As promised, I will begin with housing updates today. We are very excited to have snagged a great house to rent for the next 18 months! The place was a bit out of our price range originally, but I used my excellent command of the Dutch language to haggle the price down a full €100. Don't believe me? Ok, you win, our relocation specialist wheeled and dealed us to down to the price that fit our budget. We are very happy. They took the listing down off of the website, so I don't have any photos for you right now, except for this Google street view of the front of our row house:
Pretty cute, right? It's actually way bigger than we were expecting our place here to be, but we think it will be great. And the best feature is that it has a back patio and even a small yard! Hooray for grass, AKA potty space. Jack will be a happy pup, and we will be happy parents to not have the 3 flights of stairs each time we take her out. The house is quite beautiful with lots of natural light and great "bones". We are excited to decorate. I'm sure I will be sharing lots more about the new place once we move in on September 28! Can't wait!
Todd and I kept busy last weekend with a multitude of activities. On Friday, we ventured to a meeting of an expat group in Eindhoven. They hold biweekly meet-ups at a bar, so we gave it a shot. The group wasn't big this time around, about 10 people, but apparently upwards of 40 attend on certain nights. So it could be a good way to meet some people here. We met a few people on Friday who seem fun, so it was a good night out overall. I'll be going to a trivia night tomorrow with a couple of the girls I met.
On Saturday, we drove one hour south-ish to Antwerp, Belgium! We had no plan for our time there and no clue what to expect, but it turned out to be a great city. It was a tad stressful getting there since the road system once you get into the city is bonkers, but we made it there eventually, thanks to the awesome nav system our car is equipped with. We had fun just walking around the city, eating lunch outside on the main square, and indulging in some gelato (I was too full for a waffle or I would have had one of those). Here's some photos of our time:
We feel so lucky to be able to jump in the car and just go to such great spots! Antwerp is a cool city that I'm sure we'll get back to. We began calling it our trip to Kalamazoo since it's the same distance from GR to Kzoo as it is from Eindhoven to Antwerpen. Country hopping is fun, and it didn't even require a passport check!
Our weekend was rounded out on Sunday by a trip to a huge park on the outskirts of town. Lots of trails and spots to lounge, it was a good find!
It will take a while to get used to people walking right outside your windows! As a tourist I loved it but you must remember to wear appropriate clothing at all times!! ISJ
ReplyDeleteMel loves the chocolate covered Belgium waffles!! ISJ
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