As you may have noticed, I have been abandoning my blog for the past few weeks now. Life has gotten so hectic that I haven’t had a moment to think, let alone write.
With less than 2 weeks notice we were, ever so kindly, told to leave our apartment. We had been banking on staying until at least November 1st, and with this being the most hectic month of my (working) life, it was far from perfect timing.
Within a time span of 4 days I saw over 35 (yes, 35!) Amsterdam apartments. I have never in my life seen such a mismatched medley of garbage. I acknowledged that I would have to lower my expectations in terms of space and location (of course my number one choice would be to have a 150 m2 loft in the Jordaan –but lets get realistic), but I was not prepared to settle for a 35m2 apt. with shag carpets and water leaking from the ceiling! I realize now that “character” is a synonym in agency talk for “dump”. And “this may not exactly be your style” is a polite way of saying “this apartment is a hideous joke”.
And so, after seeing 34 less than ideal apartments, we stumbled onto a winner. It’s located in the heart of Amsterdam, a 15-20 minute ride to work, and 3 of my friends are just around the corner.
That’s the good news. The bad new is that M. now has to pack up our entire house-- by himself. I feel more than a tad guilty sitting here enjoying the gorgeous view from my new Parisian digs.
