Last year was a big birthday for me. The big 40 shhhh! So I wanted to do something special with my partner. We always do lots of family days and activities but don’t have so much time for just the two of us. I really wanted a night away. A whole 24 hours where we weren’t on any set schedule and could actually have a conversation without getting interrupted a million times. I swear sometimes I never finish a whole sentence!

We planned to go away a little after my birthday as July is school holiday time so when they were back in school would be better for childcare. The 2 bigs were going to be with their mum and the 2 littles were going to be with my parents. September was looking likely. Coincidentally the hubster found there was. DC exhibition going on in the O2 arena London at the beginning of September. Did I mention we were geeks?

So the hubster got to work booking the hotel and bus tickets. We were super excited. Mostly just to have some time alone together. Because I didn’t want to take advantage of my parents we arranged to get a bus at 2.30am to London. That way we would have a whole day and a half there without leaving the children with my parents too long.

The day arrived. We put the children to bed at my parents then went home to finish getting ready and get a couple of hours shut eye before my dad came to take us to the bus stop. I was so excited I could hardly sleep. We got up and my dad came and dropped us off at the bus stop. Bit strange we thought that we were only ones there. My Spidey senses were tingling, I had a feeling something wasn’t quite right. Half 2 came and went but no bus. We checked the web page and realised that the location they stated was not clear and we were in the wrong place. We contacted the company and explained but they were less than helpful so the only thing we could do is book tickets for the next bus or not go at all.

So there we were at 3am, a good 30min walk from the bus station and with 4 hours to kill until the next bus. At least it was a pleasant night and we were in good company. We even had a bit of a laugh about it. We also saw some interesting things on the walk to the bus station!

Not really sure what the hell was going on there! We were creased!

It was a long 4 hours even though we played games to pass the time and talked about all sorts. It was getting quite cold towards 6am. Well we got to watch the sun rise – how romantic¡ Finally the bus was there and we were bound for the big smoke.

It’s always do exciting as you come into London. We got into Victoria station and headed straight over to the exhibition. I love riding the tube! I’m a proper tourist. The exhibition was fantastic! When we finally found it in the massive O2 arena. They had audio devices to talk you through each section. It was fab. I took loads of photos but I will just put a selection here.

There was also some amazing graphics and art work displays.

After we had finished there we it was time to check in to our hotel. We had booked a travel lodge in the Stratford area. That was where the 2012 Olympics village was. We freshened up and headed out for some food. We took a walk through Canary Wharf checking out the buildings. It was pretty quiet. Now being a city London is not the cheapest place to dine, however a quick look on t’internet and we found a Wetherspoons. Yay for cheap food and drink! We weren’t surprised to see it was more pricey than our local spoons but still probably the cheapest place we could eat out in the City.

As we talked over food we realised neither of us had seen The Shard. So with no idea where we were headed but thank God for smart phone sat nav off we set. It was a bit further than we thought! But definitely worth the trek to see it. We then walked along the embankment enjoying the views of the Thames and ended up at the Tower of London. Found yet another Wetherspoons and had a nice cold beverage. We then headed back for an early night as we wanted to be up early to make the most of the next day before we were to head home.

When we woke up it was a pleasant day outside. Off we set to our first destination Covent Garden. I just love walking around the market. It’s especially wonderful at Christmas time. Our next stop was forbidden planet and for those of you who are not in the know its a geek store…comics/science fiction/fantasy that kind of thing.

I was super excited for our next place to visit. The natural history museum. It was a place I had wanted to visit for a long, long time. I am so interested in dinosaurs and the way things have evolved. Here are just a few pictures of this amazing place.

A short walk away is the science museum. What an interesting place. It was huge and so much to see. Unfortunately we didn’t have the time to spend as long as we would have like there. We really didn’t want to leave. In fact we stayed a bit too long and had to make a dash for the bus home!

Tired we relaxed on the way home. Out of energy but full of happiness.

See you next time secret lifers 💗

Love and peace xx