My first viewing when I arrived in London was for somewhere called Dolphin Square. It was a bright single room in 5 bedroom apartment for £850 per month including bills. I took my mum to the viewing and knew almost immediately that I would end up living there. It was a 15 min walk to work once I figured out the directions and as it was Princess Anne's old gaff I figured... What the hell, if a Royal can handle it, I'll probably be ok.
Over the next few weeks, I settled in an the oddities of the scenario slowly sank in. The lady whose flat it was, an ex-actress and widow was perfectly eccentric, in a motherly and caring sort of way. One of her sons was a personal trainer the other, the manager for a big rock band. Despite the 5 foot statue of St Anthony in the hallway, she didn't come across as overly religious, although I might not have been paying enough attention, as I was quite wrong.
There were things about living there that were odd. There were 5 bedrooms; 'The Princess Ann Suite', her wardrobe (my room), the nieces room, and two large doubles both rented out on a Monday to Friday basis. One was rented to Paul, a fairly permanent resident. Niall, an investment banker who claimed to be a Shaman healer was in the suite that was rented at £1600 / month!!! Jane lived there, although only during the day, she would sleep at her sons house or at her house in the country.
It also came with some rules... the broadband needed to be switched off 30 mins before bed time; no visitors allowed unless written permission was requested 2 weeks in advance; absolutely no overnight guests; keep drinking and late nights to a minimum.
It was like moving in with your parents, if you had the strictest parents in the world!
It was like moving in with your parents, if you had the strictest parents in the world!
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