Saturday 10 Jan
We had a plan for the day. We would start by taking public transport to Pimlico in order to visit Tate Britain and the Turner & Constable exhibition. Our next stop would be the 64 Goodge Street restaurant, followed by a visit to Heals to check furniture. Finally we would watch the film Hamnet at the Carson Bloomsbury.
Harlow-on-the-Hill
Transport woes began at Pinner when they announced that the next southbound train wouldn’t arrive for at least 25 minutes.
Maggi an I decided that we would take the bus to Harrow and hope to catch a train coming down the Uxbridge line. We arrived at Harrow station where we waited. A train arrived after 15 minutes and we boarded. We sat there for another 19 minutes until informed that the train didn’t have a driver.
Out we got from the train on platform 1 and waited for the train to arrive on platform 2, which happened a few minutes later. We boarded again and sat down. After another 19 minutes the announcement over the tannoy revealed that this train didn’t have a driver and that the driver for the train on platform 1 would be there soon.
Up we rose and returned to the train waiting on platform 1. By this time the number of people waiting to travel south had increased fourfold so the train resembled a home for sardines. After another wait we set off on our journey.
Plans change
All these delays meant that we couldn’t possibly cram all the planned activities into the new time allotted. We decided to miss out on the Turner & Constable at Tate and ended up exiting at Baker Street.
We had a quick coffee and moved onto a tour of Heals. I hadn’t realised that the had shrunk since I last had a look round. I expect they have lost 30% of the previous floor area. We looked, opened, measured and thought about various sideboards. While one unit seemed ok, it failed to convince me we should change our current arrangement.
64 Goodge St
Once we had finished our time at Heals we made the short walk to 64 Goodge St where we had booked for lunch. We had eaten here once before with Sue and Jeremy. I think both MAggi and I had left a little disappointed by the quality. It meant we entered with certain amount of trepidation. Would we be paying for an overpriced average meal.
The menu isn’t cheap but we both agreed that we had an excellent meal and both enjoyed both the food and the relaxed service. We had a nice starter then I followed on with John Dory, spinach and a Vaubavan sauce. I looked up the name of the sauce and found it listed as a mild French curry sauce. This sounded excellent and just the flavour I relish. The dish didn’t disappoint.
Having finished everything on the plate, a starter and amuse bouche I didn’t need a big dessert. I settled for the creme brûlée. Again the dish was first class.
It’s fairly rare that I enjoy everything about a meal, but in this case all worked out so well that I left the restaurant in a very cheerful mood.
Haircut
We left the restaurant and had a look at another furniture shop but that proved a waste of time. We then decided to buy bread from Miel in Warren Street. Maggi then suggested I have a haircut and I agreed, which I think surprised her. We made our way to Maggi’s hairdresser. A warm welcome from the proprietor and I was quickly sat with my head in the basin and a young girl massaging my head.
Maggi had continued her quest for bread and returned to the shop when Debbie started to cut my hair. She looked on making sure all passed off well. I was pleased with Debbie’s work and Maggi had found a loaf for tomorrow’s breakfast.
Hamnet
Next stop The Curzon in Brunswick Square, a small but comfortable cinema. Maggi had booked two seats for Hamnet, highly recommended by all the critics and just about to be awarded the Golden Globe Best Picture.
Jesse Buckley who plays Agnes (Anne) Hathaway stars, a very convincing performance, while Paul Mescal as Shakespeare was unconvincing. I felt no sympathy for the characters as they threw their emotional tantrums around.
Do critics huddle together after a screening and agree on a joint verdict about a film.
Before sitting in my seat I felt worried that I would waste my time watching this movie. I’m not sure whether that influenced my judgement, but whether I had prejudged it or it will go down in history as the worst Golden Globes winner I don’t know.