Week One in Windsor

The view of the castle from the highway

The journey began on Wednesday February 10 when Spencer's Aunt Jen drove us and all of our bags to Denver International Airport. Emmett napped for about an hour (as compared to his normal 2-3 hours) in the car but was a trooper through the airport. Aside from having to adjust where some of our things were packed so that all bags were under 50 pounds (23Kg), we had a very smooth airport experience. We departed at 4:30pm (or so) and were hoping Emmett would sleep around 6:30pm, so we fed him and entertained him for 2 hours and then put on his PJs and... he refused to shut his eyes. For about 2 more hours. So since our flight was about 7 hours to Iceland, we figured 3 hours of sleep would be enough for a one-year-old, right?! Needless to say, I was holding Emmett on my lap and his thrashing and cries out didn't wake up Spencer during those precious three hours... only me.

Exploring the phone booth

The Iceland airport is small but modern and impressive. I brought Emmett into the restroom with me where we were blinded by the whiteness and brightness. We found a stall and saw that there were sinks in the same spacious stalls as the toilets. And, the automatic faucets not only provided water for washing, but upon finishing rinsing, one could pull their hands toward each side of the sink and a frightfully loud burst of air would dry them off in a cinch. That startled both me AND Emmett. He demanded to leave the stall immediately. We finished our Icelandic airport experience with a snack (Spencer loved the fresh fish sandwich he purchased), a diaper change (yay - another chance to try to the hand driers!), and a snowy and cold walk out the gates to the stairs up to the airplane. Luckily, we all slept more soundly on the 2.5 hour flight from Iceland to Heathrow.

The River Thames

We arrived to England midday on February 11 and had no problems going through customs at Heathrow, though it was a long wait in line. My mom was waiting for us as we exited the security area as she had arrived 2 hours prior in a different terminal. Spencer used Skype to confirm our vacation rental apartment, to call the Windsor taxi service for a ride, and we waited patiently in the terminal, entertaining passersby with Emmett's antics. The taxi came, the driver found us, and he helped to load all of our 7 bags (including my mom's, mind you), into the mini-van. Then he crawled into the right side of the vehicle (read: the wrong side), and we were off. The drive from Heathrow to Windsor was delightful. The sun was out, the sky was blue and we got some stunning views of the Windsor Castle. Plus, it was only about 25 minutes long. :)

Emmett's Bedroom

We arrived to our vacation rental, waited about an hour for someone to come and let us in, and felt thankful that it was sunny. Spencer took a walk around the block (searching for a wifi signal) and found a couple of local pubs to check out. Emmett played in the grass, flowers and trees behind the apartment building. Grandma kept watch over our luggage. The flat is cozy and nice. We found space to open Emmett's pack-and-play in one of the 3 bathrooms - also a dark, quiet sleeping space. We're on the 3rd floor (ground floor is level zero), which has been most fun for Emmett who loves watching the traffic. We have made ourselves at home preparing most of our meals here and walking into town for most everything we need. The walk is about 15 to 20 minutes for us to get anywhere - not bad.

Emmett's favorite feature of the park near our flat

We have spent most of our time this week walking to potential furnished flats in search of long-term housing and walking back and forth to the bank trying to open an account. We were successful, as of today, with opening a British bank account (after 4 visits to the bank), and have a favorite flat that we're hoping works out for a longer term rental, as well as one or two backups if that one doesn't work. We have enjoyed the historic buildings, the swans along the River Thames, and the Windsor castle from many angles. We hope to do more site-seeing once we get the housing predicament settled.

We hope you are all happy and well. Enjoy the few photos we've managed to take!