A Visit to Colin's Future College

This past Monday was a Bank Holiday in England so we took advantage of the long weekend for David by taking a day trip to Oxford on Saturday.  Oxford is a short train ride from London and home to the University of Oxford.  We started our day by taking a double-decker sightseeing tour of the city, which gave us some background of the University.  The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English speaking world with evidence of teaching dating back to 1096.  The University consists of 36 self-governing colleges.  The Rhodes Scholarship is an international post graduate award allowing foreign recipients to study at the University of Oxford and is widely known as the world's most prestigious scholarship.  Former President Bill Clinton was a notable Rhodes Scholar, and we saw a few references to his days at Oxford around town (see picture below).

After our bus tour, we checked out Christ Church College.  Christ Church College is one of the largest colleges of the University of Oxford and appears to be most well known at this point as being the setting of various scenes in the Harry Potter movie series (i.e. use of its dining hall).  We walked past a few more sights (Bridge of Sighs, Radcliffe Camera) and made our way to a tourist attraction that couldn't be missed, the track where the first sub-four minute mile was run.  This was on David's must-see list.  I don't think it was on any one else's as we were the only people at this track (other than people who were there to work out). 

We were rained out most of the afternoon so spent the majority of the time enjoying some Pimm's and beers at a local pub while Colin napped.  Here are a few pictures from the day:

David in front of Christ Church college

For the Harry Potter fans (Christ Church dining hall)

An exciting attraction

Colin trying to run a sub-four minute mile

Some Bill Clinton history at the pub where we stopped for drinks







Escape from the City

We took our first trip out of the city last Saturday.  We figured we would start our European travels with an easy day trip to Brighton.  Brighton is a seaside resort village in South England.  Trains to Brighton leave from London frequently and take about an hour to make the journey south.  Colin was excited to ride on the train (or as he calls it a "choo choo"), and the trip there went fast between looking out the window, eating snacks, and watching Elmo on the iPad. 

We headed straight to the Royal Pavilion when we arrived to take a tour.  We were the first people in line for the day (a benefit of having a small child who does not sleep in).  The Royal Pavilion was the seaside palace of King George IV and later of Queen Victoria.  The palace has an Indian style exterior (looks a bit like the Taj Mahal) while is decorated indoors in a Chinese style and is known for being both unusual and luxurious.  After our history lesson, we headed down to the beach and took a spin on the Brighton Wheel (a giant ferris wheel), put our toes in the ocean, and had some lunch.  Colin took a nice long snooze in his stroller while David and I checked out the pier, did some shopping, and enjoyed a few drinks by the ocean.  When Colin woke up (and after a quick trip for some gelato), it was back to the train station for our journey back to London.

Brighton was a fun day trip but not a place that I think we need to return to during our time here.  It kind of reminded me of Atlantic City without the gambling aspect.  We had to laugh as it was in the high 60s and there were a TON of people laying out to work on their tans and swimming in the ocean.  It was one of the warmest days of the year there but felt way too cold for us to think about swimming.  I guess you have to take advantage of decent weather when you can in the UK.

Here are a few pictures from the day.

Colin & I on the train

Brighton wheel

Waiting to board the Brighton Wheel

Enjoying the ride

Testing out the water

London Apartment

We moved in to our apartment three weeks ago today and are starting to feel more settled here.  Our shipment from the US arrived last week.  Since we were limited to 1,000 pounds of shipment weight (which goes much faster than you would think), we basically brought over only clothes and Colin's toys.  It is still nice to have some of our own stuff.  I was getting really sick of the clothes I had in the suitcase I was living out of for almost a month and poor Colin was so bored without his toys.  Our apartment was semi-furnished.  We had to make a couple of trips to IKEA to get the remaining furniture that we needed (baby furniture for Colin, couches, a desk, etc.) and everything for the kitchen.  We didn't want to buy anything too nice as we will have to try to sell or give away everything in two years since we have the same shipping restrictions when we move back to the US. 

The neighborhood we live in is called Maida Vale.  It is in west London and about a 30 minute commute for David to get to work.  I think it will be a good fit for us as it seems to be a really family friendly neighborhood.  We live right across the street from a 27 acre park called Paddington Recreation Ground that we go to almost daily.  London also has quite a few free activities for kids under 5 so Colin and I have been checking a bunch out to see what we like best.  I will post more soon about what we have been up to.  We finally have Internet now (it took over two weeks to get set up) so will try to update this blog more regularly.

Here are some pictures of our apartment.  The first one is the outside view.  We live in a Mews style home.  This is a British term for rows of stables that host carriage houses below and living quarters above.  Our home is actually a replica of a Mews and never would have been used to hold carriages or horses.  According to our relocation assistant, this house is a "modern build."  I think this must mean anything less than 100 years old as this place is not modern at all.  Definitely a different standard than the US.

Front of our mews home

Living room

Dining room (we eventually got rid of that awful table and light fixture)

Tiny kitchen (a very difficult adjustment)

Master bedroom (calling this a master is a stretch)

Colin's room

Guest bedroom/office