A Room with a View


I’ll make it simple for you to figure out – without the gushing and tears. This is the kind of thing I might be doing today, right now, if we hadn’t taken the crazy train to London in October 2008.
fixing hem

pinning cassi

me with statues

So. What do color guard addict-turned-fans do with their weekends?! This addict-turned-fan filled the day with flat hunting, job training, and educational activities. (Snicker.) Sort of.

Because you’ve told us that you need to know where you’ll be staying when you come, I understand how anxious you are to hear the flat hunt update – so we’ll talk about the job training (wink, wink – right Lauren?) tomorrow. But I am going to tell the story the way I always do; the long way.

Estate agents are generally accepted to be on the social hierarchy beneath the feet of tax collectors and lawyers. (Drew and I have had our frustrations with a few agents who shall not be named.) You might remember, also, that flat hunting in London is a bit of a pain. Taking all of this into consideration I must say that we have had the pleasure of working with some really sweet estate agents. But Mumzad is tops. He took us to see at least 5-8 properties in October 2008; he was terribly kind even when I told him we had found something with another agent. When we were ready to move this time around, I gave him a call. He has shown me at least 15 flats. Bless his cotton socks, for real though. I am a pain to work with, having a long list of requirements and tastes outside my budget. Mumzad totally took it in stride. I am relieved to say that he may have just found the right place for us today.

Do you remember contestant number nine with the balcony overlooking the canal? Yes, this one.
new wharf road
photo courtesy of Foxtons

I didn’t ask to take photos inside the flat because the current tenant is still in and that seemed like an invasion of their privacy. However, we did snap a shot of the entrance.

entrance new wharf

We also wandered through the London Canal Museum a few doors down. It’s a cheap school lesson on a very interesting topic if you ask me.

london canal museum

The flat “ticks quite a few boxes” for us – great location for transport, open plan reception/kitchen, washing machine, quiet, good light, secure, good floor plan, two good sized bedrooms, nice size fridge, freezer, good amount of storage… It also has some extras that are worth a lot – like the nearby nightlife, the balcony and the super cool kitchen/dining area. (Previous guests of the Huddleston B&B might be pleased to know that a full shower curtain is in use in this flat. Brilliant, right?!) Really, my requirements are largely relative to my desire for people to enjoy staying with us – having a space in which we are comfortable entertaining.

By the way – did you know that you can rent or buy a place on a houseboat or barge? Not kidding.

Yeah, so. We talked about it at length. We put in an offer. There isn’t any reason that the landlord wouldn’t accept a realistic offer from two people as nice as us, except that he doesn’t know what ridiculously good tenants we are. That’s what references are for, right? We’ll know something as soon as our agent does. And when I know, you will know. Thank you in advance for the good vibes.

By the way, when you visit the website it tallies our “hits”. It gives me a good cheap thrill to see the numbers. No pressure.


4 responses to “A Room with a View”

  1. so what about the Marksman????

    i thought this was the day………..

    love the wonderful view!

    Hugs,donna

  2. As a former guardie, I remember those days. It’s bittersweet, in its own way, to wish you could be there and enjoy where you are anyway.

    I was secretly hoping you’d go for the loft (and not because I went all drool-y over it), but the waterside is very nice. Hoping it all works out for you and Drew!

  3. hee, hee… Donna, details about the Marksman will be in today’s (Sunday’s) post. That we the “job training” I alluded to : ) Fun!

    Oh, Jessica – I totally know where you are coming from on the loft! It does still have a piece of my heart. You need to know though, that the reason it’s not at the top of list is that it wouldn’t the ideal place for you to visit us. The master bedroom is not a bedroom at all. It’s a landing on staircase which has wardrobes – the staircase leading up to an alcove where the mattress is. Unfortunately, you have actually have to crawl into bed. The spiral staircase would be impossible for our Aunt Jennine to use. And the bathroom is on the loft level! The smaller bedroom is also not big enough for us to use for a guest room and office, but the living room isn’t all that big either. Squeezing a desk, dining table, and couch/tv/seating would be hard. Do you think I should do a blog post on the contestants I didn’t pick and why? : ) I love that you read the blog! It’s a great way for us to keep up with each other, to have blogs!

    Hint, hint Donna.