Living Large in London, UK

After sampling life Down East, it was necessary for us to make a quick pit stop in the United Kingdom.  This was because we needed to procure Melissa’s UK ‘Biometric Residence Permit’ visa (a small piece of plastic the size of a credit card) within a certain timeframe as prescribed by the UK immigration legalities.  We would also use this time to do a little ‘housekeeping’ and set up a few things like a mailbox and bank account.
 
So we said good-bye to lovely St. John’s and flew less than five hours (such a short trip)! over to Heathrow airport prepared to face the rigours of the English Immigration and customs control. We had built this up in our minds as involving many hours of interrogation with scary immigration police in a sort of Hollywood style horror/drama. However, for us, it was super easy and the young, unassuming Scottish immigration officer had us on our way, wishing us luck, in just a few minutes - whew!
 
After this we wandered out bleary eyed into the chilly but pleasant London weather (there was even a glimpse of sun peeking through the clouds). Onto the Tube we climbed, picking our way past the early morning commuters. As the train filled up to standing room only, we thought that this could be us in a few months. We arrived at our destination - South Kensington, which was lovely and had that quintessential London feel, with its black cabs buzzing by, the double decker buses, the phone booths and the bright red postboxes. As we made our way on foot to our hotel, we noticed another important issue to be aware of — the cars drive on the opposite side of the road to what we are used to and unlike Canada, pedestrians do not have right of way. So this had us a little confused and overwhelmed, but we eventually assimilated to this way of thinking.
 
So, first up on our agenda, after having a restful nap to chase away the jet lag, was to head out and buy phone SIM cards. Fortunately, the English phone system is very inexpensive compared with Canada, and we were able to get this sorted without breaking the bank. Colin had a bit of fun using his ‘Oyster’ card (the London transit payment method - which is waaay better than Toronto) to hop on a double-decker bus to find the mobile phone shop.
 
After we were connected to the British mobile network (and the internet)! we headed out to the Oxford Street Post Office to pick up Melissa’s immigration visa card. Why Oxford Street? Well, when we were completing the arduous process of applying for the visa, we had to select an address where, if approved, we would be able to pick up this card. We chose Oxford Street because it was central and of course (according to Colin) it is a square on the English Monopoly board. We decided to walk, which took about an hour, and this involved travelling through Hyde Park, past Harrods, and through Piccadilly Circus. Picking up the Biometric Residence Card, unlike the entire application process, was no big deal. The visa itself is an oddly coloured pink and blue card with writing on it, and for the sake of security, a pretty cool tiny holographic image of Melissa.
 
With this chore done, we were completely starving, having not eaten anything since breakfast on the plane, about 12 hours previously.  Food in London, for those on a thrifty budget, falls into the following categories - pub fare; sandwiches; pasties, or Indian food. We chose the latter. The restaurant, situated on Oxford Street wasn’t that special (too touristy). Our Indian Nirvana would not occur until later, when we visited the Brick Lane neighbourhood of London.
 
The next day was neither fun nor exciting - we had to do some chores, including organizing an English bank account. We thought we could rock on up to the bank branch and set one up in twenty minutes - we were so wrong! Instead, we were given an appointment for the next day at noon, and it would end up taking us two hours in the branch to open up a basic vanilla chequing account. We also used this day to set up a UK mailing address for ourselves at Mail Boxes Etc., to use until we have more permanent accommodations in the new year.
 
October 16th was our Wedding Anniversary (7 years)!  Rather than doing any more boring housekeeping, we decided to give ourselves a day off to explore and have fun together. We decided to split the day in two, the first half would be planned and organized by Melissa, and the second half by Colin - a sort of ‘Magical Mystery’ Anniversary!  In the morning, Melissa chose to surprise Colin by going to Hampton Court Palace, which was the original home and party house of Henry VIII during the Tudor period.  This was really cool, and Colin really enjoyed walking around the Palace.  But, the true reason why Melissa had chosen to take Colin here was to bring him to the Hedge Maze, located in the magnificent gardens (she had remembered that Colin was disappointed by the small labyrinth at the Nova Scotia B&B, a couple of weeks earlier). The maze was totally amazing and Colin enjoyed running around it and getting lost in its 1/3 acre of paths. In the afternoon, Colin brought Melissa to the rooftop of the Madison restaurant in central London where they enjoyed the sunset view of St. Paul’s Cathedral and the city. Being mindful of our expenses, we enjoyed the vista there (for free), then walked to a pub called Shakespeares Head and had a pint.  We then finished off the day at the 606 Jazz club in Chelsea, where we had a nice meal and listened to some smooth live Jazz.
 
The next day we visited Colin’s cousin Jon, his wife Emily and their family in Dorchester upon Thames, in Oxfordshire. This was wonderful all in itself, but it also afforded us a view of the beautiful English countryside during the train ride over there. Jon and Emily were wonderful hosts and their three children, Arabella, Arthur and William were completely delightful. We had a wonderful lunch of homemade chicken pie, salad and green peas (Mmm - delicious, and our first home cooked meal in weeks)!  We then had an after-lunch hot beverage prepared by Emily, who is the owner of the Horsebox Coffee Co., and is the best barista in all of England. Afterwards, we were given a tour of the beautiful village and visited the ancient Abbey and other landmarks. Sadly, we had to say goodbye too soon and look forward to visiting with them more in the future.
 
Sunday was our final day in London, and we decided to travel to Brick Lane.  This London neighbourhood has a large Indian population and is known for its many curry restaurants. While there we explored the area, which had a nice bohemian feel with its coffee shops and markets. This was refreshing compared to the prim and proper neighbourhood of South Kensington, where our hotel was located.  We ate our ‘Linner’ (i.e. Lunch and Dinner) at Tayyabs Indian restaurant, which was very, very nice. In fact, Melissa and Colin both agreed that this place would top the places to revisit as soon as we returned to London.
 
All in all, this London ‘preview’ was a positive experience and we both will be looking forward to moving there in the new year.
 
Next up: Ready, steady, GO! A multitude of miles from Toronto to Calgary