There are things about the UK that just crack me up. Everything is so literal here. Like "Washing up liquid" for cleaning the dishes. I love it! This little sign for your "Winter Flu Jab" is the best.
One thing that has been frustrating, that isn't particularly British, is deliveries. I ordered a bunch of things from Amazon to be delivered right away when we moved in. I needed a blow dryer... there was a present I needed for Matthew... Collin need an air mattress to sleep on... Stuff like that. And then once we moved in there were even more little things we needed. Well, we quickly learned that we have to be here to accept deliveries. What a pain! But most of the time it didn't matter that we were here because they went to the gate where the intercom doesn't work. So frustrating! Most of our deliveries were rescheduled again and again. The main thing that never came was Collin's air mattress. So, every day he has been doing things to earn the privilege to sleep on Matthew's bed. LOL!!! I've finally learned the process - On Amazon you can see who the carrier of your package is (there are many). Then you can go to their website to track your package. Most of the time they will give you a one hour window when your delivery will come. And you can leave notes like "please call my mobile!" You can also call the carrier. So I finally called the carrier who is holding the airbed. The lady said they can't deliver it because they are in "administration" and are no longer a company. WHAT?! I then called Amazon and went through the process of reordering. Our lives have revolved around these deliveries the past two weeks! My final delayed one came today. Hallelujah!
Lauren introduced me to the Amazon locker which is the most beautiful thing. Have you heard of this? They have these lockers all over! You just pick one, and your items are delivered there. Bam! Ours is at the back of a grocery store.
They give you a special code that you
enter, and the locker pops open. Brilliant!
Not so brilliant though when the lockers are all full.
Yeah, that has been the latest problem. Fun, Fun!
As long as we're discussing frustrating things, I will tell you the saga of the wifi. Or lack thereof. We didn't find out until we moved in that we wouldn't have wifi for three weeks. WHAT?! That caused some serious meltdowns across the board. The good news is that there is a free wifi connection called "web" that is on every day from 9am until 9pm. We don't know where it comes from, and we don't care! We also found out that Sky (the tv service) has a free wifi called The Cloud that pops up randomly. If you register on the app, it automatically connects you for free. But we really needed something for after 9pm, and something with a stronger connection. I emailed the landlady who said that she told the agent to inform us, and was told that we would use dongles in the meantime. DONGLES? I walked down the street to an EE store (smartphones, tablets, internet stuff place), and asked what they have for mobile wifi. The guy said, "You mean a dongle?" Hahaha. So, we got this overpriced little thing that doesn't provide much for a family of six. No watching videos on it or all of our expensive GB will be gone. So I have become the wifi Nazi. It's not very fun. One week down, two weeks to go.
On Saturday we went to the BRITISH Museum.
It was insanely busy.
The first thing we saw was The Meroe Head of Augustus. An army led by Meroe's king raided Egypt where Augustus reigned. They destroyed and looted portrait statues of Augustus. Once Rome regained control, the statues were returned, but this head was never sent back. Instead it was buried in front of a building in the capital of Meroe where people who entered would trample on the decapitated head of Augustus. I got a real kick out of that!
The actual museum was super cool. I don't think we saw too much of it though. I waited in line way too long for the bathroom. And it was super hard getting around all of the people.
We went to the basement first to see the Africa stuff.
I told Mike I always wanted a chair like this.
He was alarmed. But then I realized he thought I meant the little one.
This caught my eye - It looks like fabric, but is made out of recycled metal foil bottle-neck wrappers.
The Egypt part was crazy crowded!
I didn't even try to see the Rosetta Stone.
Michael wanted to see the Medieval section, and I'm so glad we did.
I love the Lewis Chessman! They were discovered on the Isle of Lewis.
I bought this little magnet for our fridge. We think it's the queen.
She's so funny! And it's especially funny because the refrigerators here
are disguised by a cupboard. You have to open the door to get to the fridge.
When you open the cupboard, you see this lady all freaked out.
It's like she's saying, "Oh, no! You're eating again?!" Hahaha.
On Monday I had to stick around for deliveries, so I decided to finally make
our Christmas dinner. Better late than never! I started with the pies, and
wasn't phased when I realized we had no rolling pin. A glass will do!
Collin had emailed pictures of a couple of my recipes. Perfect!
The pies were awesome, and the hand mixed rolls were so wonderful.
Oh, but it WAS a problem when I realized we didn't have a can opener. I ran across the street to buy one at the grocery store (and missed a delivery in the process). But then I couldn't figure out how to use it! What a mystery. It looks like a regular can opener, but Lauren and I could not get it to work. So frustrating! We made some cuts here and there, and then Lauren used her street skills (once again) to pry the lid open with a fork. Thank goodness Lauren is around!Our delayed Christmas dinner was divine. I bought a "gammon" not really knowing what that was. Well, it's an uncooked ham. Ok! Thank goodness for Google! I boiled it on the stovetop for a couple of hours, and then baked it for 30 minutes with Trisha Yearwood's homemade glaze of brown sugar and honey. Hahaha. Oh my, it was GOOD!
Matthew started a puzzle and we only have one table,
so we've been eating over the puzzle. Haha.
It wasn't the most bountiful meal, but we loved it.
I had to stick around the flat today for another delivery (the last one that was supposed to come at the beginning of last week), so Collin and Michael went to the Tower of London. Once my package came (yay! it came!); Lauren, Matthew and I headed over to the Tate Britain. Transportation has been a little weird the past few days because two of the three Tube lines from our area have been closed for service. We took the bus today which was fun. :)
So, the Tate Britain... Lots of nudie stuff! Like holy moly, I'm so glad Michael wasn't there! He would have been very uncomfortable. The building was cool though.
So, the Tate Britain... Lots of nudie stuff! Like holy moly, I'm so glad Michael wasn't there! He would have been very uncomfortable. The building was cool though.
There were a few pieces here and there that I liked.
There was way too much from this British guy Turner.
Boring stuff. But I did like this ship one.
More cool stuff - I love "the stack."
Interesting!
All in all, Lauren wasn't impressed.
We were supposed to meet Collin and Michael at the London Eye, but I forgot to get tickets ahead of time. We came back home instead and chilled. Lauren said today was a bust, but I think it was alright. The boys are going to the Imperial War Museum tomorrow. SNORE! Lauren and I are going to a photography exhibit at the Victoria & Albert Museum. I'm excited for that!
