Zelinsky

Ten days ago off to the Wigmore Hall to hear the Zelinsky Quartet. Smetana No.1 and Beethoven Op.59 No.3. A quartet which we had heard at least once previously, a couple of years ago, as noticed at reference 1. The quartet themselves are to be found at reference 2.

An overcast, damp and mild day. But we took a chance on rain as, for most of the day at least, we would be in easy reach of cover.

On the platform at Epsom, confused on the platform by a tall tree standing out on the northern horizon, quite possibly a Wellingtonia. While the compass in Ordnance Survey on my telephone was recording 156 degrees. A confusion which pre-dated the investigations noticed at reference 3. It will be a challenge to try and find the tree in question on the ground.

Onto Olle & Steen, where I got the bun for BH right, that is to say the bun of the day, almond slice, but I got the coffee wrong. The barista had trouble understanding me and I thought it easier to settle for Americano with cold milk than decaff with cold milk. Wrong again!

Hall pretty full. I have enjoyed the Smetana in the past, but on this occasion I found it good it parts - but parts which, somehow, did not seem to hold together, at least not for me, not on this occasion. That said, the first one I turn up from the archive, reference 4, seems to have been a similar experience. But Beethoven was very good.

Decided that Waterloo was the place for lunch, more particularly the Polish Kitchen noticed at reference 5. An opportunity to offer BH the Sidings experience. So down into what was the Eurostar part of Waterloo, past the giant Wetherspoons - which looked pretty busy with people at late Sunday lunches, through the graffiti tunnel and so into the Polish Kitchen. Once again, plenty of cheerful young staff, some of them at least probably Polish, quite a few customers of all ages and the music was not too loud, which was a bonus.

There has been a fashion in the sort of restaurants we use to serve the cutlery in recycled tins, often tins which once held tomatoes or baked beans. I was not sure about the one snapped above, which seemed to be far too solidly made to be a container of that sort. Was it faking it? I almost scored it as a fake, but in the end decided against.

Kielbasa and black pudding pierogi to start, half boiled, half fried, with some salad on the side. Rather good and more filling than they looked. Fried front.

Bigos with bread on the side for the main course. Substantial and decent - but one felt it had been cooked for quite a long time, possibly quite a long time ago. I associate to the way that the sort of soups that I make deteriorate overnight; never as good the second day as the first. But the bread was surprisingly good.

Plus some of their fine bottled beer, half a litre of Perła, as before.

BH was impressed that they appeared to make their own cakes for dessert, but we were too full to try the apple slice, tempting though it looked.

Home the other way, that is to say taking the graffiti tunnel all the way underneath the station, coming out on the taxi ramp which leads to the side entrance to the top of Platform 1. To be amused on the way by two small girls, sisters, busily playing dens, standing up underneath a coat. Anything to get away from nosy parents.

Raynes Park Platform Library appeared to have been restocked, but the waiting room was locked, so we did not get to check out the new stock.

While on the train to Epsom, I wondered about the size of the food box the bicycle delivery man on the train was carrying on his back. Awkward, to say the least of it. But I know from experience that fitting a big box onto the bicycle itself is a bit awkward too. Be alright if that had been a requirement from the outset.

PS: I have been reminded today, that various parts of the record of my health are held in various different places in various different systems. There is a fair amount of overlap and quite possibly a fair amount of error, error in the sense that there is one story in one place and a slightly different story in another. Just like the records of criminals in the criminal justice system in the my days at the rather short-lived outfit called CJIT - which had the added complication that criminals are mixed up with each other in a way that patients usually are not. According to Bing, the abbreviation has been recycled and now stands for 'Criminal Justice Intervention Team' rather than 'Criminal Justice Information Technology'. Something to do with the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, itself part of the the Department of Health and Social Care. Perhaps the Cabinet Office run an internal market for initials.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/10/zemlinsky.html.

Reference 2: http://www.zemlinskyquartet.cz/.

Reference 3: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/11/compass-pain.html.

Reference 4: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/11/beethoven-and-others.html.

Reference 5: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/11/keeping-trim.html.

Reference 6: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/11/pianos-92-93-and-94.html. It was also a good day for pianos.