Today, London Walks, Art & Culture Explorers went on a Quirky London walk. And so did I. Mercifully, it wasn't on till afternoon, so I kind of had time to catch up with myself!
I left in decent time, and arrived early enough to grab a hot chocolate at the Blues & Royals, a coffee stand beside Embankment Station, where we were to meet. Quite a queue, and as the guy served me, he remarked that they didn't know where the crowds were coming from! Much busier than normal, apparently. Well, there are worse complaints.. The hot chocolate wasn't the best I've had, BTW, but it was decent.
The guide happened along just as I was starting to drink it, and we chatted away while the others arrived. He's a friendly chap - albeit not one to hang out afterwards. But I have to hand it to him, he managed to pack a walk full, mostly, of things I didn't know! which is an accomplishment, given the number of guided walks I've been on.
We started on the Victoria Embankment, where there are a couple of interesting statues. First, I spotted a rather attractive one of Robbie Burns:
But what we were there to see was London's only statue of a camel! commemorating the camel corps, based in the Middle East during the First World War:
Off then to what used to be the watergate of York House, when the water came up that far - which I knew already. What I didn't know was that the last private owner, George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, sold it to a property developer on condition that five streets be named after him. So - 1. George Street, 2. Villiers Street, 3. Duke Street, 4. Of Alley, 5. Buckingham Street!
Now, possibly the nicest discovery for me all day was the statue of Oscar Wilde, behind the church of St. Martin-in-the-Field, which I've been in so often. It's designed like a coffin, with his head poking out of one end, and a hand that grasps a cigarette - and the idea is that you can sit on the flat bit in the middle, and have a chat with him! I must say, the closer I got to the head, the more friendly it looked - I'd be happy to come back here one day and have a chat with him!
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In Trafalgar Square, we were intrigued to see that the fourth plinth is again occupied! The current sculpture is called "Antelope", and depicts a photo prior to the independence of Malawi - the larger figure is a Malawian preacher, who would later become a freedom fighter, the smaller figure a British missionary. Note how much bigger the Malawian is - that's not a trick of perspective - and also how he refuses to doff his hat in the presence of the white man, which was actually the law at the time!
This used to be the German Embassy, up to its closure upon the outbreak of the Second World War:
above which, would you believe, the short-lived Republic of Texas had its legation! They apparently left owing £160 in back-rent - this was finally paid back in 1980 or so (not accounting for inflation!).
Gotta say, this was definitely one of the most interesting walks I've done. By now though, I was hungry - a quick query on Google Maps revealed a Greene King pub right around the corner! So I repaired to The Golden Lion - which has a tiny downstairs, which was full: but the upstairs, when I arrived, was empty! So I ordered food, and sat up there to wait for it. I was lucky I squeezed in just in time - they close at 6 on a Sunday, and the kitchen closes at 5 - I ordered at 4.45! Handily, they have a dumb waiter, so the barman didn't have to carry the food all the way up to me - and, of course, I had my usual pie & chips! which was as delicious as ever. They did over-salt the chips a bit, mind - but I survived.
On the bus home, a friendly old man was making conversation - I'd have been more receptive, but his Glaswegian accent was a bit beyond me!
Tomorrow, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for a play called Women, Beware the Devil, set in the year 1640 - showing in the Almeida.
On Tuesday, I booked with The London Palestinian Rights Meetup Group for Taking Sides – A Conversation about Love, War, and Changing the World. Happening at Amnesty International UK. But you know, I thought I might just go to a film instead.. When the listings came out, top of the list was Rye Lane, a romcom set in South London. The trailer looks hilarious - this looks like much more fun than that talk, and since it is free, I have no problem in cancelling my attendance. Nearest place to me showing the film that day is the Vue Islington - which now has theatre-style pricing, with different seats at different prices. So I booked, to get a decent seat at the cheapest price possible..
Back with UITCS for the next two days - on Wednesday, it's for comedian Rosie Holt at the Leicester Square Theatre.
On Thursday, I'm at Further Than the Furthest Thing, at the Young Vic. Then back to Ireland for the weekend again. Might get to see Scream VI at last..?
On the 27th, I booked with the Happy Positive Group! For their weekly Monday trivia night! They seem to be completely online. But wow, looking at it lately, they seemed to have switched that week to the next day! Although, having cancelled my attendance, I then noticed that all Meetups were displaying in the wrong time zone, so were shown as starting five hours later than they actually were.. I complained, and they did fix it. Well, I probably wouldn't have gone anyway. The best Meetup left for that day is with the Shanty Singers Colliers Wood. This is another of those things I once booked and ended up cancelling, so I'll hold off on booking that till nearer the time. As is becoming usual.
On the 29th, I'm going with UITCS to Sadler's Wells - first time in an age - for Creature, by Akram Khan! I absolutely love his work. Handily enough, I used my latest Theatre Token for this - would have used it for Phaedra, but while neither theatre takes them online (you have to phone if you want to use a token), the National charges extra for phone bookings. So I used it for this instead.
On the 30th, back with the London European Club, at somewhere called the Ugly Duck, for Synchrony, a female 12-piece string ensemble. Tickets from Eventbrite. As hosted by Eleanor Salter Thorn again! So glad to see her hosting events in more central locations..
I was keeping the 31st free because Ivan is feeling thirsty again. :-) And for once, he seems to be sticking to the date, having booked us a table at The Lucas Arms (which, as he pointed out, has a smoker's area). We're hoping to have Martin - my other friendly ex-boss - join us, but he has more family commitments, which he's trying to juggle - we've told him to join us whenever. And this looks like turning into the first zapoi in a while - Ivan is talking about booking a studio, where we can drink overnight. Oy ve, watch this space.. So, not pushed about doing anything extra on the 1st.
And on the 2nd, I'm back with the Crick Crack Club, for Orpheus Dismembered, at the British Museum, courtesy of Ben Haggarty. The event there that I'd already heard of..
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