Best of Luck (24 January)

Apparently it snowed in London overnight (“Inch of snow causes chaos” was the predictable Evening Standard headline), but the only evidence of it in our neighbourhood was a light dusting that had disappeared by midday. In honour of the continuing cold weather, Bob and I decided to eschew our windy, open destinations of late and check out a few “charity shops,” as thrift stores are known here, between Clapham Common and Wandsworth, in southwest London. Although we didn’t find that elusive chest of drawers that we’re still casually looking for, we did find good buys on some small items and discovered that the area centred on Northcote Road makes for an enjoyable stroll—plenty of foodie shops, restaurants and cafés, a mixture of high-street, independent, and charity shops, and a generally interesting atmosphere. There’s even a street market during which we’ll have to time our next visit. Of course, strolling brings on a need for sustenance, so we stopped at a place with an immensely cute name:

Although we didn’t have their eponymous soft-boiled egg and strips of toast for dipping into the runny yolk, we thoroughly enjoyed our lattés and cookies. We didn’t linger for too long, since we thought we might be running late for our evening activities, so we jumped on a bus heading north across the Thames just in time to see the beautiful sunset.

Our bus actually ended up getting us close to our destination very quickly, so we got off a bit early and wandered through Shepherd Market, a quaint area of winding streets with lovely shops. Around one corner, I noticed a shop that’s long been on my list of places to visit:

We were tempted by everything, but settled for what we usually do when we find a great chocolate shop but aren’t in the mood to spend, spend, spend: we each chose one house chocolate to try—Bob had a dark chocolate truffle and I had a pear ganache. Delicious. And as a nice bonus, there was a dish of samples by the door, so we also each had a dark chocolate nut cluster, which was like getting two chocolates for the price of one. But back on track, we arrived at the Nehru Institute, just off Grosvenor Square, in time to snag good seats for a free talk by film director Ken Loach. Here he is, on the right:
Although we were only familiar with his most recent film, the heartbreakingly wonderful The Wind that Shakes the Barley, Loach’s comments and the accompanying clips from films spanning his forty-year career were fascinating and definitely gave numerous insights into his work. After the talk, there was a reception

at which Bob felt compelled to say something to Loach in response to the latter mentioning during his talk that he had started out, long ago, as a supply teacher. “I just wanted to say that I’ve just started as a London supply teacher and you’ve given me hope,” Bob remarked to the guest of honour, who replied, “Oh well, yes, thank you. It was hard work then; I imagine it’s BLOODY hard work these days. Best of luck!” Now it’s not every day that a Cannes Palme d’Or winner wishes you luck, so suitably heartened, we stepped out into the cold night to head toward home, pick up some groceries, make a late dinner, and get ready for another day in this crazy, ramshackle expanse of a city.