happiness is a new car...

i'm trying to figure out now how long exactly it took between the old car was stolen and the arrival and registration of the new boy and from the top of my head i'd say a solid 2 1/2 months. 10 weeks at the mercy of london's irate public transport which kind of works ok if you go into town but is utterly miserable if you try to go across the boroughs.

here a few examples: brockley to clapham £26 by cab, or 3 buses or into town and out again. at night. or: brockley to grove park. 2 buses and therefore only £4.40 and only one hour twenty minutes for what is essentially less than 5 miles. but if one of the two buses you need steadily refuses to show up you might as well walk, which would have been faster in the first place. or: two heavy instruments from brockley to brixton and back at night. with a child. and, and, and.

yes, it's true: you can live without a car in london. and, no, i do not like it. it's messy, expensive, takes for ever and all the time you wreck your back with all the stuff you need. my husband probably disagrees. but, wait: wasn't he the one who took the car to the corner shop this morning to get his newspaper??

so the new arrival has made his maiden journey over (under?) the dover strait swiftly by eurotunnel only to be parked at the next bm-dealer until the great and good people at the dvla finally gave him the thumbs up. if you happen to need to know anything about exporting a car from germany into gb just ask me - there cannot possibly be a paper or form that i don't know about. plus opening times of all relevant authorities, including holidays. trust me!

BUT: it's here, it's taxed and already on the congestion charge register. so more to come about our trips soon, starting with kent and the llama farm yesterday.