Falling in love...

Yesterday, I fell in love with an apartment. After seeing a bunch of duds the day before, Jake and I were beginning to despair of finding a place that had at least a few of our hopes- a view, a terrace for the BGE (big green egg grill), a parking space, good location, some sort of charm etc. A realtor called Jake at work to tell us that a lady had just lowered the price on an apartment in a great location. The owner's niece picked us up and drove us through narrow, twisty streets up and up a steep hill. Before going upstairs to see the apartment the niece took us in to meet her aunt, a 89 year old Italian woman who spoke very little english. We entered into a beautiful room with antique furniture, intricate wallpaper, lace, china, silver, paintings. We were invited to come back down and have coffee after going upstairs. We climbed up a few narrow carpeted stairs...It was beautiful. Tall ceilings, wood floors, etchings in the glass door panes, bits of stained glass, wood carvings around the door frames. I actually started tearing up! Outside, there was a huge terrace with a view of the water. The building dates from 1800. Back downstairs, we were served coffee in beautiful china espresso cups with tiny silver spoons and embroidered tea napkins. I was in heaven. The pictures don't do it justice but here they are. We meet with the housing office today to hopefully begin working on the contract. Keep your fingers crossed for us!