Finding a Place to Stay

Aweh, guys!

Since we have moved to the Netherlands, our biggest priority has been finding a place to stay that is pet friendly and most importantly finished. We are quite spoiled in South Africa with housing options because you either have furnished or unfurnished. Here you have finished or unfinished before furnished and unfurnished.

Basically, unfinished means that it the responsibility of the tenant to provide fixtures such as taps, toilets, tubs, showers, kitchens, lighting and even flooring. It’s great if you buy an unfinished shell and want to customize but it’s not a great option if you are renting because if you leave, you may have to take all the fixtures with you that might not suit the new place, or leave it behind and make a loss.

So, Hubby started looking and he went to view a flat close to work and while it was finished and pet friendly, he said it was really depressing. Luckily our agent from Interhouse, Vincent, saw the look on his face and said that it definitely wouldn’t do… especially for a South African. So, he offered to give Hubby a lift to this little town called Woerden about 30 minutes away. Hubby got home and seemed quite excited about it. I told him that I didn’t need to see it and that we should just take it just in case we miss out. He agreed but arranged for me to accompany him today to sign the lease and see the apartment.

Firstly, the best thing is the convenience. Woerden has its own train station! We left from his work in Leidsche Rein and were in there in 20 minutes. We then had to cross the Nelson Mandela bridge… is it a sign? What is really cool about Woerden is the fact that we will be staying on an island completely surrounded by water! If anything goes wrong, it can be shut down in a matter of minutes which would soothe any paranoid soul. It’s even called Defensieeiland! We were then confronted by this most magnificent church with its own clock and bell tower called St. Bonaventurakerk which is right next door to De Kasteel… which doesn’t look much like a castle. We crossed into the shopping district which was a completely closed off street for cars and bikes to find Vincent waiting for us in the middle with a welcoming smile.

He greeted me warmly and then led us up a short alley to a green door (Hubby affectionately dubbed this murder alley). We were then faced with some slightly scary stairs but once we were up, I was very happy with it. It has two bedrooms (one is slightly smaller than I’m used to but it will probably be a study/catch all), a shower with a separate closet for the washing machine we’ll need to get, a separate toilet with a sink, a very spacious lounge space with a balcony overlooking the clock and a modern kitchen with built in dishwasher and fridge. We even had string art of the “Girl with a Pearl Earring” on the landing We also met the owner, Eric, who is the owner of the shop below us who was very nice and incredibly tall. He even gave us a welcome package of assorted nuts and some craft beers from the area as well as a homemade bottle of Limoncello with a handwritten note. It was very thoughtful!

Once we had signed the lease, and collected the keys, we bid goodbye to Vincent and Eric and decided to have a little walk around town before heading back. We were pleased to find that since we are in the shopping district, we have easy access to anything we need within walking distance. We also discovered some historical points of interest, like the museum which was built during Roman times which was originally the town hall. It is also immensely beautiful here! We even have our own windmill called de Windhond.

Some concerns we have are mainly to do with the flat like getting large items up the stairs. They are quite narrow with a bend at the top. There also aren’t any built in cupboards in the bedrooms. We are also a little worried about noise seeing as we are overlooking the shopping district and we have the bell tower to contend with. We will also have to deal with parking as we don’t have a car yet but will have one shortly and we don’t have designated parking. But overall, I am very excited about moving in and making a place our own!