South by South East

It was inevitable that the weekend before I moved house was glorious and sunny while moving weekend ended up being mostly rainy. Nonetheless, I am now officially a home-owner and resident of South of the River (SOTR), and I am successfully installed in my new humble abode. I picked up the keys on Friday afternoon, but only had a few hours in the flat to check a few things before I had to head to Leicester Square for the Seven Psychopaths screening. It didn't help that it was pouring with rain when we arrived and seeing the empty flat, I had a first flash of doubt: have I done the right thing?

Home sweet home. The wallpaper isn't staying...

When the movers offered me an 8 am slot on Saturday, all I could think of was the 6.30 am alarm, but it actually worked out quite well. There was hardly any traffic and the movers were able to load everything up in NoMaRo, drive to SOTR and then unload. By 11 am, then, they had gone and I was left with a flat full of boxes and bags to unpack. Fortunately, the Bro and the SIL were there for moral support. I unpacked a little bit and then we went to meet the Bridge Buddies for lunch at Borough Market. I thought it was important to reassure myself that I am in a good location, close to lots of interesting places like Borough and the lovely Bermondsey Street, which is the new Marylebone High Street for me. After a pulled pork bap from Hobbs at Borough Market, a crème caramel, and a celebratory G and T at one of the riverside pubs, I went home to do some more unpacking.

Fun at Borough: pulled pork, crème caramels and my new landmark, the Shard

The Bridge Buddies, the Bro and I then went to a pub in Rotherhithe for dinner, while the SIL worked her last shift there. The rain didn't stop and it was a soggy journey home, but I was enamoured with the London "skyline" views from the river near Rotherhithe by night. This morning it was a little drier, so I went for a run along what will probably be my new standard weekend route: up to Tower Bridge, across to the North Bank and then along the Thames Path to Westminster Bridge, and then back again. I finally had an opportunity to use my iPhone's new panorama mode. It's just a shame the Thames wasn't looking its finest.

Thames panorama from Tower Bridge on a grey, autumnal Sunday

Overall, then, I'm really glad to have moved and reassured by the fact that there are a lot of new restaurants, espresso bars and shops in the vicinity for me to check out. I just need to get better at calculating SOTR walking distances. Oh, and sleep. I need that too. Most of this year has been taking up with the moving project and although there is still more work to do and more things to sort, I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.