House-hunting trip picture-rama

Hello, all. My brain is overloaded- we are home from our house-hunting trip, and now I am overwhelmed with the insanity of packing up, figuring out school things, timing our packing and shipping schedule, blah blah blah. I am still excited to be going, though, don't worry. Just a tired kind of excited.

Since my brain is such a jumbled mess, this post might be, too, but oh-well, here you go!

We were staying at the Grosvenor House (but say it like Super Grover with an "n" and without the "Super") which is right across the street from Hyde Park. We were too busy to actually see Hyde Park, well, at least closer than from across the street, but we will someday, right? On Saturday and Sunday we checked out areas we were interested in, on Monday we house-hunted, on Tuesday Jimmy D had a trade show and I was forced to sleep in until noon and then go shopping, Wednesday we house-hunted some more, Wednesday night we debated and then debated some more over which house to choose, Thursday Jimmy D went into the office and I took the train to check out the area where the house we chose is, and then Friday we flew home. Phew!

Here are some pics for an overview. I will do some little posts tomorrow with details when I take breaks from the chaos.

Jimmy D headed to the Ministry of Magic:



The biggest lamb-i-est burrito in the world from Cafe Naz in Brick Lane: (mmmmmmm)



A very good summing up of our first night there- the rose they gave me as we left Cafe Naz, my umbrella, all against the backdrop of the Picadilly Line Tube Car:



Poor Jimmy D was ready to strangle all the "car-hire" places in Greater London for closing at noon on a Saturday.



The place that was finally open was right in the busy center of London. Here we see Jimmy D realizing we were both, quite possibly, about to die. Or maybe hit a few people or cafe chairs at the very least:



See? This was the intersection about 30 seconds after we started driving. Run, people, run!!



Ehh he he he he heeeeee:



Here's the Tube. We giggled every time the polite Britishy automated female tube voice told us we were on the train to Cockfosters. Juvenille, but c'mon, you'd giggle too, admit it:



These, my friends, are the most exclusive part of our new house. Closets...er... wardrobes. Not a common thing there:



This is where you could be killed with a candlestick if you visit us:



The train station, umm, maybe at Chelmsford?:



Each morning at the hotel's fancy schmancy breakfast, the waitress looked shocked and amazed when I didn't want coffee. I guess all Americans are supposed to want coffee. When I also passed on tea, they would be at a loss for what to do next. So I had hot chocolate every morning, and that seemed to make it a little better since there was something hot they could pour for me. Plus, hey, hot chocolate for me:



Here is Regent St, between Oxford St. and Picadilly Circus:



One day while coming back to the hotel I ran across Narnia. Well, sort of. Right off a busy shopping section (Oxford St.) there is a tiny gap you can go into that opens up into a whole separate shopping street. It's called St Christopher's Place.:



The train from Liverpool St (Jimmy D will take this train to work, and we will use it to get into London) goes right past construction for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Here is the Olympic Stadium and the venue for the Swimming competitions:





And finally, here is a shot of Jimmy D, moments after stepping off a plane back home at the SLC airport. He was panicked to discover that there is no Mt Dew in the UK. If you visit, you have to bring some or we won't let you stay with us:



Okay, it isn't all that late, but I am exhausted, so I'm going to bed. More tomorrow, maybe, probably, well... we'll see...?