11/10/10

    Already I feel behind with the blogging and it's only my second post!

10/10/10

   Wednesday morning we woke up pretty easily.  The jet lag wasn't too bad but I'm sure that all the sleepless nights we had had at home, worrying, thinking, planning, and excited helped to put us to bed at a reasonable hour the night before.  The hotel had an English breakfast for us in the conservatory type dining room.  We loaded our plates with mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, sausage, and eggs then picked up our forks AND knives and got to work practicing our new skills.  It was as good a time as ever to clumsily use both utensils although the room was quite empty and we could have easily gotten away with using our shovels instead.  Things went well except......HOW DO YOU EAT SCRAMBLED EGGS THIS WAY?? You can't spear them. You can't squish them too well.  The only solution I could come up with was to use a mushroom or tomato and create a little ledge.  Then you need to pile the eggs up on that while balancing the whole act to your mouth.  This was slow and the entire time I kept reminding myself that eating slow is a good habit to pick up.  Later I read that it is quite  alright to switch hands  for tough foods like salad, eggs, rice....things you can't spear or squish.  By the way, I can't wait  to show all you fellow Americana how it's done during Christmas holiday.  You better set the table with forks and knives!
   Right after breakfast we headed into Chiswick on the tube to meet with Lindsay, one of our many real estate/flat agents.  The Tube was easy to navigate once we looked at a map.  I am impressed at the extent and size of the transit system here and also excited since we won't have a car and will need to rely on the buses, trains and our feet to get around.  We bought our Oyster cards, opting for the pay as you go deal.  We will just need to "top them off" here and there.
   Lindsay was fabulous! She whisked us to 7 different properties in 2 hours' time.  Driving in her company issued Mini Cooper was a little frightening but we made it out unharmed with only our blood pressure suffering.  At times I caught myself holding my breath and gripping my purse, but not because of the fact that it was different driving on the other side of the road, but because the roads were so narrow, filled with buses, cars, bikers, and no shoulder.  The smaller side streets were two way streets but you wouldn't be able to guess it just by looking.  Cars are parked on both sides leaving space for only one vehicle to pass at a time.  As you drive down the road you are basically playing chicken with an oncoming car till either you or the other person SOMEHOW squeezes over, allowing JUST enough room to scrape past each other.  And I thought Boston driving was horrendous!  Watching bike riders is another heart attack inducing moment but more on that later.  Right now I need to focus on flat hunting.
   We saw all sorts of flats.  Small flats, big flats, stinky flats, and flats to die for (if only our budget allowed!!!!)  Flat hunting was more exciting that I had imagined.  It was great to get a peak into all these different places and see the neighborhoods up close.  Sean and I had a lot to comment on about the flats here compared to what we were both used to back home.  So, a few notes....living here is expensive, plain and simple.  Most, or all, flats had washing machines which I'm very excited about, although dryers don't exist.  The washing machines are small and usually located near the kitchen sink.  It was fun playing the game of "guess which cabinet door is the washing machine"!!  I have no clue how I'm going to fit Sean's giant trousers and shirts in there.  It will be many many many loads!  The kitchens are very nice with everything looking smooth, built in, and hidden.  I'm not sure if all places look like this or if it is because flats get renovated more often but I was very impressed by all the kitchens.  I could easily vision myself using these spaces with their sleek cabinets and new countertops.  I was happy.  We have been looking at places with two bedrooms so Sean will have a space to create his office to work out of.  I'm used to seeing places in Boston where you may have as many as four bedrooms or more and one teeny tiny bathroom to cram into.  The places we have seen have had at least a bathroom and a half, but usually two full bathrooms.  This was another pleasant surprise.  Two nice bathrooms???  Another thing that worried me at first but is now proving to be not so complicated is the fact that most places come furnished or at least that's negotiable.  It would be hard to ship beds home at the end of this so finding a place that came with furniture was important or almost necessary.  Back in Boston you may find a place here and there that had some dressers or couches lingering from old tenants but from what we've seen it's more common here to walk into a building that has beds, couches, dressers and tables.  That was sigh of relief that settle my nerves.
   After a FULL two hours of searching we left Lindsay and ate lunch at a little French bistro where we poured over brochures, lists, budgets and came to the final agreement that we wanted to put an offer in on a place that we loved.  Sean had seen this apartment last time he was in London and lucky us, it was still up for grabs.  That's another interesting thing here, you can negotiate prices, level of furnishings and management details all in the contract to bid for a flat.  This is probably why it is taking longer than we have the patience for at the moment.  Keep your fingers crossed!!!!
   We handed in the paperwork and headed back on the tube to Putney (where our hotel is) to meet with Huw and look at places around the Putney area.  Huw was a young gentleman working for the same agency as Lindsay so again, back into a Mini Cooper!  These places were sadly less than awesome.  Most were in giant apartment complexes with even less room and stinky carpeting. The master bedrooms were of doable size but most of the second bedroom "office" spaces for Sean would have left him enough room for a chair with laptop perched on a windowsill.  So, not much to report on there.  Sean and I were both very exhausted by this time and an hour later we headed to a local pub, glad that we already put an offer in with Lindsay.
   The first pub of our London trip!  Prince of Wales reminded me a bit of James Gate.  There were two sides, the pub, then the better restaurant side.  We sat at a table on the bar side then tried to understand if we order at the bar, wait for someone to come to us, and whether or not they even served food.  A lot of things can be determined by just watching the bustle for a few minutes (a quick lesson to learn in the tube before hopping on the wrong train) but here we were clueless as we sat in the noisy chat and music of the pub.  Catching a passing waiter we got our answers.  Sean came back from the bar with two mystery beers, one of which we think was a cider, and menus.  Yup pub food!  Fish and chips for me, burger for Sean.  I wasn't too impressed by the fish.  I still think the First Ward Flacon Cub back home has the best so now I'm wondering if I'm brainwashed.  Oh, by the way, the flat we put an offer in on is literally 5 feet away from a delicious-greasy-smelling, best-in-town, take-away, fish-and-chips place.  We would never need scented candles.  Who needs flowery febreeze when you have greasy fish wafting in????!!!!! (Seriously, it was better than it sounds, very appetizing if you can believe it)  So anyways.  The meal was grand and delicious as we discussed how much we hated the places in Putney and again how happy we would be if we got the Chiswick place.  Then it was back to the hotel and early to bed, perhaps the jet lag had finally caught up to us.  It was either that or the unusual beer we drank and the death defying mini cooper rides which was a cardio workout in itself.  That counts as exercising eh? Right? I see lots of fish and chips in my future.