Walk: Quirky London

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!

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:

and this is the only Nazi grave in London, you could say - that of the ambassador's dog!

We finished up at the oldest wine merchant in London:

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 28th, I've booked for Phaedra, at the National.

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..

Platinum Jubilee Royal Walk

Today, Crick Crack scheduled an interesting event - Japanese ghost stories, the event was called The Game of Candles, with each story represented by a lit candle, blown out when the story is completed. Was taking place at the British Museum, Tim Ralphs and Sarah-Liisa Wilkinson performing. Sold out quickly - they were only doing half capacity.

Except - on Friday morning, the museum sent word that it was cancelled, and to contact them for a refund! Nuts, I was really looking forward to that (as was someone I'd told, from the London European Club). They are running it again, but not in London - although they are livestreaming it, but wouldn't you know it, it's the same night as another show! Rats.

So, instead, I booked another guided walk - this was the Platinum Jubilee Royal Walk, with London Walks, Art & Culture Explorers! Wasn't expecting this one to be as sociable, but it promised to be fairly interesting - all about the Queen, on what is her actual Platinum Jubilee! So, taking place pretty near where we were yesterday. It was supposed to rain all night and in the morning, but that was supposed to have stopped by the time of the walk, which started a bit later than yesterday's. Tickets through Eventbrite.

Arrived in plenty of time again - the directions given to us were excellent, and needed to be, as Google Maps gets rather confused when you start talking about Diana fountains! (which is where we were to meet). There are plenty, you see - and this one isn't even related to the Diana that first springs to mind! No, this Diana is the mythological goddess of hunting. And the statue is just at the Green Park exit from Green Park Station - you can't miss it, it's at the top of the ramp.

I, of course, got a combination of buses there - using the station as my destination, for the purposes of Google Maps. Arrived early, and occupied myself in the meantime with a packet of crisps from the kiosk - had to trot up the path a bit for a bin, though. And when the guide arrived - yes, it was the guy I had for the Uncomfortable Statues walk: and he remembered me, too! which was nice.

After a bit of preamble, we set off across the park towards Buckingham Palace. Now, the rain did indeed hold off - but there was an absolutely punishing wind! Down at the palace, we had to stand around the opposite side from where he normally goes - the other side was full of camera crews, presumably doing pieces about the jubilee!

As usual, I caught him in a few inaccuracies - after all, this is kind of my specialist subject - but what the hey, he had plenty of interesting facts for us too. For instance, I never knew much about St. James' Palace - but it turns out that this became the court after (most of) Whitehall Palace burnt down, and is where the new monarch is officially proclaimed! and, of course, some royal relatives have apartments here:

Across the road is Marlborough House, where Queen Mary stayed after she was widowed:

All in all, I found it a fascinating walk, with some lovely personal reminiscences from him of his royal memories over the years - and there was great interest among the few others on the walk, and a lot of questions in particular from the German lady. Quite a scenic part of London too.. if only we hadn't had that awful wind!

And at least this time there was no pretence of going to the pub afterwards - because we didn't. We finished on Whitehall - passing a very interesting demonstration outside No. 10! (They were serving an eviction notice..) And we got to see the Cenotaph, and where the members of the Royal Family stand who are not actively participating in the ceremony. Cool, always wondered about that! But the coolest news of the day for me was hearing that the Queen yesterday publicly expressed her wish that, when Charles becomes King, his wife, Camilla, become Queen. Quite right, too.

We finished just up from the Horse Guards.. and the four-legged parts of that team were being showered with attention!

Well, my intention was to have a late lunch - so, off I went again to Prezzo. Where I had little trouble getting a table, service came - as usual - with a smile, and I was quickly served. My God, it was good to get in out of the wind! I did wonder why my face got so hot so quickly - until I noticed I was right across from the wood fire, which was blazing up nicely. Anyway, the sit down, in the warm, and a feed were exactly what I needed. Last time I was here, I had the chicken with mushroom, and found the chicken tough - so I avoided it this time, and had the carbonara, with chicken and topped with parmesan. Ab-so-lute-ly gorgeous! The sauvignon blanc was divine, and not having had a starter, I had plenty of room for dessert - I can now fully recommend the delectable chocolate fudge cake. I was fully rested by the time I headed home.

Tomorrow - another interesting talk by The Garden Talks. This one is What Conditions Create Witch Hunts? Have to say, Meetup seems to have awoken from the doldrums..!

Uncomfortable Statues Walk

For today, I found something interesting with London Walks, Art & Culture Explorers! Yet another new one for me. This was an "Uncomfortable Statues Walk" - statues commemorating controversial people. I could think of a few, and it'd be interesting to see which came up on this! Another early start though, damnit. Still, it was an early night last night.

Sleep wasn't an issue - getting my phone charged enough was, what with the trouble I've been having of late, activating fast charging. Anyway, with the charge nearly up to 50% again, I said I'd better go. Arrived at Trafalgar Square in good time - certainly, I had less far to travel than yesterday! Now, Trafalgar Square is large - but we'd been told to meet in front of the statue of James II. You what?! I had to Google it.

On the way, I noticed busking circles - new to me, since I was here last!

First controversial statue I saw had nothing to do with the walk - the current offering on the fourth plinth - where statues are regularly replaced - is, apparently, a reflection on surveillance in modern society:

A drone and a fly, on a cream topping with a cherry on top. Hmm.

Back to King Jimmy. Well, aside from his dubious taste in having himself portrayed as a Roman General (!), the source of the controversy surrounding him was that he apparently set up a slave-trading organisation. And thus began a long couple of hours of outing people as being slave-owners, or racists, or having made racist remarks. All this seems to have come to the fore primarily as a result of the Black Lives Matter movement. All well and good. Except that, scratch the surface of anyone that lived a while ago, and you might well come across something similar.

The next statue was of George Washington (slave-owner) at the other side of the square. And so on to Nelson's column - the statue of him in Dublin was blown up by the I.R.A. (probably) in the 60s, you know. The column is so high that you can't see the statue from where we were standing, at the base - instead, we saw a relief that depicts his death, with a person with African features at the left-hand side: probably one of the slaves who, if they escaped slavery in America, were offered freedom if they fought for the British.

Captain Cook had a suitably pompous stance, we agreed:

(Well, how else are you going to look in your statue, I guess?) He, of course, was guilty of invading far-flung places and bothering the locals.

Taking the biscuit, though, had to be Clive of India:

An embezzler, who got off because he was also a brave soldier, when he killed himself he wasn't popular, the idea of a statue to him over a century later was wildly unpopular. You'd have to wonder, not only how it got built at all, but also how such an in-your-face statue was permitted to be built, and is still standing there. Really, quite odd. A monument to rampant capitalism, perhaps?

And so to Parliament Square, home of many controversial statues. (As a couple of us remarked, it can't have been by accident that Margaret Thatcher's statue was located indoors.) We started with Churchill, a man of many contradictions - again, he held many ideas that we would consider racist, but hey, he was great during the war.. other contentious statues included Gandhi (who made racist remarks in his youth, which he later retracted) and Mandela, who, as everyone knows, was a member of the ANC, considered a terrorist organisation. As they say, one man's terrorist, another man's freedom fighter.. Speaking of terrorists, we ended with Oliver Cromwell, who ranks right there with Satan in the Irish consciousness, courtesy of his vicious campaign in Ireland in the 17th century. So, the Irish got the last word..

Our guide had obviously done a lot of research - he'd brought enough notes. Perhaps too many - perhaps he's not yet fully experienced, despite his guiding qualification. My one major quibble though was how softly spoken he was - not the best quality in a guide, particularly when we were trying to hear him in crowded, busy squares, with traffic, aeroplanes.. a mic would have served him well. Oh, and what were they doing, advertising a pub social afterwards for a Meetup that was obviously just advertising a commercial venture? Naturally enough, no pub was mentioned on the walk, and afterwards, we all just dispersed. Also the first guided walk I can remember where nobody applauded at the end.. neither did I feel inspired to do so.

I needed food again. What was around there didn't look too promising, so I headed back to Trafalgar Square, which isn't that far. Saw a Prezzo on Northumberland Avenue, and said I'd give it a go. Wow, am I glad I did: was quickly seated, and despite being warned that they were understaffed, so I might have to wait a bit - why, I honestly have never had such quick service!

Had garlic bread again - delicious, and this time just the right size! Followed, at a respectable interval, by spaghetti carbonara, with optional chicken, and optional sprinkling of cheese. Gorgeous, and accompanied by two glasses of wine - because. Dessert was a delectable chocolate fudge cake. My server had an eye on me the whole time, and I almost never had to wait. And I practically floated home. Yum.. 

Tomorrow, 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 Tuesday, 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. And that'll be a night I can move stuff from my desk - we have to clear them out by the end of the week, as we're moving office next month!

On Wednesday, I booked another walk with Invigorate - this one is a tour of (the outside of) Christopher Wren's churches. Starting even closer to the office than the last one, handily. Rain is forecast - I hope it doesn't get too bad.

On Thursday, an online storytelling double-bill - I'll have to see how that pans out. First, I'd booked Universe, a Crick Crack Club (CCC) 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 from the CCC was doing an online show, earlier in the evening.. this one, in association with Watkins Bookshop, is called The Smoke Hole, and it's free. So I said, hey, why not? (And this is realistically the last night I can move stuff from my desk.)

On Friday, back with the London European Club for a concert - Balkan Music, courtesy of Raka & Balamuc, in The Post Bar, Tottenham. Sounds like fun. Even if I have to bring my work laptop, as we won't have access to our desks by that night. Then I'm back to Ireland - another Saturday flight - and with a few days off, I'm not flying back until the 28th. At least I'm not working from home this time, so don't have to bring the laptop on the flight!

But on the 29th, back with that group again, for Carmen - contemporary flamenco at The Place. (Might work from home that day, as we won't be in our new office yet, and I'd have to carry my laptop around with me.) 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 Night Owl - changed from Scared to Death in the Woods, which they're now doing on Hallowe'en itself, and which has sold out. 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! Now I just need batteries..