Coming from the greenery of The Netherlands, with parks, canals, trees, greenhouses and fields of flowers to here, is a sharp contrast! Here the general impression is of a “dirty” and “poor” area. In fact, that is unfair. The streets are incredibly clean… considering the number of dogs all over the place, I have yet to find any “dog muck” on the pavement/road ! But, main electricity cables are just strung along the streets in no apparent order, houses/flats/shops etc are old, tenement style, and the outsides are “no-ones responsibility”, so they get run down.
My apartment promised luxury…. But first impression was that this too is a little run down and dated, my first hours were of disappointment.
Now, I’m getting used to it, and I have to say, the apartment is perfect! It is clean, quiet, well run, within easy travelling of school and the city, and I really like it a lot!
This is the layout. The main room is on the right, with kitchen area along one wall. The wall opposite the kitchen is actually glass, making the room very light and airy. The bedroom next to it is what I am calling the guest room! Again, the one wall is glass, so another nice light room. Down a few stairs and you have the bathroom, and “my room” with its en-suite. I ended up here because there are bigger cupboards and surfaces for my computer etc, but the view here is not so good, the other side of the apartment is definitely the better side! The three main rooms are all air-conditioned, and the maid comes three times a week to clean, empty bins, and take away the dirty washing, bringing it back washed and ironed… that’s what I call a real bonus!
Some views of the rooms – as you can see, all my “junk” has arrived and been found a home!
