Our apartment search continued:
Apt. 7: A beautiful one bedroom apartment in Tudor City – a whole neighborhood that looks like Tudor England, but was built as a giant hotel complex in the 1920s. Makes me feel like a princess. The black cat who still lives in the apartment was also at home. The apartment itself is pretty and charming with its old metal-framed windows and well cut rooms. The building also has a gym and laundry room. But the estate agent can’t guarantee that we’d be the only ones applying for the apartment – and the board would keep the application fee even if they rejected us. Would we be willing to take that risk for the most beautiful apartment we have seen so far?
Apt. 8: Another Tudor City apartment. Slightly bigger than the first and just renovated. Also more expensive. It is in a building with a rooftop terrace. I can see us living in Tudor City, I’d probably walk around the apartment only with a tiara on my head. We decide that the slightly smaller and cheaper apartment would be our favorite though.
Apt. 9: This is the first aparment we visit on Saturday. It is on 37th Street and giant. So so big with all the right closets and hallways. Then I see two mouse traps and freak out a little bit – but apparently they are only there as a precaution. The location is awesome for both of us and the size is amazing. There is a park closeby. Since my boyfriend already lives in Murray Hill, we know the neighborhood. It would be very easy to keep some routines. We are definitely interested.
Apt. 10: The next three apartments we see with the same estate agent. The first is up on 50th Street and also beautiful. Lots of closet space, the kitchen has a dishwasher and a microwave. The apartment is well cut. The house is on the more fancy side with a doorman, but except for him and a laundry room, it doesn’t have any other amenities.
Apt. 11: The next location is fancy highrise very close to the U.N. The building offers everything we could wish for: a gym, a rooftop terrace, a laundry room (and also a doorman). The apartment is on the 20th floor and has a wonderful view at Midtown. Eventually we learn that this building is so posh that one can only move in from Monday to Friday between 9 and 5 p.m. We think it is not really for us. We are not that kind of people (yet?).
Apt. 12: Walking back to 38th Street was for nothing. They forgot to mention online that cats are actually not allowed. The apartment itself is alright, but the other ones are definitely nicer.
Apt. 13: We take a lunch break and discuss everything we’ve seen before we walk back to 51th Street. The estate agent is a little late and first shows another apartment to us in the same building than we wanted to see. It is really big and has a wonderful private outdoor patio. Unfortunately, the apartment is extremely dark and I value natural light. It also is available from next week which is too early for us.
Apt. 14: We then take the lift to another floor and do not like the second apartment in that building any more. It is alright, but nothing special now that we can compare. The bedroom is just as dark as the other apartment, the kitchen doesn’t have a dishwasher, and there isn’t any outdoor space. We feel really tired and walk home to take a short break or, in my case, a nap.
Apt. 15: We pull our tired selves together and walk about ten minutes to a building on Lexington Avenue. That one is only five minutes away from Grand Central from where I would take the commuter rail to work. We meet the estate agent and, together with another couple, take the elevator up to the sixth floor. There is a red and white cat welcoming us to the apartment and I squeal when I see his litter box enclosure (it looks like a piece of furniture and can be used as a stool or shelf) – it is exactly the same I want to order for Canavar once we have moved. I take the other cat into my arms and give him some of my endless cat love. The apartment is amazing. A hallway when you enter, a kitchen with a dishwasher and microwave, four closets, two big enough rooms for two people and a cat. The other couple asks plenty of questions and writes the answers throroughly into a notebook. We stay behind when they leave and get to see the house’s rooftop terrace and its patio.
We then walk home and discuss if we want to apply to any of the apartments we have seen … stay tuned to find out if we have.
|Watched| Sex and the City, Game of Thrones, GNTM
|Read| Sapiens: A brief history of humankind, Why we sleep
|Listened to| Gripin, Sertab Erener
|Done| worked, went to NYC, introduced myself at my future workplace, looked for an apartment
|Eaten| burger, shepherd’s pie, fish, icecream, pizza, an Indian lamb dish
|Drunk| water, coffee, beer, tea, cider
|Thought| I never knew how exhausting looking at apartments could be.
|Been happy| I got to see my boyfriend already on Thursday evening.
|Laughed| with friends and at cat videos online
|Desired| a beautiful apartment
|Bought| only bus and train tickets and food
|Clicked| I find that an accurate description of: Roots: Growing Up in East Germany; I think in today’s world it is very important to remind ourselves that there is more than work to life: How to Prevent Burnout at Work (and What to Do If You’re Already in the Throes); I love SATC, but I am also glad I won’t have to date in Manhattan: The New Sex and the City?
© janavar