New London Diggs

The apartment in Paris was historic, and chosen for its charm (and proximity to a Metro station).  The London apartment is urban modern.  Though we have not seen much of the city here yet, I'd venture to say that each of the apartments reflect their respective cities.  We didn't see any modern buildings in the heart of Paris; in the London neighborhood, we are surrounded by modern buildings with a few historic sites dotted here and there.  I suspect this neighborhood was bombed heavily during the war; I'll explain why below.

The Entry Hall

Lavendar.  Hmmm.  I would have chosen something much deeper.

The Living Room and Dining Area

All one large room.

As you can tell by the treetops and buildings visible through the windows, we are on an upper floor--the sixth to be exact.  Our apartment number 66.  So, 666.  Happy to report no hauntings or blood seeping upward through the floorboards last night.  Jordan suggests that since the British do not count the ground floor in their calculations, we are actually on the 7th floor in apartment 66.

Hallway (with a view of Jordan busily checking her email and Facebook).  While we were on the Eurostar, we were virtually unplugged.  When we got to London, all four of us went about the business of "checking in."

Kitchen

One amazing feature.  Looking directly ahead, you can see two appliances under the counter.  The one on the left is a dishwasher.  The one on the right is a combination washer and dryer.  In a single fell swoop, clothes are washed and then dried.

Two Views of the Master Bedroom . . .

. . . and bathroom.

The Second Bedroom . . .

. . . and its bathroom.

What follows is four pictures of the views from our windows:

Through the living room windows you can see Wesley Chapel in the lower left hand corner.  I'll get a better picture of that later.  Behind it, you can see high rises. 

And speaking of high rises. . .  In the distance, you can see a crane poised atop a new high rise that is being built in the near distance.

Here's a better picture of the new construction.

Here is my favorite feature of the new apartment.  We are located next to an incredibly old cemetery, some of which was destroyed in World War II.  The cemetery has been restored, but the best part is that many of the graves in the older section are older than the US.

Two folks among the notables buried here:

William Blake

Daniel Defoe

In fact, right around the corner we have . . .

The William Blake Pub

All in all, I'd say Carl did a spectacular job in choosing the flat.  We're two blocks from the Tube.  Yesterday afternoon, we traveled in to Whitehall.  Didn't get to see the Obamas, though he, at least, was in the vicinity.  We suspect they were preparing for his visit when we passed Downing Street.  Incredible security, complete with guns.  After we had walked on down the street, about a half dozen large police vans--sirens and lights going at full force--filled with security details rounded Trafalgar Square and headed back toward Downing Street.  Later we heard on the news that the President was at Downing Street prior to the State Dinner last night.

We were in Whitehall in an attempt to see Parliament.  The House of Lords was in session yesterday; unfortunately, because of the President's visit, they were not admitting any spectators today.  We'll will have a tour of Parliament later on our trip, but we won't have the opportunity to see either house, as they won't be sitting.

More later.