Friday, May 20, 2011

Bedford Place

Officially, I'm in London!!

In all honesty, my traveling wasn't bad. It started off as though a disaster were around every corner, but soon was remedied into an even better situation.

My flight from Moline to Minneapolis was on time, and we even boarded our plane before we were told to disembark. Apparently, a flight to Detroit leaving at 10:30 had been delayed over 2 hours, so they got our plane. Here was the point I started to get a little nervous. I was supposed to fly into Minneapolis, hang out a couple hours, then fly to Detroit to quickly catch my flight to London. With the delays that seemed imminent, I talked to Delta, and managed to switch onto the Detroit flight. So, not only did it save me a plane trip, but also got me to Detroit with plenty of time to spare. It was a little funny getting onto the same plane I had just gotten off though.

In Detroit, I discovered I was wrong - I was not meeting the large group that was flying over. Instead, I found one other student, and both professors! It was so nice to have Dr.G and Dr. Post close, so Jen and I could ask questions. After we arrived in London and got through customs (which was slightly intimidating!), we all shared a cab on our way to our flat. Thankfully, we were allowed to check in early, and Jen and I immediately explored the entire flat and took pictures. So, for your viewing pleasure, a tour of my flat in London:

This is a view of Bedford Place. It's a rather quiet, small street, that's owned by the Duke of Bedford. He leases the property out, and many students from all over the world live in this area, especially since it's close to the university. 

We're staying in number 16, in a three bedroom, two bath flat on the second. There are eight beds available, but only seven girls staying. In all actuality, the flat is quite spacious, and came furnished for us.
When you first walk it and turn to your left, you can see two of the three bedrooms. They're very nice, with large ceilings, windows that look out onto Bedford Place, and plenty of furnishings to store things.
The second front bedroom, with three beds, also overlooking the street. This room also contains a shower, which Jen and I didn't find until later in the day. So, we spent part of the day believing that 7 girls would be sharing one shower for the next three weeks. Needless to say, there way great excitement upon discovering the shower.
One of the front bedrooms, overlooking the street, with two beds. 
The view from the front bedrooms. Each window overlooking the street has a small balcony, maybe a foot wide.
Looking down the hallway from the front bedrooms, you can see the kitchen and common room straight ahead, door to leave on the right, and both bathrooms (one full bath, one with a sink and toilet) on the right. My bedroom is also on the right, the third door down.
There are three beds in this room, these two (including mine on the right) and Natalie's on the opposite end. I love the huge window above my bed - it's so nice to not only have natural light, but also a breeze if necessary.
The common room was a pleasant surprise with the space it offered. Three couches, several chairs, and a full fridge and freezer. There's plenty of room for all of us to relax, and since ours is the biggest, it looks like we'll be hosting class here as well. The TV has cable, and we've had fun looking through some of the channels at the different shows. T
he kitchen is also very nice and open. Dishes and cookware are included, so we can do some basic cooking and baking if we so desire. There may not be a coffee pot but there is a hot water kettle, which is perfect for heating up water for tea.
Behind the flat is a wooded garden area. This is the view from one of the common room windows, and shows some of the area in the back. There also seems to be a patio on the ground floor, but we think that's reserved for those living in the ground floor flat.

And that's the flat! Not too big, but rather large by European standards. It's so nice to have a place to call our own during our brief stay. Nothing against hotels, but here we actually feel like we're living in London, not just staying in London.
Since the rest of the group wasn't expected to arrive until 3 or 3:30, Jen, Natalie, Dr. G., Dr. Post, and I all went to a cafe on Gilbert place (smile Mom!) for some lunch and coffee. It was quiet relaxing, sitting out in the sun, even though I couldn't quit yawning. 

Next installment: The sights of London!

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