IT TOOK SO LONG TO BAKE IT

I spent all last weekend in London for a simply fabulous mini holiday.

I arrived last Thursday to be met by my friend who took me for a workout in one of the gyms that he works in. It was so much smaller than the gym I go to in Glasgow. It goes to show that space really is a commodity in London. The equipment was good and I ran like Madonna with her adoption appeal - ie very quickly! The only down side other than the size was that the showers were a bit vile. I was cleaner when I came out but not by much! There's nothing worse than a grotty shower area and this gym had it in spades.

After dinner we met up with some of Rod's(my mate) friends. I have known them for ages and we had a fabulous dinner at St Katherine's Wharf. I had never been here but the food was delicious in a Chinese restaurant called Ping Pong and then onto a bar beside it where we were met by an office party complete with Miranda from Sex and the City lookalike going wild and some Bon Jovi and Van Halen as the soundtrack. It was bizarre but we were all quite merry so it was fine.

Friday was shopping heaven as Rod's mate Ollie met us and we hit the shops. After going crazy in Top Man of all shops, we headed home to put on the new threads and hit the town Pink Style for Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical. This show is actually right up there with Wicked and The Drowsy Chaperone and A Chorus Line as one of my favourites. It was just fabulous. The costumes were outrageous and the atmosphere was electric. I kept on whooping like a silly school boy. It all started at dinner when we were getting hyped up for the show with wine and then having a drink in the bar beforehand and then of course the show itself was too camp for words. We all said that Will Baker will be taking his ideas for Kylie's next tour from some of the acts in Priscilla. Jason Donovan was fabulous in the part of Tick and they played up some Kylie jokes and Neighbours jokes. One character says about Kylie - "She's always be Charlene to me" to which Jason Donovan replies "I always preferred Scott myself!" Although it was a jukebox musical, the songs were just fabulous and fitted each moment perfectly. Where else could you get a cake lying out in the rain to be followed up with Macarthur Park from Donna Summer? the Divas turned up throughout to sing their tits off whilst the main characters mimed a bit doing their drag performance and their voices were unbelievable. The show is definite weekend material and the band and cast were so into it, you could tell by the volume and enthusiasm of the orchestra and the riffs that the main characters were belting. Non stop fun - I can't wait to go back.

Saturday was back at the gym to sweat out the wine I had drunk the night before. I wasn't really in the mood but I'm glad I went. Then it was off to another show - well a beautiful dinner first and then Spring Awakening. Not at all like the mardi gras atmosphere of Priscilla but actually a great show. Apparently, the cast were all hired right out of drama school and the rock musical was brilliant. I didn't know a lot of the songs but seeing a cheeky teenage boy pull a microphone out of his breeches and sing "Totally Fucked" whilst in a turn of the century German classroom was just a tonic. Definitely not for a Saturday night but probably more Thursday. It was more deep and meaningful with some bizarre fantasy sequences. Fabulous. Rod and his mates decided to treat me to a different Saturday night in Clapham at The 2 Brewers. It was like being back in Glasgow and we drank enough booze to sink a ship.

I managed to drag Rod out of his bed on Sunday to do a final bit of shopping (I was running out of knickers) so we hit Selfridges and ended up having dinner in town drinking champagne and seeing Stephen Gately looking more pulled in the face than Jackie Stallone. That night, his friend James showed up with a bottle of champagne and it would have been rude not to partake on top of the wine we had whilst getting ready to go to Horsemeat Disco. I have heard loads about Horsemeat Disco and was excited to go to a pure disco night in a pub that was a blacked out Queen Vic from Eastenders - which it was! It was bear heaven and James was a dirty little minx talking to all sorts of BILFS(Bears I'd Like to Fuck) and GWWDAT(Gurners Who Would Do A Turn) I also arranged to meet the fabulous LOST IN LONDON blogger in Horsemeat Disco. I emailed to say I was heading down and although we've spoken for a few years online, have never met up. This time was different and we had a good natter about blogging, bitching, booze and boys and I'm sure Bea Smith may have come into conversation. Lost Boy and his boyfriend were just lovely and very welcoming which made things more fun, especially with the disco background. They were giving me some of their chat about London and living there and also in Edinburgh. For some reason I thought that Lost Boy hailed from Edinburgh and I was disappointed that i didn't hear the scottish accent but rather a London one and not a hint of Yorkshire one which is where he was brought up! a couple of vodkas later though and it was all dancing to disco beats! The music was excellent from start to finish. We came in at one point to Diana Ross singing Love Hangover and a simply superb mix of "If You Could Read My Mind" I'm still hunting it down. After saying goodbye to Lost Boy I continued to dance on with my mates and somehow 6 of us ended up on Rod's roof of his building drinking cans of beer and having a natter. His old friend Jason was out and his chat was excellent, even at 5 in the morning in the freezing cold of London!

I really didn't want to leave as it was one of my favourite times ever in London. Rod and all his mates made me feel so welcome and part of the group. I danced and drank my tits off, sweated them at the gym, drank enough wine and champagne to keep Angela Channing in business, saw some amazing shows, got my very own Oyster card (I'm so London now!) met a blogger, shopped a good bit and had a great laugh the whole time. Now I'm 30 in just over a week and then it's NYC 6 weeks after that. If it's even half as good as my last jaunt I will be a happy bunny!

Listening to - We Belong - Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical