London Archives - Page 6 of 6 - My Healthy, Happier Life

It has been an absolutely brilliant 24 hours! We spent Thursday and Friday exploring London with our relocation consultant looking at flats. We knew that we wanted something under our budget, not too large, nice condition, and good location due to the fact that Bo and I will be back and forth between Geneva and the airports and his work will be the number one commuting locations.

We explored St John’s Wood, Marylebone, South Kensington, Chelsea, Notting Hill, and Sloane Square. Needless to say, it was EXHAUSTING. Even though yesterday was longer than today, my legs didn’t appreciate all the walk ups and stairs after my long run this morning. Luckily, Bo and I were both smart enough to sacrifice style over comfort and wore our trainers (aka running shoes) for the house hunting excursion.

I thought it’d be fun to share some pictures of the flats we saw just so you can get a peak inside the diversity of London flats. Also to note, we required a furnished flat as they are not much more expensive here and it saves us from having to buy more furniture since we shipped the majority of our furniture from New York to Geneva.

Here are a few things we learned:

The London real estate market is very fast, meaning that if you see something in the morning it may be gone in the evening.
All things considered, your money goes a bit further than it does in New York City.
We were surprised how many flats were on the market.
We saw primarily walk up flats versus large corporate buildings.
Every flat we saw had a washer & dryer in the kitchen, under the counter.

We actually just found out that the offer we made on our favorite flat from yesterday in Marylebone was just accepted! It’s time to celebrate! We absolutely love the flat as it’s only 1 block from the nearest tube station, two blocks from the High Street which reminds us of the West Village in New York City, there are great restaurants and shops in walking distance, and it’s located between Hyde Park and Regents Park which means there are plenty of running trails! Unfortunately, as it is currently occupied until the end of the month, the only pictures I have are of its out door space!

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Greetings from London! If you follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram you may have seen that yesterday I left Geneva for my first weekend in London! After 11 days apart I was more than a tad excited to see Bo! He said goodbye to New York City yesterday with a one way ticket to Heathrow Airport where I met him around 10pm!

As I’ve mentioned before, when Procter & Gamble offered me the expat assignment in Geneva Bo and I had a tough choice to make as there weren’t any options in Geneva that would allow him to stay with his employer or further his career based on his current work. By sheer luck, there was an opening on his same team with Barclay’s in their London office, where Barclay’s is based. Through an internal interview process he was offered the role! Therefore, Bo and I will be living in separate cities Monday through Thursday each week. But, each weekend we will be together either in one of our home cities or another European city. While for some, this may be hard to fathom, but keep in mind we have been together for ten years. Over the course of this time we’ve been in different cities for four of the years. The key for us has always been constant communication via email and phone along with seeing each other as often as possible.

Luckily, Bo has already visited Geneva a few times so he is familiar with my network of friends and colleague. Beginning today, I’ll have a chance to begin meeting his colleagues here so I can become more familiar with the people he will work with and spend time with each day. This familiarity and our choice to not prioritize one of the cities as home base will help ensure each city and flat feels like home for us!

We kicked off our morning in London with a run along The Thames. Unfortunately it wasn’t the most scenic or easy run until the end as running from Canary Warf westbound towards Millennium Bridge doesn’t have a constant running path. But, regardless of scenery or ease enjoying 5-6 miles through the streets together is our favorite way to begin discovering any new city!

We ended our run in a perfect spot, Borough Market! Located in the London Bridge neighborhood, this large outdoor market has existed in some form since the year 1014! Today it’s filled with local vendors sourcing the freshest produce, game, fish, and culinary creations!

Today is Bo’s 29th birthday so we’re going to spend the rest of the day doing anything he wants! So far this includes fish & chips for lunch and walking around two of our potential neighborhoods taking in the sights and the lovely, cool London weather together.