Foggy London Town

Our sweet, sweet living room. Check out those giant windows! And that's Courtney, probably studying, as usual!
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Well, that last night in Ireland did bring on some more Guinness…and fun. We ended up calling Padraig and meeting up with him at Tig Coili, where there was some great live sessions going on…oh, how I love traditional Irish music! After, Paul picked us up in a borrowed Lexus (it’s great how well Ireland treated us; we felt like high rollers, haha) and took us to their place of business, the Forster Court Hotel. The bar there was closed...to the general public, haha. We mingled over a pint with only a handful of in-the-know patrons were drinking. We headed home around 2, since we knew we had to get going early in the morning. But we made some wonderful friends, and I’m definitely planning on keeping in touch with them. In the meantime, I just might feel a St. Patrick’s Day trip to Galway coming on… :)

Our wee little kitchen. I think it's cute.
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We took another bus from Galway back to Shannon yesterday, then hopped a very nice Aer Lingus plane to London, at Heathrow. Some family friends who live in Kent picked us up at the airport (thank you SO much!) and we had a blissfully simple drive to our new flat. I shudder to think what taking the Underground with so many bags would feel like! I just might have had to use that don’t-make-eye-contact trick again, haha. It was wonderful seeing the Robertsons again; a familiar face in a foreign place is always good. I felt like a kid going to the big city, staring in awe out of the backseat window while Peter drove.

The view towards the hall, looking past the computer desk, from the big couch. You can see a bit of the balcony, too.
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So I have a flat in London. Unreal. The words baffle the mind to say! The area it’s in strikes me as pretty upscale…look at me, being all classy! We did get into the Knaresborough flats, Flat 3, which is nice—the building looks sort of posh, but in a run down way…if that makes any sense whatsoever! Walking into the building, you’ll see a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, brand new carpeting (or at any rate, you WILL…they’re putting it into the hallways and stairs as we speak.) Stepping into the actual flat, however, is more…interesting, haha. There are two bedrooms, each with two beds, and a shared living room, kitchen, and bathroom. Since we arrived a day early, we fortunately got the larger of the two—it’s got a bunk bed (top bunk, yee haw), a chest of drawers (minus one, which has no bottom) and an armoire…which is essentially falling apart. But no worries! I’m completely happy—I’m in London, remember? How could I not be?

One of the airmchairs and the telly. It's got 5 channels, but it works!
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Plus, I have my own kitchen. A postage stamp sized one, as expected. Ditto the bathroom. Unfortunately, our microwave doesn’t work. Ditto the TV, though I have absolutely no intention of ever really using it; there’s far too much to see here to bother with television! The stove’s in fine working order, however, as was proven by our first British meal: spaghetti and breadsticks. We had taken a walk last night to Tesco right after meeting our RA, and got some grub…I’ll just have to stop thinking in terms of dollars. I knew that the pound was about twice a dollar, but at least for the first few days, my brain will unconsciously compare…oh well! Pasta’s pretty cheap, at least: I can buy a 2 kg bag of shells for ₤1!

The view of our room! We lucked out with the bunk beds...and the awesome balcony window.
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One of the really cool things about the flat (besides being an obviously older building) is the ceiling height. Huge! I’m on the top bunk as we speak (so to speak) and I could stand and still not reach the top. So we consequently have these lovely, super-tall windows and drapes to go with them…which, we discovered, we can unlock and climb out of, onto our very own balcony overlooking the street. Last night, when I stepped out onto the wrought-iron enclosed balcony, I was overcome with giddiness. I wanted to shout, “Hello London!” but decided against it, since that would no doubt draw a lot of stares. So I settled for a whispered version, which had the same effect for me, haha.

Sitting on the balcony, watching the world go by...
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I do feel bad for our new roommates, though—they’ve ended up with the other bedroom, which is upstairs, loft-style, overlooking the living room. Which doesn’t sound so bad, until you realize that you can’t stand up fully in the room! We offered to switch halfway through the semester, but they seemed alright with the situation…

Actually, I just met our roommates an hour or so ago. They seem very nice; two girls, Jen and Courtney, from MU. Both journalism majors, they’ll be doing internships while here in London. They seem friendly, laid back, and open-minded. Always good signs, haha! And, they’re willing to let Amber stay with us, so we fortunately don’t have to put her up in a hostel…for which we’re extremely thankful.

The view down Hogarth road from the balcony.
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This morning, we had our first bout with the Underground—a dead ringer for the CTA in many ways, actually—and dropped off Amber at the British Museum. Laura and I just found out that we’ve got to attend a lunch for the students of International Enrichment, the program we’re with…so hopefully we can get that over soon and retrieve poor Amber from potential art and history overload.

In the meantime, I’m just unpacking, reorganizing, adjusting…and soon meeting my fellow would-be Londoners. So I hope you’re all doing well, wherever in the world you may be…love to you all!

It's great to hang out up here, because whoever lived here before left us 3 lawn chairs!
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Chris