Days 89-121...London, England (1)

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Flew into London and were greeted by a typically dreary and cold morning - we caught a cab to Andrew and Emilie's house in Richmond. Maria had arranged for us to stay with Andrew and Emilie while we were still back in Jo'burg, which was fantastic as we had nowhere else to go! Andrew is South African (a good friend of Maria's from university) and Emilie is French, they were so gracious and lovely we couldn't have asked for a better introduction to life in London 😊

The first thing we did in London was spend 2 days solid tearing around looking at Flats! We viewed 16 in 2 days! Finally, after much deliberation we settled on a tiny wee studio flat in Notting Hill, with a mezzanine bed area and a lovely big bath! We didn't see a flat that was better for the money, plus Notting Hill is quite a swanky area!

Once we had the flat sorted we could relax a bit, we spent some time getting to know Andrew and Em better, we went to watch Andrews rugby team (Ealing) play in their final game (a huge victory!) and went out and about with them - mostly around Richmond. Em is a fantastic cook and they both thoroughly spoiled us while we were staying with them!

We moved into our little place a few days later (after a brief hiccup with the painter- the flat wasn't ready so we had to stay in one on the floor below until it was!) and went shopping for all the important things that didn't come with the flat, such as a toasted sandwich maker and sheets!!

Kristi found work straight away (at channel4) - that is, she literally got sent to the job straight from her first interview! but Martin had various stupid delays, despite having arranged everything from home! However all too soon we were both deep into the routine of working in London - ho-hum! The area surrounding our flat is great, with plenty to do and see, Hyde Park, Portobello markets and heaps of cool bars/restaurants.

We caught up with Pants and Robbie & Carl and Tori pretty early on, it was great to see them! Pants and Robbie lived only about a mile from our flat (until they moved to their new house in Ruislip that is!) so Mr Pants and I saw each other a lot. Pants took me on some amazing tours of the wildlife in Hyde Park (I'm serious!) it was absolutely classic, Pants is something of a nature expert over here - he has squirrels and birds literally eating out of his hands!

It was remarkable how quickly life became 'normal' after arriving in London, we got to know our immediate area very quickly and went on several wanders into central london to see the main tourists spots - although we have decided we might do one of those open top bus tous a bit later - just to make sure we see all the main sights London has to offer.

We were both so unaccustomed to working (after our 3+ months off!) we were ecstatic when it was finally holiday time again! The mid-term break in the school term heralded our first European excursion - a week long trip down to Albufiera in southern Portugal, and a weekend in Dublin on the way home 😊

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Comments

[Mum]

Cool Pictures
great one of the flat - can't wait to be in Notting Hill in 4 1/2 weeks time!!!!