Things we've realised...

Now that we have been living in London for just over three months we thought we would update you on some of the things we have noticed....

• It does rain a lot - when we first arrived we were lulled into a false sense of security with beautiful blue skies and warm temperatures.  Don't get me wrong, we have some amazing weather but when it rains, it is windy and the air is icy.  I write this as we have had beautiful weather for the past five days - I am relishing in it don't you worry. I also don't get burnt here - it's great.
• People paint their doors so that they know which house is there own.  I absolutely love this concept. Each of the apartments would look identical but for the coloured doors.  Pinks, greens, yellows, blues.  One of my favourites is in the picture above.  When we buy a house back home we think we will paint our door. 
• A mother can get a fine for having her child stomp through the daffodils in the park but you can ride a bike as much as you like without a helmet - go figure.  We actually saw a mum in a park get told by a police officer that if her son didn't stop playing in the daffodils, she would get fined.
• Nobody waits for the traffic man to go green before walking across the road - People come within inches of a bus, car or bike. I know that I am starting to convert as I no longer wait at traffic lights. I can get to my destination 3 seconds earlier if I cross before waiting after all!! You can even jaywalk straight in front of a police officer.
• It doesn't get dark until 9 to 10 pm - the days are sooo long.  It's magical.  Although we do go to bed later because it is so hard to go to bed while it is still sunny outside.
• Dogs are treated the same as humans when it comes to getting a seat in a pub.  People's pooches are taken everywhere, even inside pubs and restaurants.  Shane and I wonder at the size of some of these dogs.  We understand how having a little dog in London would work but some people have great big dogs.  I don't know if you have noticed but everyone lives in apartments in London! 
• I thought only Amsterdam-ians rode bicycles everywhere but the poms do too.  There are bikes everywhere.  We have a great bike lane near our house and every morning I forget to look for the bike rider and almost get bowled over.
• The poms have hard shells. It takes you a long time to crack through that hard exterior.  I have found them quite different to the Aussie's and to be honest often hard to get along with.  They are really quite funny actually so it evens out in the end.  It's true what they say about how fast Londoners walk too.
• British girls wear A LOT of make up!

We wanted to jot some these things down because as we get more and more immersed here we start to forget that these things are actually different to what we are used to.  That is the beauty of living overseas!!!

xoxo
E&S