The Apartment

The view from the rooftop, where we often eat dinner.

Seeing as both sets of parents have expressed interest in our housing set up, here's an overview.

We rented through airbnb.com, a service where people post their own homes as vacation rentals. We couldn't get even a rather crummy hotel room within striking distance of where I need to be each day for under $4000 (for just 3 weeks!!!), and besides, we knew we couldn't/wouldn't afford to eat out more than a few times in this city so needed kitchen accommodations. We looked through a ton of options to find this apartment, which was priced just barely within my F&M budget, had space for all four of us (most places in our range were studios or teeny 1-bedroom), was in decent proximity of my work, and had hosts who were open to such a lengthy stay. Not an easy needle to thread in one of the most expensive cities in Europe! Needless to say, we couldn't be happier with how it worked out. I'm viewing the 90+ stairs to our top floor flat and the fact that my walking commute to work is more than half an hour as a fitness blessing rather than a detraction.  :)

We feel so very, very fortunate—it's clean, it's filled with light being so elevated, the hosts left many things to warmly welcome us and make the transition easy, and the styling has this Scandinavian-modern-meets-Texas vibe that I couldn't imagine working yet totally does. Rather different from our home -- way more hip than we could ever pull off!  :)

The little balcony, with two chairs and covered with plants (veggies, herbs, and flowers).

The view just over the balcony, down 6 stories to the courtyard / play space.

A couple of balcony close-ups.

They have super fun light fixtures throughout. This copper ball hangs in the kitchen and is big—at least 24" across. I don't have a proper picture of the kitchen, but you can kinda see it reflected here! The kitchen isn't huge but more than adequate—bright, pretty, and fully equipped. 

This hallway photo faces down to the kitchen, and to the right is the main bedroom (which I haven't taken a photo of). Taking the pic, I was standing in front of the entryway door.

Prepping for class. The table is in front of the balcony, as you can see. Josiah took the picture and was standing in front of the entry door but facing away from the hall. The words on the heart are the last names of the apartment owners. It's of one of those melty plastic bead projects you might remember from 5th grade summer camp!  :)

 Just beyond that table is a comfy couch and chair. Also a Texan with a rifle. Naturally. 

 

 I love their postcard Penguin Book covers accent wall! This is right at the entryway, between the hallway down to the kitchen and the open area with the white table, couch, etc.

Their little daughter's room is suiting the boys just fine with two mattresses on the floor.

  

The street entrance. Gettin' ready to tackle those stairs!