Apartment Hunting.101

Well, after seeing 14 places back in June, then another estimated seven back in early December and another 16 over the past 3 days, I'm getting a good idea of how a lot of people live here in Amsterdam. I also remember what a total drag it was looking for a home over 7 years ago!! This time, the place we choose will be our home for at least the next year and ideally the next 3. It's always easier to weed out those early ones that don't make the cut, isn't it? But then you get down to those remaining 2, 3, or more, that have almost everything you are looking for but just don't quite take you all the way there.
We've learned a bit along the way...the big thing would be that toilets are like gold here! If you have more than one, you must be royalty!! We saw a 4 bedroom apartment, and it STILL had only 1 toilet!! I mean...COME ON!!!! I'll be the first to say as American's, we're spoiled to an extent. We're used to a way of living that's, well, referred to as a higher standard of living. Orlando provided us a 4/3, and sure, one of the toilets gets used about as much as "W" uses a dictionary, but there were those rare occasions we had a housefull and each one was "occupado". I guess we just don't like to "hold it". We are told it is just not the "Dutch way" to have more than 1...that they get by...have no problem with it. We are also looking at places that are in or near the city center, so space is at a premium (see previous posts where I dish on that). It would be easier finding 2 toilets if we were looking for a place out in the rural areas, but we're not looking to live out of the city. Also, we must be careful here. When a place advertises that it has 2 baths, that doesn't mean it has 2 toilets. Some rooms you go into and there's a shower, and only a shower. Some bedrooms have sinks in them. Yes, I know I wrote bedrooms, that's not a mistake. Some bathrooms have sinks and a bathtub with a shower head, but no curtain and no way to hang a rod and curtain. Many have full windows right next to the shower or bathtub, so you can clean your body as you entertain your neighbors with it!! We were at one of Radhika's co-workers apartment around Christmas, and their female neighbor was doing a little cleaning wearing a shirt. When she bent over just a little, it reminded me of Tom Petty's album, "Full Moon Fever"!! Some places I've looked at had a window to another apartment literally 2-3 feet from a window of the apartment I was looking at! "Love thy neighbor" takes on a whole new meaning over here.
Another new thing for us is making deals with the landlord. If you like a place, but it is lacking in something, you can negotiate for it. Say...like, you don't have a DVD that plays the European format, don't want to buy a 220v vacuum cleaner, and there's not enough shelving in the closets. Offer a lease that's for 3 years, but with an option to break it after a year with 2 months notice, and you can get those things and perhaps more provided by the landlord.
Well, that's about it for now. More on our apartment adventure as it developes. I'll add a few pics of the ones we have looked at, so you can get an idea. These are for reference, so you photo majors need not critique me on the backlight situations on some of these. Until next time.....

So Much To Do, So Little Time

Sorry I have been away so long, but we've been busy, busy, busy! My opening at the library and all the work leading up to it (printing, framing, support work), Radhika's Disney Marathon (26.2 miles in a little over 6 hours and 2 foot blisters!), friends and family visiting from out of town, last minute purchases to take back to Amsterdam, 2 days of movers at the house, renter moving in, Steve McCurry at DBC, visiting with friends, and details, details, details to address!!! Radhika is in NY this weekend visiting her awesome Mom and crazy sister, Dolly...not to mention still mentally stable John (Frenchy 2) after all these years of "exposure" to Dolly. They are setting up a device called a sling box at thier house in Seaford Harbor that will enable us to watch American TV while in Amsterdam. Cool, huh? Then she will continue on to NL on Sunday. I will leave Orlando on the 24th and get to NL on the 25th via Memphis.

My opening went well. I am quite happy with the way the images tell the story of our visit to China. There are more pictures in this show, however many are 8X10 and not the large 16X20 size as in the Windows To The World show 18 months ago. I had hoped for a better turnout. It seems the library didn't market and promote this event nearly as well as the previous one I had.

The moving of our stuff was a new experience for us, as was the empty house when all was done. I was okay with that, but what felt odd was someone else's belongings coming into the house. But 24 hours later, I'm over it. The person who we have renting the top floor is someone we have confidence in, or else he wouldn't be there.

Radhika (for the 2nd or 3rd time) met her girlie friends for a farewell lunch and enjoyed herself, as usual. I have been getting as much tennis in as I can, and even bought a new Prince O3 racket!!! It's light as air and sounds sweet when it smacks that ball! I am hopefully getting over to Tampa tonight to see our friend Vince and his band play at a place called the Sad Tiger, or is it Proud Lion? Either way, I hope to be there to support him in the way he knows I can (by yelling "You suck!" or "Pick a key!"). Joe figured out I need to replace or fix a pump on my RA-4 processer. I'm following up on that before I leave Orlando. Perhaps I'll get to Daytona one more time and have lunch with either him or Alexis. I sent Alexis an email, but received no response. What's up with that?! Perhaps Campus Cupcake is mad at me? Lunch with Jim would be nice too, but not getting a response there, either. Hmmmmmm...think people have finally said this guy's too much trouble? Perhaps I will eliminate one more by really giving Vince the business at his gig tonight (he's so damned resilient though, and can give as good as he gets). A damn fine tennis player too, once he gets all his vertibrae unfused! All of those years in solitary lock-up have taken their toll. Clark, Clide, Steven, and I got some good tennis in yesterday. Good seeing those guys. Steven has grown every time I see him! And his voice is getting more like Barry White and less like Michael Jackson. Steven is Clide's grandson, who is 12 or 13, is playing in the 16 age bracket, is highly ranked in the state, and is capable of taking his tennis game to a high, on the world's stage, level. Watch for Steven Watson in the coming years from the US. If it's his desire, he can enjoy a high level of tennis as a career. Clark has improved his game a lot in the 5 weeks + that I haven't played them.
Gotta go. Many things to do. Will try to add some images soon. Thanks for reading, and thanks to all who have remarked how much they enjoy reading what I put down. Happy MLK!

Happy New Year

It's the 2nd day of the new year, it's a little after 9pm, and it's in the high 30's outside going down to the high 20's. What's the big deal? I'm no longer in Amsterdam!!!! I got back to Orlando last night right before midnight. The flights were between Amsterdam and Minneapolis then Orlando. Concerning the flights....those who fly know the poor state of that type of travel first hand these days. Boarding was almost completed on the transatlantic leg, and the seat next to me was still vacant. I was so hopeful...but you know how it goes. The flight attendants put an old, large, non-English speaking muslim woman with mobility issues there. She plopped in, with her large paper tote bag loaded with cloth, pringles, papers, and all sorts of odds and ends in her lap. She stayed in the same exact position for the entire flight! Trapped for 9 hours, I couldn't get up to stretch, splash water on my face, nothing!! Even worse, she took up a fair portion of my space, so I didn't have much room to twist, wriggle, shift....we were so tight if I had gotten a goosebump on my right arm it would've knocked her out of her seat!! The attendants would try to talk to her, but she would just smile. I helped her a couple of times with her seat belt, meal, and paper work. If it wasn't for movies on demand ("Into The Wild" *****, "Rush Hour 3" ***, "The Game Plan" **) and 5 hours of warm, orange and red sunset light bouncing off the ice in Greenland, Canada, and the leading edge of the plane's wing I would've been in a worse way. Entering the US you are asked many, many, many questions. I think we have gone over the edge with Homeland Security. Are they really going to catch an "evil doer" by asking if they like their apartment? And Orlando is still announcing the threat level (orange, if anyone still gives a shit about that nonsense). The flight was delayed to Orlando because they were waiting on a flight attendant. Is that insane, or what? You're late to work and you could end up sticking it to thousands of people if the wait is long enough!!! I would have to give NWA a C. Grading on todays curve, that's probably an A+!!! One moment, Stevie Wonder is kicking it......30 year old song and it still kicks ass....
New Years eve in Dam Square, Amsterdam. Picture it, Sicily, 1935 (props to Sophia...yeah...I watched Golden Girls...you got a problem with that?) okay, seriously, picture it....humans allowed to smoke pot in public, drink beer - champagne - turpentine - axle grease - AND manipulating explosives!!!!!!!!!! I don't mean little sparklers or some weenie little cardboard cone that burps little puffs of smoke. These dolts are setting off M-80 type explosives and larger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The state sponsored firework show was embarrassingly boring (basically non-existant), which is possibly why the citizendry has taken it upon themselves to provide the excitement such an earth-shattering event dictates. We had to dodge "incoming" on our walk home. Radhika almost yanked my arm out of the socket trying to pull me out of the way of an RPG as it bounced off of my right shoulder/chest area. Perhaps it's a good thing that a number of dolts were spraying the crowd with champagne...it kept the number of people bursting into flames down below the number of people who were being told by police to get down off of various structures they had climbed upon to get a better view of the idiots at ground level. I had enough and couldn't wait to get back to our flat. There was an apartment building totally engulfed in flames on our route back! According to the article it was due to fireworks!!
http://www.at5.nl/nieuwsartikel.asp?newsid=31994
http://tip.at5.nl/2008/01/01/meer-hgracht/
Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting a little warm weather by this weekend. It's going to have to hold me until May from what I understand about Amsterdam weather. Great!!!

Holiday Update

Well, Radhika had to work last Monday until 2pm, and then had the 25th and the 26th off. In the Netherlands, both Christmas Day and Boxing Day are days off. The weather was temperate (for Amsterdam standards), hovering in the low 40's. We did a little food shopping, work in the apartment, and had our first movie going experience with a coworker of Radhika's at GE and her fiance. We tried to go to this great old theater near the hotel we stayed at when we first arrived, but that proved to be difficult. It's the one that "The Golden Compass" opened at and I have images of farther down this page. Anyway, we went to a different theater just a 30 second walk away. We saw "Elizabeth: The Golden Age". It was pretty good. A little slow in some parts and not in agreement with actual history as I found out later (Hollywood version, of course). But the acting, costumes, sets, and story were pretty good as they were. Critics weren't as kind to this one as they were the first, but it's still a pretty good flick on it's own. Anyway, after the movie we walked to the red light district. Most of the girls must've been with family as the majority of windows were dark. The "replacements" were easily not the top talent that one usually sees. I went halfway through that section of town about 3 weeks ago, and was surprised at the high ...."visual quality" I saw. It was an odd feeling for me that first time, I must admit. I didn't feel comfortable looking (I know what you're thinking ..... "big wuss") when I was close to their windows. From across the canal I could see women sitting or standing behind the glass, wearing different lingerie or outfits, getting the attention of passersby in the street. Christmas night we actually saw some guy going into the door adjacent to the window. I guess Santa passed his house by so he was "buying" his present that evening! Anyway, we found a Chinese restaurant that our companions had enjoyed previously, so we went in and hammered down 4 pitchers of tap water and some fine noodles, rice, chicken, etc!! We did a little more walking around after grabbing some desert at a small store and ice cream at a McDonald's. From Dam Square, we bid goodnight and walked back to our apartment, enjoying the 5-10 minute walk. What did seem strange, was on Christmas Day to this morning, most of the streets were void of traffic of any kind!! No cars, no taxis, no bikes, no scooters, no pedestrians, and very few buses and trams. Probably looked like something out of "I Am Legend"!! In closing, going back to the movies, they have a cool program here. You can buy a card for E 18 per month that allows you to see any movie, any time. With each movie ticket costing E 9 or E 10, it pays for itself after 2 shows. We will probably take advantage of that from time to time!! Gotta go.

Busy Week

Hello Everyone...Merry Christmas to all and Happy Festivus for the rest of us!! It's been a week of activity, but I also must admit I wasn't feeling the urge to put a post out. But I'm over it, so here we go. Radhika went running yesterday, trying to do her 20 mile run. She was successfull, and to boot it was 43 degrees. The day before I didn't see it get over 25!! For most of the day the temperature was in the teens!! As a matter-of-fact, I think I have been either converted or brainwashed. Last night, we walked about a mile and a half each way to a south Indian restaurant to have dosa's. I couldn't believe how warm and nice the evening was!! Turns out it was in the low 40's, but they've got my head all screwed up now that I'll probably be complaining about the heat when I return to Orlando on the 1st. It'll be pushing 70 and I'll be boiling!!! Today it turned back to the predominant winter weather pattern...cloudy, no sun, and chilly. It's 39 right now at 3:30pm. Two days ago it was 20 degrees lower!! Forecast calls for it to be about the same for the next 4-5 days. I can deal with that. Just throw us a little sun here and there.

We took the car (Ford Focus) on a little road trip Saturday, putting in half a tank of gas using the company card. It was about 50 euros. That's about $75 for all you currency and exchange rate challenged Gringo's!!!! And that's HALF a tank!!!!! So...quit your sniveling and crying over there about the cost at the pump. It's easy to see why most folks drive vehicles over here that have engines with less power than my MTG push lawn mower! Americans haven't even begun to make the adjustments required to ween ourselves off Middle Eastern oil. Let me not get started on that....back to blog business. So we drive out to Volendam, a small "cheese, wooden shoe, and windmill" tourist trap that's busy in the summer. We went there on a bus packed with other yayhoo's back in June on our first trip over. I figured it would be a safe first trip outside the secured parking lot where the "company" car that is at our disposal is parked. A couple of weekends ago, Radhika made 2 or 3 trips around the parking lot, just to get the feel of the car. After that harrowing, white-knuckle experience, I figured we were ready for the open road. We managed to run over only 4 bicyclists, 7 pedestrians, 2 scooters, and a duck with one foot. The duck shouldn't count as it should've been in the deeper end of the canal. Seriously, Radhika drove the roughly 30 minutes there and did a fine job. We walked around a bit, took some photos, ate the lunch she packed (Helen would be proud), and then I drove us back. It seems like a good enough car, small enough for European roads (we went over this super narrow bridge that I got chewed out for), but large enough to be comfortable for 4 and/or whatever luggage we take to Moscow, Athens, etc. Gotta add GPS navigation unit to "things we gotta buy" on our stay in Orlando next month!
I'm going to cut this off right here. It's almost 4. I'll write a little more later as there's some stories waiting.

Firsts

We have had a string of "firsts" over the past 2 days. First apartment in Amsterdam, first grocery shopping in Amsterdam, and first pick-pocket experience in Amsterdam. Let's get started on the fun, shall we? The apartment is in what is supposed to be a swank, ritzy section of Amsterdam, the Jordaan. If you ask me, it doesn't look too different from most of the rest of Amsterdam. But consider me the uneducated observer. The apartment was 1 of 10 that I saw over the course of 2 weeks. It was the best, in my estimation, of the 2 bedroom varieties that I viewed. It's on the 2nd and 3rd floors (they call ground floor 0 here and the next flight up, 1), so no one's above us. The stairwell on the way up is quite tight. I'm the male version of Olive Oyl (as most know), and I can barely squeeze up. I went to second base with the woman who was showing the apartment, as we tried to pass each other in the stairwell leaving no space what-so-ever between us! We both had a cigarette once I was able to pass by her!! Once you unlock our door, there's another small flight of stairs before you turn into our living room on the right. On the left is the dining area and kitchen, with a door in the back to a small roof garden terrace. Up another flight of stairs takes you to the bedroom floor, where you will find 2 at opposite ends of a hall. The guest bedroom is street side with it's bathroom, and the master is in the back with it's bath and jacuzzi. The furniture is flea market quality, but the appliances in the kitchen are quite modern. Both TV's are that old fashioned tube variety, but I can deal with that until all 63 inches of Big Bertha gets here in a couple of months. Upon day 1 in the place, I had a nifty list of things that needed repair or attention that I'm sure they accepted gracefully via email. A young man came to the apartment today with his sister (I know some of you are thinking "Borat", but no....) to fix the items, but all he ended up doing was taking the broken lamp from the master bedroom and showing me how to get the plate to rotate in the M/W - conventional oven combo. Good thing his sister was with him, because he spoke very little English. Both were Polish (hurrah for half of me!), but luckily she could speak English fluently, along with German and Polish. After unsuccessfully trying to get the DVD/CD/AM-FM radio combo to play music, they left. Yes...everything is a freakin' combo over here! I'm waiting to see the combo wood chipper/ toe nail clipper that must be floating around here somewhere!! Anyway, this part reminded me so much of our beloved country. I had all of these problems to report, and I couldn't get a hold of one person in their office all day yesterday. Yep, once the ink is dry and they have your Euros, they give you the number to the last phone both on the continent. More on the apartment at a later date. On to the 2nd "first"...shopping.
The most popular and prominent grocery is Albert Heijn. Yep.....tiny store, tiny aisles, tiny workers, tiny packages, tiny, tiny, TINY!!! Where in the hell is my Sam's Club 60 dozen crate of eggs??? What's this matchbox sized thing with 2 hummingbird eggs in it??? Where's my 55 gallon drum of ketchup??? Are you kidding me with this??? Ketchup in a roll of toothpaste??? I have NEVER seen a bag of potato chip! No, this "s" is not missing. And seriously, I rubbed up against more females in 5 minutes at that store than I did in all of 10th grade! I may have committed foreplay this afternoon and don't even know it!! Ahhh...but it gets better. A container of OJ was purchased yesterday and when I went to open it I noticed the seal was already broken and the paper seal inside was pushed in. So, I went back to the store today to exchange it. I went to the desk, and a girl was there. I handed her the receipt at the same time explaining what happened. She said no problem and before I could get a word out she crumpled up the receipt and tossed it into this big drum of receipts!!! Radhika would kill me if I didn't get that back as it has to be turned in to the "company" to get our $$$ back. So, I told her I needed it as the paper hit the container. Well, there we stood looking at crumpled pieces of paper. I told her it should be right on top and even on the left side of the container. But Missy was a little overwhelmed and we sorted through close to 50 slips by the time I found it. It was in Dutch of course, which caused me to examine each one like it contained the secrets of the universe. Looking at these foreign (to me) products was a challenge. I was so happy at the sight of some western labels I recognize, I bought a bottle of Pepsi. Okay, so it's Pepsi Max. Do we have that in the US? I have had half a glass and I'm as jittery as George Bush taking a polygraph. When I was viewing apartments, I commented on the (what else?) small size of the fridge, and the woman replied that here, people like to food shop, that they do it every day or every other day as the food is fresher and better, not like in the US where you can buy bigger packages that last longer. I had to tell her, "Baby, bigger is better!" Who enjoys grocery shopping?!?! She said I can have it delivered. If they like food shopping so much, why is there a delivery option?!?! Hmmmm...I smell bogus pie! Anyway, food shopping is going to take some getting used to like most everything else! The final "first" of this post.......
Sitting in Burger King (hell yeah...I needed my fix). I pick a seat near the window so I have something to watch as I ingest my cholesterol. My blood is flowing much slower, so I know I am close to finishing my meal. Three men sit behind me. It's close quarters (surprised?) and there are plenty of open tables around. I just found it a little odd. I must admit to a little profiling (screw political correctness) and didn't feel like these guys needed to be ignored. I don't exactly know what made me do it, but I twisted around in my chair and found the biggest guys hand (of course!) in my leather coat pocket. I instinctively grabbed his arm and pulled it out and he said something like 'what are you doing?' - - some other words - - and then he apologized. I can't honestly recall what I said to him as I acted. I recall sitting back down, and then turning my chair and the chair next to me, as I put my feet up on it and watched them as I finished my lunch. They actually tried talking to me, asking me where I was from, but I just looked at them, only saying they better be careful, the world is a dangerous place as I left. Of course Radhika freaked out a bit that night when I told her, but it's a good lesson. Keep all valuables in a safe place (in my case, the inside pockets of my coat) and be aware. So, all-in-all a happy ending, as I had my passport and wallet with me in those inside, zipped pockets.
Gotta add some pictures to the blog. Stay tuned for more stories as they happen.

Random Ramblings

Hello, all!! The day is winding down here. It's almost 5pm here, and twilight is in full swing. It's dark as night here by 5:30 on a clear day like today. Back during the 2 weeks of overcast cloud cover, it was easily "night" by quarter to 5!! And it doesn't get light in the morning until close to 9am. We're talking short days people. But the upside of that is of course long days in the summer. But that's too far away to think about now.
I made my official... perhaps it would be called my "coming out" party in Amsterdam recently. You know how small hotel rooms are, right? Well, I take a morning shower after I go down to where breakfast is served. I have my clothes laid out on the bed so I can watch "The A-Team" or some other American '80's show as I dry off and get dressed. Well, the towel hits the bed as I look out the window checking the weather. I glance across the street at the "Fit 2 Fit" (Amsterdam's version of Bally's) and there are several young women in the aerobic class at their window waving and applauding. I look at them and wonder "What are they doing?" Yeah, I know I'm pretty slow sometimes. A "ding" goes off in my head (no pun intended), then I grab a pillow to hide the show's "star" and slither behind the curtain. Well they're still enjoying themselves over there, so I step out and take a bow still clutching that pillow! So, I now realize I'm living in closer quarters than I'm used to. Curtains open for light should be done judiciously!! I've been told that people have seen and been seen in several stages of undress. I'm just happy it was a women's aerobic class, and they were waving and clapping and not pointing and laughing!!
Went out on the street today as I usually do. Most of you I believe, would have difficulty navigating a bicycle down these narrow streets let alone your cars. There is so much more to occupy your mind. Cars, bikes, scooters, pedestrians, workers, and spaces are all tighter. Being aware of your environment is key especially when you are new here. You gotta be "Jason Bourne"... knowing how many "moving elements", direction of travel, speed, are they walking (can they stop fast), biking (harder to alter course or stop), on a scooter (you'll get knocked down and scrapped up), or in a car (your ass is a speed bump). Then you have stores you want to check out, wind you have to deal with, pigeons (swine pigeon! - - for those familiar with Inspector Cleuseau), parked bikes in your way...it can be an obstacle course out there! Space is at a premium here, and you come to understand that everywhere. The streets are narrow. Parking is narrow. Most restaurants and many stores are about 5 feet wide and 50 feet long. They have washer-dryer combos and conventional microwave oven combos. No, not two small ones side-by-side. One, that does both. And while I have not used them yet, I think I can get a tube sock in one of their teeny-tiny clothes washers and cook a vienna sausage in the oven. Okay, it's not that bad, but things are on the reduced side here. It's cool. Yet another experience, discovery, adjustment to be had.
Speaking of breakfast earlier....they ask you for your room number and then have you sign something so it will end up on your bill. Well, one morning a man, and I'll use that term loosely, was on duty in the breakfast room, tending to the buffet, tables, and silverware. As soon as I hit the door he asked me for my room number in quite an unusual voice and manner (think Chris Kattan as "Mango" on SNL). A few minutes later as I had both hands full with a plate of food and glass of juice, he cleared an area of food at the pastries and asked me to sign the slip of paper. I asked if he could bring it to the table (as others had done) once I put my food down. I never heard such a big sigh followed by a robust (but squeeky) "Whatever" with Miss Thang attitude!!! There's this guy on Tyra Banks Next Top Model that Radhika watches (and yes I confess to sitting with her on occasion when I have already clipped my toe and fingernails and didn't get involved in anything else fast enough). They call him, I believe, Miss J? That was this dude, only he was white and Dutch. That's another thing you learn quickly over here...service is...different. I mentioned that in a previous post, so I won't rehash (no pun intended...I haven't "hashed" yet, so I can't rehash...oh never mind...this is Vince's territory). We ate at Hard Rock a couple of nights ago, and we were overwhelmed by the server asking us what seemed like every 45 seconds in a high, lilty voice "Is everything okay here???". After 2 weeks of Dutch restaurant service, we had become accustomed to seeing tumbleweeds roll by before we would see a server! I half expect to see skeletons in restaurants sometimes, still sitting at their table waiting to be served (the REAL bony, dry skeletons) or for their check (skeletons with a little meat still left on their bones). Radhika actually saw a hair push it's way through my scalp, turn gray, and fall out at the pizza place down the street between drinks and the meal.
Well, that's it for now. I'll try to remember the bank story, and finish up the apartment story next time.

Let There Be Light!

Well, a little under 2 weeks of thick cloud cover, chilly tempertures, and drizzle to rainy conditions, the sun popped out yesterday morning as did every able bodied creature that could run, walk, crawl, roll, ride, squirm, twitch...well you got it....if it could move it basked in the sunshine. Just as I was wondering how much longer it may take for the weather conditions to induce some depression on my unsuspecting ass, low and behold a reprieve comes along. And unlike the 2 previous weekends where the streets were lightly dusted with the occasional pedestrian, auto, or bicyclist, yesterday the streets were packed like they were going to W's going away party! Restaurants, shoppes, the small skating rinks in the squares, were all a buzz with adults and children enjoying themselves. What positive energy there was being out in the city on a day like yesterday!! You could feel the happiness, see it in the faces and hear it in their voices. We visited a district in Amsterdam that we hadn't before, Leidseplein. That's where a lot of shopping gets done and of course where there are shops there are restaurants. We actually veered from our normal path, trying different cuisines, and came back west eating at the Hard Rock. It was a nice change, but we had to split a burger because it was so huge! It was a good way to end the nicest weather-day we have had since returning! I'll throw up some pictures taken yesterday shortly. Today the sun is in and out, which is better than it has been! I hope to see more of the yellow ball in the sky more often. Radhika ran about 4 hours yesterday morning and said it sprinkled only for a few minutes. She wasn't moaning and groaning too much last night (from sore muscles, for those of you who think like me - VC, AK). I am going to see 4 more apartments at noon (less than an hour) and with those in addition to the one I saw on Friday we'll make our decision and move as quickly as possible. Hotel living has met it's end, we hope. It'll be nice to have a kitchen to make our own food and not rely every day three times a day on restaurants, to eat.