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  • Writer's pictureKatie Brown

My Surprise Hen Doo – The Shard & The Goring…

When it comes to surprises I’m not normally the best recipient. Surprises normally mean that G will jump out from behind a door or something will go unexpectedly wrong and leave me in what only can be described as a ‘muddle’ for a few weeks. However, on Monday I felt completely overwhelmed and amazed to receive one of the most incredible, thoughtful and kind surprises. In true Katie style, I nearly fell over my own feet in excitement and accidentally headbutted some railings (never mind!) .

So, I’d been told to keep Monday free by G so we could go for a training walk and I popped it in the diary and started looking up some locations that we could visit. He then said that he’d been given some free tickets to Cirque Berserk and I rattled around telling everyone that I was going to the circus because in my head I was going to the circus.

When we got to the train station, G said that he thought that the train might have been cancelled and would it be a problem if we didn’t go? I said no problem at all, but he insisted we go and check the trains just encase. So, he grabbed my hand and into the train station we went. I was trying to check the train times on the lower level of the train station, but apparently, we needed to go and check out the main station, then I bumped into Lorraine.

I wondered where she was going and told her that I was going to the circus, she started laughing as G backed away and waved goodbye. I said, ‘Oh wow, so we are going to the circus together, brilliant‘. Lorraine had to calmly explain to me that there was no circus, it was all a big surprise…

No circus? Where was I going then?

We started at The Shard which is one of those ‘Must Visit’ places, we headed up to the 53rd floor and had a drink in ‘Gong’ . Which is best described as a bar with a view, plus an amazing array of cocktails, in fact so many I could hardly choose. There’s also an infinity pool if that’s your kinda thing, I’ve got to be honest, cocktails and sky views felt a whole world away from what I’d been expecting from my bank holiday Monday.

Life looks better with a chilled glass of Bollinger, seated in a huge squashy chair, people watching and preparing for a huge afternoon tea in The Goring. Which happens to be the place Kate Middleton stayed the night before she got married. If it’s good enough for The Duchess Of Cambridge, it was good enough for me. Okay, it was too good for me but that’s a minor detail!

With much gusto, I dived headfirst into each layer of delicious food, from perfectly balanced sandwiches, light scones which I smothered in glorious amounts of in cream and jam plus and an array of delicious cakes. I was particularly enamoured with the light but fulfilling raspberry and pistachio cake, this is something I’ll look to create myself at home. The Goring was more than able to cater for Lorraine’s gluten and nut allergy, which meant that we got a stand each – When I say we were living the high life, I wasn’t joking. Note: when I say ‘high’ I mean, I was high on huge amounts of sugar, that’s the kinda buzz I’m living for.

We then spent an hour wandering around Chelsea, enjoying the sunshine, admiring the amazing style of various Londoners and staring into shop windows which were displaying an array of goods we are never going to buy. All in all, it was one of the most amazing surprises in the most amazing locations London has to offer. All thanks to my bloody awesome friend! #ifcarlsbergmadefriendstheywouldbelikelorraine

How did you celebrate your hendoo? Do you like surprises?

Katie

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