House Hunt, Updates

We got a message from Marcel from Columbia that gives us the go ahead. I feel like we are on the brink of moving! Now we wait to meet with the owner...

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WAUW!!! Count me in, chicos y chicas!!
I can afford it, looks really pretty... I think I like it...
And I have to say, I really love the idea of living with the four of us. We´re going to have the most awesome place evah! DelfsVeiligeHaven.. :-)
I check my email once in a while but not that often... so sorry that I didn´t respond earlier...

ciao!!

House hunt

I have been thinking about moving to Rotterdam for the last few months. After a slowdown in momentum, and some large disappointments, we finally got our groove back with Alexander's precipitous return to the Netherlands. We visited three potential houses in Rotterdam this week, and found one especially promising one on Rochussenstraat next to the Coolhaven metro station. 

The house is available for four people, and has a nice big living room, high ceilings, a balcony and lots of light. We are still waiting to hear from Marcel, who is in Columbia, as to whether he is interested in this house as well. Next Monday, we will meet with the realtors for more information. On the administrative end of things, to live with more than 3 people in Rotterdam, one has to start a living group. This involves a trip to an accountant and a registration at the Chamber of Commerce. 

In comparison to two other houses we looked at on the Burgemeestermeinezlaan (better location), this house is in great condition, cheaper and will house one more person!

Floor plan (Alexander has claimed rooms #1 upstairs and downstairs, Inga #3)

living room

balcony 

kitchen

I have already staked a claim on room #2, or should I take the room with the balcony?

Slacklining, Man on Wire

Yesterday I tried slacklining for the first time. Loucas became obsessed with it on a trip to Dortmund, and ended up buying one for himself. We made plans to make fish for dinner, but once the line was up between the two trees, our dinner plans quickly devolved to take-out anchovy pizza.

We strung the slackline between two trees in the park behind his apartment. Though it was initially hard to get on the line, I got the hang of it pretty quickly. We spent the next 2.5 hours practicing, with some happy interruption from some little girls who also wanted to try it out. My furthest record was to the midpoint of the trees. Heart banging in my chest, one would have thought that I was 500 m up in the air rather than a mere foot off the ground.

I'm definitely hooked. We ended our day by watching Man on Wire, a great documentary about Frenchman, Phillipe Petit, who fufilled his dream to walk between the Two Towers in NYC.

By the end of summer, my goal is to walk across my canal without falling into the water, or more importantly without impaling myself on a bike. More to come...