Tour of the Jubilee

This morning Daniel and I woke up extremely early because the sun rose so much earlier than we are used to- at about 4:30! Thankfully we were able to eventually fall back asleep and awoke around 8. 

After having coffee and toast, we decided to go on a little adventure. We meet with our realtor on Tuesday to find our full time housing, and before today we really had no clue where to live. We heard several recommendations, but needed to see the neighborhoods ourself before narrowing down the areas we wanted to see with the realtor. 

Our first choice would be to live somewhere of the Jubilee tube (subway) line. There is a stop literally next door to Daniel's office. We could always live by a line that connects to the Jubilee, but it obviously couldn't be as convenient. 

Here are the stops that we took and our thoughts on the area.

Bermondsey

Rating: 4/10

Bermondsey was pretty dead...we couldn't find any restaurants or shops. The complexes looked mediocre. It is only 2 stops away from Daniel's office, but was a little too boring to call home. 

London Bridge

Rating: 6.5

London Bridge is also very close to Daniel's work. When people try to picture London, this area probably comes to mind. Old pubs and quaint buildings line the busy roads. It is overflowing with tourists though. 

Greens Park

Rating: 6.5

Greens park was gorgeous. It is not only the home to (obviously) a beautiful park, but also to Buckingham palace. It is incredibly posh- stores such as Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney are across from D&G. We founded flats we could afford online, but what's the point of living in an area when the shopping and restaurants are past your budget? 

St. John's Wood

Rating: 8.5

St. John's Wood was a little far- a 20 minute tube ride away from Daniel's office. But wow, we totally fell in love with the area. Streets upon streets are filled with little cafes and boutiques. It had the perfect amount of activity- not the hustle and bustle of London Bridge and Greens park, but more lively than Bermondsey. It reminded me a lot of Notting Hill, if you've seen the movie or been there. We even went in to the local yoga studio, which was in a restored very old art club. The windows were stained glass and it was just a beautiful location. Another plus is that the American school is there- if they would ever answer my emails about being a substitute teacher! 

After our journey, my feet are already blistered! I'm so thankful for today though- it really made us excited to live in London and confident with picking an area to live in! It didn't hurt that it was a beautiful sunny day around 77 degrees! Word on the street is that we need to take advantage of the infrequently warm weather!