Busy weekend

This was the weekend of Jane and Wes's wedding, so it's been a busy but fun weekend.

Friday consisted of travelling down to Maidstone in Kent through London with Andy, Rob, Em and Rob's Mum. Things looked like they were going wrong when we got to Crewe and our train was cancelled. After a couple of minutes of confusion, we found ourselves on a different train that went to London but stopped a lot more than the one we should have travelled on. This slight problem was offset by the fact the train was brand new, quiet, comfortable and almost completely empty, so we had loads of space to lie around. After making our way through the Underground to the Maidstone train, we arrived at the hotel at about the same time as Ed, Will and Kat who had driven down. While the familes of the bride and groom had a meal, we set off to a place called the White Rabbit which was recommended for food. It was decent too.

The hotel was really pretty nice, even if as Kat said, it started out looking palacial, but as you went further in, it became more and more like a Travelodge. However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, and the rooms were fine.

Saturday morning consisted of a stroll in the frozen fields near the hotel, before heading into town in search of lunch and alcohol, to sustain us before the wedding lunch. After that it was time to get into decent clothes and attend the wedding. The ceremony itself was reasonably straightforward. I always think it works better when it's not in a church as it's more about the couple and the commitment they are making instead of the guff about it being God's special thing.

The meal was held shortly afterward which was excellent. Everyone was on film themed tables and it just all worked out really well. The food was very tasty and the speeches proceeded with the usual mix of hilarity and seriousness. After that was the evening disco which was the usual arrangement, with the added bonus of a dancing Stormtrooper. The day was basically spot on from beginning to end and everyone had a great time, especially the bride and groom.

This place had a rather early checkout time of 10:00am so after breakfast we got a train to London and headed to the Travelodge there, parting ways with Rob and his Mum on the Underground at King's Cross. We had to pay £10 to check in early to leave our bags in one of the rooms, but it was worth it to be able to get back out into the city without them. The evening then consisted of a wander round the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, a big meal at Belgos (with plenty of schnapps) and then another wander round Regent Street and Soho. While everything was closed, it was nice to see the streets without the usual hordes of people. We had intended to go on the Eye but it was closed for maintenance. Bah. That's about the fourth time I've been to London and not gone on it.

We spent today having a look at the Apple and Nokia stores, followed by a tour of Hamley's. The last time I went in there was when I was about 10, and it's not really changed. After that we had a look at St Paul's Cathedral, which I have to admit was very impressive. We walked up to the top which was a bit of a workout, and had a look from the gallery at the bottom of the dome. It was rather wet and cold though so we didn't stay up there long. This was followed by another wander across the Millenium Bridge to a tube station and back up to Euston to get the train home.

So I'm now exceptionally tired after all that walking and travelling, but at least the train journey was quick. There was a slight delay due to a signal failure but it only added 15 minutes to the journey.