Madrid, Spain 2015-2016
1st week
Daniel and I have made it to Madrid! :) :) I am not going to lie and say it has been glamorous so far. Since we spent the first four days on the hunt for somewhere to live, it was a bit hard to soak in all the beautiful architecture and the lively plazas full of people enjoying tapas and beer while we were temporarily homeless. We did of course have somewhere in the outside of town to sleep for a few nights but finding a more permanent home was the first priority.
The race to find an apartment was extra difficult when 90% of the places we called had already rented out the apartment, or we needed a co-signer, or it was completely unfurnished. And let me tell you, we called a lot of places.
Examples of the for rent signs we were looking for
We ended up finding a place where the price was right and the location was great! Only problem, it was mostly unfurnished and had only one small window.
We agreed to take it wondering how long it would take us to find a bed to sleep on and knowing a trip to buy dishes etc would be mandatory.
The gods were on our side this time. The next day we found a moving sale and were able to buy a mattress, table, chairs, bookshelf, kitchen supplies, drying rack etc. It was such a relief. Usually everyone is moving in at this time of year but one friendly Colombian man was moving out! We started to realize how many little things we would have been missing. We still have a lot we need to accumulate. Although we love what we do, it can be a bit frustrating sometimes trying to make our place comfortable while knowing we cannot keep many of the things we bought or accumulated over our relatively short period in that location.
Kitchen with an oven and everything!
Big orange couch
Some of the furniture we bought. We still need to put some pictures or posters on the wall
Drying rack which is our temporary closet .... hopefully we will have a better home for it all soon!
Our mattress with packing cubes as pillows for the first night, and another temporary closet, the shelves. We used two duvet covers we thought were two sheet sets, haha oops. The mosquitoes flying over our ears all night really added to the camping vibe we were feeling!
Our apartment is internal, one at the back, so it doesn't have one of those amazing window balconies but it will be a lot quieter. We can use the clothes line to dry stuff too! The retired couple next door already invited us over for a beer with cheese and bread while we were waiting to officially move in!
Our street!
Front entrance into the building
Brie for as little as 1.15 Euro. We were so excited we forgot to actually buy the cheese! :)
By now we have cell phones set up, bank account opened, wifi connected, groceries and some furniture bought (still no closet). Everyday has involved some kind of appointment or administrative task but we have found time for a few relaxing cups of coffee and beers on the terraces (next on the list will be sangria). We have bought more stuff to cosy up our apartment and we start school tomorrow!
