..... we handed over the keys to 368 San Carlos and went to the airport.
In a nutshell: We spent 6 months preparing for Monday, 1st August. The movers pulled up with huge quantities of brown paper and boxes. They spent 6 hours packing the stuff we had left, and we slept in a house full of boxes for one last time. I had done (and forgotten) a couple of loads of laundry, which I spent a frantic hour trying to sort through. It turns out they wrap the whole dresser, contents and all, in brown paper. I filled up our dresser with everything, and now we have too much of some stuff and not enough of others! Anyhoo, the next day they came back to dissassemble the remaining furniture and pack some more stuff overlooked by all of us. Be warned- they forget the strangest things. We're minus a couple of cans of "Pam" and a bed rail for Allie. The head mover and I developed a weird Stockholm Syndrome thing. They were, after all, in charge of all our worldly possessions. So far, I would really recommend them (Intersect systems- no url), but we haven't safely esconced ourselves at our new resting place yet. We hung out with the Stockwell grandparents and went to stay at a hotel that evening, which incidentally, was really nice indeed- the Marriot something or other Suites in Foster City. It had the most beautiful views of the bay I have ever seen, and the room was the best I've had in a long time. The next morning we saw some Russians staying there who were loading lots of workstations into an SUV, from the side of the hotel, very early in the morning. We were right next to a bunch of hackers- exciting. After saying our goodbyes to the Redwood City Kibres and Norm and Helen, we had lunch at San Carlos Airport (another great place for children, what with all the planes and fries!) and tootled up to SFO. Norm and Helen (Walter's parents) were in RWC the week before we moved, and left to go back to SoCal the day we left. Having them around was tops- brilliant. The boys had a great time and it freed up Walter and I to attend to yet more business. Thank-you both again. It made our last days in the US very nice.
Allie heroically manuevered Toby in the stroller, through the airport, while Walter and I pushed carts piled hiiigh with our new homeless life. It was an uneventful flight to Heathrow- the boys slept for ~6 hours (good reason for an evening flight) after getting really overtired, and Toby cried himself to sleep. We even arrived half an hour early. I still hate Heathrow. Up to Scotland with extra room on the plane, and meeting the MacDonalds. First Officer Jamie even met us on the gangway :) Up yours, rest of the plebs on the plane. My mum drove me and the boys, my Dad had to hire a "people mover" for the bags. Five minutes before we made it home, Toby up-chucked all over himself, the car seat and car. He was much happier afterwards. I'll never be able to eat Maltesers again.
So, we had 10 days in Scotland. It's a blur. There was a lot of getting up in the night with various wee boys and frayed wee boy tempers. The weather was mostly good, though (65, not raining), so we visited the local castle (Tillietudlum), the local kennels for a castle (Chatelherault), Glasgow (dead trendy), New Lanark and the wee railway in Crossford (where my parents live). It was a lovely way to enter Europe and deal with the jet lag. The boys were spoiled rotten too, which we are paying for now.
We flew KLM (no longer KLM virgins) to Geneva via Amsterdam on Aug 16th. Schipol's a nice airport- it has seats that recline with foot rests while you wait for your flight. At Geneva we managed to get all our luggage in decent time, make it through passport control (considering Walter still doesn't have a work permit) and hump all of us to the correct train. Most airlines have a service that allows baggage to be checked all the way through, including the train. Not KLM, though. The train (ICN fast, tilting, cool) took an hour 10 mins, with views of Lake Geneva, the Alps, vineyards, cute 'Heidi houses' and the many and varied people of Suisse. There's a good amount of diversity here :) Walter wanted me to add this: He piled up all the baggage at the door of the side he thought we wouldn't exit from. As we pulled in we saw this was the exit side, so Walter climbed over the pile and I frantically chucked bags to him. The people trying to get on had no option but to help us, as we had completely blocked the door. Two taxis got us from the station, down a very steep hill to the house, where we had to climb some very steep stairs to the door. Walter paid his driver to help get the bags (all tagged as Heavy with a pic. of a man breaking his back) up the stairs. The nonchalant driver really earned that money. Walter said he "got him cheap, man. hehehe".
So here we are. We arrived 3 days ago. The boys have been very up and down. Outings have been a bit difficult, but day by day they get better. The owners (Rachel and Sylvain) live above our apartment with their 3 year old son (adopted 3 months ago- and settling in really well!). He thinks Toby is his peer, as they are the same size (Toby is actually bigger). There is a yard with a sand box that we have be using and lots of outside toys. Rachel gave us a pot of homemade fig jam from the figs in the yard and said we could pick the figs too. They are a very nice family. Wallter's work is a 3 minute walk away :) Downtown is a 20 min walk (with Allie, who has an aversion now, and Toby, who wants to stop and taste everything on the ground). It's a lovely town with all kinds of shops, boulangeries (our local one is a 5 min walk), charcuteries, patisseries and most importantly chocolatiers. We don't have a car yet.... or a phone (no permit- no access) and it's been great taking buses and walking- everyone says 'bonjour' as you walk past. Tomorow we're going to the farmers market. That's one downside- the cost of food is astronomical, and the portions are teenytiny. No wonder people lose weight when they move to Europe- the cost of eating is prohibitive. I'm still trying to find my way around the grocery shop. It took me 20 mins to find a bar of soap today and another 20 to work out what the Swiss equivalent of bleach cleaner is. It's easy to find the Nutella, though, and that's the same price as in the US (bloody expensive). Sunday, we're going to Saint Blaise where we will eventually live. Walter works 2 offices away from the chap who's moving out of the house we're taking. He lent Walter the key to go look around. There's also a fete being put on by the port there :)
I'll upload pics as soon as I can (tomorow, Saturdayish). Sorry about the spelling- this laptop sucks- it's not me. Even though this is a lovely, exciting place we still miss Cali. and our friends and family. Maybe this blog will persuade everyone to move here??????
