Moving in to the Stadium

25-1-13
So we got the keys yesterday and have moved in most of the stuff we personally brought over. Also today, IKEA delivered our sofabed and a few other things. And the air shipment was delivered. Nice to have some clothes we hadn't seen in a while; about 2 months for Tracy. Tomorrow we get our new TV delivered and next week the rest of our stuff will arrive by sea and be delivered. Here's the thing with our life in London, either we get stuff delivered or we carry it home from the store. A box of cat litter gets a little heavy after a half mile or more. There's no carrying a TV or a major load from the grocery store on the tube, aka 'subway'. The major grocery chains here deliver groceries, and a lot of people do it. London isn't as car-unfriendly as Manhattan, but we have no intention of owning a car here.

So, what does the title of this post mean? If you aren't Facebook friends, you may not have seen anything about our place. We're moving into a football, aka 'soccer', stadium. Actually, a former stadium. Until they moved into their new stadium, the Arsenal Football Club, an English Premier League team, played their games where we now live. The team developed the old stadium and manages it, and they now play in 60,000+ seat Emirates Stadium just down the street. The pitch, aka 'field', still more or less exists. It now sits on top of a car park, aka 'parking garage'. It's a park now with trees, plants, benches, and water features. Nice. The east and west stands, along the long side of the pitch have been turned into flats and the north and south sides were torn down and rebuilt. The outside of the building still retains the art deco look from a 1930's refurbishment, complete with logo. (If only NFL teams stayed that long in a stadium). The marble halls can still be seen in the concierge area, along with a bust of Herbert Chapman, Arsenal's manager from the 1920's and 30's. The building is what is called a 'listed building', which means it is on a list of building with architectural or historic importance. Sounds like a big deal, but there are about half a million such buildings in the UK. Still...

We live in the East Stand on the ground floor, so we have a large garden, aka 'patio'. The trees and bushes obviously are not in bloom, but we're told it'll look really nice then. We have a 2-bedroom, 2-bath place that is still a little small, but that's London for ya. Here are some garden pics:

 The living room and both bedrooms open to the garden with a big sliding door. They face west, and I haven't been there at sunset yet, so we'll see if we have a nice view. Here are a couple interior shots of our kitchen and reception room, aka 'lounge', aka 'living room'.

So there's our new place. Quite a bit different from South Charlotte...and smaller.
And my camera has a spot on the lens, apparently.
Cheers!