Homes Sweet Homes

We've got a flat! We're still finalizing the paperwork with the letting agents, and I'm in a sort of weird limbo state with the US and UK bank accounts, but for the most part we're there. It's nice to have a major piece of the puzzle figured out. I've posted a couple of pictures on Flickr, but I have to say, it was definitely the kitchen that sold me. ;)

The building is still being built - the photos I posted are of the flat one floor above us. Our flat is not quite finished, but it'll be ready (fingers crossed) by the time we move around Sept 1. The landlord agreed to furnish it (a surprising number of places around here are rented with furniture), and allowed me to pick out the furniture. I spent most of yesterday dealing with pre-moving details - measuring the flat for the furniture, picking it out, and banking.

Ooh, banking.

Dealing with banks in the US is not one of my favorite activities. Trying to deal with 3 banks across 2 countries definitely counts as even lower on that list. I called the UK branch of the bank today to try and arrange for the deposit to be paid to the landlord, but since my account was setup last week, I don't have the bank card, just the account number. Every one of the three times I've called the UK bank to ask them if I can setup payment, or get online of access to see if the deposit has been made to the account, I explain I don't have the card so I can't gain access to my account online. And then each time they ask me to verify my card number. Ummmm...

I also have to say that for money to be all electronic these days, no electrons move slower than the ones belonging to banks.

I'm hopping a plane tomorrow to fly back to the States. It's been a long trip and I'm ready to be going home. But after the last three weeks here, London is also really starting to feel like home as well. I'll have to start thinking of a new definition of what I call home.