First week of the rest of my life

I'm here! It's lovely! The first two days we had +10°C and sunny weather but after that it's been around +4 and cloudy. Still a great improvement to the -20°C we had in Finland!

I landed at 9:15am on Thursday morning. I found my way to the flat quite easily - I took the tube: Piccadilly line to Green Park and then Jubilee line to Bermondsey station. The tricky part was getting my stuff with me. I had two big suitcases, a carry on bag and a purse. I had to macgyver the carry on on to the other suitcase using my scarf so I could push that around with one arm and then drag the other one along with the other. Ok, so now moving on flat surfaces was doable but then the subway train came and I had to somehow get these over the step on to the train. That turned out to be a little challenging as the other monstrosity was quite heavy and unbalanced with the carry on hanging on to it. People proved to be helpful enough and I wasn't left on the station struggling.

My flat is just a few minutes walk from the station. Satu, my flatmate, came to the station to lead me home. I put my stuff in my room and then stepped out for a little bit. I found a big shopping center close to here and went to wander around for a bit. Then I took a much needed nap in my comfy bed. I'm finding it surprisingly easy to adjust to sleeping on a single after so many years of having a king size bed.

On Friday I met another Finnish girl, Eve, to go vote on the presidential elections and then we sat down for a coffee at Hotel Chocolat in Covent Garden. I had a ham&cheese wrap. Wrapped in a chocolate thin pancake and it had cocoa nibs and weird stuff in it! I was quite scared of what it would be like but was very positively surprised! It was actually really good! Eve had to go meet her boyfriend for lunch and I started wandering around aimlessly on the streets on Covent Garden. I found some sort of market, a few streets with shops and then eventually stumbled upon Charing Cross station.

Topshop was quite a disappointment but one day I will get shoes from Aldo. And I'm making it a mission to get Irregular Choice shoes. I've been drooling over their website but haven't seen any of the styles I like in stores. This time I didn't buy anything. I headed back home and went to buy some food. Ended up only getting yoghurt, some berries and grapes and a little thing of coleslaw. I didn't think grocery shopping would end up being a problem but for some reason I just didn't know what to buy! Later I went to get Indian food since it is the national food around here. Had that with a bit of wine and watched TV. Crazy Friday night!

I've also been to wander around Camden Town. I believe I only saw a small fraction of it. There was so much stuff! So many little shops and market booths and people and everything. I've been so overwhelmed that I've forgot to take any pictures! Next post will be nicer to look at, I promise. I've also had time to go to Regent street and Oxford street for some shopping. I haven't bought much, which surprises me. I find myself being stupidly cautious and cheap when it comes to shopping. My most prized purchase has to be a pair of Abigail's Party shoes by Irregular Choice. I've been drooling over their website for months and now I finally have a store near by! I might go crazy and end up buying everything they sell.

My darlings!

Satu's family have a box over at The Valley where Charlton Athletic are based and she invited me to a football game. It was great! Such a modest start with all the football enthusiasm; food, champagne, it was nice and warm in there with a great view over the field. And they tied at the last minute!

I could get used to this.

The flat is nice and even tho my room is quite smallish I have a lot of storage space here. I haven't quite emptied my suitcases yet but I think I can find a place for everything. The flat gets a bit drafty and chilly at times but mostly it's warm enough. And at least my blanket is working. The single windows will take some time to get used to; I can hear the street outside my window like there's no wall at all! I've been sleeping with ear plugs on and waking up multiple time a night for some reason.

I better get my nutrition in order as my skin is letting me know I've been eating too much bread and other bad foods for me. I've also somehow ended up having alcohol every night I've been here. If not at some pub then at home with dinner.