Places in London where I could see us living...

The long awaited photos are here! I posted the Adventures of Sir Gnome (I am still waiting on name suggestions people!) just to wet your whistles. I am preparing for my trip to Tennessee this weekend so if I sound a little country... well it is because I am! Not that I will ever admit it again so you 2 loyal readers (Hi Laurie and Vim) are the only ones who will ever know ; ) If you forgot, the 79th Annual Crick Family Reunion is only a few short days away! I will have to be in full fledged country mode by the time I arrive in town on Friday night or my Papaw won't be able to understand a thing I say! But that is a subject for another blog....

So while wondering the streets of London, I took it upon myself to photograph homes/flats that best represented where I could see Chris and I settin' up home. There is a theme and I will give kudos to the 1st person to spot it but seriously... it is a little obvious! I will try to post the pictures in the order that we visited and I will do my best to tell you where the are... if I can remember... so off we go...

This is in St John's Wood which is very close the the famous Abbey Road Studios and the zebra stripe cross walk from the Abbey Road album cover. This flat was about half way between the Tube station and Regent's Park. And right across the way from the St. John's Wood Church Grounds. This area is also home to the Lord's Cricket Grounds... we happened to visit this area on the 1st day of a 5 day Cricket match so it was flooded with people. After 5 days of watching Cricket, Chris and I are still at a loss for a single rule in the game!

To the right is a group of flats in Marylebone (pronounced Mar- Lee-Bow)... Bow as in a hair bow not a dog bark! I think it is actually a hotel given the number of individuals standing outside with luggage but whatever... Marylebone is an interesting area that comes highly recommended but Chris and I must have walked out of the tube station in the wrong direction because we could not find any pubs, cafes, veggie stands or shopping of any kind. We have decided to give the area a second look before we make a final decision... mainly because the recording that announces the station pronounced above makes Chris giggle like the Pillsbury Dough Boy!

To the left is also Marylebone. Can't you just see me walking out that door in my rain coat, wellies (aka rubber boots) and umbrella ready to face the day? Ignore the cars in the bottom of the pic... I did not crop or adjust any of these pics.. I figured you had all waited long enough!

To the right is Clarence Gate Gardens in Bayswater. The building is Moorish style architecture (according to Chris) and there are buildings like this all over London. This one is a little dingy but when they are all cleaned up they look a little like candy canes with the red and white bricks... cute flat don't you think?

Well, neither Chris or I can remember where this is... but in reality we can't live there so it doesn't matter. I saw this building from up the street and decided instantly that I wanted to live here... then I found out it is a school... I guess I will have to settle on sending our future children there! Although, that too may be a little unrealistic ; )

This is a Mews in Notting Hill a few minutes walk from Hyde Park, St James Park, Portobello Road and Churchill Arms... the last is the pub that Chris would like to make his neighborhood hang out. It's picture is posted below...

I think that about covers the tour of London through the eyes of a soon to be expat looking for a place to call home. Somehow I think our place may be a little less posh than all of these but a girl can hope... right? We spent a lot of times looking in the letting agency windows... they post all the available rentals in the store windows. We were pretty pleased with what we saw in most areas and feel like we can find something in a great area that will fit our needs for the time being.

We did find one final option that we are strongly considering... It is a great location with plenty of space. It is close to the parks (St. James and Hyde Park) but it is a little touristy....

Do you think the Queen would notice if we shacked up here?