London - Flat Hunting

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Yet another week of formalities, of achieving that much, but still seem to be constantly busy.

On Tuesday I went down to the shops to get a card and present for Dad for Fathers day on Sunday and managed to head home just as it started to rain. Surprisingly, it’s not Father’s Day over here so finding something appropriate was a little more difficult than expected.

By the time I got home, Matt had returned back from Portugal. I wrote in dad’s card and took it down to the post office to try and get it to New Zealand as soon as possible. I was told that even if I paid ₤50 they could not guarantee it would reach NZ in time for Sunday, so sorry Dad, but I went for the slightly more budget option of economy post.

After dinner I did some of mine and Brendan’s ironing, which also turned into a bit of Helen’s as well, and a long chat about ironing techniques. Me, Helen and Beth decided that we were going to get Brendan to give us an official ironing demonstration when he returns.

On Wednesday I was forced to leave the house the same time as Matt so I could get out the front gate. I went for a walk down to Shepherd’s Bush to do some shopping until Ben called.

I caught the tube to Westminster to meet him below Big Ben (or BigMe, as he might say). We went for a walk along the South Bank and had a drink and nibble at a bar on the edge of the River Thames.
We saw Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, the HMS Belfast, a few very old sailing ships and my first sight of London Bridge in the background.
We kept walking along to the London Bridge Station past the Southwick Cathedral, which apparently is pronounced something more like “Soth-ick”. We parted ways, and I went to Oxford Street so do a little more shopping.

I walked over to a flat near Marble Arch/Hyde Park to have a look around and met the flat mates etc at 8pm. I really like the place, location and people etc. but will have to wait until Friday to find out!
I caught the tubes back home, after getting lost in the pedestrian subway to get to the Marble Arch Station! So will have to sort that out if I’m going to be a local!

On Thursday I meet Suz at Hammersmith for a bit of a catch up, as she was ‘working from home’. We went to The George for a Magners and lots of talking. I got a call from Brendan in Inverness saying his flight had been slightly delayed and made arrangements to meet him later. Me and Suz talked for so long that we got Matt meet us at there after work so they could catch the tube back to Clapham together.

Before long it was time to make my way to Victoria Station to pick up Brendan from the Gatwick Express. We caught the tubes back to Helen’s place, watched some TV before going to bed.

Friday morning was spent doing the usual breakfast / e-mail routine. Brendan and I went down to the local shops to get some food and had lunch in the park. We caught the tubes over to Clapham so I could check out another flat. We bumped into Suz as we were coming out of tube station. Brendan went to her place, while I looked at the flat on Abbeville Rd. It was quite a nice place, located above some nice shops, but found out that it was being advertised by an agency and they seems a little bit picky about having people stay over. Not as nice as the one near Marble Arch, but given the level of interest I have to assume I won’t get it. So this one is put on the maybe list.

I went back to Suz’s for a quick chat and picked up Brendan. We went out for dinner at “Tootsies” near the flat I was looking at then caught the tube back to Shepherds Bush. On the walk back, I got a call from Brendan’s Aunty to let us know both of our bags had arrived at her house in Burton Latimer. Yay! (only took them three weeks!)

We all watched some TV and cracked open Matt’s Port along with the cheese and crackers that Brendan had brought.
I got a much awaited text from the Marble Arch flat: I’m on the ‘short list’ and will find out on Tuesday! How exciting!
(oh, and Ben, they weren’t referring to my height!)

I got up early on Saturday and went over to North Clapham to check out another flat, while Brendan was sorting out a hire car to pick up our bags tomorrow. The flat was ok, but reminded me of a ‘scarffies’ flat, so wasn’t that keen. By the time I got back, Brendan already had a hire car sitting outside the front door. Excellent.

Me, Brendan & Beth went down to the Walkabout try a ‘snake bite’ and watch the NZ vs South Africa rugby game. We meet Grant, Logan, Matt and a few others down there and got back to the flat about 5pm, following a close but not victorious game.

Brendan cooked the flat risotto for dinner, plus Heloise and Grant who came over as well.
We watched some TV and tried to watch the start of Miami Vice on DVD, but we all found it rather confusing!
We paused the DVD and all called home to talk to our dads for fathers day (given the time difference). We all gave up on the movie and watched the last episode of Scrubs instead.

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Photos

Hannah leaning how to say "Southwick"
...its more along the lines of 'Soth-ick' so I am told

London Bridge
My frist sights of London Bridge! with the HMS Belfast in the foreground.

The River Thames
In all her boating glory...