I guess when you are journaling, the best place to start is the beginning, right?
~London, UK - July 10, 2005 - 3 days after the Tube/Bus bombings in London~
Even though my parents we not keen on my leaving so close after a terrorist attack, we boarded that 777 and jetted across the pond for our 2 year life abroad. When we arrived in London, Deloitte put us up at a corporate housing apartment for 2 weeks. The nearest tube stop was Liverpool Street, which had just reopened from the attacks. The good news was that the police were everywhere, so we felt safe. The housing was nice. We had SkyTV and even a washer/dryer. I remember
I had been doing research prior to our leaving and had decided that I wanted to live in Greenwich (pronounced Gren-itch), which was southeast of London. Hindsight, Brian should have talked to his co-workers and we should have moved to Clapham/Wandsworth (where we ended up) to begin with. Oh well. Live and learn. We decided on a 5th floor, 2 bedroom flat in a newly constructed building in Woolwich (pronounced Wool-itch.) We were one block from the train station (Woolwich Arsenal), one block from two grocery stores, and across the street from a pub - which my parents deemed "The Dirty Harry", it was really called The Great Harry.
Sad that we never took any pictures of it. Not sure why we didn't.
Sounds nice on paper, but it was really in a shady/dodgy part of town. One evening, after I got home from work, I was walking to Sainsburys, the grocery store, and a woman was mugged 15 feet behind me. Could have easily been me. Luckily, that was the closest I ever was to being in a bad situation. Being alert, aware, and confident in your walking was key (at least I told myself this!) It was also a 45 minute train ride into the city. We did get some good sleep on the ride in and back! I only missed my station a couple of times due to falling asleep. :)
Some fun memories of the place include:
1. Running down by the Thames River. Actually, I did not enjoy the running, but I did it.
2. Brian put a hole in a wardrobe we bought from Argos, quite possibly the cheapest store on earth.
3. We had friends over at our flat 1 time...and that was to watch 24. Apparently we were the only ones who had good tv.
4. My parents visited during the summer of 2006. I can distinctly remember dad sitting at our dining table, dripping in sweat. We had a corner flat, with two walls worth of windows, and no a/c. It.Got.Hot.
5. Our first winter, we had a 500 pound electric bill - IN ONE MONTH. Needless to say, we bought some blankets and did without heat.
6. On the train ride out, we passed the Charlton FC stadium. We never went to a game there, but when there was a home game, the train rides were very, very interesting (read, lots of drunk Brits.)
7. Brian almost got in a fight with a drunk guy on the way to his paintball bachelor party. He did not start anything, but the guy started yelling obscenities at them for being American.
8. Not really a fun memory, but I remember the gym we went to there - Fitness First. I can imagine doing the elliptical machine, watching MTV's morning video countdown. Bob Sinclair's "Love Generation", Corrine Bailey Rae's "Put Your Records On", and Arctic Monkey's "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor" are a couple songs that quickly made their way onto my iPod - of which I got my very first (and to this day, only) iPod.
We did not do touristy London stuff very often - mostly when people came to visit. I am about 80% sure that our first weekend in London we went to the Jubilee Walk, one of our favorite "nice weather" things to do, and go to Hyde Park. We probably walked from Charing Cross to Hyde Park, which is probably, but totally something we'd do. My feet killed that first week. Like ridiculous hurt. But I learned how to be a walker, fast.
The freaks were always out in full force, trying to earn that pound.
Plus, it offered views like this:
Princess Diana Memorial Fountain
We also began taking pictures of random animals. This one we called "The Godfeather."
Not very entertaining for a first post. :)
Next up - our first day trip - Windsor Palace and Eton College.
