Today, met Helen! for lunch at the Bear & Staff. Had a much-needed lie-in.. unfortunately, that left me too late to take the bus I'd intended to, and (sighs) yes, I was on the Tube again! It was crowded, but not as much as yesterday - and I did get a seat. It took a minute to turn myself in the right direction, but the pub is very near Leicester Square Tube Station, and I found it without too much trouble.
She was already there - the slightly clueless barman directed me to her. She remarked that it was a good thing we booked, it was so busy.. After perusing the menu, we decided that you probably had to order at the bar, so I did - I asked him whether I should pay in advance, but he wasn't sure. (!) So I didn't.
We didn't order starters, but did order garlic bread as a side - which came as a starter. A bit tough, I thought, but hey, I was hungry. For mains, she had the "Ocean Fish & Chips", I had gammon - which I hadn't had in years! (and was also served with chips). So I asked for salt - and gee, salt and pepper came in the same dispenser! Hadn't seen that before!
And oh my, the gammon was lovely! Served with fried egg, mind you, which I didn't fancy, but she happily took. I ate with relish, and we easily downed a bottle of wine between us, as we caught up with everything that had happened since we'd last spoken. Dessert for both of us was a rather nice brownie, served hot with ice cream.. Yes, I'd happily eat here again.
As we strolled through the West End, she remarked at the crowds - just like pre-Covid times.
After a browse through bookshops, and a trip to Primark, we were in need of a sit-down and a cold drink. Sadly, we didn't really know where we were headed, so we just ended up in Costa, where we took comfy chairs by the window, and people-watched. She had a mango and passion fruit smoothie, which she described as lovely, if a bit too cold. I wasn't as lucky, unfortunately, with my mint choc chip frostino - I could hardly seem to get anything through the straw, and there just didn't seem to be any substance to it. I left half, and won't be getting a frostino again.
Never mind, it was great to see her anyway, and we had fun watching the Swiss glockenspiel at the edge of Leicester Square. Roll on the next time. Oh, and I got the bus home. ;-) V hot and crowded, mind, and the mask didn't help..
Today was lovely, sunny and mild, but tomorrow it's promised to rain. Perfect day for the cinema then.. unfortunately, when I had cause to check my film list again, it had changed almost completely! New films, new times.. well, as long as it's as accurate as possible, I guess! So, top of the list for tomorrow is now Incendies, in which a brother and sister, who have grown up in Montréal and whose mother has just died, learn that she has instructed each of them to go in search of their father, whom they'd thought had died, and a brother they didn't know they had! In the Middle East. So this gives them a chance to explore the region, and their own roots.. Showing in the BFI only, and tomorrow is the last showing.. Interestingly, the BFI has moved to a first-come first-served, unallocated seating policy. Not sure what the advantage of that is, but the upshot is that I can't see how full a screen is! However, knowing how busy the BFI traditionally gets, I decided I'd better book, and I have.
And on Monday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Shining City, a Conor McPherson play set in Dublin and showing in the Theatre Royal, Stratford East. Brendan Coyle plays a man haunted - he believes literally - by the ghost of his late wife, and the play takes the form of a series of psychiatric sessions that he attends. Well, this is an excellent playwright, so we're in safe hands.
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