I have to say that I’m delighted at the fact that I’ve moved to Farringdon. I walked around the area for 3 hours yesterday, which in total led to around 8 miles of walking. Luckily my new running shoes are really, really comfortable. I’m even wearing them to work now and even during work hours as well — instead of my smart shoes. Not that that would be an issue.
One of the nicest things that I’ve discovered is that I don’t actually need a drying rack anymore. The fucking washing machine is a tumble dryer as well as a washing machine. However, I’m too afraid to use the bloody thing in case my clothes shrink. I’m a poor sod at the moment having spent quite a bit of money moving into this place and I don’t want to ruin my clothes. I washed only my towels yesterday and the fact my towels came out DRY – in a washing machine – pretty much amazed me. I’ll eventually come up with the courage to wash my other clothes, but I’m likely going to do a bit of testing to see what works and doesn’t. Apparently, clothes that contain or that were made with cotton should explicitly not be washed in hot or warm water. I’m going to turn the nozzle down to 0 degrees or whatever it is and see what happens. I’m a little scared, but I’m hopeful at the same time.
Aside from my washing issues I’m looking to join a gym in the local vicinity. I was thinking about joining Easy Gym on Oxford Street, as it’s really cheap (around £20 per month) and you don’t have to sign up to any contracts. However, all the same it’s a little bit of a walk and I really only want to walk to gyms that are within 5 minutes of where I live now. Unfortunately, they are all expensive with the average cost looking to be around £50 per month. I have indeed budgeted for this, but it would be nice to find a gym that isn’t so costly.
For example, here are a few of those gyms within 5-15 minutes walking distance of EC1V that cost around about £50 per month:
Fitness First – Angel: £53 + 12 month contract
Virgin Active – Barbican: £66 + 12 month contract
LA Fitness – St Pauls: £45 + 12 month contract
On the face of it, LA Fitness looks to be the cheapest and I’m almost thinking of going with LA Fitness. Of course, with most of these gyms there is a joining fee. I’m too lazy to look up what they are at the moment, so it’ll get even more costlier.
However, if we look within 20-30 minutes walking distance from EV1V there are a few cheaper gyms:
Easy Gym – Oxford Street: £19.99 – No contract – £25 joining fee
YMCA – London: £45.50 + 12 month contract – with corporate membership
The gym I went to before only cost me £15.99 per month. It’s a big shock to the system and my bank account to be paying this much. 😮 I guess I’ll get used to it in the end. I’m thinking of taking advantage of these free 1 day trials and then by pay day I’ll join whichever gym suits me best.