Moving In & Figuring Things Out

Moving In

Our little flat is sort of like a town house. We have neighbors on both sides, but enter straight off the street and have 3 narrow floors to call home. I’m curious to find out when these buildings were built. They seem pretty old, have very thick walls, and radiant heaters. We have a living room/dining room and a kitchen on the ground floor, 2 bedrooms and a bathroom on the 2nd floor, a cute kids room and bathroom on a 3rd floor, and a steep narrow staircase that connects it all.

the view from our bedroom window on the 2nd floor

This is our street sign - and what all the street signs look like. 

I learned that "The Royal Borough" part is a designation given by the royal family. Queen Victoria was born here and that is why it is "royal."

The thing that sold us on this flat (besides it being near the right train station, near our budget, and available 7 days out) is it’s great set-up for kids. This place is better equipped than our house! It is stocked with toys in the living room and kids room, has a kitchen cupboard with kids dishes, a stool in the bathroom (this may be TMI, but the toilet seats even have a separate kid-sized seat worked into the lid that folds up and down), extensive kids DVD collection, a playhouse on the back porch, a residents-only garden for kids to play, and a park and playground nearby. Although we thought this would be great for our kids, I underestimated just what a difference all this accommodation would make.

We brought a few toys & books in the kids’ backpacks that we can now stow away for the return trip home. The kids don’t have the energy to do major sightseeing everyday and when we return home from sights in London, we are all exhausted. This flat is a great place to rest up after a day of buses, trains, and walking; and a great flat & neighborhood to spend a day-off.

Wishing I took pictures before all of our stuff got spread out. It is dark now, so I will take some pictures to share of the rooms during the day - even with all our stuff. Here are a few in the dark:

long, skinny kitchen

Katie & Abbie's Room

Figuring Things Out
The first day or two was all discovery as we figured out how to operate everything in the house. The shower, light switches, toilet, dishwasher, front door lock, clothes washer, etc. We were pleasantly surprised to find we even had a dishwasher and a nicely sized refrigerator. We found an extra 1/2 bath off the kitchen that wasn't advertised.

All the symbols on the small under-kitchen-counter washing machine were not so intuitive. We are so lucky to have a washer but do not have a dryer. I found some drying racks in the back closet and after 48 hours, the first load of laundry was dry!

Everyone Loves Going to the Grocery Store

"Wonky" - great word

We walk to the grocery store about every other day so far. We lucked into a very nice one maybe an 8-minute walk away. The kids love going to the grocery store! There are many of the same things as at home. They’ve found many unique things that they love to have daily. Many foods have the British flag on them and say “British cheese” or “British wheat” or “British mustard” (very hot.)

Favorites are:

squash - a drink we’d heard about that is like lemonade. We learned at the store you buy it in a bottle and dilute with water. Lemon and orange are the most common flavors, but it comes in other flavors too. “Lemonade” here is a soda like Sprite.

squash

Crumpets & marmalade, of course!

British Cheddar Cheese - we’ve bought this on every trip to the store. It’s white and the kids can’t get enough. It’s rated from 1-5 for sharpness. The kids like 1 so well, they don’t see the need to try out the others.

British white bread - I’m not sure why they love this so much, but I can’t believe how popular toast is in our house. The loaves are taller and wider that we would find in the US. I heard, “This is the best store-bought bread I’ve ever had!” Gives Mum a break too.

[Due to the above 2 items, grilled cheese sandwiches are a fav. in restaurants.]