Well we’ve been quite busy here since we arrived so i’ll have to apologize for the lack of blogging but I’ll let you know what we’ve been up to.
Last thursday we flew from Iceland to London. Heathrow is always an experience as anyone who has flown there knows. We were barely turned from being on the runway when another plane swooped in behind us, and the lights of another visible beyond that. We passed 2 other planes in the air that we could see coming into the airport which was crazy! I don’t know how they keep it all straight.
Anyway, off we went with our two giant suitcases, two huge backpacks, two carry-on bags and my lovely new purse courtesy of the clinic. We were tube ready - except for the stairs. you know how at home everything is ready for the disabled? Yeah that’s definitely not the same here! We got on alright, even though i almost toppled on the escalator but getting off was another matter. For the first night we were staying at the Piccadilly backpackers and getting off in the middle of Piccadilly circus with like 3 flights of stairs to climb was a challenge. Thank god for Bryce! We managed but it wasn’t fun! I told him that when we leave London we’ll spring for a cab to Heathrow :)
The hostel wasn’t bad as hostels go and we had a pretty large room. We went to sign the lease on our short term let on the Friday and then took a cab with our luggage (a worthwhile 20 quid) to our new home. It was a very harrowing cab ride through tiny back streets which I think will be fun to explore at a later date if I can find them again. But, we made it. My first comment was ‘where is the bed’? Answer? it pulls down from the ceiling. Very strange. Our place is maybe about 3-4 meters across and 5-6 m long. That’s it. If you want to sit on the couch you gotta raise the bed, which I am too short to do. The ‘kitchen’ is in a cupboard and consists of two burners, a small fridge, and a microwave/convection oven which I’m still confused as to how to use. However, it was a place to unpack.
We spent the weekend getting adjusted to our surroundings a bit and met up with Layton and Nadine a couple times over that period - once at a pub down the way which was really nice and then once at Wimbeldon. We went on our first double decker bus ride at 6:30 that morning to go and get in line for grounds passes to the Championship match. We had our picnic and our Pimm’s. You go through airport like security though which is crazy! They let us take a pic at centre court even though we weren’t getting tickets there. We just sat on the hill and watched on the big screen. Only cost 8 pounds. The hill is crazy steep though and people and their personal items would frequently come rolling down. Even though it was England bryce and I were both lobsters by the end of that day - sunburn city!
Monday bryce had a meeting with a teaching agency in Hammersmith so we went there together and did a bit of shopping. We have had to invest in some bedding (2 pillows, a duvet, a duvet cover and a sheet for 60 pounds) and towels (4 facecloths, 3 tea towels, 2 huge bed sheets for like 20). I am surprised by how cheap things can actually be here if you do some looking. John Lewis department store is great in the clearance section!
Tuesday Bryce had another meeting and I had to go get my veterinary license here. It was an hour process where you filled out some paperwork and showed them your original degree and passport. Then they give you a fancy certificate that shows I am now a MRCVS (member of the royal college of veterinary surgeons). I’m becoming an alphabet collector now :) Best part about it though was getting there. I had to take the tube to st. james’ park and once i got my bearings on exiting the station got to walk past the New Scotland Yard, a little market area, several strange sculptures (one made completely out of umbrellas) and then a little farther past the college i went exploring and saw the back of the parliament buildings and the london eye. Very lovely. Spending a few days in the outskirts of London I kind of forgot where I was. Besides the double decker buses everywhere it just seems somewhat similar - however it really gives you that ‘wow i’m in London’ moment when you see these amazing things on a short walk. Bryce and I met after our meetings and walked past Westminster abbey, St James’ park, Buckingham palace, Harrod’s and Hyde park - all the way from the Thames back to Notting hill. It was about a 3-4 hour trek but we had great little stops along the way. We happened to a little house where Jane Austen stayed, and the Princess Diana memorial fountain. Things we likely wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
Today we both have gotten word of securing work this week. Bryce is working at a school Thursday Friday and Monday. And I am working at a clinic in Wimbeldon Saturday afternoon as well as one in Kennington Monday-Wednesday. Didn’t really want to be working so soon but is good money that we can’t afford not to take at this point. Of course I won’t get the money until I get a National Insurance Number but that’s another story :) We had to go shopping for Bryce for teaching clothes as he has to wear a shirt and a tie and dress pants etc. We went to a store called Next which was great - he got shoes, pants, two shirts and a tie for 100 pounds (about $160 canadian).
We started our flat search today for a permanent home. Tonight we went to see a place in West Kensington. Sounds posh but isn’t really. There was a dodgy pub on the corner when we exited the tube station with rowdy soccer hooligans in it watching the world cup. However the apartment was nice - it would be sharing with an Irish girl and a Londoner. The Irish girl works for Loreal and part of her job is reading through the smutty entertainment magazines every week to check out other ads! The other girl works in book publishing to brings tons of books home. Sounds good to me! We have two other ones to see tomorrow but will probably take this as after having a cup of tea with the Irish girl we were pretty keen (she is lovely).
Anyway, that’s it for now. I won’t bore everyone with my iPhone debacle as many will have heard about it already, however i do have a super cheap phone right now that I am using that at least gets the job done!! Enjoy the pics and leave comments!
Miss you all like crazy!!
