Our new place

After seeing a few places and walking in selected neighborhoods, we decided that maybe it is better to give up some convenience in order to find a nice place. Darse accepted taking the bus to work each day, instead of being close to the shuttle. I remember Darse’s first trip to the University by bus after so many years of walking or driving. He came home pouting because he didn’t get a seat on the bus!!! I compare that to the time when I was traveling by bus in Romania and you could consider yourself lucky that you managed to get into the bus and you still had your wallet after the trip (I am exaggerating a little but there was a high probability of such things happening).

Coming back to the subject, our house is in an absolutely charming district, full of stone architecture, lush green grass, trees, hedges, bushes, and chirping birds of all descriptions. There are still bloomed flowers here and there and we saw a bloomed cherry tree too. We are close to the sea, away from the chaos of the city, and only about 15 minutes from Darse’s work (half by bus, half by a short walk through a park, very healthy for so many hours spent in front of the computer). “An awesome find by Xan” says Darse, but I guess we were lucky too because I browsed the rental availability a few months before coming here and there weren’t many detached houses in nice areas or in our rent limit.

It is a good-sized two-level three bedroom house made of brick. I took a few pictures in the area to give a better image of the surroundings. I am especially thrilled with having the small back yard with lots of plants to take care of, and big windows very suitable for potted plants. But I guess I should start by decorating the house a little to feel more at home before I think about gardening. Plus, it's still winter -- not that you can really tell!

When you rent an older place you find a lot of things in the cupboard like pots, dishes, glasses, and cutlery left by previous tenants. They are quite useful before you assess what you need to buy and find something that you like. The selection is not as vast as it is in North America; stores are very small in comparison, and they cannot hold too many types of the same item.

And wow, I have to walk to the stores! First because we don’t have a car yet, second, the parking is limited. There are a couple of grocery stores, a post office, a hardware store, two restaurants and a few take-out places within a 10 min. walk. There is also a good bus link (the Quality Bus Corridor) to the nearby shopping centers and downtown. One day we went downtown, and coming home, Darse reaffirmed his joy and relief that we live so far away from the noise.

Last weekend we went to the local Irish pub. It has an absolutely lovely old-style décor and has good food. The atmosphere is very different from the city center -- or maybe the warmer environment makes people act differently.

I am very glad that we found this location. It is much friendlier than other places I’ve seen, and people even say hello to you on the street. Well, at least some.

View from front door


View from the bedroom

My garden from the dinning room