where I could find my way - my phone gave out as we were leaving! Again, too late to blog last night.
Tonight, I RSVPed with North London Friends, for the first time in ages, for End of Term Moors Bar Blues Jam and Drinks. And then, wouldn't you know it, Ryanair announced another pilots' strike - for tomorrow, when I was to go back to Ireland for the weekend! Nothing about it on their website, of course - and you know, if it affected me, I'd just find out at the last possible minute. Like all of those delayed flights that they only email you about - with the option to cancel or reschedule - when they're already in the air! (when it's actually legally too late to cancel, even if you don't go). I know from personal experience how hard it is to get last-minute flights - and how expensive. So, for safety's sake, I'm now flying today.. damnit, I'll never get to that Blues bar! And this group will think I'm avoiding them.. And, of course, now it turns out my flight tomorrow isn't cancelled at all. But you can't take the risk.
On Monday, with nothing on Meetup, my £3.60 club finally came up with something I fancied doing - so I'm headed to a play called Reading Gaol, at Theatre N16. There's a lot of interest in Oscar Wilde at the moment, for some reason. Speaking of the club that can't be named.. I had my account suspended by them (again!) yesterday - got one of those useless emails asking me to email to discuss, while not bothering to tell me what the problem was. Turned out they were miffed that I didn't have a UK phone number! When I suggested that they could just discuss this stuff with me, rather than resorting to suspending my account all the time, I got the rather snippy response that they found they got a quicker response this way! I see their customer service is still bottom of the barrel.. anyway, account now reactivated, with a note to say they won't be getting in touch in the event of last-minute availability or cancellations! As for Meetup - Anthony's Cultural Events and Walking Activities has just announced a trip to Romeo and Juliet, free, outdoors at Westferry Circus.. too late, sorry man!
On Tuesday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS), for Exit the King, at the National.
On Wednesday, London Literary Walks again - this time it's Little Italy. Now, I've done this area before - but I bet he'll come up with something new.
Next Thursday, back with London Science Events at the Royal Institution - this time, it's Synthetic Intelligence. Last Tuesday's organiser can't make it now - so I guess none of us will be meeting.
On the 27th, back with UITCS again, for Pity, at the Royal Court - which I missed on Saturday, when the same group was doing it with another organiser. Delighted to make this - also delighted to avail of a terrific Time Out offer of £12 tickets for Band B seats - the official price for Band D is £14, so this was great value! Sadly, now sold out.
On the 28th, back with them again, for the very last performance of Spun, at the Arcola. Second in a row with a theme of terrorism - this one is about the London bombings. Beforehand, we're headed for dinner at the Stone Cave, a Turkish place - and afterwards, to the Aqua 7 wine bar.
On the 29th, back with Walking in London, and Katie of Look Up London! Delighted she has a new walk - Smithfield & Clerkenwell: Guts & Glory. It's actually cheaper on her own site than on Funzing - unless you're getting one of those common 10% discounts!
On the 30th, I'm taking myself to the Proms, at the Albert Hall, for the first time in ages. This one is An Alpine Symphony.
And finishing off the month, I'm finally back with North London Friends, for Give My Regards to Broadway, Upstairs at the Gatehouse.
No comments:
Post a Comment