Leaving, on a jet plane...

We used our cell phones for the last time at the airport. It was a strange feeling converting our cash into pounds. We boarded the plane only to sit there for an hour and a half because the pilot had not shown up yet. This only served to further mess up our biological clocks. Other passengers were less than pleasant upon hearing the news; especially when they were told that they could not deboard – apparently once you have boarded an international flight, you are deemed to have left the country.

We watched “The Forgotten” and “The First Daughter,” neither of which I would recommend or ever watch again. I watched part of “The Village” just to get a feel for it, but Bree would never watch it with me.

We were thrilled to not have to mess with getting stopped by customs, as we weren’t certain that we’d ever get our bags shut again if they were opened. But it was a 10-mile walk before we found a luggage cart.

TAXI?
One man asked us if we needed a taxi and we followed him to an unmarked car. I began to ask him questions, but felt uncomfortable taking what was apparently an unauthorized cab. I don’t mind being a sucker every once in awhile, but definitely not on our first ride in London and not with 10 bags each. We then had a long walk to the usual cab area. It was a 60 pound cab ride – I tried to give 65 to tip him for the tour pointers he gave us, but he told us that was too large of a tip, that he’d salute us for 50 pence.

And then we were at our temporary home. We couldn’t believe it – I was overwhelmed with excitement. 92 Middlesex, Flat 2C, just down the street from Liverpool Station. Peter, the house manager on duty, showed us to our place. The living room was equipped with Sky TV and was larger than we’d expected. The downstairs had the bedroom, the bathroom, and the kitchen. Bree took a nap; I took and a shower and then we took a walk. We went and saw the station which had trains as well as the Underground system. We decided to go to the Tesco and make our supper for the first time as a married couple.

We went all out and made pizza in the oven. We spent 13 pounds at the store and hopefully have enough food to last us until dinner tomorrow. The kitchen is very nice, with the appliances hidden behind cupboards. We even have a combined washer-dryer which we definitely need to use.

Both of us have been guilty of wearing clothes multiple days to avoid opening our bigger suitcases and un-vacuum sealing our clothes. We had a very pleasant dinner and then went upstairs to watch Monk. Yes, they have a lot of American TV. We saw lots of billboards for Desperate Housewives and even a commercial for American Idol.

As long as we have Sky TV, we won’t be in want. However, on that matter, the posted price for this one bedroom, nice though it is, extravagant it is not: 1070 pounds before the Value Added Tax which is more than sales tax in Texas. At the current exchange rate, that is roughly $2,000 PER WEEK. We’ll definitely be moving out as soon as the company stops picking up the tab. We’ll definitely be maximizing our time here, so we figure it’s okay for us to watch TV while we have it.

Sunday morning we were woken up to the sounds of clanging as they set up a market place right outside our window. What a wonderful place! Welcome to living in the big city.

It was hard to believe as we drove by Big Ben and as we bought our groceries in pounds that this is really where we’re going to live for the next two years. We’re looking forward to our adventure, but still adjusting to all of the changes in our lives.

We miss you guys!
M&B