Well, January is the season for walks.. mind you, when the guide messaged me earlier today to offer a refund if I wanted (since I was the only person who'd signed up), I did consider taking him up on his kind offer. But you know, I do love this bit of town, and haven't been on as many walks here as north of the river. And to be honest, interesting things to do are a bit thinner on the ground at the moment. So I said no, I'd brave the cold - it's not that fiercely bad anyway.
Of course, I did my usual thing of cutting it tight - had I had an evening meeting, I'd probably have been earlier. Since my last meeting finished before 3pm, I was almost late - well, technically I was slightly late. Not too bad though - the bus was a bit delayed, and the bells of the nearby church of St. George the Martyr tolled the hour just as I was crossing the road. Sure enough, there he was as promised, perched at the entrance to the Tube station I'd blithely avoided using, and obligingly sporting a sign. (Now, why can't everyone do that?) I did feel a bit bad though when he mentioned he'd arrived early..
Anyway. Off we set, the two of us, and set quite a quick pace, as you can imagine. 90 minutes in all, I think, which is faster than advertised - but I can see it taking two hours with a large group, and all that that entails. We started in a curiously named alleyway:
More photos here. Yes, the area is famous for Dickens too - but it was Shakespeare that concerned us today. A vaguely Shakespearian connection with the church, too, which was actually where Henry V was welcomed back to London by its aldermen after Agincourt. (Wouldn't you know, I'm currently reading a book set during his father's reign..)
Down past The George, to learn that plays tended to be staged in coaching inns before playhouses were the thing.. and to Southwark Cathedral, where it seems that Shakespeare's lesser known brother Edmund is buried. The funeral was in the morning, unusually - possibly to allow attending actors to get back to their performances in the afternoon.
It was a merry walk, with many a tale of actorly folk being - eh - involved in brawls. Well, you know, this was the red light district of its day - see my previous walks in the area! I tell you something though - although I've been on walks here before, I never before did come to the real site of the Globe..
Around then by the reconstructed Globe, and past St. Paul's..
The evening finished in Blackfriars. And what an enjoyable evening it was! A very entertaining tour guide, who - heavens - finished with a bit of acting, for his audience of one. Highly recommended - this walk is scheduled for a number of other dates this month and next, details on his own website, Chronicles. (Oh, and it's even cheaper there than I managed..) And he has other things.. see the website for details, worth checking out.
As it happened, I was really close enough to walk back - but after my first exertion of the year, I was rather glad not to. Plus, it's cold. So - having trouble finding my old Bus Countdown app since I got the new phone (which had the cheek to tell me to clean my lens as I was taking one photo!), I tried out a couple more apps while I waited for my bus.
Tomorrow, I'm back at Soho Theatre for a comedy show - Jen Brister, with Meaningless.
The next few days, I booked Funzing, and the weekend is entirely with Look up London - excellent! She's so friendly, and always finds the most interesting tidbits for us. On Saturday, I'm doing Unlock the Secrets of Fleet Street.
On Sunday, I'm doing The Greenwich Walk: Heroes and Villains. I'll be well exercised at the end of all that.
On Monday, I booked with London Speaks Sessions, for a talk on Interviews With a Serial Killer. Funzing now have an Unlimited Talks option, where you can get unlimited talks for a month for £11.99 - however, not seeing anything else I fancy coming up this month, I left it. As it was, I got a spectacular loyalty discount for this one! ..and then I got a better offer. St. Martin-in-the-Fields (which I haven't been to in over a year!) sent an advertising email - and I rather fancied Monday's offering, an Arab Christmas. Of course, you can cancel Funzing up to 48 hours beforehand - so I did, and am now going to that instead.
On Tuesday, it's cinema - first in a while. Top of the List came King of Boys, a gangster Nollywood film, of all things. Closest showing is in the Odeon Greenwich - so I booked, which works out cheaper. It'll be my very first Nollywood film - and it's on really late. I'll have to ring my mother beforehand and pretend I've already been..
On Wednesday - back for the New Year with the Crick Crack Club! They're doing a new series on archetypes - Wednesday's is on Wise Ones Wild Ones, in Rich Mix. We're spoiled with the lineup - the night's storytellers are Ben Haggerty, Jan Blake, Daniel Morden - and Laura Sampson, who used (nominally) to run their now-defunct Meetup group. Never mind, for once the London European Club is going, under the stewardship of Henning! It'll be good to see some friendly faces there - and it's been ages since I saw these people! About time. And it'll be my first proper Meetup of the year.
Next Thursday, in contrast, I'm with a completely new group - London Sci-Fi Horror Hide-Out, for their first ever Meetup! Hem - this is Miskatonic LDN - Remakesploitation: The Horror Meme. Fairly trips off the tongue, the whole thing! So it seems that Miskatonic LDN is actually an institute of horror studies, and based at the Horse Hospital. Well now. This specific event is about the many international horror film remakes through the years. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.
And on the 14th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Pinter at the Pinter again! This is Programme 5 - The Room / Victoria Station / Family Voices. And this evening includes a free Q+A with the cast.
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