We've already found an apartment!

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Hi Everyone

Well, we are finally here in Belgium and the first thing I have to say is that......THE WAIT WAS WORTH IT! We are loving it here. A run down on our activities so far....

We arrived on Monday morning about 8AM Brussels time. There was supposed to be someone from the relocation company to meet us at the airport but no one showed up. Then again, we only decided to fly over on Friday after the Belgium offices were closed for the weekend, and then we arrived before they opened on Monday morning so we had thought we might be on our own. We took a taxi to our temporary apartment but there was no one to check us in as check in time wasn't until 2 PM. We did not have any cell phones (that work in Europe) and couldn't find an Internet cafe (The good news all our luggage made it.... the bad news.... that is a lot of luggage to traipse around with!) so Marc went off in search of a pay phone and needless to say couldn't find one. Alas, after waiting around less than an hour a staff member wondered by and let us in the apartment. He did not have the necessary info to tell us how to get online and since we had no phones we couldn't even let anyone know we had arrived. Talk about feeling out of touch! Other than that small hiccup, we had a very uneventful trip. Tuesday morning we went out and got our cell phones set up, got the Internet set up in the temp apartment and bought a few groceries so we were all set. Marc went into his new office on Tuesday, then we had dinner with a coworker and his wife and pestered therm with all our questions.

Wednesday we went apartment hunting. We were a little discouraged as we had looked at 10 apartments and didn't see anything we thought would work. Either they were too small, in the wrong area, or didn't have the amenities we needed. We were both getting discouraged. Then we walked into the last apartment of the day! As the french say....OOH LA LA! I knew it was right for us the minute I stepped in the door. It was like nothing we had seen so far. It is a 2 bedroom and beautiful! And.... in our budget! The owner remodeled it for him and his wife so It was really nice (No idea why he is renting it out... we think maybe his wife died). It has lots of beautiful built in bookcases in the hallway and built in wardrobes in the bed rooms. The kitchen is huge by Belgian standards because as the owner said "We are Italian ... we need a good kitchen!" There is also a beautiful Murano Glass Chandelier in the dining room! It is on the 4th floor in an old European building and has a very old baroque feel to it. We were trying not to sound to excited about it in front of the owner, but we both knew we wanted it the minute we saw it. Both our agent and the owner's agent knew it was a one in a million find and priced incredibly well as both of them thought he could have probably gotten more for it if he had wanted to. We put an "option" on it to hold it for 2 days so we could also see the apartments the agent wanted to show us the next day. We looked at several more on Thursday but nothing compared. We asked the agent to submit the offer and she did but kept cautioning us that it could fall through, they wouldn't agree on terms, etc., etc. BUt.... by he time we got back to our apt we had an email saying he accepted our offer! We are ecstatic! We will move in on or about June 1 when the sea shipment of our household goods arrive. I will post some pics when I can.

In addition to all of the above, we found out on Sunday while we were sitting at the airport in Atlanta that a dear friend of ours (Joanna) who lives and works in England was going to be in Brussels on business this week. We were able to see her for dinner on Wednesday and had a terrific time. We found a great restaurant near her hotel and had a fantastic dinner, so we are already sort of feeling like natives!

Finally on Thursday night / Friday morning it all caught up with us. We were so tired Thursday night and as Friday (today) is a holiday we decided to not set the alarm and just sleep in. I couldn't believe it when we didn't wake up until 10:30! Marc got up but I fell back asleep and didn't wake up until almost 2PM. So we just took an easy day to relax today.... the first day we have relaxed since last Wednesday. At the same time we are happy with what we have accomplished so far and now Marc can concentrate on getting ready to start his new job on Monday. So...... more later...... We miss you all!

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Comments

[Gaile]

Sounds like all is WELL IN YOUR WORLD!
WOW a lot accomplished in a very short time. Good for you. You are settling in nicely but then I didn't expect less. Make sure you send us your address so I can make sure you get a Pogo card for Xmas again. Phone number too. Keep the stories coming, I love them. Gaile

[Rod & Cynthia]

Brussels at last
So good to hear you have finally "landed" and found the apartment of your liking !! I know you must be excited to finally be setteling in. We are so much looking forward to seeing you in Athens this Summer!! As we speak the highs for Athens for the rest of the week are 81-82. Thaat would be nice ! Keep in touch, love to hear about your schedules !!