1st Day in London

1st day in London- 7/20/11
So, the glamour has disappeared for the moment… today we saw the house that we’ll be renting for the year. I want to scream “OMG!!!”even though I hate when people over thirty use that expression. We had seen a few photos of the house, so weren’t completely surprised, but it is definitely in worse shape than I imagined. It’s a nice old Victorian house on a rather quiet street, but it has been a rental for years and is in bad disrepair. The paint is chipping off the walls and ceiling, the faux wood floor is buckling in the kitchen, there is trash piled up out front, the back garden is overgrown with weeds, the minimal furniture is cracked and broken, there are bare lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling, and the windows are either empty or have hideous drapes hanging in them. This will definitely be a major project to get the house livable, and we move in tomorrow…OMG!!!
I’m trying to be positive about it, and know that we can make it cozy for the year, but it will take some time and lots of purchases to get there. It feels a bit overwhelming at the moment. The girls are being troopers about it, although there were some tears shed after the first few minutes in the house. One of the bedrooms is much smaller than the others, so there was some arguing over who would get that one for her room, but they seem to have come to some sort of agreement on that front. And our bedroom will be fine, although it desperately needs a paint job and I’m a bit worried about the mattress in there. But it’s only for a year, right? We’ll be able to make it work; at least, we’re going to try.

Our list of things to sort out is crazy, and we need to figure it all out without a car, without phones, without internet; but at least we speak the language! And we do have family here, which is such a help. Uncle Alan picked us up at Heathrow and brought us home to a lovely buffet lunch with Aunt Isabel. They seem glad to have us here, but are also very realistic about all that we are taking on. Susan and Robert are giving us such a good deal on the rent of the London house, that it made sense to take them up on their offer; but it would have been very different to rent a furnished house from someone who was on sabbatical for the year (as our renters are doing).

Still, we’re in London! We’re finally here and will get settled and take advantage of all that the city has to offer. And we’ll get the house together so that we feel more at home and we have a decent place for friends to stay (please don’t be scared off by this post, friends who have promised to visit). It’s all about priorities, and we’re figuring out ours as we go.

Oh, and I need a new bike, so am looking at this beauty that I spotted in Reykjavik...