The First Week

I'm now living one week in the new apartment. It took a few days to orient myself around the kitchen and to locate stuff scattered around the place. There is still a laundry list of things that I need to get: Hangings for the wall, shelves for my books, a carpet for the living room, a barbecue, a big screen TV, and light fixtures. The weather looks poor this weekend so perhaps I'll make a visit to Ikea or Interio. Ah.. that can wait! The TV and barbecue come first!

The hand-off of the old apartment went smoothly. I've read and had people tell me that the inspection can be rigorous. As predicted, my landlady ran her fingers behind the heaters, along the top of the fireplace, and within the oven for any signs of dust or dirt. There were some small issues but the cleaners were present to quickly amend. I'm glad I hired them because I certainly could not have done what they did! The only concern is the wear on the floor that includes light water stains and scratches. My insurance company is now involved and I'll probably have to pay a small deductible to fix this. This isn't a big surprise.

Each morning I'm reminded of what a great decision this has been. I love the view from the balconies (see below) and the abundance of natural light. I somehow feel cheated that I didn't move earlier, but that's behind me now. This place changes everything.