Flats and the Elderly

London has been a flurry of activity so far. It is by far the prettiest big city I have ever seen. It has a bit of something for everyone. There are the modern bits that remind me of New York and then all of a sudden, you'll stumble across the remnants of a Roman stronghold in the middle of the city. Meghan, Seth, Robin, Erin, Rebecca, and I finally found a flat after three days of traipsing all over London. We went as far south as Brixton below the river and as far north as Marble Arch/Edgeware. We finally settled on this adorable cottage in the Chelsea/West Kensington area.


It's what is known as a flat-share, meaning that we share the house with other people. So the six of us IC people are sharing three bedrooms and there are three French "young professionals" in the other two bedrooms. It's in a great neighborhood- very close to Notting Hill and the Portabello Road market.
On our second night in town, Meghan, Seth, Robin, Erin, and I took a little tour and visited Buckingham Palace and Parliament/Big Ben. It was a lot of fun and we went back during the day today when we were led around London by our program director for an almost four hour walking tour. Last night my flat and Omar, Andrew, Mike, and their roommate Eric, met up for dinner and a drink to celebrate signing our leases. We ate a gourmet burger joint and then some people split off to drop their bags at the hotel before meeting us back at the pub. Somehow, Andrew and Mike managed to walk all the way to High Street Kensington (which is quite a ways from where we were), never make it to the hotel at all, and get on the tube going in the wrong direction before they made it back to the pub. I, however unbelievable it may be, have yet to have gotten lost.
London has been really great so far, and I'm looking forward to finally getting to relax now that we have a flat settled. I only have two classes and a lesson next week, so I'm planning on doing a bit of sightseeing and touristy things this upcoming week.