Consequences of Finding a Flat

We found a flat! We signed the contract yesterday and have a new address. Email if you need it!

We ended up with a quaint apartment in Jena-Ost (east). Amazingly, the kitchen belongs to the landlord, so we won't have to purchase a new one. I get the impression she (landlord) knows the apartment is a bit on the expensive side, but the price will never go up as long as we live there, internet and satillite TV are included (and she's willing to throw in a TV if we want it), and it's just right off the tram line. The tram will take us directly downtown, but it's not too far to walk if we end up staying at someone's house until after the last tram has left. By having internet, I'm actually going to be able to use Skype on a regular basis. Woohoo! However, we will have a slow connection, so the picture might not go through very well, so it will be a bit of trial and error.

The kitchen is gorgeous! Four burners, an oven, a dishwasher (!! we haven't had one of those in years, and we sure didn't expect to have one while we were in Germany!!), a small fridge by US standards, but that's just fine considering the tram goes right to the grocery store!

In the meantime I'm thinking about all the things we are going to have to purchase before Tuesday (we move Sept 1). Curtains, kitchen stuff (as in plates, glasses, pots, pans, etc), a bed, linens for bed and bath and kitchen, a broom with dustpan... The list goes on and prices add up quickly. But we did get the kitchen included, so that's another (minimum) 1000 euros we won't have to pay. I'm excited to get new things, just a little overwhelmed at the same time. Our kitchen is so modern Jason even told me I could buy square plates (which I wanted when we got married, but he didn't like them with the rest of our decor). Of course, I know we are going (most likely) to get the kitchen starter kit from IKEA, which comes with white round plates, but I'm happy anyway.

The only issue now is figuring out how to get to IKEA. It's in Erfurt, so we'll take the train, but the Erfurt bus routes are not well publicized, so we'll have to ask around until we can figure things out. IKEA is on the outskirts of town, but there's bound to be a bus that goes out that direction. Right?

I'll post pics of the new kitchen next week! :)

PS- I must be excited about this place. I woke up singing Mrs. Murphy's Chowder this morning... and if you haven't heard that song before, your childhood was lacking.