Making some progress

We sent my MIL, doer of our legwork, downtown to meet with someone from our rental company - from the middle city section, not the northern city section we normally deal with. She went to see what they have available in old town for apartments with elevators. And it can't just be an apartment with an elevator - it has to be one that doesn't have steps to go up or down to reach the elevator.

We had an idea of what they would have to offer because B's been online for hours at a time looking at available apartments. We originally thought we might have trouble finding them but there's more than we imagined. Magdeburg is losing population so it's a renter's market.

There's a twenty floor building about a block from where B grew up that we're very interested in. Back in the days of East Germany this was the most exclusive building to live in - you had to be a high ranking member of the party to live there or be a sports star or the like. Now it's just a regular high rise building but it's been renovated and it's still nice. Not Trump Tower but it's nice. We've also found available apartments in the dead center of the city - right around the city hall and the market square. These are some of the oldest buildings in Magdeburg. The city was bombed in 1945 and over 85% of the downtown area was rubble and these buildings were the first ones from the rebuilding. They have a bit more character than the standard post-war apartment buildings and the insides have lovely high ceilings and heavy doors but they can also be a bitch to heat. While I love how the buildings look, the heating costs may be a drag and it may be a bit on the noisy side when the windows are open. They tend to attract students as well and I'm looking for some quiet. Still, the idea of walking out my apartment and being in the market square is appealing.

So back to my MIL and her trip today. There are a couple apartments available for us in the twenty floor building. This building, while lacking a certain amount of charm, does have some advantages. There's a concierge on duty. There's a lot of older couples and they cherish the quiet. Each floor is isolated from the other floors so no one can wonder around each floor - you have to be buzzed in if you don't have a key to that particular floor. The Elbe river is a couple blocks away. The center of the city is a ten minute walk away. And then there's the little things that I dig. It's a block away from two churches and another is about three blocks way and you can easily hear them ring the Angelus. I love to hear that.

There's another building that's right next to the monastery that we're also interested in. The monastery doesn't ring the Angelus because it's no longer used as a monastery but the cathedral does and the cathedral is two blocks away. The building is also literally across the street from the river and is also a ten minute walk from the city center - sort of the opposite direction from the highrise. Anyway, the outside of the building looks nice (it's fairly new) and the apartment, while being a bit more expensive, is also larger than what we live in now. I haven't seen a floor plan yet so I don't know how we'd fit in there but I'll try to get an appointment for next week.

On Tuesday I have an appointment to see the twenty floor building and we'll see then if we could fit in it (it's about ten square meters smaller than where we live now). My kitchen will definitely have to be changed regardless of where we move since it was designed to fit my current apartment. I may lose a cabinet or have to change the arrangement but we'll figure something out. If I have to buy more finishing pieces to get it all to fit right I will but I feel pretty certain it'll all work out.

All in all if I like something in one of these two buildings we'll sign a contract and we'll likely be moved within four to eight weeks. I'll be spending Christmas in my new home.

This year when the bells of Magdeburg ring in Christmas I hope to be right down in the midst of it all. I can't wait.