time for a move??

We've been in the same apartment for 4 years now and I am so sick of it. I love it in many ways, but coming back from Europe to house that smells of mold was not fun. we have little hope that our landlords would actually do anything to fix this place up and so we've been on the hunt again for a new apartment. I actually was looking before my trip as well, but not much had come up.

Then my broker told me about this new building down the street from where we are now. It is still under construction, i can see it from our window. usually one of my rules is that we won't move into a building under construction because it goes on forever and ever in Mumbai. No project ever finishes when they say it will. But with the absolute lack of options this is the only one that feels like it could be home.

It actually looks remarkably similar to a friend's past apartment. It's a 3 bedroom, but the bedrooms are quite small. the positive.. the showers are amazing. like real proper showers, with fancy showerheads and full body massagers!

my old 'criteria' was: bathtub and balconies.
now my new criteria: separate shower area, balcony (safe for cats), and big enough bed/living room to fit our furniture!

the bed just fits in this bedroom. the living room is a good size and would allow paul the ability to get his flat screen tv and surround sound he's been wanting. but i'm super indecisive. i've seen the place like 10 times already, measured everything from here and there and still can't feel 100%. maybe it's just the thought of change... but how much change would it be - its in the same neighborhood, it's a high floor, has balconies, still has a tiny sea view and would give us space to grow....

its now in the hands of folo's work, so we'll see if the owners accept an offer or not. either way we need to move soon since our trip to the US/Ireland has been moved up a few weeks!

journey home - welcome to mold land

We arrived in Berlin easily from Riga. But one thing that is weird is that when the plane landed in Berlin, the whole plane started clapping. I really don't understand this! It also happened when we landed in Russia. Do people not have much faith in these budget airlines or are they showing respect for the pilot? Either way, it totally was odd to me and Granny!

After arrival, we hopped on the train making a quick stop to return some tights I bought before Russia. Then back on the same train for another 15 stops to get out to pouring rain! urgh! we didn't know it was going to rain! But luckily we met a nice German lady on the train who told us exactly where our Holiday Inn was located and that it wasn't far away at all. She ran for the bu to go two stops, but Granny and I braved the rain and walked the 200 meters to the hotel. It actually wasn't that bad. Our bags were a little wet, but we managed to stay dry!
It was already late in the day, so basically we just settled into the room and headed down for an early dinner. There was only one option and luckily it was a fantastic (if not overpriced) restaurant. Granny went for the typical German fare - some type of pork or something with turnips while I went for the gorganzola soaked lasange. We were stuffed and ready to pack!

I spent the next hour or so packing Granny's bag and then my own and off to bed we went. We were scheduled to leave the hotel at 4:30 a.m., so not much time for anything other than a little snooze!

It was a bit hectic at the airport - we were there super early, but for some reason it took me an hour and a half to check while it only took Granny 30 minutes. She was feeling stressed to go through security, but I told her that once she went through we'd not see each other again. She didn't believe me, so we just said a quick goodbye. Turned out that was the goodbye. I was feeling all sad about it, but I think it was probably for the best otherwise we probably would have cried!

Empty flights home which was nice. I was welcomed at the airport by Paul and muggy weather. But sort of felt good to be 'home'. But today I am not a happy camper. I saw online that my air miles were not credited to my account - after an hour of phone calls it seems that it cannot be credited since I bought my flight through airfrance rather than delta directly. so annoying. I have never had this problem before and feel really annoyed that i virtually have to beg for my milage. I have all my boarding passes, but of course Paul doesnt...so not sure how that is going to go down. But I am sick of dealing with it right now.

And to make my mood worse... i just saw that our Bollywood posters that are opposite the couch are growing mold in the glass!! None of our other ones have ever done this, but this one wall leaks water and apparently that is what is causing it. It is really upsetting as these are limited bollywood posters that we had framed ages ago and I love them! I will have to take them to the framer and see if he can do anything. But I've avoided taking anything to him during monsoon since his workshop is virtually outdoors and I'm sure he can't protect them from the humidity. GRRR. And my closets are all moldy and stink. Fun. Why oh why do I like living in this country?!

Riga - day 2/3

Day two at Sylvia's started off much better with a good night's sleep. We both slept well and were up and ready to go earlier. Sylvia was worried about Charlotte, afraid she might be sick, so she thought it was best if we ventured on our own for the day. Riga is a small city, so it would be fine. But Sylvia still ended up walking us to the Old Town through a couple of beautiful parks. It was really nice - not sunny, but not cold and just felt nice to be out walking on nice paths with tons of greenery around.

After getting us to the Old town and showing us a good place for lunch and the tourist office, Sylvia was off to her house for some much needed rest awaiting the doctor's appointment. Granny and I just pottered around on the tourist walk, seeing the Blackheads building, a cathedral and little squares and tons of cobblestone roads. Our friend from the tour, Amit messaged saying he was nearby, so I dropped Granny off at the lunch spot and headed to the top of the cathedral with Amit and his friends of Latvian decent. It was just a short visit, but was good to see him again and to chat with his friends. We got some good arial shots of Riga and then they headed off to the bus station and I went back to the lunch spot. Granny was full and happy after another traditional Latvian lunch. I had a few things, but the veg options were limited, so I couldn't go all out. I think I spent 1 dollar! hah.

We then continued on our tourist path, stopping at shops along the way chatting with shop keepers. So far the people here seem much nicer and more open than in Russia. And there seems to be a decent level of English spoken which really helps things progress. We saw the very cool Kaku Haus (Cat House) which I just loved and then on route, we saw an adorable kitten. They really seem to love their cats here and in Russia - what a change to India!We enjoyed our little stroll down the cobble stone pathways taking photos and just enjoying the smallness of this cute little town. To end our tour we paid a visit to the Occupation Museum. It was really interesting to see how Latvia was passed back and forth during WWII (russians first invaded, then germany, then the western powers basically handed Latvia back to Russia at the end). It was pretty deep, but really gave us a better sense of what the people had suffered and helped us understand how there are still a lot of tensions between Latvians and Russian-Latvians. Latvia is part of the EU and will soon be getting the Euro as well. This seems to make the people there very happy, but I am not sure that Russia really likes Latvia's closeness with the West. I just hope that whatever happens in the future that Latvia is able to stay unoccuppied and free.

After that deep and moving museum, we needed to lighten our minds..what better way than shopping! One of the shopkeepers had told us where to buy silver rings, so we headed there and loaded up on stuff. Then we went to Swarvoski to get a fancy ring for Granny's birthday present. I hope it fits once she is back in the US - it's hard to tell when/if your fingers are swollen!

We were running a bit late, but managed to walk to our dinner spot to meet up with Sylvia, Charlotte and Tom. Had a nice Italian meal...that they of course wouldn't let us pay for, even though we felt we owed them for their wonderful hospitality.

Another early night.. but thats ok. we needed the down time, since we had many late nights and long days in Russia!!

Today was just for packing, saying goodbyes and boarding our flight for Berlin. I was so sad to say goodbye to Sylvia and Charlotte. When she left India I knew I'd probably see her this summer, so I didn't feel so sad. But now I don't know when we will meet again. But I guess we always have facebook :) And I am so glad that we did have a stop over in Riga. It really was a wonderful way to end our trip. It also gave us a good perspective on the Baltic post communism.

At the airport we ran our little errands (tax free stuff) and then found ourselves with 40 dollars still and the exchange office closed! So what to do...but shop! Hah. I got some Kenzo bath gel that I love and some other little trinkets before heading out of Latvia with only a few coins to my name.

Riga - day 1

We arrived to Riga on the overnight train. Unfortunately again we didn't get much sleep - this time the train was freezing cold, which I could deal with fine, but we also had a 'roommate' who was a serious chatty cathy or prima dona as Granny calls her! She only spoke Russian (well and Dutch and some other random languages - none of which were English!) She just yammered on to us about who knows what. Something about her being a famous singer - which she demonstrated for us by belting out some tunes and her mother being a famous pianist. She then told us how Latvians are skinny and Americans are fat and that Americans are crazy, etc etc. All of this with sign language mind you - but what she said was perfectly clear! Then she went on and on about how Riga is horrible and Tallinn is much better. She just kept doing this throat slicing thing which was creepy. She was 85 mind you and travelling on her own to Latvia where she lives but apparently hates. Poor thing. But by 5 a.m. with her incessent talking I was about to slice her throat myself!

We got to Riga we all loaded off the train. Our fellow travel partner Amit (who was on tour with us) was also on the train but in the upper class compartment while we were in second class! The three of us headed out to find a taxi. Of course no one would take us b/c both places were 'too close'. Very annoying after a 15 hr train journey! But we did manage to find someone...still it was close to the price quoted by the other taxi's anyhow. whatever. But I have to say that Amit was a very good gentleman. He always carried Granny's bags when he was with us and even made her bed on our previous train journey. He was really sweet and it was too bad that him and Granny didn't get to say proper goodbyes!

Finally made it to Sylvia's and it was so good to see her and Charlotte! Sylvia's apartment was adorable and our room was like a 5 star hotel! She had roses by the bed, bottled water, glasses and 3 guidebooks for our use! And.. the best part - the floor of the bathroom was heated! What a special treat. Specially after being so cold all night long on the train. Granny took a nice long hot shower to warm her bones back up while Sylvia set out breakfast for us. It was seriously a wonderful feeling being there and being treated so well.

After getting ready, we went out for a little walk in the neighborhood, which also is the famous Art Nouveau district. It was a beautiful sunny day and we took advantage of it by doing the whole circuit. The buildings were really beautiful and amazing. it is crazy to think that much of riga was in shambles only 5 years ago. It has only been since 1991 that they were given their independence from Russia. I don't see as much of the communist mindset in Riga as we felt in Russia, but it is still there.

On our little tour, Sylvia took us to a little Latvian cafe type place that served traditional food. Luckily I have started eating fish, otherwise I am not sure I would have been able to eat anything there besides cold beetroot soup! But shockingly I ate my entire plate of food! I'm usually an insanely picky eater and will survive on snickers rather than eat stuff I don't like, but I was able to eat everywhere we went on this trip and I was really proud of myself for that!

After lunch we continued our stroll, enjoyed Sylvia's company and tried not to let our tiredness get in the way. I had a horrible headache by 6 and layed down for a nap and Granny was ready for bed by 8! Fun gals we are!! But I think we needed a mellow night to refresh ourselves after the tour and the train journey.