London footy trip (with some music thrown in for good measure)

Our footy trip to London was spoiled a little by the premature and unnecessary postponement of the West Ham - Wolves match on Sunday, but at least this gave us a chance of some cultural and musical diversions. First stop was the National Portrait Gallery (http://www.npg.org.uk/), just behind Trafalgar Square, where there was an exhibition on:

I had wanted to go and see this and, we now had plenty of time to fit it in. It was pretty good - although perhaps you have to be an old f**t like me to fully appreciate it. Lots of great old photos and some original album covers, souvenirs and old magazine covers. We all thought that there should have been a background of loud 60's music, but it was all very discreet and low volume.

From there, we walked to Covent Garden, took in some of the sights, including the usual street entertainers:

We went for lunch to the Porterhouse brewpub (http://www.porterhousebrewco.com/coventgarden.html). This is a sister pub to the one in Dublin that we visited years ago - lots of little nooks and crannies - super place. Here's Dave and I waiting for our lunch with a couple of pints (Oyster Stout and Sierra Nevada on draught if you must know):

After lunch it was off to the movies to see the brand new Ian Dury biopic, Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll (http://www.sex-drugs-rock-roll-thefilm.com/). There was music in it - and lots of swearing - but, a bit like the John Lennon film, Nowhere Boy, that I saw on Boxing Day, it was largely about his relationship with his son, with flashbacks to his childhood. There wasn't anything at all about his life from his teens until his mid thirties, when he decided to pursue a career in music.


Happy headbanging!

Ian