Thomson in London: Settling In

Hello!

I'd trust I know all of you. In that case, you should all know that I've had a bit of a change of late. Specifically, I left my doctoral program at Cornell University and entered a master's program at University College London. It necessitated a move from Ithaca, New York to London by way of Kittery, Maine. Well, that's done now. I've started this blog to keep family and friends up-to-date through both picture and prose.

I arrived in London Tuesday morning on what was, without question, the smoothest transatlantic flight I've experienced to date. Following on a three-plus hour wait at passport control, made all the more intolerable by the two middle-aged American women behind me (repeat after me with your best Staten Island accent... "We nevah have to wait dis long when visiting da islands!"), I made my way into town via Heathrow Connect and a short cab ride. I'm living in the neighborhood of Pimlico, a short walk to the Victoria Line (the flat is equidistant from Victoria and Pimlico Stations, but I've found the walk to Victoria to be more entertaining) and a 25-minute commute to my new academic home, UCL. The flat itself is a two-bedroom at garden level on the right of the following picture.

The corner of Sussex and Alderney in Pimlico

The neighborhood is nestled along a leftward bend in the River Thames and is located due south of popular tourist attractions such as Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Westminster. With school not formally convening until next week, I've taken the opportunity to explore both my immediate surroundings and the city at large. While I've been to London on a number of occasions in the past, it's never been with a view towards living here. I'm settling in nicely and will be in touch again soon. For now, I'll leave you with a few pictures I've taken over the past few days.