Flat Search 2009

The lease on my flat is ending soon so I've been busy trying to find another flat. There is not that great of a selection to choose from right now. Apparently people don't like to move before Christmas so places aren't opening up. After seeing four flats, I think I've found a place that will be satisfactory and agreed in principle today to take it. Now there is the paperwork to deal with and to actually move some point next week.

London Calling ...

So I spent the 6th to the 8th down in London. Since I had never been to London before, the trip was spent doing different touristy stuff. I traveled south on the Caledonian Sleeper train. I caught the train at 0:06 in Stirling. Just going to the station in town was so much more convenient than having to go to the airport. Even though I paid for a bargain berth (was only £49) which is supposed to be shared with someone else, I lucked out and got the whole berth to myself, which worked out well. It was just small enough that I'm not sure how sharing with someone else would have worked out. I actually got a decent night's sleep too.

One of the highlights of the trip was my tour of Westminster Palace, home to Parliament. I had gotten Stirling's MP to arrange it for me (not letting on that I couldn't vote for her). One thing that surprised me was how small the House of Commons and House of Lords chambers were. For having 600+ members each, there wasn't a whole lot of room. I'm sure the House of Representatives in Washington is bigger even though it was less members. The whole building was really ornate.

Other things I went to see included the Tower of London and the Imperial War Museum. I also saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, which was kind of a waste of time. It was pretty long and drawn out with not a whole lot to see. The one night I went to Alexandra Palace to see the Bonfire Night fireworks. They were pretty good. Plus since I was on top of a hill, I could see all kinds of other fireworks going off in London. I spent a lot of time just wondering around and seeing different parts of the city.

My pictures from the trip have been uploaded.