Thursday, May 14, 2009

Living Quarters




Our apartment is both quaint and curious.

The layout is rather confusing. Upon entering the apartment there is a hallway off of which are four seemingly uniform rooms. Three are used as bedrooms, and one a dinning room. Across from these rooms is the kitchen, which is somewhat small but opens onto a balcony and the inner court yard. Making dinner with the doors open means you can watch all the other neighbors doing the same. We haven't gotten off of American time yet and while the Italians seem to be starting dinner preparations around the same time, they are eating much later.

At the end of the hallway from the rooms is the only bathroom. There is no living room. This to me is odd. Is the expectation for the design of the apartment generally that there would only be two bedrooms and one would be used for the living room and another the dining room? Three or four people using one bathroom seems reasonable. As it is, there are six of us. This set up for the bathroom is less than ideal, especially given the fact that water pressure and the limited water tank (although separate just for the bathroom) makes showering take awhile and the hot water rather limited.

The terrace is certainly the most romantic element of the apartment, although the rusted stairs up to it are extremely off-putting. It is only accessible by our apartment. Here is a photo of our view from the terrace at dawn. Considering that our apartment does not otherwise seem very luxurious, it's strange to me that we would have are own individual terrace. But I like it!

UPDATE: May 16th, 2009
Another "curiosity" is the laundry system. While my clothes seem clean now, I wouldn't say I have figured out how to make the washing machine actually work. When we run it, through the first 30 minutes of the cycle it is constantly tripping the breaker. Let me point out that it has already been an adventure learning how to use a European washer with all it's new symbols, dials, and soap dishes. Now we have also learned that our apartment can't handle the electricity output--even when we turn out the lights, unplug everything, and hold our breath and cross our fingers in the dark. At least Rome is a good place to buy candles. If anyone has any better ideas, please let me know...

1 comment:

  1. The view is gorgeous, and rather Romantic. I'm envious, even if there is only one bathroom and no living room!

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