It’s been a busy past couple of days. We’ve more or less successfully completed the process of moving out of our old flat, which is good, as we turned in the keys yesterday. Thu hopped a plane back to Poland in the morning, and the rest of the day was spent cleaning and hiding the worldly possessions that didn’t warrant being crammed into limited storage space in the hallway of the building. Mostly it’s all crap- bedding and towels and dishes and stuff, all of it things we bought at Woolworth’s when we moved in. It seemed like too much trouble to negotiate storage space for a £5 Woolworth’s comforter, when we can just chance it in the hallway. If it’s still there when we get back from Switzerland, it was meant to be. If not, we’ll have to spend another £30 or so on household stuff. It’ll have to do- our options are limited.

So we spent last night in a hotel in Bayswater, and tonight we’re staying with friends. Tomorrow we have to hop the Victoria line to Victoria station, then catch a bus to Gatwick International Airport. From there we have a flight to Geneva, which is followed by a train to Bex; we transfer at Bex to Gryon, and then catch a bus to Chalet Martin. We leave for Victoria at 4am, and should get to Gryon at two o’clock in the afternoon.

And then, Switzerland.

I’m excited, more excited than I’ve been for a trip in a long time. Living in Chicago, and especially London, has reinforced that I’m a bit more of a country mouse than I had considered myself. I love massive cities, but I love leaving them even more sometimes. Spending a week in a village of a thousand people built on a mountain sounds amazing right now. I’m going to re-write <I>weathered</i>, eat cheese and chocolate, and walk around the mountain. I have no other ambitions for the time, no itinerary or things to do. Four hours a day of writing, and cheese. It is all I want from life.

I expect I’ll keep updating here, too, as the place we’re staying has Internet access and this is not the sort of vacation where doing such things mean you’re wasting it. As I understand it, there are few sights to see in Gryon, except for mountains and nature, and over the course of a slow week, I expect I’ll see a lot of it.

Then we get back and move into our new flat, hopefully ready to begin the third phase of living in London. I’ve definitely been ready for the second one to end. When we come back from Switzerland, we’ll sign paperwork confirming six months left to go. That doesn’t seem like much, but the six and a half we’ve been here so far feel like the longest I can remember since I was a kid.