We’ve been here almost seven months now and FINALLY have an aerial perspective.
A wise friend likened the typical new Londoner to a gopher. They tunnel down, hop on the tube and don’t re-emerge until they reach their final destination. Hence, the process of learning about their surroundings is quite slow; someone we spoke to said that it took them 2 years to figure out that Leicester Square and Covent Garden are within easy walking distance…and I’m sure they weren’t alone.
To battle the “blinders” of underground public transport, we began using buses and walking about the city more when I returned from Poland last month (the weather’s been a bit nicer than before). Through our bus trips and walks, we’ve learned that a few things are nearer than we once believed. Among them, LARGE grocery stores! With this new perspective, we’ve alternated between Sainsbury’s and Waitrose for our grocery shopping for the last couple weeks and have been much happier with the experience and selection…there are so many choices that our “eyes are hungry”. After months of our little neighborhood 5-aisle Budgens and the occasional trip to M&S, these new stores’ 10-20 aisles are heaven.
And we’ve become more at home in other ways recently, as well. We now have framed photos on a couple more walls, desk frames and a lamp for our office (what a difference it’s made! no more shadows casting on my books…) and the recent promotions on tulips and daffodils have allowed us to bring a little more life into the flat.
Funny moment yesterday: I was going down the escalator to buy lunch with a friend and said “ahh…tulips everywhere, I LOVE spring.” Being Dutch, she responded “Damn tulips, I hate them.” Perspective comes when you’re least expecting it.
One Response to Mixing It Up!