The Futon Strikes Again

So I'm going to have to move again soon. Here is a brief summary of why: when we moved into our apartment in August or September or whenever it was, there was a horrible old futon in the living room. We wanted to get rid of it, but there didn't really seem to be any way to do this as it was a furnished place. Every time you sit on it, it makes a noise like it's going to break and it's horribly uncomfortable. It's had a crack in it since we've been there, but we seemingly failed to document and photograph every single defect in furniture in the place and now the landlord things we have broken their 90 year old futon and told us to buy a new one. We said no, we didn't break your old futon and it certainly hasn't deteriorated in our tenure beyond the realm of regular wear and tear. Because of our obstinance, the landlord has given us two months notice to move out. We're like, uhhh, so you're making us move because we won't buy you a couch, seems odd, but okay. While I could write a separate, very long blog just on the insanities of our landlords, let's just sum it up and say that they're crazy, illogical and German. The manager of the estate agency even swung by on Saturday to have a look at the couch in question and sort of concurred that the couch was 90 years old and we probably didn't do anything to it, but we're not sure if he can do too much as does technically work for the landlord.

Anyways, so Mark and I have to move. And we sort of technically started our search last Saturday (and via the internet over most of last week...). Our primary issue is whether we want to stay in our current neighborhood, or perhaps seek out greener, cheaper pastures in another one. This being London and all, we've discovered that there are not really that many parts of town that A) we'd be willing to live in and B) would allow us both to get to work in reasonable amounts of time. This second point, given the sort of random non-city center locations of our works is slightly tricky and the main reason we've ended up in Fulham in the first place. This being said, we've decided that we will try and stay in Fulham so we don't have to have the added hassle of leaving our really nice gym, but if we are unable to find a place we like that we can afford, we are willing to venture elsewhere.

The elsewhere that reached the top of our list (and because there are so many areas, each full of estate agents, you need to keep your list short) was Highbury & Islington in north London. My point of reference for this part of town admittedly stems primarily from the movie About a Boy, as it's apparently the area in which the characters live, but other than that my exposure is limited. The main drag in this area is called Upper Street, and extends from Angel station in the south to Highbury & Islington station in the north, with shops, bars and restaurants (and estate agents) lining the street in between. We walked up this street on Saturday afternoon, stopping occasionally to look at restaurant menus, brace ourselves from the bitter cold and strong winds, and peak in estate agents windows. We registered some interest with a few, as we had done in Parsons Green that morning, with hopes that they would get in touch with us if something that fits our criteria should come onto the market. The area up there is really very nice, but I'm pretty sure it's no cheaper than Fulham and while Mark's commute would be pleasantly shorter, mine would be longer and require the use of multiple deep underground trains, instead of the often-broken yet cut-and-cover, often in the open district line.

Most places come on to the market shortly before they're available, so there's really nothing much out there that's available in June quite yet. Given the upcoming slew of travel, it seems the nitty gritty aspects of London apartment hunting will be delayed until mid-May, at which point I will most likely be slightly bitter towards life. But with any luck, we'll be able to find a nicer place with natural light, a bathroom tap that works and an at least somewhat sane landlord!