We made it!

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We're here.... Yay! After 10 months of planning we are finally here in Bristol, England. Mike found a job here working in aerospace engineering at a company called Assystem UK. Mike also did an excellent job of finding us a flat in a quaint little neighborhood called Clifton Village... 14 West Mall to be exact. The neighborhood is perfect. It looks like it's right out of a children's novel. We've managed to settle in quite well. The flat was furnished and we added some of our own touches, courtesy of Ikea. 😊

It has been interesting getting used to the cultural differences here - everything from meat pies, called "pasties," to the mundane daily life differences of just doing a load of laundry. It takes hours! We've gotten used to the accents, but it makes us smile every time we hear a child address his or her parents, "Mummy, can I have some please, Mummy?" The British are painstakingly polite, "Excuse me, please. Cheers!" "That will be 50 pence, please, love. Thank you, cheers!" I love it.

We managed to hit most of the pubs in the neighborhood within the first couple of weeks... or maybe it was days? We didn't have a tv or internet at home for a while, so what else was there to do? The beer here is excellent.... reminiscent of our much beloved northwest ales, but dare I say better? Maybe 'different' is a better word....

The list of places we want to see while we're here is endless. I'm already starting to realize that it might be impossible to go everywhere we want to go... I mean, there IS the issue of obtaining income. Reality.... I think we could spend a while year just exploring Great Britain alone. The scenery and history is amazing here. Walking by centuries old builings, castles, and churches on a regular basis is a bit humbling.

That's it for the first post. More to come....

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