I'm A Spoiled Spoiled Girl

Adventures in London with my New Camera

So before we headed to England we had planned on going to the New England Patriots vs. St Louis Rams game in London on Oct 28, but we couldn't get a flight back to London for me after my best friend's wedding the 27th that would get me in early enough. It was going to be our "anniversary gift" to each other. So I got Nick something then beggggged him (Puppy dog eyes were a must here) for a new camera after seeing the pictures my friend Ashley Fox was getting with her new SLR. I did some research debating between an SLR and Bridge Camera. I ended up with the Fujifilm S2980. Basically its a camera somewhere between a point and shoot and an SLR. It doesn't have interchangeable lenses. 

The Statue of Eros

I went out in London one day to take some pictures. I went to Piccadilly to get some pictures around there of the gorgeous buildings and the Times Square style displays. It's one of my favorite areas, aside from Westminster which really has my heart. 

Piccadilly Street

Regent Street

I went on a Harry Potter Walking Tour (More on this later! This is a post of its own!) But I got to see so much of the city!

 We took a River Boat Ferry to get down the river more quickly. These pictures of Parliament and the Eye were taken on the Thames.

Random Fact: There are 32 capsules, one to represent each of the London Boroughs, and just the one red pod to represent EDF's sponsorship of the Eye.

After my walking tour, I went up in The Monument to the Great Fire. It is 202 feet tall and stands 202 feet from the baker's shop where the Great Fire is said to have started. The idea when it was built was that if it was tipped over the golden orb at the top would be where there fire started. There is a viewing tower at the top of the pedestal (the big flat square at the top) which is accessible only by stairs.

By the time you reach the top you're so worn out its almost hard to enjoy the view!! It was gorgeous at the top though!

The Tower Bridge from the Top

A view down the river to the Eye

This building is called "The Shard"which is the tallest building in Europe

City Hall, where Boris Johnson works. Evidently there is no limit to time you can be elected as mayor!

View of the city down river

A shot down so you can see how high up it was!

The London Bridge area. 

Bank area

I ended my London Photo shoot day at Buckingham Palace. I thought I should hit it on my last day out in London juuuuust in case I didn't make it back in the country again!

Messing around with the panorama setting on my camera LOOOOOVE

& the self timer

The Monument to Victoria in front of the palace

The new camera takes some pretty awesome pictures and I'm enjoying taking them! Having this time has really given me time to get back into photography!

Getting Settled In

The Flat

We're here and everything is going really well! We're loving the town we're living in so far! Right now we're really focused on getting everything settled and comfortable. Our little flat is starting to feel like home. I brought a few of our photos from home and a blanket we have on the couch at home to put on the couch here so we feel comfortable. 

 

The last two windows on that top row are our flat! The longer windows are actually doors that lead out to the tiniest balcony. The balcony is only about 6 inches so its mostly just to get fresh air in than relaxing on the balcony! Our flat is on the second floor which is what we call in America the third floor. On our elevators the floors are usually listed, G, 2,3....  Here its G,1,2,3... 

Our flat is built on top of Waitrose which is a market. It's pretty convenient that I can just go downstairs and grab anything I need to! This was especially helpful the first few days when we needed all of the basics! Everyday I wake up and realize there's something else we don't have that I'm use to having in the pantry! I woke up Sunday and was going to make French Toast, then realized we didn't have any syrup! 

 

We started unpacking on Saturday and pretty much gave up and our bedroom was an explosion of clothes the entire weekend. Four suitcases, two carry ons worth of clothes.... I was stressing all week over if I could all the clothes put away. Nick and I ended up finding some super thin hangers and I was able to get it all put away! I felt pretty victorious fitting all of clothes into the dresser and wardrobe! 

 

Our bathroom is really nice, but has taken some getting used to! The shower only has half a door that swings in and out which is so weird! The first day we ended up with water all over the bathroom floor! I think we've finally mastered it though 

The toilet has two flushes. If you look at the button the smaller portion is for a smaller flush, and the bigger portion is for a bigger flush. One for 1 and 2 haha 

The kitchen is a whole different challenge! The washer/dryer combo is difficult to use and doesn't dry things all of the way to begin so I have to lay them out after I take them out of the dryer. The oven is a convection oven rather than a conventional oven so there's a fan that moves the heat all around. The first night I used it I burned my pizza :( 

This is the view from our flat window in the kitchen. We have had the windows pretty much permanently open except for the few hours of rain we got on Friday. There's no A/C in our flat or pretty much anywhere here. The weather hardly gets to be 80 F in the peak of summer. We hit 80 F this week and everyone was floored enjoying the summer weather! 

The Towne Centre 

We sit at the corner of the main road that comes into the city, and High Street which is the main street through downtown or The Towne Centre. In the photo from the kitchen window the road you see is High Street. 

High Street has a lot of different things on it. There's shopping like Mark's & Spencer and Top Shop! Plus lots of great little boutiques that have super cute stuff. There's also an indoor mall that High Street and Queen Street wrap around. 

The Pizza Hut Delivery is on a bicycle. Everyone here walks or bikes everywhere. 

In the middle of the downtown is a gambling centre that has poker and slot machines. There's also a lotto centre that does keno and lotto drawings. 

I had a pub lunch the other day. A yummy cider "Kpparberg Strawberry with Lime" tasted like a strawberry limeade! YUM! I also had Jacket Potatoes which is like a baked potato with only one filling. They just split the baked potato in half and put on the fillings. Almost every meal is served with salad on the same plate not as a separate course. 

Adjustments

We're making some serious adjustments to everything over here! We are learning some of the slang and getting more used to the accents every day. We both notice ourselves starting to use some of the lingo, especially "cheers" which they say for  both thank you good-bye, you're welcome, good-bye. 

We are trying to master the driving on the other side of the road thing. We haven't had to get behind the wheel of a car so far but walking down the street its a challenge to make sure I look right for the first half of the street and left for the second half! The driver here are absolutely insane and they park crazy!! 

I don't think there are any laws like in the US where you park with the flow of traffic! It's not uncommon to see cars parked boot to boot facing away from each other or towards each other. 

They also will just pull over to the side and park up on the sidewalk. Absolutely insane! 

So far we love it here though. The environment is great. We can just wander around town and no one is in any type of hurry. We get to go to the Olympics Volleyball match on Saturday in London. It should be really exciting to see! I also got some tickets to a rowing finals which is taking place just up the road from where we're staying. Eton College where Prince Harry and William both attended school. They have a huge rowing lake! 

I'll update more later! Until then keep in touch with us! We miss all of our friends and family! If you haven't downloaded Viber yet please do so we can text and call through there, or use our text free numbers to get in touch with us! 

First Post, Preparing to Leave

As we prepare to leave, Nick and I have had a lot of hard work (and money) spent on getting the house, and ourselves ready (and wardrobes too, of course).

Even with Nick's common travels, luggage for our six months is going to be necessary. I found some 30" bags that will hopefully have enough room for all of my clothes and shoes (and purses, and earrings......) My biggest struggle will be meeting the 50lb weight restriction!!!!

Hopefully I can manage to pack 6 months of our life into these bags!!

For those who don't know the background on how this adventure came to be for the two of us, Nick works for Perceptive Software, which is owned by Lexmark. They have expanded his division into the UK and asked Nick to help train the workers in the UK. His first reaction was essentially "hell no I'm not doing that" but we've realized that this is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for the two of us to get to see the world and really experience a different culture.

I have quit my job, and will be having my last day of work this week! Having this amazing opportunity has really made me realize what else there is to life aside from my job. I'm looking forward to having six months to really focus and reflect on myself, who I am now, and who I want to be.

We will be living in Maidenhead which is about 20 minutes west of London, in Berkshire, England in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

We are both full of nerves and excitement to experience this adventure together. We can't wait to share it with all of our friends and family at home via this blog!

Please share with friends and family, and leave a comment below to let us know your thoughts on our departure.

xoxo
Ash