Finding a home

Today’s fun was apartment hunting! My realtor, Besim, a 30-something man, dressed in a pin-stripe suit drove me and my Settle Services consultant, a nice Dutch woman named José (pronounced – YO– SEY) around in his silver Peugeot, with hands free cell phone that worked through the dashboard (clever Dutch!), to my options. Stop number one was a first floor apartment near the Heineken brewery and the Rijksmuseum, the national art museum of the Netherlands. It was an old building with furniture that did not suit my taste so I ruled this one out almost as soon as I heard the owner’s barky terrier. Our next stop on the Geldersekade was amazing...hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, leather furniture, a beautiful canal view, etc. The drawback was location - just 2 blocks from the seedy red light district. When I realized there was a four person, exposed plastic pee station for men at the end of the block it was pretty much a no-go! The final stop was Javakade, a very spacious & to-die-for furnished place with an absolutely incredible view/balcony overlooking the water, but again location was an issue. This one was on an island that had only recently been developed so there wasn’t much there but apartment buildings. I decided this isn’t the spot for me right now, but maybe after I’ve spent a few years in the city centre I will want the peace, quiet, and space that location offers. Needless to say I’m not feeling a fit with any of the places we saw today so we’ve scheduled another viewing tour for Wednesday. Hopefully I will have more luck then. Tonight I'm off for more Mexican with an ex-coworker friend, who is in town through end of May. Should be another good night catching up with some old friends in my new town!