It's official! We're back in Holland--and this time, it's Amsterdam. Elliot was offered a position with Nike and we both decided it was a move we'd like to do (again).
We arrived 12 days ago and it's been very hectic! Nike set us up with a cute little house in the Niewemarkt area--a hop, skip, and a jump from the lovely girls under the red lights. It's a fantastic location though, close enough to the center but just out of reach from the mainstream of tourists. Well, here's a tour of our little matchbox apartment:
The entrance is on the ground floor, where you find the kitchen and dining area, and a small bathroom.
Up the steep, Dutch staircase is the living room.
Up another steep staircase is the bedroom with a full bathroom off the stairs. That last ladder leads to a storage area on the 4th floor.
Well, thats it! It's really great and we only wish it had a balcony because of all the lovely sun we've had these past several days. Yes, sun! It's been amazing.
The day after we arrived we had an appointment with the relocation folks and they took us to 12 apartments, in about 6 hours. It was intense. We focused on the southern part of the city, two neighborhoods called De Pijp and Rivierenbuurt and found two places that really caught our eye (one in each neighborhood). After a lot of thought (and pressure from the real estate agents) we placed a bid on the apartment in De Pijp last Friday. The owners came back with a counter-offer and we made everything final on Monday. Although we're renting, as expats, we have to go through this horrible bidding process and we never really know what kind of "deal" we're getting--but that's the price you pay. From talking to locals, we don't pay much more than them and apartment rented to expats have to meet certain standards. Anyways, we got it! We move in on August 14 and will be staying at our little house until then.
Since then, we've been dealing some with boring relocation things like visas and bank accounts. We also had time to visit friends in Rotterdam. I can't believe the station is almost finished! Rotterdam's looking good and I have to say, it felt so nice to be in familiar territory. Our walk from Central station to Witte de Witthestraat was second-nature. Our favorite little Surinamese place was still there and the same guy still working the cashier. Good times.
Last week we had such fantastic weather, we headed to the beach on two different days. First we went to Zandvoort and then we went to Bloemingdaal. The second was our favorite for its chill beach-goers and the fact that we biked 5 km to get there too!
One thing about going to the beach in the Netherlands--you almost always walk downhill to the beach. It's like a dike or something! ;)
And of course you can get your fresh haring sandwich too!
More later....
xoxo
We arrived 12 days ago and it's been very hectic! Nike set us up with a cute little house in the Niewemarkt area--a hop, skip, and a jump from the lovely girls under the red lights. It's a fantastic location though, close enough to the center but just out of reach from the mainstream of tourists. Well, here's a tour of our little matchbox apartment:
The entrance is on the ground floor, where you find the kitchen and dining area, and a small bathroom.
Up the steep, Dutch staircase is the living room.
Up another steep staircase is the bedroom with a full bathroom off the stairs. That last ladder leads to a storage area on the 4th floor.
Well, thats it! It's really great and we only wish it had a balcony because of all the lovely sun we've had these past several days. Yes, sun! It's been amazing.
The day after we arrived we had an appointment with the relocation folks and they took us to 12 apartments, in about 6 hours. It was intense. We focused on the southern part of the city, two neighborhoods called De Pijp and Rivierenbuurt and found two places that really caught our eye (one in each neighborhood). After a lot of thought (and pressure from the real estate agents) we placed a bid on the apartment in De Pijp last Friday. The owners came back with a counter-offer and we made everything final on Monday. Although we're renting, as expats, we have to go through this horrible bidding process and we never really know what kind of "deal" we're getting--but that's the price you pay. From talking to locals, we don't pay much more than them and apartment rented to expats have to meet certain standards. Anyways, we got it! We move in on August 14 and will be staying at our little house until then.
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| Our new apartment location ("A"), about 7 minutes by bike to the center. |
Last week we had such fantastic weather, we headed to the beach on two different days. First we went to Zandvoort and then we went to Bloemingdaal. The second was our favorite for its chill beach-goers and the fact that we biked 5 km to get there too!
One thing about going to the beach in the Netherlands--you almost always walk downhill to the beach. It's like a dike or something! ;)
And of course you can get your fresh haring sandwich too!
More later....
xoxo
Awesome work so far, I approve.
ReplyDeleteSend me a broodje haring, please.
Best of luck at Nike, dude.