How much can you actually fit into a single weekend ...

A couple of weeks back I went to the airport early on Friday morning to pick up some friends who were arriving for a visit from the US.  It was Denise's first time in the UK and as she was only here for 4 days we had a LOT to see and do so there was no time to waste. 

We left the airport during the morning rush hour so I avoided the motorway, making my way home cross country instead and took a slight detour across the River Thames to point out Hampton Court Palace.

Arriving back at my place there was just enough time for a crossaint, a cup of tea (well D had a coffee, because as much as we tried we could not turn her onto tea drinking), a power nap and then we were off again.  It was time to meet friends in the pub for lunch.

On the way to the pub we drove down some country lanes, apparently things are a little smaller over here which makes being a passenger in a car a tad scary ... warning .... i have been told that the video can cause travel sickness, Denise's reaction and commentary is hilarious, and I wasn't even driving that fast. 

After lunch we did a spot of underwear shopping ... good old M & S ... Princes Diana used to shop here back in the day ...

Home once more with just enough time to change before heading into the city to meet up with some of the UK listeners of Denise and Donna's Internet Radio Show.

Arriving at Victoria station we hopped into a Black Taxi

Drove along the side and front of Buckingham Palace

 

Around Trafalgar Square



We told the cabby to stop just past these



And soon settled into our venue for the evening

Can I call myself a 'regular' here yet, I have been three times now. We had fun hanging out with old friends, new friends and random strangers ... before heading off to catch the last Tube home.

I am seriously impressed with my visitors, over 40 hours with no sleep, they finally staggered off to bed around 2am, adrenaline is amazing ...

On Saturday we had decided to spend the day in London so found ourselves on the train back in, this time to London Bridge station

Past views like this one of Tower Bridge, my second favourite London attraction

Our first stop was a trip around Madame Tussauds, advanced booked tickets meant we were fast tracked through the queues and went straight in were we got to be photographed with the waxy versions of the worlds rich and famous.

We stopped for a great lunch at the First Out Cafe, which was a place Denise had featured on her show when she was looking for places for me to try out ... 

Next up, my most favourite place of all, the London Eye 

Where we got into a pod ...

and got to see fantastic views across London. 

I love seeing the city through the eyes of someone new, it makes me realise just how lucky I am to live so close.

Time was soon against us and before long we were racing home again to get changed only to head back into town to meet up with some of my friends for dinner.

Our Dinner destination was the OXO tower, and yes, it is an old converted warehouse.

But look at the view you get, and the food and service are exceptional and we had fun with my friends, an evening of cheeky banter.

I had pre-booked a cab home so we left around 11:30 though we could have easily stayed on much longer.

On Sunday, I needed a day without deadlines and so whilst we had plans to head to the coast to Brighton, they were pretty relaxed by way of time, we thought we'd leave around 10:30, we set off closer to noon ...

First stop of the day ...

I am pretty sure Denise was not expecting a beach without sand

 

After meeting our friends we wandered in search of lunch

We had been promising Denise Fish and Chips since before she arrived, and both places I wanted to take her are closed on a Sunday but we soon found a pub where the main menu item promised to deliver what we were looking for. They did a pretty good job.  

We were joined by another fan of the radio show, who had literally just flown in from Australia and jumped straight on the train.

 

After lunch we wandered around for a while, checking out St James Street before heading to the pier.

 

Wandering through the arcade, we played a few machines, a few of the carnival games, shopped a little and before we knew it the day had passed quickly by.

On our way home we drove through the countryside, first passing through Devil's Dyke

and the many little villages of typically English countryside. We ended the day having Italian food in a restaurant close to my place.

All too soon the weekend was over and it was time to drop Denise at the airport

I am really happy to know she already has plans to come back in a few months ... bring on the party!!