view
Last weekend I saw old places in a different light.
Just when I thought that Old Compton Street (the heart of London's Queerville) held no more secrets for me, I enjoyed a very pleasant meal at Café España last Friday night. The five pitchers of sangria helped, as did the excellent company and the very reasonable price.
On Saturday afternoon I tried one of my gym's many clubs for the first time (the one tucked away behind Liberty's in Central London. I was surprised to see how cruisy it was on a Saturday afternoon; I do not dare to think what it might be like during the night (it is open 24 hours a day). Alright, it was cruisier than most other gyms, and I mean not only in the steam room. People stared at me and I was chatted up twice. Must go back, perhaps after a proper workout at a shabby straight-frequented council community gym. Abs-and-pecs-olutely, as Jack McFarland (who else?) says in a recent (for UK terrestrial TV) episode of Will & Grace.
Saturday was the opening of an established night (D.N.A.*) at a different venue (Fire*). Though not packed as it could have been (or perhaps just because of that), it worked quite well, and I finally got to appreciate the much-praised venue, until then overpowered by hordes of people at A:M*. The only problem was a very tired Dr B., filled with so much Red Bull to manage to stay out until 3am (hurray!) before admitting defeat and going home, at which point he was wired with so much caffeine that he could not sleep.
On Sunday we would have seen more familiar places (London landmarks, to be precise) in a different light (Open House weekend) - had I not gone to Beyond* after D.N.A.*, danced until mid-morning and then chilled out (read: "crashed out indecorously before having a chance to let Dr B. know where I was" - sorry!) somewhere in Brixton until 5pm.
Next weekend will not score so high on the gay-o-meter: a proper sit-down very straight birthday meal in Windsor on Saturday (not who you think), followed by a ramble through nature (Box Hill or Epping Forest) on Sunday (although there are chances that the ramble through nature might be very predictably limited to the grassy knoll behind the RVT*).
*Sorry, cannot be arsed to look for websites. You may find all these venues listed in Boyz.