Easter, as you know was this past weekend. Here in our little island nation there are two days off work for Easter; Friday and Monday. This, as you have already deduced, gave us a four day weekend. That’s almost like having a week off!

Friday was a day off, so Friday was like Saturday. It was an exciting day for us. We have had visitors to see us here. Uncle Roger has been the World’s Tiniest Flat on a couple of occasions. Our friend Drew stopped to see us on his way through to Dubai. Friday we had visitors again. My niece Sarah and my sister-in-law Toni were here on a school trip. They had a few hours free and we were lucky enough to be able to meet up with them.

Good Friday was as sunny and warm as one could ask for in London in April. After a long day spent flying to London using the global circumnavigation route, Toni and Sarah were surprisingly fresh. Nobody feel asleep in their lunch which is a triumph as they had been awake for about 24 hours, by my count, the day before. As an added bonus, Louise Colozza, one of Jo’s favourite teachers from high school was on the trip and joined us for lunch.

We had lunch in a pub called the Sussex that is between Leicester Square and Covent Garden. Traditional British Fare for most. Looking around the table saw Pie n’ Mash, Bangers n’ Mash and Salmon. Along with pints. [Note for Cathy – Diet Coke for Sarah].

We legged it out to Covent Garden for a few minutes of souvenir hunting before having to high-tail it back to Oxford Circus for the arranged meeting time with the rest of the school group. The parting was a little emotional, but not too bad. It was great that we had a chance to see Toni and Sarah and they seemed to be enjoying their time in London. They were headed to the Canterbury and then to France. Jo was genuinely touched to learn that Sarah arrived home with no fewer that four new handbags. She is so proud!

The next visitors were Elaine and Paul on the weekend after Easter. Joanne and Elaine go way back. They stood up at each other’s weddings. It was great to see them here. They travelled here first class all the way and stayed in a nice hotel. Elaine and Paul were in London for the tourist experience, starting with pie and mash at a pub just off Oxford Street through a ride on the London Eye to the hop-on-hop-off tour bus.

We headed off to Windsor Castle on Sunday. It is a short train ride from Paddington Station, through Slough to the castle. Elaine was, to say the least, gobsmacked by the castle. I’m not sure what was more impressive, the castle or Elaine’s expression at seeing it.

The Queen herself was in residence on the weekend when we were there. We spent most of the day doing the walking tour of the castle in. The tour took us through some impressive displays of the spoils and weaponry of the halcyon days of the British Empire. There were treasures from all over the world. We also saw some fabulous banqueting facilities and sumptuous interiors.

All in all it was great to have visitors here. Hopefully everyone enjoyed their visit as much as we enjoyed seeing them. I was worried that after seeing everyone, I might be a little homesick. The fact that I wasn’t reveals that, for now this is home. We are, for now, Londoners.