Audrey practicing sending off mail at the Royal Mail drop
Quaint farmer's market in town centre (yes, that's how they spell it)
We took a leisurely walk into town and met some very nice people at Barclay's bank. Apparently, Barclay's has an agreement with Bank of America and as a BofA customer, you can make withdrawals from a Barclay's ATM without an extra ATM fee. You'll be charged a 1% international conversion fee, but that beats an extra $5-$10 just to use a foreign ATM. So, if you come to visit, bring your BofA ATM card!
We also mapped out the trip from our corporate housing to Stegen's UK Adobe office. Good news--it's only a quick 5 minute walk! Here's Audrey super excited about the prospect of popping in and having lunch with Daddy a few times a week (surprise, Stegen!):
It was already turning out to be one of the best days since our arrival, but then, it got even better...we found Costco!!! Google maps said it would take a mere 12 minutes of driving time, but of course, we took all the wrong exits around the most confusing roundabouts ever, and ended up getting there in 35 minutes instead. But hey, we made it there alive.
Sample of a super confusing roundabout road sign--trust me,
it's more confusing when you're trying to navigate a vehicle!
Not only was it a beautiful day around Maidenhead, we got a sweet taste of home shopping for extra large quantities of baby wipes, toilet paper, and Costco's famous rotisserie chicken (which are quite a bit smaller than the extra, super large chickens back home). There's a certain comfort that comes with predictability...and Costco is just that--predictable! The store layout was almost identical to the one back home and guess what? They sell the exact same baby wipes!
Better yet, they also sell Pampers diapers! Back home, our Costco only sold leaky Huggies. Here, they have a huge selection of both brands. Yippeee!
We got a chance to test out the food from their food court and are happy to report that the pizza and the turkey provolone sandwich taste exactly the same. We'll have to try their fresh gelato and Aberdeen angus cottage pie next time!
Driving home was yet another white-knuckled adventure. Whenever I'm driving in places like downtown San Francisco with lots of one way streets, I use the parked cars on the side of the road to gauge whether or not I'm allowed to turn in a certain direction. Well, that rule doesn't apply here...cars park in all directions on the same side of the street! Well, that doesn't help much.
At least their highway signs kept us entertained:
And their highlighter bright police cars were a loud reminder to stay focused on the road. So much for being stealthy...
Costco was super awesome (as always), but the night ended even better. We got to FaceTime with my in-laws and Stegen received his first piece of mail in the UK from his co-worker back in the states. What a thoughtful gesture, King! Love you Mom & Dad!
(Sorry about the bleh post...drinking English breakfast tea at 8pm last night was probably a bad idea. We finally fell asleep at 5:30am and had the alarm set to head out at 7:00am. I think we'll save the "breakfast" tea for breakfast from now on.)
driving is crazy there. in Europe they park anywhere and anyway. the tea is strong. looks like the Costco prices are comparable. surprising s since it is an island and thus lots ofimports and higher prices.
ReplyDeleteHey Jor! Yeah, man, it is the weirdest thing. I'm glad that I didn't drive today. The rain and the lack of sleep I've had the past couple of days is probably not the best combination. I hope that tonight is my night for sleep!
ReplyDeleteCostco was decently priced. Perhaps a couple dollars more than at home, but that's a lot better than say Sainsbury. Needless to say, we did most of our shopping in the US at Costco, we'll probably be doing the same here. We'll also be using Amazon a lot more as well, since we've found some things a LOT cheaper on there than in the stores (or weren't in the stores at all). It's probably time to sign up for Prime.
Good to see you hanging around Jor =)
oh I have been totally following the blog. forgot to tell you to get over the jet lag first before tackling too much. also it stabilized your emotions as well.
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