Meanwhile in Holland...

Leaving Holland was difficult for a lot of reasons, including having to say good-bye to sweet 11-year-old Kati who had lived with us for over 10 years. She hates loud noises, so bringing her to London would have been a nightmare for all of us. I tried to find someone to adopt her through a website that Sally found through a colleague to match pets with new owners. It was a fascinating process, especially meeting a woman blinded as a teenager during World War II that held my arm instead of using her cane as she led Kati and I on a walk around Clingendael Park. She liked Kati, but really wanted a long-haired dog instead. We were running out of options and were worried we would have to drop her off at a animal shelter (luckily Holland only has no-kill shelters), when Terri saved the day. She told my story at the AWC Book Club and one of the new members, whom I’ve never met, said she thought she knew the perfect couple. Muge had to leave her dog behind in Turkey when she got divorced and moved to Holland. Now she is engaged to Ejal and ready to love another dog. They came to meet Kati and wanted her, but were getting ready to go on holiday. I was so relieved when Suzanne, another AWC Member, came to the rescue to bridge that gap and took Kati just before our movers came. It’s clear from the photos that Muge has sent that they are now a happy family.

 

First Pub Crawl in London...

That evening we attended our first hash pub crawl, which also happened to be my first hash in London. Although calling it a hash was a bit of an exaggeration as there was no running, no checks and no circle. However, it was a chance to meet a few hashers and see some new parts of the city... 

…and a lovely sunset over the Thames.

 

Urban Art and a Windmill in Brixton...

My next long walk was to Brixton in South London, where I saw some nice street art. These first three photos are close-ups from one building. 

It was strange to see a windmill within just days of leaving the Netherlands. Ashby’s Mill, commonly known as Brixton Mill, was built in 1816 to mill flour until 1862. It was restored in 2011.

 

On My Own in London...

The following day, Jimmy headed off to work and I had the day to myself. Our flat was less than a 10-minute walk to Balham Station, which is both a train and Tube station. 

My first destination was a small art gallery showing prints of work by a German artist that I follow on Instagram: Volker Hermes, who creates Hidden Portraits using historic paintings as a starting point.

Afterwards, I took a long walk which included a tiny bit of Regent’s Canal, where I definitely will return...

…and Barbican Centre, a large performing arts center...

…with unusual architecture. 

That evening Jimmy and I took a long walk around Wandworth Common. Southwest London has a lot of green space provided by the concept of open common land dating back to medieval times.

 

Welcome to Balham...

Since Jimmy only had a temporary contract, we knew that we couldn’t sign a traditional rental agreement which would require at least a one-year commitment. A quick Internet search assured us that we could rent short-term accommodation with a premium price tag. Luckily we could put off having to use that option... 

When Jimmy had hashed in London in June, he asked around if anyone could use some housesitters over the summer. Luckily Jessie and Sam were willing to take a leap of faith and let two strangers stay in their one-bedroom flat in Balham (the “h” is silent, so pronounced Balam) while they were at a festival for five nights. I was surprised that they dared to hide their keys outside, but they lived on a nice residential street and the keys were there waiting for us.

We had truly become Suitcase Kids!

That evening we set off to explore the neighborhood...

…and to go to Tooting Market, an indoor market dating back to 1930 that was recommended to us by the receptionist in Jimmy’s building.

We giggled when we saw the name, which is not just the name of the market, but the entire neighborhood. 
 

Hello England...

I was nervous that we’d be questioned about why we had so much luggage with us without having UK visas, but luckily the letter that NATO provided about Jimmy’s temporary position at DIANA, their new innovation agency, was sufficient to enter the country. 

We were also lucky that the train wasn’t too busy as our luggage took up a lot of seats.

We had to carefully plan our journey across London itself to make sure we wouldn’t encounter any stairs.

Our first stop was Jimmy’s office, which ironically is in White City on the Imperial College’s innovation campus.

The building was quite impressive.

We needed to lighten the load since we’d be living out of suitcases for awhile, so we dropped off a bunch of clothes we wouldn’t need right away since his office had plenty of storage space. 

 

Farewell to Holland...

My apologies that it has been over three months since my last post. A lot has happened both since those photos were taken in July 2022 and since I wrote that post in June 2023. Rather than attempting to crank out over a year’s worth of posts right now, I’m going to skip ahead for the first time since I started this blog in December 2005 with the hope to backfill those past entries on the many fun trips and events over the previous year plus the build-up to our departure from the Netherlands after living there for 17.5 years. In the meantime, I’ll start with the new chapter of our lives...

After an early dinner with Sally and John on July 4, we were thankful that we were able to squeeze in all our luggage into his car for a speedy trip down to the ferry. 

It was fitting that we were travelling on the Stena Britannica as we headed towards a new phase in our lives, which we had just found out two weeks earlier would be in London until the end of the year. 

It was a good thing that we had upgraded to a Captain’s Cabin as our luggage likely wouldn’t have fit in a regular room.

We appreciated that our room came with free drinks...

…but were surprised about the artwork featuring a sinking ship. 

Since our room was in the center of the back of the ship, we had a nice view of the Maeslant Storm Surge Barrier.

As our ship sailed past Hoek van Holland, we had a little ceremony to say farewell to our adopted country, which included bubbly...

…and our Dutch flag.

Shockingly we managed to hold it together even as we sailed past the final bit of land until we reached England,