Wow, I feel exhausted and I have every right to be, I made it to London on my birthday, Wednesday August 17, and navigated my way to Palmers Lodge - Swiss Cottage hostel via taxi. When I got there I couldn't check into my room until 2 p.m. I waited in the lobby and met D and her mom, one of my roommates, my other roommate EJ was out and about looking at apartments. At 3:30 EJ came back to the hostel and we all headed out to check out flats. Here's where it got interesting, EJ had already seen 3 places, and one place was pretty nice and she took pictures.
The first place we went to see was in the North Finchley area in Zone 4, not where I wanted to be but went to take a look anyhow. It was a nice flat in a quiet area, near shops and close to the tube. It had 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms a nice kitchen, a nice common area and a terrace area, I loved the place.
The second place,was also in the North Finchley area, it was but it was above a coffee shop, up 3 or 4 flights of stairs and it was a good size place, the only thing is that mold was growing on the window sills, it had water damage, ew! That one was immediately out of the running.
We went back to the agency that helped us find places and we talked about the places that we saw that day and end up putting two bids on two different flats. The first bid on the flat was unseen by Drew and I, and the other bid was the first flat that I saw that day. The bid was accepted for the place in N. Finchley, that was really fast, I wasn't expecting to get a flat that quickly. The thing is at first I was very hesitant and very uneasy about getting a place so quickly. As the days have gone by I am very happy that my roommates and I found a place in such a short time, I understand that flats go fast and they will go quicker the closer school gets. We were very very lucky. I had a lot of expectations in what I wanted, I didn't want to live in Zone 4, because that was way out there, but the further into London you get the more expensive it will get. Besides it is only about 40 mins to school and I don't mind taking the tube, 3 bedrooms we all wanted, I wanted a terrace or a garden and I know that was a long shot, but we got one! I am incredibly happy about that, i'll probably be out on it as much as I can, when it isn't raining.
So that night we went out to eat at a little restaurant and had a little birthday dinner with my new roommates, it was very nice day.
The second day all three of us went to Lloyds Bank, two of us were hesitant to make any major decisions because of what happened the day before. We got a really nice banker who talked us through everything and we signed up for a bank account, it was painless, I thought it was going to be hard and had to have a ton of paperwork, turns out all we really needed was our passports to set up the account. The other thing I did was get a cell phone, a cheap one that only has texts and calls, I found one and now I have a phone. So in two days I got done what I thought was going to take two weeks. I'm happy with every decision I have made and my roommates have made.
The third day all four of us went to Camden market, a lot of gimmicky but cute things, a place I would like to go back to. I had Turkish food, and it was amazing, the vendors get a person to try a sample by saying try it, it's yum, yum, yum. That day was long as well, the night we went to Swiss Cottage pub and I had macaroni and cheese and it was amazing, it only seconds to the macaroni and cheese I had at the Greek restaurant in Bruges Belgium.
The fourth day, EJ had a friend come to town so she was off with her, so D, her mom, and I went on a free walking tour, it was great, much better then the tour in Paris and Berlin. After the tour we went to the British Museum and got lost which was amazing. I love getting lost in the museums, I got lost in The Louvre and I got lost in the British Museum. Before the British Museum we went to Bedford Square where Sotheby's Institute is, we found it. Then we went to the Swiss Cottage pub again that night and ate and had a cider, which was really good.
So today we headed to IKEA, oh man, I had never been and didn't realize how huge it was going to be, there were cheap things and there were expensive things. I bought stuff for my bed and it all came out to about $70 in USD.
That's my time so far, London has been hectic and it's barely been a week and i've gotten so much done. I'm ready to move into the flat, but we can't move in until August 29, it's because there's short let tenets in there right now. 1 more week in the hostel, not that i'm complaining but i'm not used to staying in a hostel for two weeks. I'm ready to make my own food and sleep through the night. I'm also happy that we get in the apartment two days before we have anything to do with Sotheby's. I'm happy with everything that i've done so far, I want to find a gym, if I can't then i'll figure out how or where to exercise.
So far in London it has been rainy and sunny, the first two days were rainy and the last couple of days were warm and sunny, but i'm glad it hasn't been that cold. Now all I need to do is find rain boots (Wellies) and i'm good, i'm all set, i'm tired and i'm still trying to get a routine down, but will not until i'm moved in to the flat and start school. The other thing is I haven't taken a lot of pictures, but i've taken some, so pictures will go up on facebook eventually and picture of the flat will come when I move in. So far i'm loving London.
