Moving to Sweden (part 1)

Wow. Ok. I don't even know where to start, have had so many new impressions and met so many interesting people over the past few weeks. So this post will just be about the move and settling in really...

I had my leaving do in York and it was excellent. Sad a few people couldn't make it but I got to see most of them anyway. As for the rest... they'll just have to come visit I guess. I will upload some photos in another post.

On the 30 August I left for Göteborg. Mike took me to the airport (thank god - those bags weren't light... and of course, I got to do the tear-filled, looking-back-from-the-security-queue goodbye you usually only see in films. Ha.) and I eventually landed in Gbg at 7pm. Now, I'm going to have to blame the bags, but I took a taxi. Bad idea, you'd think I'd have realised how much it was going to cost. Oh well - it got me here safely and quickly, and I didn't have to lug my bags on a bus, a tram, and up a massive hill. So worth it.

When I got to the flat, K (who I'm renting from) met me and we chatted a bit. Lovely woman. Look forward to seeing her again when she's back from Spain!

So... the flat. I've not finished making curtains etc. yet (I know, I know... just been so busy...) so you will get pics another day. Promise! But the flat is good, 1 small bedroom and a big living room. Good kitchen (red!!) and fairly big bathroom with washing machine. Oh, and a balcony! And since I'm on the 4th floor on top of a hill the view is pretty great.

The only problem is I'm going to have to get rid of even MORE clothes before Mike moves over, otherwise he won't fit... Boo.

So on the Friday my boxes arrived (good old Fedex! Worked like a charm! More on that another time.) and I unpacked... Phew. Good job the flat has built in wardrobes and 4 bookshelves, is all I can say...

And on the Saturday my wonderful family came down from Stockholm, bringing with them even more stuff... They were upset on the Thursday night that I'd only brought 3 books in my suitcase (there were a few more in the boxes) so they brought a few bags full from theirs. Thanks... (It's probably pertinent to note at this point that I got rid of probably 50+ books in York before I moved and there's at least another 100 there yet to be moved too...)

On Saturday we also went to Ikea. Solid 6 hours (I'm still exhausted!) and I got a bed, desk, shoe shelf and other necessities... Fabrics for curtains, pans, stuff like that.

So, here I am, 2 weeks in, sat on my (well, borrowed!) red sofa listen to Rose tint my world and the washing machine, considering what to have for dinner...

More about my first two weeks and the practicalities of the move to come...

Tomorrow...

So today is my last day in the UK. Hooray (mostly)!

My boxes have just been picked up by Fedex, fingers crossed they'll arrive in 1 piece (well, 14 pieces...) on Friday. I'm sure it'll be fine, and that the fact that Fedex were a 5th of the price of DHL isn't in fact a prophecy of what's to come.

Today I'm mostly sorting through paperwork, doing bits of housework, and packing my bags. And seeing a friend, hopefully.

Should also get some money exchanged but the rates are terrible... but more on this thrilling subject another time. Stay tuned!

Move.

So, just over a week until I move to Göteborg. Life is busy as you can imagine.

Flat is sorted, all I need to do is finish packing & organise the move, contact banks etc to let them know change of address, and say goodbye to people... to Mike (if only for a few months!).

I'll most likely be more active when I start getting busy. Ha.

Bay city rollers.

Trying to be organised this morning (well, afternoon now...) and sort through paperwork. Clean a bit. Put some hooks and pictures up maybe. But it's much better to sit in the bay window with a cup of tea and watch the world go by...

That's the one reason why I wanted to rent this flat. The bay window seat. Ok, and the red carpets.

When we first rang up about the flat we were told it had been rented out already. Gutted! So we looked at some crappy typical English narrow houses with plenty of rooms which were all tiny, with ridiculously narrow and steep staircases separating the 2 or 3 floor. Houses where the front door is right on the pavement (see how British I'm becoming - I always say sidewalk usually...). We did see some nice ones too but mostly ones that did not seem like a home at all. I know, where we lived the first 2 years after moving to York was massive so maybe I'm a bit spoilt. I don't mind small though, as long as it's cosy. And most of the houses we saw were decidedly not cosy.

Anyway.

After looking for a month or two, this flat came back up on the website. So we rang up. And got a viewing (woop!). We went around and the lady showing us around didn't have answers for most of our questions (no surprises there). She did tell us that the house hadn't been rented out last time we'd rung up, but that the landlord had taken it off the market to do it up a bit. We also got to meet the landlord who lives next door and he was lovely. The visit dragged on a bit and the estate agent was getting twitchy. Clearly this didn't fit in her 10-minute-per-house view of the world.

We decided to go around again and try to view the house one more time before making our final decision, and the landlord was very happy to show us around. He told us that the house *had* been taken off the market because someone had wanted to rent it, but after a month or so of umming and arring they'd not been able to set a move in date. So it went back on the market.

Another flat we looked at, had been advertised as having a yard and being unfurnished. We got there and the 'yard' was the space where everyone in the surrounding flats (this was ground floor) walked to get to their own front doors. Someone in a neighbouring flat had a sofa sat just outside their door - just like in one of those movies set in the ghetto... I'd imagine this sofa was quite saturated by this point! We got in the flat and it was packed with people viewing it. And filled with furniture. And a couple of people moving boxes out. Turns out it was a furnished flat (the estate agent got quite hostile when we asked her about it...) and that this was, in fact, moving day for the current tenants. Poor people, trying to move all their stuff out when 15 odd people were walking around in their house...

Anyway. I got my bay window and red carpets and jag sitter hellre har, och luktar pa blommorna...

Spiderfun.

Spider time has started. Already. Grr! Notes to self - do not leave anything on the floor. Empty bag out when I get home. Shake everything after picking it up/before using it.

...at least we won't still be living here when the big spiders come out to hunt in Sept/Oct time!