Mind the Gap: The Struggle of Relocating to London

As I type this, I am sitting in a very cozy London flat. While I am currently a picture of happiness, earlier in the day I was a bit more frazzled than I currently appear. It had been ten years since my last international flight, and even though I spent quite a bit of time preparing for my trip to London, I encountered some mishaps along the way. However, this is how memories are made, so I'm not complaining.

Flying turned out to be the easy part: no major problems checking in, no baggage check issues, no violations of TSA liquid regulations, and every flight I had ended up arriving at the next destination early. I was extremely appreciative of this when I way transferring in New York, because I did not want to O.J. Simpson my way through a crowded airport! (If you're under a certain age, you won't get that last reference.) Anyway, the real fun began when I touched down at Heathrow.

When I visited Spain ten years ago, I do not recall having to fill out a lovely little form called a landing pass. Because of this, I did not realize that I needed to pick up one of these snazzy little papers to be ready to pass through immigration. So I hopped off the plane at 6:15 a.m. (London time) and jumped right into the line of people getting ready to cross the UK border. When did I realize that I did not have the same form as everyone else? Around about the time I was getting ready to go visit an immigration officer. I had to leave the line, go back for a form, fill it out, and move to the back of the same line. As you can see, things were not off to a good start!

I cleared immigration with ease (once I made it through the line again), and headed to pick up my luggage. This time, luck was on my side, as my purple bag with bright green Duct tape handles was waiting for me at the American Airlines desk. I then decided to give my folks a call on the "international" phone my wireless provider had procured for my trip; as it turns out, the phone wouldn't work in the UK anymore than it had in the US! I won't go into details on here, but the phone situation had been a pretty long struggle for me, and I was livid about the whole no-phone situation. I had made it safely to London, but I had no way of contacting my family as this point.

I headed to an ATM to get some British pounds; I will have to do a separate post on British money, simply because I find it beautiful! With pounds in my pocket and my rolling suitcase by my side, I made my way to the one phase of this trip I knew I could handle: the Underground! Those who know me will vouch for the fact that I *love* the Washington, D.C. Metro. For this reason, I knew that riding the Tube would be one of my favorite British things to do. I have spent a good deal of time studying the Underground map, and I am happy to say that I navigated to the appropriate stop without a slip. With my "Oyster" card (as their fare cards are named), I could conquer the city! I was slightly hampered by my rolling suitcase, however, as there are no escalators in the Tube; I survived though!

When I got off at the Borough station, I found Great Dover Street and my apartment building. What I did not realize was that I would arrive four hours early for check-in! I was tired (I had been awake for over 24 hours as this point) and sweaty, but I had to wait until check-in time in a small, hot lobby. I was able to get the WiFi working, which enabled me to get a Skype call through to my mother, who was relieved to finally hear from me. At one point, I ventured to a small sandwich shop and had a delicious chicken and cheese Panini; finally, I was able to get my room.

Found this when looking for a bite to eat!

However, as my luck was running today, there was one small catch; my room is on the top floor, and the elevator in my block happens to be on the fritz. They graciously allowed me to use a different elevator, then access my flat through the fire doors in order to get my luggage upstairs without a hassle. Later, when I popped out for groceries across the street, I had to lug the bags up seven flights of stairs. Great workout and the Dr. Pepper Zero was totally worth it!

My flat itself is a very nice little dorm room. There are three apartments connected to one bathroom and one kitchen; so far, I am the only occupant. I have a view of some new skyscrapers being built and a sweet little park when kids have been playing basketball most of the day.

Entrance to the Great Dover Street Apartments

View of the Courtyard

My block of the building

The following photos show the view from my flat

I haven't seen any of the city proper yet, but that will all change tomorrow, as I have a two-day pass for a hop on, hop off bus tour of the city. I will be sure to share all the details with you all as soon as possible!

Long days and pleasant nights!

**Good night, Mrs. Hall, wherever you are!**