The Summer Ghost Walk

Tonight, I was with Walking in London again, for The Summer Ghost Walk, which I've discovered I cancelled twice before! Third time lucky, I guess. Handily, I got a loyalty discount for this, which knocked nearly half the price off. And the meetings didn't go too late, and we're a bit less frantic than usual, so leaving the office wasn't such a wrench.

I had to get two buses to Trafalgar Square. The first came as I approached - a bit of a scuttle on my part, and I made it. And when I changed - why, my next bus was right behind us! Now, I only had to go one stop on this.. however, I knew it was a busy stretch. Sure enough, between that and the roadworks at the junction with Rosebery Avenue, I was scuttling again by the time I got off - I did make it to the square with about five minutes to spare. Crossing the square, I mused that it's been a very long time since I was last here. Anyway, he'd said to meet by the "winged bull" - that's not a great description, but I guess, what can you do!

More photos here. I might have tried for a better angle, but the poor man was waiting for me - I recognised him from before. And waiting all alone, at that - yes, for the third time, I was the only person on a tour. He mentioned that it's been a quiet summer.

Anyway, we proceeded along Trafalgar Square - then down Villiers Street, and down the side street of Watergate Walk, where I've never been before. (The video that I've linked to depicts a different guide.) Round the back of the Savoy, and across the river, unusually:

We ended up in Westminster, with the fascinating story of anchorites. A very pleasant evening, in good company - and I hope he thought the same! And finished early, which is good for a change.

Tomorrow, I'm back to Ireland for the weekend. Next week starts with two trips with North London Friends. On Monday, we're off to Hampstead Theatre for The Humans. Front row, cool!

On Tuesday, we're seeing The Aristocrats - by Brian Friel - at Donmar Warehouse. Now, initially, I didn't book anything for this night, what with another late-night work meeting planned. Forgot about that when I was booking this, next time I looked - but sod it, the last late-night work meeting didn't even happen, and I'm sick of them just blithely assuming we'll work after hours.

On Wednesday - well, I got tired of waiting for London Literary Walks to arrange something, and with a huge choice on Meetup, I'm now going with Up in the Cheap Seats to Dance Nation, at the Almeida.

Next Thursday, in contrast, there's nothing on Meetup that I fancy! Instead, the £3.60 club is letting me see Scandale, at Sadler's Wells - for £5.40. Still a big improvement on the official price of £20 - and just like before, they have a cloak-and-dagger collection method, where you collect your ticket across the road, from someone with a pink clipboard..! Hey, I might get a better ticket than usual.

And on the 7th, I'm with Spooky London - for yet another ghost tour. This one is the Thames River of Death Ghost Story Tour. Be interesting to see what hand this group makes of ghost stories - payment on the day, so (unusually) I must remember to bring cash.