Walk: Highlights of Westminster

Ah well, so much for a relaxing weekend - in the wee small hours, the landlord sent us all a message (except, probably, the guy who's moving out next week), giving us notice to quit - he wants his flat back. So we have two months to find another place - took me that long to find this one! Fingers crossed.. it's mad out there.

Today, I was back at last with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners! It's been too long.. This walk was Highlights of Westminster. Unfortunately, I spent so long looking for flats last night that I missed out on quite a deal of sleep - so it was a groggy start. But, as usual, I managed - and what a beautiful day for it! Funnily enough, I'd have worn a lighter top, but when I put it on this morning, I felt chilly - but what I did wear was probably a bit heavy. Couldn't win - and in particular, I could have left my coat at home. Ah well, again..

Made it to St. James' Park Station quite early - just as well, what with the multiple entrances! Now, Laurence had said to meet at the Broadway entrance - yeah, but Broadway actually curves around the building, so there are technically three Broadway entrances.. the first time I met Mandy, she started from here, and had the same problem, chasing around to make sure no-one was lost! Well, we all seemed to find him - and gee, I met so many people I hadn't seen in ages! We started with the building itself - an imposing edifice:

and, of course, soon found ourselves battling the crowds outside Westminster Abbey:

Mind you, that was better than joining the queue to get in:

and isn't the Palace of Westminster lovely in the sunshine!

I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing Big Ben (yes, I know that's not its official name) without the scaffolding:

Tourist London was buzzing, and looking its best:

For all the crowds, though, I wasn't really expecting a queue to get into a pub!

The horse guards were out, as usual - and as someone remarked, they must have been stifling in those uniforms!

Not sure I ever before noticed this statue of George III! It's rather unassuming, as statues go:

And I got to see the renamed "HIS" Majesty's Theatre, for the first time!

We finished in Piccadilly Circus, with the statue that's turned the wrong way:

My though, it was exhausting, tramping about in the sunshine - it was a relief to get to lunch at last, which was at Henry's again. And we were exceedingly well fed - following which, after some discussion, we ended up in The Market Tavern, down the road a bit. Where good drink and good company were in abundance. Delighted to see folks again! Roll on the next one. I did go to bed for a few hours when I got home, though - I really needed it.

Tomorrow, with CT at The Bedford, for Wicked Wonderland: Burlesque Cabaret. Unusual for me not to be doing a walk on a Sunday - hallelujah, a lie-in!

On Monday - which is yet another bank holiday, but the last for a while - I'm with Discover London for a walk entitled The Great Plague 1665: The Full Story. Certainly makes a change from the Great Fire.. and another group I don't get to see often enough!

On Tuesday, having tried several sold-out shows, I finally plumped for Dixon and Daughters, at the Dorfman. Got the last cheap, restricted-view ticket in the pit..

On Wednesday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats at last! Well, I couldn't resist a performance of Aspects of Love, with Michael Ball - I've never seen it. Showing at the Lyric - there have been cheap offers, but the best I could find were with the official website. Aisle seat, for the legroom - thanks for the advice, Seatplan!

And yes, film on Thursday - and I thought I might finally get to see The Blue Caftan! It's Moroccan, and again showing at what is still, for now, my local cinema. Although, checking the listings again, I found a new one - A Crack in the Mountain is a documentary about Hang So'n Doong, the largest cave in the world, which is in Vietnam. Looks gorgeous - but it's only on in the Curzon Wimbledon, at 5.40, which I'd never make in time if I stay at work as long as I should! However, it is on their Home Cinema.. which would also save the fare.. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again.

Winter Wonderland & Christmas Lights Bus Tour

Today, I had my Christmas get-together with Helen! We planned a Christmas bonanza - first to the Magical Ice Kingdom at Winter Wonderland, where we determined also to have a stroll around the Christmas markets, and get some alcoholic hot chocolate. Then food - then we were on a Tootbus night-time open-top bus tour. As booked on Wowcher. Now, there was a rail strike today, but it didn't affect her. There was also a Tube strike. Of course, there was a bus strike too.. Happily, affecting neither of us!

Well, I was up in decent time - although the lift in our building is (finally!) fixed, SOMEONE is still doing building works - really loud building works. Drilling and hammering at 8.15 on a Saturday morning - I ask you. So, I was there in good time to meet Helen at the stop where I told her to get off.

That, apparently, is the Animals in War memorial.

And kudos to her for following the directions! Well, as she remarked as we headed to the Red Entrance, what a good job we weren't entering by the Blue (main) entrance - as I was to see for myself later, when we left that way. What a queue.. of the hour and a half we spent in Winter Wonderland, we'd probably have spent most of that time waiting, in a queue that size.

Speaking of entrances - what an excellent idea Winter Wonderland had, to use What 3 Words to help people to locate the entrances! Google Maps couldn't find the entrance exactly - but What 3 Words has mapped the entire world, using a random combination of three words to describe each 3-square-metre patch. So you can be that precise! Oh, and the app will tell you what the three words are for where you are at the moment - and then asks whether you want directions in Google Maps! and off you go. So, Winter Wonderland provided the three-word combination for each of the entrances, and you just look those up in the What 3 Words app, and click through from there for directions in Google Maps. Location has never been so easy - it basically eliminates the need to know coordinates!

Pity they didn't give the What 3 Words location for each of the attractions! We had the usual fun trying to find the ice kingdom - which I see actually has a castle frontage this year! The theme is that a wicked witch has turned the queen to a block of ice, and the king has to come and rescue her, with the help of some faithful subjects. The carvings are as impressive as ever - just watch out for the odd lump of snow falling from the frozen condensation on the roof!

The poor attendants were mithered telling people not to touch the ice - a major problem was kids patting this dog's bottom!

I think the witch's castle is guarded by a bear, which has to be defeated:

Battle is duly joined:

And you actually end up walking through a castle wall made of ice! Most impressive - there's an optional ice slide for kids, too.

Finally, the king and queen make good their escape:

And as well as the usual ice benches to sit on (brr!), this time, they have a carriage!

As usual, well worth a look - I've omitted lots of small details here. Wrap up, though - I think they keep it at -10c.

Now, the last couple of times I was at Winter Wonderland, they had the "boozy" hot chocolate at the exit to the ice display. Not this time - but we did have some lovely churros and doughnuts! We duly came across the "boozy" hot chocolate just across from the Apres-Ski Funhouse. I have to say though, I can't recommend the "Jameson orange" option - it's rather sickly. They used a different orange shot in previous years..

We found the Haunted Mansion interesting enough for a photo stop:

Very Christmassy toilets they have:

Many unisex:

Some nostalgic art on sale:

Winter Wonderland runs till the 2nd of January. Well, after we'd schlepped around the markets, we were ready for a sit-down and some food. So off we hied to Henry's, a moderate walk away - thanks, Laurence, for introducing me to it! Never really busy - I think passers-by think it's more expensive than it is. We were seated without problem - unfortunately, we ate enough that we were absolutely stuffed! We also bonded with our server over her love of cats.. Happily, we had plenty of time before our bus tour, and wandered our way slowly up there afterwards.

As we started, at 4.30, it was just getting nicely dark. We sat upstairs of course - and the promised rain mostly held off. I didn't envy the next tour, though! It rained more heavily later.. Oh, and we could all take a free Toot Bus Santa hat!

Down Oxford Street, we actually spent most of our time window-shopping! which was just fine with us. For all that they keep mentioning two branches of M&S, two branches of Primark - I counted at least four branches of Zara along its length! And the traffic was dreadful - which suited us just fine, as they had to drop us back (roughly) where we started. So we got an extra-long tour! I have to say, too, that guide - whose patter never failed for the whole tour - had something to say about absolutely every place the bus paused! Every building we passed. Well done, that man.

The crowds - well, the crowds were as bad as they are here every weekend..

Some buildings were decorated with particular care - Fortnum & Mason's frontage was made to look like an Advent calendar:

And I thought Waterstone's was sweet:

That done, Helen had time to head for a hot chocolate - I checked out the nearest Caffe Nero, and we were lucky enough to get a table in what was a very busy cafe. And she was lucky enough to get the last of their new chocolate and hazelnut choux-nuts (like doughnuts, but with choux pastry - as she remarked, more like a profiterole). And I love their luxury hot chocolate - they do know what they're doing. And we had a lovely couple of pieces of gianduja, which they always keep by the till. Unfortunately, after that, her luck ran out - she'd left her (new) phone on the table while she ran to the loo, and there was a beggar, with a board, doing the rounds of the tables. With hindsight, of course, I'd have done something differently - but as it was, she used her board as a cover to lift the phone. Bummer, not a good end to the day. Well, 'tis the season for opportunistic thievery.. Be careful out there.

Ah well, despite that, it was good to see her! With her planning a move to the other end of the country in the New Year, these meetings will become less frequent..

Tomorrow, I'm back with Discover London, for a walk entitled Secrets of the Riverside Part 1: Tower Bridge to London Bridge. These events are good - I'm delighted to be back on one! And I see this one is now booked up. So I really need to get to bed soon!

The next two days, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) - for some reason, I only just saw their advertised trip, on Monday, to see Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel, at the Arts Theatre. Awesome! This should be good - title decided by the audience on the night.

On Tuesday, we're back at the Park Theatre for the Make Mine a Double series - next week, it's Press, which examines the world of journalism, and Tunnels, about two cousins hoping to escape East Berlin. So, darker than last week's.

On Wednesday.. same problem as last Wednesday. Until just yesterday, when the London Classical Music and Theatre Group advertised a London Philharmonic Orchestra concert at the Royal Festival Hall for that day! And wouldn't you know it, there's a Black Friday discount until the end of Monday if you book on the LPO website with the code BLACKFRIDAY. As I'd only just seen! ;-) So now I'm going to that.

On Thursday - well, my contract has been extended, and the new company is busy with a background check, and hasn't yet given me a start date. Which is just fine, as I only have to give a week's notice. I booked an online talk, The Life and Times of Magnus Folk, from the Surrey History Meetup. One of the earliest electrical engineers in England, it seems. Anyway, it's free, and I've now cancelled - I found something more interesting while I was waiting for the play on Thursday night. The Arabic Music, Dance and Party Meetup Group are advertising an evening at the Bethlehem Cultural Festival - tickets from Eventbrite - in which there's a talk about 19th century travellers, as well as discussion of a forthcoming book, and a talk from a female artist in Gaza. Not that the group is advertising it, but there's also an Arab dance after, and another talk - you can go to some, or all. Happening in The Tabernacle. So, I booked a ticket - stopped short of joining the group though - we shall see.

Then back to Ireland for the weekend again - flying Aer Lingus for a change! My passport is due to expire, you see - I don't technically need one to travel between Ireland and the UK, but Ryanair demands it. Aer Lingus doesn't.. I've finally gotten around to starting the online renewal process. Fingers crossed it goes quickly..

On the 5th - yep, the London Chess Community again looked like the best option. Hmm. But just lately - hallelujah! I was saved by London Social & Cultural Meetups, who have scheduled a talk on The 70th Anniversary of the Great London Smog. (Although oddly, we're meeting outside - perhaps the venue is hard to find?) Anyway, I'm delighted - this is that friendly group I joined a while ago for Evensong at St. Bartholomew the Great, and I'm glad to be seeing them again.

On the 6th, well, Free Stuff and Free Events are holding another online singalong. Again, I cancelled my attendance at the last of these I booked for, so was reluctant to rush off and book again.. Or the Garden Talks have one on How Did Language Begin? Unfortunately, my free trial has long since expired, and they won't let me take out another. Well, I might have paid - but I'd be paying for a month's worth, so I figured I might as well wait until closer to the date, and get the value.. And yay, just today UITCS jumped to the rescue again, with a comedy called Dinner with Groucho, at the Arcola. The setting is a dinner, somewhere in heaven, with Groucho Marks and T. S. Eliot the guests.. best available seats for £15 with the code FRANK15, until Friday.

On the 7th, I'm back with UITCS for Baghdaddy at the Royal Court. About a little girl, realising she's half Iraqi, just as the Gulf War is raging. I see CT now has tickets for this.. unusually for this venue!

On the 8th, I've signed up for another Watkin's Bookshop talk! This is Colin Stanley on Colin Wilson's Introducing the Occult. Well, the last talk I was at here was interesting, so..

On the 9th, I'm heading to Lightopia, at Crystal Palace Park. As suggested by Over 40 Living the Life, who are not actually hosting a trip themselves, but just wanted to advertise it. 15% discount if you subscribe to Lightopia's mailing list, 20% discount for purchases of 10 or more tickets. And durnit if Groupon hsn't just advertised cheap tickets..

On the 10th - I've bravely scheduled another meeting of Those who Do Not Come. It's my last weekend in London before Christmas, you see. Well, so far Ivan and my first boss in London are probable attendees, the one person who came the last two times probably not, for once. We shall see - I've booked The Lucas Arms - O' Neill's isn't taking bookings for that day. Deposit payable, refundable with cancellation up to 72 hours beforehand.

And on the 11th, I'm vaguely thinking of heading to see Carnaby Street's Christmas lights..

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.