Here's how buying a house works in Amsterdam (this is pretty specific to Amsterdam, rather than the Netherlands as a whole, and is apparently a right-this-minute phenomenon. We picked exactly the wrong time to move here and buy a house. Womp womp):
-You decide you're sick of renting and sick of not having a place for guests to sleep and sick of the all-night shouting from the bar down the street.
-You spend at least 30 minutes a day scouring Funda (the Zillow of the Netherlands) for any new houses that fit your specific but somewhat flexible criteria.
-You go to the open house, where you see at least 20 other couples who look exactly like you looking at the house.
-You say as little as possible, in case the sellers don't like non-dutch speaking expats.
-You go back and forth with your real estate agent (called a makelaar - one of my favorite dutch words) over what the house is worth versus what people might bid on it.
-You guess at a number, it is stomach-churningly higher than the asking price. You have the makelaar place your blind bid.
-You get a call saying that you've been outbid.
-Repeat until you either buy a house or just give up and rent forever.
It took us four full rounds (and 5-6 partial rounds) of this game before we accidentally bought our house.
Wait, but how do you accidentally buy a house?
You go through steps 1-3 and decide that the house is fine but needs a lot of work, you decide to bid a number that seems too low for the neighborhood, but gives you enough money to do the renovations that you would need to do. You assume that's the end of that, until your makelaar calls and tells you the house is yours...and then you start to panic.
We signed the contract on the house in June, but didn't actually close on the house until December. We spent those six months obsessively drawing floor plans, making pinterest boards, finding a contractor, and getting a mortgage which was the hardest bit (in a moment of things-working-out-okay, we were actually very lucky that we had 6 months until closing as getting a normal Dutch mortgage - instead of a higher priced ex-pat mortgage - turned out to be quite labor and time intensive and the pressure would have really been on for a normal house closing).
All I'll say about the renovation process is: get a contractor who speaks the same language as you do. And send pictures of EXACTLY what you want things to look like. And visit the site every day. Oh, and get things in writing. And make sure all of the electricity works before they pack up.
Penelope learned to walk just before we moved, in an apartment full of boxes. The problem with having a company pack up all your things for a transatlantic move is you don't really understand how much stuff you have. When the movers who were moving us to the new house said we would need 90 boxes, I assumed he was grossly over-estimating. Incorrect. 90 boxes was just barely enough. To be fair - we have acquired an additional human since that first move and she has accumulated an irrational amount of stuff in her short little life.
The boxes were good for entertaining Pip because they gave her lots of things to lean on and walk to and also because she loves putting things into and taking things out of boxes, which kept her occupied while we tried to do actual packing. This was going really well until I realized one day that I couldn't find my wallet. After five hours of digging through every already-packed box I finally came across it buried deep in with some toys and dishtowels that she had packed. So helpful.
And then we fiiiiiinally moved in and thus began the impossible task of finding a new place for everything in a space that is different size and shape from anywhere we've ever lived. It has been a challenge that has involved several trips to Ikea (with at least one more in our future), boxes being upacked and repacked, lots of hiding things under beds, furniture rearranging, and second guessing of just about every part of the process.
We still have a lot of projects to do and are often plagued with the "was this the wrong choice" anxiety but it has been totally worth it for the mornings when Pip is up and ready to play at 7:30, so we all just put coats on over our pajamas and take our coffee out to the backyard. Its been satisfying to make such a small space work for us. It is by far the smallest home we've ever had, but it is so nice to know that we're using all the space to its potential. There are no rooms we never go in, no closets we never open. We're so excited to continue our Dutch journey in this little house with its unpronounceable street name.
Monday, May 27, 2019
Sunday, May 19, 2019
Catching Up: A week where a lot of things happened
The last week of November/first week of December was a big one over here.
1- Nonno came to visit.
We're always so grateful when people come to visit us. Poor Nonno had to deal with a very, very sick Penelope (including a first trip to the pediatrician) but dutifully hung out with us and explored solo while we ran around doing a million things (see #3).
2- We went to Pip's first (out-of-utero) concert.
Despite having parents who aren't "music people" and who live across an ocean from all of their favorite recording artists, Pip managed the two weirdest (for 2017) in utero concerts: Third Eye Blind and Dar Williams. Dar Williams is actually the concert that send me into labor (thanks Dar!) in December.
We have been seriously, seriously struggling with the idea of Sinterklaas. Have your read David Sedaris' Six to Eight Black Men? I recommend it for a humorous idea of what we're dealing with. What we're actually dealing with is a country of people who are waaaaay too casual about blackface. Also, Penelope was born ON the day that Sinterklaas is celebrated (which is like being born on Christmas) which is only making the issue more tedious.
But! We have found an alternative that we love. De Nieuwe Sint. After reading about it on someone's facebook, we dragged my dad along (Nonno loves a little reggae music) and it ended up being a super fun afternoon even with a sick baby who wanted to dance even though she couldn't walk. We are perfectly happy to make this the only Sinterklaas tradition we have.
3- We bought a house
Did I bury the lede on this one? Maybe. But it was somewhat anticlimactic as we had bid on the house and signed an initial contract in June. When we agreed to buy it, we had to agree of a closing date of 30 November (which ended up getting pushed back to 3 December). It was very strange to know that we had already bought a house, but have to wait 6 months to do anything about it. Though all that time gave us the opportunity to plan almost a gut-rehab of the place. It was really nice to have my Mom here when we signed the first batch of paperwork and my Dad here for the second. Purely coincidence but a happy one for sure.
4- Pip turned one!
Okay. I REALLY buried the lede, but this was the last thing that happened. Our little Poo-poo bear turned one year old. We celebrated the day before at school with traktaties and songs and then at home with presents and getting the screen on mama's phone fixed (lucky baby!) and then the next weekend with cake and balloons with some of our new friends.
1- Nonno came to visit.
We're always so grateful when people come to visit us. Poor Nonno had to deal with a very, very sick Penelope (including a first trip to the pediatrician) but dutifully hung out with us and explored solo while we ran around doing a million things (see #3).
2- We went to Pip's first (out-of-utero) concert.
We have been seriously, seriously struggling with the idea of Sinterklaas. Have your read David Sedaris' Six to Eight Black Men? I recommend it for a humorous idea of what we're dealing with. What we're actually dealing with is a country of people who are waaaaay too casual about blackface. Also, Penelope was born ON the day that Sinterklaas is celebrated (which is like being born on Christmas) which is only making the issue more tedious.
But! We have found an alternative that we love. De Nieuwe Sint. After reading about it on someone's facebook, we dragged my dad along (Nonno loves a little reggae music) and it ended up being a super fun afternoon even with a sick baby who wanted to dance even though she couldn't walk. We are perfectly happy to make this the only Sinterklaas tradition we have.
3- We bought a house
Did I bury the lede on this one? Maybe. But it was somewhat anticlimactic as we had bid on the house and signed an initial contract in June. When we agreed to buy it, we had to agree of a closing date of 30 November (which ended up getting pushed back to 3 December). It was very strange to know that we had already bought a house, but have to wait 6 months to do anything about it. Though all that time gave us the opportunity to plan almost a gut-rehab of the place. It was really nice to have my Mom here when we signed the first batch of paperwork and my Dad here for the second. Purely coincidence but a happy one for sure.
4- Pip turned one!
Okay. I REALLY buried the lede, but this was the last thing that happened. Our little Poo-poo bear turned one year old. We celebrated the day before at school with traktaties and songs and then at home with presents and getting the screen on mama's phone fixed (lucky baby!) and then the next weekend with cake and balloons with some of our new friends.
Catching up: Naples
Remember when I said I would be better about blogging? Me too. I mean it this time. I really do...
In advance of our second Amsterdam-iversary I'm going to blog some of the highlights since... November (yikes!)
Naples is a pretty disgusting city. Luckily, the food is delicious and there are plenty of lovely things to see just a quick train/ferry/metro ride away. We also lucked out with incredible weather. It was gorgeous and sunny and perfectly warm the whole time we were there.
Our first stop was (obviously) pizza.
Day 2 was the reason for the whole trip. Since Danny has been a kid, he's wanted to go to Pompeii. Having already been on Escape from Pompeii, the Busch Gardens thrill ride when I was 12, I felt like I had already experienced it... but I was happy to tag along. In retrospect, Pip was exactly the wrong age to take with us. We went without a stroller which was good since the uneven ancient Roman streets do not lend themselves to flimsy umbrella stroller wheels, but she didn't want to be carried, and she was still only crawling (also not great on the ruins). Plus we missed the audio guide somehow (probably because she was throwing a fit and we just wanted to get out of the line of people as fast as possible). So the first hour was just her crying, Danny trying to download a guide, and me wondering where the Ancient Roman winebar was. After she had had her fill of putting stuff in her mouth and faceplanting into 2,000 year old masonry we got her into the ergo and did some proper wandering.
Pompeii is much bigger than I was expecting. It is really a city that just doesn't have most of its walls or roofs. I loved all of the paintings on the wall that were still visible, and the little road-side food stands with the cutouts where they would put coins. It made it feel very real. Once the little tyrant had woken up, we went to a restaurant where everyone was dressed in "authentic" outfits and the food was meh.
Day 3 was my pick. I had known I wanted to go to one of the islands. Capri is the obvious choice, but since it was the off season, I figured our chance of seeing the Grotta Azzurra was really low. We'll come back to the region eventually (can't move to Europe and not visit the Amalfi coast) and get a proper day in Capri. For this trip we went to Ischia. We got on a ferry and then onto a bus that dropped us near Aragonese Castle. The castle was also not stroller friendly but P did slightly better in the carrier and enjoyed some more open places to crawl around. It is a gorgeous castle with lovely views of the island and the Mediterranean.
The perk of traveling in the off season is no tourists. The drawback is nothing is open. We wandered endlessly trying to find a restaurant that was open and google maps is zero help (it doesn't recognize "summer hours"). we had to break into the stash of chocolate covered lemon peels we were supposed to be bringing back for coworker treats to survive. The place we found was perfect. I tried a local rabbit dish and had a cocktail. While I know every says Capri is the best, I think Ischa would probably be just as lovely a place to spend a day or two in the warmer months.
Day 4 was a bit of a gamble. Knowing that we wanted to stay out of Naples, we had considered taking another train and trying to see some of Sorrento but didn't want to spend so much of another day commuting, so we hopped on a metro to the castle in Caserta. All we knew about it was that it was super big, and had been in the crappy Star Wars movies. It ended up being a perfect way to end the trip. The castle was very castle-y, but also stroller friendly. It had a massive staircase which was perfect for our little newly-minted stair climber (big ups to Dad for carrying the stroller up all those stairs). It was all shiny, with good light fixtures, and ceiling art. We had a great time taking pictures and learning a bit about the history of southern Italy (not that I can remember any of it now). The garden was a whole other level. We spent another hour or two walking around before taking a bus back to the castle (that's how big the gardens are, you can take a bus from one end to another).
Naples itself is heartbreaking. So much beautiful architecture, lovely people, amazing food -- and it is all covered in garbage and unemployment. I cannot say I recommend it, but I do - because there is so much amazing stuff to see in the vicinity. And the wine is very good.
In advance of our second Amsterdam-iversary I'm going to blog some of the highlights since... November (yikes!)
Naples is a pretty disgusting city. Luckily, the food is delicious and there are plenty of lovely things to see just a quick train/ferry/metro ride away. We also lucked out with incredible weather. It was gorgeous and sunny and perfectly warm the whole time we were there.
Our first stop was (obviously) pizza.
Then we did a lap around the city center and decided we were pretty done with Naples. There's garbage everywhere, reckless moped drivers, tons of cigarette smoke -- despite amazing food, it is for sure a pass-through city.
Day 2 was the reason for the whole trip. Since Danny has been a kid, he's wanted to go to Pompeii. Having already been on Escape from Pompeii, the Busch Gardens thrill ride when I was 12, I felt like I had already experienced it... but I was happy to tag along. In retrospect, Pip was exactly the wrong age to take with us. We went without a stroller which was good since the uneven ancient Roman streets do not lend themselves to flimsy umbrella stroller wheels, but she didn't want to be carried, and she was still only crawling (also not great on the ruins). Plus we missed the audio guide somehow (probably because she was throwing a fit and we just wanted to get out of the line of people as fast as possible). So the first hour was just her crying, Danny trying to download a guide, and me wondering where the Ancient Roman winebar was. After she had had her fill of putting stuff in her mouth and faceplanting into 2,000 year old masonry we got her into the ergo and did some proper wandering.
Pompeii is much bigger than I was expecting. It is really a city that just doesn't have most of its walls or roofs. I loved all of the paintings on the wall that were still visible, and the little road-side food stands with the cutouts where they would put coins. It made it feel very real. Once the little tyrant had woken up, we went to a restaurant where everyone was dressed in "authentic" outfits and the food was meh.
Day 3 was my pick. I had known I wanted to go to one of the islands. Capri is the obvious choice, but since it was the off season, I figured our chance of seeing the Grotta Azzurra was really low. We'll come back to the region eventually (can't move to Europe and not visit the Amalfi coast) and get a proper day in Capri. For this trip we went to Ischia. We got on a ferry and then onto a bus that dropped us near Aragonese Castle. The castle was also not stroller friendly but P did slightly better in the carrier and enjoyed some more open places to crawl around. It is a gorgeous castle with lovely views of the island and the Mediterranean.
The perk of traveling in the off season is no tourists. The drawback is nothing is open. We wandered endlessly trying to find a restaurant that was open and google maps is zero help (it doesn't recognize "summer hours"). we had to break into the stash of chocolate covered lemon peels we were supposed to be bringing back for coworker treats to survive. The place we found was perfect. I tried a local rabbit dish and had a cocktail. While I know every says Capri is the best, I think Ischa would probably be just as lovely a place to spend a day or two in the warmer months.
Day 4 was a bit of a gamble. Knowing that we wanted to stay out of Naples, we had considered taking another train and trying to see some of Sorrento but didn't want to spend so much of another day commuting, so we hopped on a metro to the castle in Caserta. All we knew about it was that it was super big, and had been in the crappy Star Wars movies. It ended up being a perfect way to end the trip. The castle was very castle-y, but also stroller friendly. It had a massive staircase which was perfect for our little newly-minted stair climber (big ups to Dad for carrying the stroller up all those stairs). It was all shiny, with good light fixtures, and ceiling art. We had a great time taking pictures and learning a bit about the history of southern Italy (not that I can remember any of it now). The garden was a whole other level. We spent another hour or two walking around before taking a bus back to the castle (that's how big the gardens are, you can take a bus from one end to another).
We accidentally ended up in a super fancy restaurant for a late lunch and then wandered around the tiny adorable town of Caserta before getting some much needed gelato and heading back to get ready to fly home. Apparently, the days of "sleeping baby during flight," are behind us. I will miss them very, very much.
Naples itself is heartbreaking. So much beautiful architecture, lovely people, amazing food -- and it is all covered in garbage and unemployment. I cannot say I recommend it, but I do - because there is so much amazing stuff to see in the vicinity. And the wine is very good.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)