Tonight, I signed up for a Free 3 Mile City of London on Screen - Guided Walk & Post Event Social, with Invigorate. It was a tour of film locations, most of which I might have known already, but hey. This is a newly minted group, made from one that I used to be a member of, before. And it'd be my first guided walk, post-lockdown! The organiser of this group also organised my last Meetup, pre-lockdown..
Today turned out to be one of my less stressful days at the office - probably at least partly due to the fact that there was almost no-one in the office! Well, with drinks yesterday and again tomorrow.. Graveyard shift indeed. So I headed off in good time. Now, I noticed upon reading the schedule for the walk that it was going very near the office.. Couldn't help thinking that it'd have been handier for me if they'd actually started there! Ah well.
As it was, I had to trek down to the Tate Modern. Didn't mind at all, it's been so long since I walked this route! And it is lovely, past St. Paul's..
and across the Millennium Bridge..
It wasn't hard to find them, clustered outside the Tate Modern - especially when I knew our guide.
We waited a bit for latecomers - but not too long. One did arrive late, and caught up with us - and to be fair, our guide was very conscientious about making sure nobody got left behind! Which wasn't always easy - honestly, he seemed to want to set a faster pace than most people tonight were interested in matching, and he had to keep stopping and checking we were all still with him. But that he did. I don't think anyone got lost..
And so back across the bridge, with a photostop for the sunset:
Back at St. Paul's, we stopped at the memorial to those who died protecting it, during the Blitz:
As we meandered on, several films were name-checked more than once. The Mission Impossible films, for instance, or Thor.. well, these are iconic landmarks, and it makes sense to have them as a backdrop:
Up the road, we came to the Old Bailey:
And on to Postman's Park - unfortunately, too dark by now to take pictures. (This is actually our assembly point when we have to evacuate the office because the alarm goes off. I remember we had to do it just once, and handily enough, I just arrived as they were making their way out..) Following this, we headed along London Wall. Someone asked me afterwards whether I'd seen ANYTHING new on the walk - well yes, I replied, I'd never before been on the Bastion Highwalk, which leads to the Barbican and has good views of the actual Roman wall. After which we carried on.. I really believed we were headed for my flat! and were close enough to it by the time our guide realised he'd missed a turning and we retraced our steps.
Ultimately, we ended up in Southwark, at the setting for Bridget Jones' flat, in Borough Market. There's a pub under it - but as the man said, too small and too crowded. So, it was back to the reliable George again for the social! Historic and spacious, it was the obvious choice. As one of the group said, why not sit outside? It wasn't cold, so we did. And wow, how great to socialise with a Meetup group again! This wasn't the first Meetup I've been to since I've been back, but it is the first that went to the pub. And how good was that..! Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) just doesn't have the appetite. It was an excellent night in good company. (And I got more exercise than I have in a while.)
The walk home took me past Leadenhall Market, which we'd gone through earlier - I got a better shot from this angle, though:
Tomorrow, more leaving drinks, it turns out- this guy is just changing office, though.
Friday, back with one of my cheap ticket groups (TAC) for Lately, at the Lion & Unicorn. Then I'm back to Ireland again - on Saturday again, as I was unable to get a Friday flight! Working from home on Monday, and flying back to London that evening.
On Tuesday, I found a curious thing on Meetup - it seems that Watkins Bookshop has its own Meetup group, where it advertises events, and that day there's a talk by Stephen Skinner, about Aleister Crowley's Four Books of Magick. Ok, sounds interesting to me - I signed up. It is a bit early, so I'll have to see how we go.
Next Wednesday, back at last with Civilised London! We're off for what promises to be another excellent meal, this time at the Korean restaurant, The Petite Corée. Meeting beforehand in The Railway pub.
On the 14th, back at last with London European Club (LEC)! Happily, they're going to what I'd be going to anyway.. the Crick Crack Club is performing The Women Who Gave No F*cks, at Rich Mix. Fantastic when the London European Club decide to come..
On the 15th, woo! A couple of weeks ago, UITCS was off to 2:22 - A Ghost Story, but I was meeting an ex-colleague for drinks that night and couldn't go. Well, I got a ticket for the 15th - second-last night of the run! Unfortunately, cheapest available were £65, and no availability with cheap ticket sellers - ah well, I decided I really wanted to see it (great reviews helped), so I booked. Had great fun trying to decide which of the few remaining seats at that price was the best.. Showing at the Noel Coward Theatre. And with all the cheap shows I'm going to, I can afford it!
On the 16th, my first outing with another new group - Bucket List London is off to Kenwood House, and I said I'd join them. You don't have to book, but it guarantees availability- tickets for free from English Heritage, via See Tickets.
On the 17th, I found something interesting with London Walks, Art & Culture Explorers! Yet another new one for me. This is an "Uncomfortable Statues Walk" - statues commemorating controversial people. I can think of a few, and it'll be interesting to see which come up on this!
On the 18th, I'm with London Classical Music & Theatre Group, for a choral performance (annual, apparently) by The Sixteen in Temple Church. Fantastic, and I've never actually been inside!
On the 19th, I'm with Guided Walking Tours in Brighton and Sussex (!). They have an online talk entitled Hallowe'en Penny Dreadful Online Show - The Art of Victorian Horror. I have to say, online has become much more of an option since lockdown.
On the 20th, I booked another walk with Invigorate - this one is a tour of (the outside of) Christopher Wren's churches.
On the 21st, an online storytelling double-bill - I'll have to see how that pans out. First, I'd booked Universe, a Crick Crack show happening in Oxford and live-streamed. Clare Murphy - and I've seen it before, and it was the best show ever! And then I saw that Martin Shaw, another member of Crick Crack, was doing an online show, earlier in the evening.. this one, in association with Watkins again, is called The Smoke Hole, and it's free. So I said, hey, why not?
On the 22nd, back with the LEC for a concert - Balkan Music, courtesy of Raka & Balamuc, in The Post Bar, Tottenham. Sounds like fun. Then I'm back to Ireland - another Saturday flight - and with a few days off, I'm not flying back until the 28th.
But on the 29th, back with that group again, for Carmen - contemporary flamenco at The Place. Funnily enough, someone in the group said there were no individual seats left, and asked whether anyone wanted to double up with her. I offered, if there were no other takers - but she never got back to me. So, since I was now up to that date in my schedule, I decided to check for myself - and got an individual seat! So I've booked it.
And on the 30th, I'm doing something nice and Halloweeny - a ghost story event entitled Scared to Death in the Woods! Tickets from Design My Night. So, an organisation called London Dreamtime is leading us off into a undisclosed location, somewhere around Hampstead Heath.. we're to dress warmly, and bring a blanket to sit on, and a "candle in a jar" - I actually went out and bought an LED flickering candle in a lantern-style holder. Well, thought it was the most practical!
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