Royal Coronation Walk

All weekend, I was back with the man with the famous name - Dr. Stephen King (not the writer) guided a couple of walks for London Guided Walks (courtesy of Walks, Talks and Treasure Hunts). Both topics / areas I've covered many times before, but gee, he's such a great guide! Today, it was Stephen's Royal Coronation Walk - not, like the others, advertised on TAC - discount of £3 on the official site, with the code MEETUP3. I betted he'd come up with something I didn't already know..

And another afternoon walk! Joy. So, I wandered off to get the bus - had to wait a while, but as usual, not as long as the Buses Due app predicted! It's generally quite accurate, but if it's showing a long wait time, you can be optimistic - I find. And so I alighted in Whitehall, with about half an hour to spare. Passed a protest, as ever - this one was against the killing of Muslims in India. Seems to be part of an unfortunate tit-for-tat between the Muslim and Hindu communities - honestly, it's sounding like Northern Ireland, but on a larger scale.. worrying.

Anyway, I didn't have enough time to get a full meal - but you know, there's a Tesco just down from Parliament Square, and I thought I'd run in there for a snack. Well now, I'd never been in there before - and wow, what a place! There's an entry door, and an exit door - obey them! It's literally just a corridor, with shelves either side - you walk past the shelves to get to the tills, there is no turning back. I grabbed a few bars of chocolate (there was an offer) - and my blasted card wouldn't work! The till wouldn't process a contactless payment, and when I tried inserting my card, it just asked me to remove it. I had to pay with my Irish card in the end..

More protests in the square itself - this very photogenic one was well-organised, with a speaker at the front, explaining that it was about live animal testing, and organising a two-minute silence. I believe it was also being filmed:

Our walk was to start at the Churchill statue:

With a Spanish tour group in front, I plonked myself on a ledge at the back to wait - and that's where the guide joined me, about 15 minutes early. And.. that was that! I was the only person who'd booked! Lordy me. Now, as he said, last time he did this walk, he had lots more people - the vagaries of the public, huh?! How bad - I got a bespoke tour! Now, we quickly established that I know a lot about the royal family - so he skipped a lot of the obvious stuff. But I had a fascinating tour..

How did I miss this statue of George V before?

I've never before paid much attention to the West door of Westminster Abbey - but those statues represent real people! namely, modern martyrs, who have been persecuted for their beliefs. Note Martin Luther King, in the middle with the child at his feet - and to his right, Grand Duchess Elizabeth, a great-aunt of Prince Philip's, who was murdered in the Russian Revolution!

A rather unprepossessing statue of Louis Mountbatten, and then a pair of statues, one of each of the Queen's parents! Wow, can't believe I never saw these before. Most impressive:

(even if George VI has fallen foul of pigeon-bombing). And around the base of the momument, below his statue and kind of behind his wife's, but to either side, are a pair of reliefs, depicting them, but particularly her and her interests! Fantastic level of detail:

Not the last royals of the day - I'd never seen this statue of Queen Alexandra either!

The figures surrounding her represent Faith, Hope, and Love.

Man, I really enjoyed this tour. Delighted I came! Anyway, on to a late lunch - and back to Henry's (thanks to Laurence for introducing me to it!). Where, if you want a drink, you just head to the bar and grab a free table on the ground level - but if you want food, you wait to be seated up the steps. I had calamari to start - interesting, strips rather than rings - and the roast chicken for main course, part of their Sunday Roast selection, which all come with "bottomless" roasties, Yorkshire puddings, and gravy. Just as well, considering the miniscule chicken I was served! But with all the sides, I was well fed. Dessert was a scrumptious chocolate orange torte - advertised with dairy-free ice cream, but as I explained to her, I can't stand the dairy-free stuff; could I have regular? So I did. And a glass of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, not advertised on the menu as served by the glass! Yum..

Tomorrow, I'm headed to A Doll's House Part 2, at Donmar Warehouse - sequel to the famous original, where the wife leaves an unhappy marriage; this sequel examines what happens when she returns. And it turns out that this is my last day at work - so it's handy I'll still have the office, because it's very handy for here.

On Tuesday - well, I finally saw Up In The Cheap Seats (UITCS)' ad for Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch, at the Underbelly Festival! A parody musical, right up my street - I hate how Meetup so often doesn't show me the events I really would enjoy! Just as well I saw this in time, before I booked anything else. So it'll be a hectic evening, with an interview scheduled for 5.30! Just as well I'll have finished work already. Meantime, the festival just sent me an info email today, including my ticket code and instructions.

On Wednesday, back with CT for a concert by the Royal College of Music Brass Ensemble, at the college on Shelton Street.

On Thursday, back with Guided Walking Tours in Brighton and Sussex, for The London Necropolis Virtual Tour. I pointed out to him that the registration link had the wrong date, and he said it was outdated, and he'd replace it and send me the new link - well, he's removed it, but no new link yet. And then - you guessed it, I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again!

On the 11th, I'm going to Favour, at the Bush Theatre - after much effort, as their website wasn't working for days! In fact, it seems to go down sporadically. I chose an unreserved seat, will be allocated one on the day. Anyway, I see TAC has now started selling tickets for this - gee, might be not only the cheapest, but the easiest way to book! Only up to Wednesday, however. Wow, was only there once before, 3.5 years ago..

On the 12th, I'm going to The Southbury Child, at the Bridge Theatre. I noticed that UITCS is going, later in the week - ah well.

On the 13th, back with Civilised London for dinner - this time at The Crown itself, where we usually meet for drinks before heading somewhere else for dinner. Excellent choice. Which marks the beginning of a whole spate of Meetups in a row! When's the last time that happened..?

On the 14th, back with The Garden Talks - this online talk is How Do Languages Evolve?

On the 15th, back with the London Classical Music and Theatre Group for the opera Otello, at the Royal Opera House.

On the 16th, which is a Saturday, I had booked with Discover London for a trip to see a cart making ceremony - and then Eleanor, organiser of TunedIn London, advertised a concert through the World Music Meetup, for that evening, at City Hope Church. So now I'm going to both.

On Sunday the 17th, back with Bucket List London - this time, it's a trip to Sandown Antiques Market. Well, I've never been to Sandown, so this could be interesting.

On the 18th, back with North London Friends! for the first time since before lockdown. This is for an Edinburgh Comedy Festival preview, at the King's Head in Crouch End, featuring Lucy Porter and Rachel Fairburn.

On the 19th.. I'm taking a punt that I won't actually be employed that day, and have signed up again - at last - for a walk with Laurence and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners. This is The Magic of Midtown - and as I said to him, it finishes very near my new home! I also promised to let him know if I can't actually make it - although, even if I have started work by then (which would be surprising), perhaps I could take a day off.

On the 20th, I finish my Meetup run with a trip with UITCS to Leicester Square Theatre to see Frankie Boyle, who has a work in progress show.

On the 21st, I'm thinking of heading - at last - to Summer by the River at More London. This is for a free evening of music, curated by Soho Radio. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.

On the 25th, I'm headed to see The Throne, a comedy about to open at Charing Cross Theatre, in which the Queen gets locked in a portaloo with a staunch republican. Time Out has an offer of £10 tickets for the cheapest seats for this - a saving of more than 50%!

On the 26th - tan-ta-ra! I finally managed to get a decently priced ticket to Jerusalem, at the Apollo. I have heard so much about this, and it's always at the top of the Time Out listings - nearly as hard as Hamilton to get a reasonably priced ticket for, so I'm delighted to get one, if only not to have to look any more.

On the 27th, back to Summer by the River again.. for Bumper Blyton: Improvised Adventures for Grown-Ups! Improvised comedy in the style of Enid Blyton books.. sounds jolly good!

On the 28th - another UITCS event that Meetup finally decided to flag to me. So I've booked to go with them to see Briefs Factory's show, Bite Club! at Queen Elizabeth Hall. Drag, burlesque.. should be fun!

And on the 29th, thinking about the National Theatre's River Stage 2022. This will be the first night of the Hackney Empire's Young Producers Weekend, and there'll be some dance and some music.