I Have Moved!

Shortly after arriving in London, I went on a mission to find an outdoor store to stock up on some gear for a backpacking trip I was planning to the Lake District. I decided to head to the closest shops I could find to the office during my lunch hour. I was headed toward Chiswick, a 20 minute walk down the road from work, and I was more worried about getting back quickly than I was about exploring a new area. As I walked toward Chiswick, however, I was pleasantly surprised. It became much nicer (and cleaner), the sidewalks significantly widened, trees suddenly lined all of the streets, and a number of quaint stores, coffee shops, restaurants, and pubs could be found everywhere. When I got back to the office to inform everyone where I had been, they told me that it was one of those areas that everyone wants to live. That was after they all had a long laugh at me for mispronouncing the area (I'm not going to tell you how to say it correctly!). Since then I knew it was a place I would like and I went back every chance I got, which wasn't that often to be honest. But guess what? Now I live there!

See pics: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/bbergey/24CranbrookRoad?feat=directlink

Since I'm going to be in London a while longer, I decided it was time to find a better flat. Mine was adequate, but it wasn't big enough and it wasn't in the best area. So I decided to start searching. I didn't try terribly hard knowing that I could stay in my current flat as long as I needed. I thought I would wait for the perfect place and if it came along then great! If not, I was happy staying where I was. After about a month, I finally found it. Nestled on a quiet street just behind Chiswick High Street(high street is another name for main street), my flat is what Londoners would call a house. It's three stories and four bedrooms. It has a large common room, a great kitchen, a dining/sun room, and even a small garden (or yard) in the back. My bedroom is about 4 times as big as my previous room and it's nice to have a common room and space to enjoy other than just my bedroom. Now I just need to get a desk and maybe a bookshelf and I'll be set!

I have three new flatmates, two guys and one girl. I know a lot of you are probably thinking that is strange since I usually live with girls. But I guess things can change. They are all really nice people in their mid twenties and I look forward to having them as friends. One of them works in a recording studio and is also in an up and coming London band. Another works for one of London's biggest banks in their corporate office. The third is a mathematics phd student.

The area near my flat is absolutely amazing. Within a 3 minute walk I have everything I could ever need plus a lot more. Within a 5-10 minute walk there is more than I will ever have time to explore. It's great. Already, I have a few local favorites. They include a board shop, two outdoor gear shops, a number of local pubs, the 2nd best natural food store I have found in London (first being Whole Foods), a great bread shop/bakery, a NORMAL LARGE SUPERMARKET (this is in all caps because it is incredible that I live less than a 10 minute walk to a normal sized grocery store...I am very excited about this), and one coffee shop/restaurant in particular with cozy indoor and outdoor seating. Of course there is are about 8 other grocery stores, a McDonalds, a great looking Kebab shop for the late nights, and around 83 Starbucks. The streets are also lined with trendy clothing shops and countless restaurants catering to all types of food and tastes. It's seriously a wonderful place to be. I'm also about the same distance as I was to the Thames River, less than a 10 minutes walk.

The best news? I have plenty of room for visitors! Multiple visitors at the same time even!

Overall, I'm not sure what I'm most excited about. The flat itself, the flatmates, or the location. I'm sure I'll have many more thoughts and experiences around my new flat as time goes on, so stay tuned!