Our 2nd
month in England Our 2nd
month in England
Week 5: It has been very hot and humid here since the last week in June. All the "locals" say this is unusual weather. The forecast calls for more of the same until the end of the week.
We've had some good and bad news this week. The good news is that our "express shipment" is in England and we should receive it within 10 days. We received the bad news Monday: apparently there is a problem getting the owner of the building we plan to move in 1 August to provide the lease. It may be other agents are trying to lease it for more than the price they accepted from us(?) As I mentioned before, the business of estate agents and leasing flats here is very different from back home. We'll see if we have to withdraw the offer soon because you can't have one offer out and then make another offer on something else. The estate agent we've been working with is taking us to look at other flats today.
Tonight (Tuesday 3 July) is another Independence Celebration at RAF West Ruislip...we may go back there for the fireworks.
Once again, we've called on my brother, Nils, to help us out...our medical insurer in the States cannot mail our prescriptions to us overseas. Therefore, Nils will pick them up and mail them to us. We have changed medical coverage for time time we're here, but it hasn't taken effect yet.
The first of the three flats the agent showed us is perfect and, supposedly, it will be ours...we'll see. It's even better than the one we had planned to move into. Although there was a tenant living there until the end of July, and we don't yet have a signed lease, I'm going to be optimistic and post the pictures of what we hope will be our new flat in August.
For the 4th of July, Tim and I took an express train from Victoria Station to Brighton (a seaside resort town about 75 miles SE of London). I think we saw more English people there than we have in London!
We had a wonderful time walking around in Brighton (I'll add the pictures Tim took to the Photo Album section tomorrow), and when we returned to London this evening, we discovered our offer on the flat at 200 Marylebone Road #43 was accepted by the owner...all-in-all a perfect 4th!
Week 6 The weather has finally gotten fresher and cooler. Our "express shipment" (picked-up 5/31/01) has passed through customs, and will be set-up for delivery 7/17/01 after the Westminster Council approves the on-street parking arrangements for the delivery, and the delivery company can get it together.
It's drizzling today - a very lazy Saturday.
Finally took the "toss away" camera we used our first week here (as you may recall, it was one of the items we accidentally left behind and had to have shipped to us) to a local Kodak store for printing/CD.
The pictures from our Windsor trip will go on the website today. Our "express shipment" is due tomorrow. Tim quit smoking today in anticipation of the success of my forthcoming hypnosis session Friday 20 July. We will then take a train to Swansea in Wales for the weekend to celebrate!
I've been closely following the political races over here, as well as the riots. In the States, I seldom read the newspaper, but here I've been reading as well as watching and learning a great deal about what is going on. It's difficult to be ethnocentric now, and very interesting to learn what people think about us in the U.S.A.
Initially I was impressed by the various cultures and the fact that they seemed to retain their cultural identity more than ethnic groups in the States. Yet, after reading about the riots and the history behind the tensions in England. More later...
Tim's a bit edgy since he quit smoking, but doing very well. I'm terrified to quit; however, we all know I must. This Friday is the day!
We received our "express" shipment...finally!
Last week did not end well. First, we discovered a problem with the flat we were assured we were moving into 1 August. We're both questioning the ethics of Estate Agents over here. Our agent is dealing with the landlord's agent who is in Hong Kong, Singapore and Nigeria. It's a mess right now...will write more as the saga unfolds.
The hypnosis session went well...we'll see.
Also, we were unable to get accommodations for our trip to Swansea Wales this weekend. We turned in our rail tickets and will plan another trip - probably to northern Wales in the near future. (The schools let out here mid-July and everyone seems to be taking a holiday at the same time.)
We went to Covent Gardens Saturday and back to Hyde Park Sunday (Tim and I went in a row boat). Pictures soon.
Although it is to be expected, I was surprised that I am suddenly questioning being here .
Things are looking up...the Estate Agents seem to have resolved the latest problem. Looks as though we'll be moving into the flat at 200 Marylebone Road the 1st of August!
Tim's workplace has done some restructuring; his areas of study will include Naples instead of Crete. More information later on our forthcoming trip(s) to Italy.
Hopefully we'll see the signed lease agreement before the end of the week since our planned move-in is in a week (1 Aug) - Tim thinks our main shipment is in England so we can schedule it for delivery shortly after we move in. Our Estate Agents are taking us to dinner tomorrow night (Thursday)...a peace offering (they're really a very nice couple - it's the process and the landlord's agent we're not sure of).
Believe it or not, we're tired of eating out and really look forward to cooking a meal in our own flat...also, really tired of all it takes to find and get a flat, but it will be great when it's finalized.
What a wonderful evening we had last night (Thursday). Our Estate Agents (their office is across the hall from our temporary flat) took us to a Greek restaurant (Santorini's) on Moscow Street near Queensway and ordered for us (they moved here from Greece almost 20 years ago). We were all treated like royalty and served a delicious multi-coursed supper...it was superb! We plan to return, taking them as our guests, but they have to order the meal.
It is very hot and humid again - very few places have air-conditioning because (they say) this is unusual weather here (wonder if global warming has anything to do with it?) I'm tempted to tell people I'm from Canada because of some of my country's current administration's decisions. Oh well.