My Digs

A lot of you have been asking for pictures of my apartment in Brussels. Well here they are. Let's start the tour with my bedroom.

I know I could have cleaned it up some, but then it wouldn't have that authentic people-actually-live-here feel. In the bottom right of the picture you can just make out the desk and chair. I'm particularly happy with these pieces of furniture as it's like I have an office. There's actually quite a bit of furniture in the house. I have a chair and two night tables as does Cassandra and Olivier (my other roommate).

This is the view from my doorway. Those white doors lead to Cassandra's room. The best thing about this picture is that shows off the the closet. Since it's in my room, I use the bulk of it, but my roommates hang whatever stuff they need to hang.

This is the view from my door. It's Olivier's room/the living room. Right beside the black couch is the entrance to the apartment. There's also a TV to the right of the picture. We turned the table to face the other way so he can have drawers for clothes and the like (in addition to the dresser across from his bed) and to separate his bed from the rest of the room. Though we needn't really have bothered as we don't use this room except to traverse through it on our way to the bathroom, kitchen or living room.

Which brings me to the living room. This is where most of the furniture is: two couches, a love seat and several chairs. And a sofa bed. There's also a dinner table that we've used once. The room is ideal for entertaining which we've done twice so far (we have a dinner party planned for next week). There are French doors that open onto a little balcony where you can can watch traffic pass on the street. Right beside these doors, is another door leading to the kitchen.

The kitchen got the seal of approval from Cassandra, so it must be serviceable. We've got a fridge and freezer although the fridge is smaller than we're used to. But there's a dishwasher (thank God) and a stove. But no microwave or George Foreman grill--which has added another dimension to my cooking, but I'm coping. What you can't see is right beside the stove (the black square to the right of the picture) is the washer/dryer. Weird, I know. But it's very common here.

Finally the bathroom. It's last because it didn't really flow well with the floor plan. It is off from the living room. It's much bigger than this picture makes it look. I'm actually standing inside the door and beside me is a huge chest of drawers and cubbies where we store various bathroom essentials I will not bore you with.

Tour ended.

All in all, I'm happy with it. It has its good and bad features. For one, it's a little low on privacy. As you've probably guessed, since Cassandra lives in the far bedroom in order for her to go anywhere, she has to cut through my bedroom. For other roommates that might have been a problem, but when you've slept in the same room for a month, it's not a big deal. And it's a big expensive. But it's got a huge kitchen, in-house laundry, is very bright when there's sunshine and comes with everything included (internet, satellite cable and all utilities). There's also a rooftop terrace a level up from us. Although we've never used it as the weather in Belgium is horrible. I'll be sad when I have to move out and find another (smaller and no doubt less awesome) place for August.