Friday 5 August 2016

The first day

Life in London has officially started and I still can't quite believe it. I had a lovely 'moving day' evening with my two new housemates who cooked me a delicious dinner but it still felt like I was a visitor to London and that I'd be going home tomorrow. When my body woke me up at 7 am this morning (thanks body) it hit me - this is no holiday. This is real life. And it's time for some action.

Of course, my next action was going back to sleep until 9. Well, it IS the first day! I spent the morning looking and applying for jobs, updating my cv and generally browsing the internet for things to do in London. 
I had a meeting with a job agency scheduled at 3pm, so I pootled off the tube about an hour before, getting some time in to look around Harrow. My flat is about 2 minutes from a Tesco and 5 minutes from the Tube stop and town. Town has everything you need, from the standard high street shops (Primark, H&M, Nandos) to the little more exciting (Tiger! A juice bar!). Even though Harrow is zone 5, the Metropolitan line is so quick it only takes 15 minutes to get to Baker Street. It skips a whole zone (who needs zone 3 anyway?). 

Before my meeting, I wandered the streets around Baker Street, taking a left or right turn whenever I felt like it and seeing what I came across. Mostly fancy restaurants, fancier boutiques and multi-million pound town houses. There were also plentiful affordable food places - Chipotle, sushi, Dunkin' Donuts - which I sadly did not eat at. I stopped in for a few minutes at the Koppel Project art gallery which seemed very cool, but I unfortunately didn't have time to browse. That's a place on my list to go back to. 

Since I was around Baker Street, I decided I couldn't go home without at least going to see where Sherlock Holmes was based. The crowd outside the museum was crazy, so I harrumphed to myself about tourists, crossed the road and took a sneaky picture. 



Deciding to continue the exploration, I crossed the road into Regent's Park. Because it was so sunny, people were out in full force. I walked by the lake, admiring the geese and ducks and the general buzz of the park. As a country girl, being back in nature (as far as central London can do nature) feels homely. As I sat on a bench and took it all in, I felt so much more comfortable with my decision to move. I know London isn't all sitting in pretty parks on a sunny day, or walking around beautiful historic streets but just being able to cross the street and experience all that whenever you feel like it...well, it's exactly what I want from life right now. 



3 comments:

  1. Becky, I'm loving your blogs! Can't wait for more! So excited that you've made the big move now! XXX

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  2. That was Callie by the way! :D

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  3. Enjoy exploring London; there's always something interesting going on. I hope you find a job you enjoy, or that allows you the money to do something you enjoy in your free time! Helenx

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