Settling-In Services

Today was day three for us in the UK.  Lilly has been great about making this transition easy for us, and today they provided us with "settling-in services."  A relocation consultant, Jane, picked us up from home this morning and drove us all around the area, showing us the local Target-style superstore, the shopping district in Windsor ("Royal Shopping"), the local health club with pool, the horse race track in Ascot, and (the kids' favorite) Legoland.  Jane was very accommodating, taking us wherever we asked to go and providing us with information on everything from library hours to how to make a local phone call to where to find a nice place for a picnic.  Unfortunately, none of us are used to the narrow, winding roads, seeing as we live in Indiana, and Malcolm was carsick for the first time.  All over me and Jane's Audi.  Ick.

In front of the Legoland Hotel (That green thing sticking up is a dragon's tail.)

The boys saw their first castle ever (Disneyland doesn't count!) in Windsor.  We'll go back one day when it's not rainy, cold, and windy to take a tour of the castle and watch the changing of the guard.

Windsor Castle, one of the Queen's residences

Speaking of the weather, we weren't really prepared for how cold and rainy it would be.  Yes, we did know that it rains in England, but I expected it to be 10 to 15 degrees colder than home, tops.  Today the high was in the low 50's, and it's expected to dip down to 34 tonight.  Don't ask me what that is in Celsius.  People keep chuckling when we say that we are here for the summer, as if only a naive American would actually think that England has a summer.  We're trying not to feel sad about a summer with no barbecues, no outdoor pool, and no 4th of July celebration.  We'll have to learn to love our wellies and brollies, I think.

We are all charmed by how beautiful it is here.  I often feel like I've stepped into a novel and at any moment Mr. Darcy will come riding up on horseback.  Almost every building is old and has character.    The houses in our neighborhood don't have typical addresses with a building number and street name. All the houses have names, so for example, your address might be Birdsong (house name), Larch Avenue (street), Sunninghill (town).  

These are the houses you will find behind the gate.

A typical home on our street.  Seriously.

Even the trash cans are quaint.

Tomorrow is Erik's first day of work, so the kids and I will be on our own.  Wish us luck.  I managed to drive about 2 miles on the left side of the road today, but I think we'll see what we can see on foot first while I build up my courage to brave the roundabouts.