We fell in love the city immediately. It was all dressed up for Christmas and even though it was the coldest part of Portugal (which was still 30F degrees warmer than London so no love lost) 

Short story: FAIL. And guess what? Same thing happened when we tried to get a specific picture on this cute bench swing.
I know BENCH SWING! It could have been great...but I love this guy.

Cute French couple for this win! I have zero confidence in the random people but I won't give up because I never get to be in our travel pictures.

Cais da Ribeira

A UNESCO World Heritage Site from the coolest/scariest bridge

Across the top of Ponte Dom Luis I, there is little to zero barrier between the pedestrian path and the train. On the lower level, a narrow pedestrian path means two people can't comfortably pass in opposing directions. So you're always just THIS close to being hit by a car or train haha

Roberta Square :)

Palacio da Bolsa

TILES!

Doors!

They are all just so charming and photographable.

I seriously love all the tile facades

Inside the Porto Cathedral

It's pink on the inside!

View from the Tower

Sao Bento, one of the prettiest train stations I've ever seen

The blue tile work is gorgeous

See??

We tracked down a recommendation along the Cais da Riberia for one of the many, many recipes for the dried cod that the Portuguese love so much.

One of the weirdest things I can't get over about the traditional Portuguese food is this: while there are over 350 dishes in which they prepare cod, they never have FRESH cod! Probably have never tried fresh cod ever. It's always salt dried cod. WHAAA? (Refer to my Lisbon post to see the photo of the dried cod)

This is the cod post-multiple water soaks to remove the majority of the salt, roasted with potatoes and crumbled cornbread with a generous amount of olive oil.
Very tasty but a different texture to the fish which needs no additional salt or flavouring.

One the way back home, we got off the train in East Croydon for a Costco run.
We wandered through the city to find FOOD before shopping. If I go to the store hungry, I buy sooo much more than I should. At Costco, that could be a mistake of terrible economic proportion...

Aubergine Salad (I looooove eggplant)
I had some chicken katsu curry. Taylor had a yummy veggie soup with udon noodle. We split a few plates of sushi. Sushi wasn't bad.
While I'm glad we tried it, I wouldn't recommend it over somewhere like Hare & Tortoise which is probably in the same price point.

We got our loot at the Costco and hauled it back home. We took the train to London Bridge station during the peak time that the train was experiencing severe delays and other issues due to the England/Wales Rugby game. It's an exciting time to be in London (isn't it always?....) Rugby World Cup 2015! I just wish I knew more about rugby...

                    C r a z y. 

I was telling a friend/borderline complaining about our big move and everything it entails including almost daily inquiries to Taylor's future employer; visa requirements; packing and selling our possessions; and maneuvering a large supply of needed information, trying to comprehend what we need to be successful. He brushed it off quickly and unapologetically said, 'No one feels bad for you.'

Point taken. 

So instead of complaining, I'll try to informative. I know from a previous post that I have at least one reader and friend who is moving to the UK! So I'd love to share what I've learned so far and great sources of information that I've still got to sort through. 

We have been selling our nearly brand-new furniture on KSL and Craig's list. They have less than 8 months of use and they are in perfect condition. So we still have a coffee table and standing lamp with which we will happily part :)

We are totally moved out of our apartment in Sandy and will be spending a month with my in-laws in Holladay until we fly to the East Coast for Taylor's training. Next week, I will, unfortunately, be getting a tonsillectomy. Yikes! So if I'm miserable or you call and I don't answer, I either have no voice or I will be sleeping.

We found a place to stay in New York through Airbnb. So much more reliable than anything we tried to organize through Craig's list. I don't know how often people fall into that trap but there were many fraudulent offers with gorgeous pictures of apartments at ridiculously amazing prices ($1,000 USD for one month's rent in downtown NYC?) There were kind sounding people answering email inquiries but the fishy-sounding deal began to reek of straight lies. They request pay in full by wire transfer. We looked into the forms of transfer (i.e. MoneyGram) and the fees alone are a reason to seek another form of payment. Our mystery host refused debit/credit card transactions. We just abandoned all hopes of finding credible sources from which to rent after about a week of sifting through ads. 

We found Airbnb and later received several suggestions to check this out. (The link is to the their FAQs). But this site has 30K cities worldwide for traveling and you can become a host, too.

Things we like about it:
-Direct contact with the renter/host
-legitimate forms of payment (accept credit cards, too)
-real time availability of rentals with well-organized maps and calendars
-rent is comparable (and in some cases much more economic) to hotels
-options for fully furnished apartments, homes, etc make a short stay so much more convenient than even an extended-stay hotel

The best roundabout way to describe this service if you are completely unfamiliar with it would be to think of the movie, The Holiday. (Haven't seen it? Go find it. It's a goodie) Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet switch houses for the holidays through a home exchange website. This is kinda like that.

Our rental is a one-bedroom apartment located in downtown NYC and we couldn't be more excited about our month stay there. Taylor will be training from July 14-August 14.



Here's what I have about London specifically, however I will specify when a blog/site is great for general UK knowledge...

First, I have learned over and over again that London is NOT a cheap city. Non-essentials and things like dining out are $$$ big bucks.
But guess what exists in the UK??

Clicking will take you to the London sites. Hurray for familiar "deal" sites!
I really wouldn't even know about Living Social and Groupon if it wasn't for Taylor. He's a pro. We got great deals on some items to help us with the organization of our future London flat. It's sure to be small (there is no other choice for our budget nor in Central London) so we have to be frugal with our space.


London Blogs:

Girl in London:
I LOVE this blog. Cheylene from Nevada, USA relocated to London a few years ago. With this experience getting her visas, moving between flats, and learning the ins and outs of UK banking and taxes, Cheylene has been able to translate British life to something a US expatriate can understand. She writes about everything from day-to-day items to restaurants and groceries and important information about US versus UK taxes, council tax and British basics. Follow her!

Young Rubbish:
Taylor's friend, Jon, from Connecticut and his wife, Jess, post on this blog documenting their recent move across the pond. They take spectacular day trips and explore London together and let us all read about it. Jon is an accountant and Jess is a fabulous photographer. Check out their adventures!

Makeup and Beauty Blog:
This might be a little random but it's actually great blog that I will definitely be using in London. Fee posts about low-cost products on the high street and online deals. I appreciate the reviews and will rely heavily on them as I make the switch to UK brands. Gotta stay pretty, ya know?

Instagram:

Even if you're not planning a move there, check these out for amazing photos from talented photographers. Maybe you'll visit and you'll know what you want to see in person! There were a few weeks where posts consisted of 'off the beaten path' London gems. Those were my favorite!

@london

@jacob

@mumhad1ofthose
@sparrowflu
@london_only
@ash
@jhyattphoto
@karl.1

I'll post more about London apps and other helpful hints as we actually get to use them.
Other than these sources, TALK, TALK, TALK.
I tell some pretty random people about what we are getting ready to do and they want to help! Usually I get the "oh, I love London. You'll totally love it." and nothing more. Then there are kind folks like the manager of my favorite makeup store at the Fashion Place mall <<who is a sweetheart and taught me to do my makeup for my wedding and bridal photos. Still remembers me EVERY time I go and get some more beauty supplies>>. Her whole family currently lives in London and in Birmingham. She gave me their information so that I could ask questions and maybe even hang out with them once we get there! Friends of friends are better than no friends at all :)

For $$, we will be setting up a UK account (to be explained in a future post) but here in the U.S. we bank with Chase. We got the Chase Sapphire Preferred card because it has the handy dandy EMV chip that is more commonly used outside the US. Not only does the chip help, but the card relieves us of all foreign transaction fees! Winner! With the 40,000 signup bonus and 5,000 points for adding an authorized user, we got sufficient points to use our travel benefits for my ticket to London (Taylor's ticket was provided). So wherever we travel in Europe, we can use this card.

Charles Schwab has an ATM card that reimburses any ATM fees. No ATM fees for the lifetime of our account with Charlie? Yes, please!

We have more to do and think about. We have a head start on what to do about with our cell phones but I'll have to look into it more so info coming soon!

There are a few possibilities of when we'll be in New York now. It could be the first or second day of JULY. We expect to know more in May. 

New York for summer. London in September. We are probably going to be there 2-3 YEARS. No, this is not just an internship. It's real life. So if you plan to visit, let us know! We'd love the company. 

WE COULDN'T BE MORE EXCITED!!!

Just in case anyone was wondering :)

We have been asking around about jobs and opportunities to get to know some people. I would like to find a job before we go. Anyone have any CONTACTS in London that you would like to share? We would greatly appreciate any information you can share with us and people we can talk to over there to make our transition as smooth as possible. We are ready for lots of bumps but we are so grateful for a large LDS community that has already opened up to us. 

Taylor looooves to search the web for flats in our desired area of west London. I have looked through at least 4 what-to-know-about-London books as well as read articles and kept my ear to the ground. It's a special time and we are adventure loving folk. 

We follow amazing Instagram feeds like 

I also follow these guys who are wonderfully talented.