Walk: Movers & Shakers of Marylebone

Now, my boss suggested - quite a while ago - that we might have a jaunt to the head office in Tel Aviv today! I hadn't heard anything since, though - so I finally asked him. He confirmed that it won't be until at least next month now - wants to get the latest release out. (Just as well really, with all the unrest over there.) So I'll be in London this week. And in fact, for today, I finally found something good to do - London Herstory Guided Walks was doing Movers & Shakers of Marylebone! Great to be back with Mandy again.

Also nice to have a later start - why, I didn't even have to rush! much. She had mentioned that she'd be outside the Globe pub, across from Baker Street Station - the bus let me off just down from there, and Google Maps pointed me in the right direction; had I directed myself by Madame Tussauds, mentioned in the event description, I'd have gone wrong. Perhaps that's what happened to the one of our group that got lost.. apparently wandering around looking for us, but we never found each other! despite Mandy's best efforts. Ah well..

Speaking of which, did you notice that there is no apostrophe in the name? Turns out that's deliberate - because that family doesn't own it any more, but obviously wanted to keep the name..

Anyway, this, as she said, is a huge area, and we had some long walks between stops. Also, I didn't take so many photos.. well, unless you're a fan of architecture (or art, as one of the group, who went around snapping things that were blue!), what's there to photograph isn't that varied. Interesting, and certainly pleasant to look at, but not, perhaps, to photograph. Having said that, we next came to the parish church, which is striking.. and also where Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning were married! in secret.. for some reason, her father disinherited each of his children who married. Imagine..

We were later to come on her house - rather than a plaque, they decided to carve her name into the fabric of the building:

Most curious plaque of the day was the one about the Queen of Haiti:

This lovely piece of architecture apparently started life as a Debenham's!

And lo, for the computer fans among us:

Used to hang out with Ada Lovelace - I was intrigued by the story of how her mother encouraged her interest in science, to make sure she didn't follow in the footsteps of her feckless father, Lord Byron!

This is an exclusive part of town, full of attractive mews and courtyards:

We heard about other interesting women, such as Christine Keeler, where we stood outside the house where she created the fuss that brought her affair to light. And saw the house where Emmeline Pankhurst really died! (contrary to her Wikipedia entry). But this is the thing about London - it's not only packed full of history (and herstory..), but interesting people continue to live here, and interesting things continue to happen. So many stories..

We finished on the site of the "hanging tree", where we learned the origin of the word "hangover". The site is now marked by a plaque, on a traffic island, on a busy junction.. but hey, they did plant three trees around it, to commemorate the triangular gallows!

And so we repaired to The Carpenter's Arms - where the sauvignon blanc is incredibly good value! so I had two. And we sat outside - my first time this year, and boy, did it feel good. And the company was excellent.

So to food - I ended up in the nearest Spaghetti House, where, funnily enough, I didn't feel like pasta! So I had a veal escalope, which was gorgeous- far from the one I remember in Malbun, years ago, where - in a highly expensive place, and keen to keep the price low - I had the cheapest option possible, which was dry as a bone. This one, today, came with a slice of lemon, and was very moreish - I had the option of sautéed potatoes or spaghetti, and chose the spuds - which were served as wafer-thin slices! For starter, minestrone - for the first time in ages - and, of course, chocolate cake for dessert. And sauvignon blanc that was more expensive than the pub. Naturally. When I finally rolled home, I was exhausted - ended up falling into bed, and sleeping the rest of the evening away! It's a while since I did that..

There isn't honestly much coming up that interests me on Meetup - so I'm thinking of heading to the cinema for the next two days. I've been having terrible trouble with that film listings site, though - even with the new week's films started, listings weren't complete! and new listings were being added over the weekend. Anyway, for tomorrow, what it's looking like is The Beasts - set in Galicia, in Spain, this is the story of a French couple who move to a rural area, only to spark an argument with a couple of their neighbours.. I hear good things. Showing in my local cinema, the Curzon Bloomsbury. Not that you'd know it from the listings site, which - last I looked - had no listing for that, in that cinema, for tomorrow!

For Tuesday, what's coming up is a Ginger Rogers film - the BFI is doing a season of her films. This one is a comedy called Bachelor Mother - daring for 1939, it has her as a single mother! Mind you, in her case, she finds the baby abandoned outside an orphanage.. also stars David Niven, and Charles Coburn as her father.

For Wednesday, I've booked For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide.. at the Apollo. I have a front-row seat in the Dress Circle - now, I seem to remember ridiculously tight legroom, here - so I'm at the end of a row, and Seatplan says it'll be OK if I lean forward.. Just yesterday, they asked me to "check in", and thereupon sent me my ticket..

On Thursday, I'm with TAC for a talk on Arab & Islamic Roots of Europe's Architecture, at St. Mary Magdalene Church.

Then it's back to Ireland for the weekend. On the 24th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for The Secret Life of Bees, at the Almeida - no seats left in the stalls, when I booked! Seatplan made me wary of the cheapest seats, so I'm in the next bracket up..

And on the 25th, back with Over 40 Living the Life, for dinner at the Greenwich Yacht Club again. Well, it was good last time - good food, cheap prices, good company. Four of us going so far - I'm sure there'll be more!