Find a City (Find Myself a City to Live In)
Well, after a very brief search, I’ve found myself a place to live.
I returned to Nottingham for a second day of exploration and spoke to a few people about potential accommodations. I ended up looking at three different places, in three different areas of the city. It was nice to branch out into the boroughs of the ville.
The first place was in Radford, to the southwest of city centre. This neighbourhood was not the greatest, but it seemed to have most of what I would need. The flat was, I guess, typical. More like a university dorm than an apartment. There are common kitchen, living room and bathrooms and then locked bedrooms. There was an in-house washer/dryer, and there was also a laundry room in a common building, along with a recreation area (pool table, projection television, etc.) Well there were places for them at least. It all seemed to be under renovation. The total price of the place was £50 per week, all inclusive. (Paying by the week is a common thing here) Not bad. I was hoping the next one would override this though. The idea of living in a gated building complex somehow makes me feel less rather than more safe.
The second place turned out to be the one. It’s a Victorian rowhouse in a much nicer part of town with lots of character. There is a fish take out shop next door and all sorts of little shops along the street. It is a quick bus ride, and a fifteen minute walk northwestward to city centre. The room is quite big and furnished and goes for the same price as the previous flat. The three guys that are living there seemed really nice. They were busy playing FIFA on their X-Box. France vs. England, penalty shootout. Jacky, the manager, was most helpful. My foreign accent didn’t seem to deter her from allowing me to move in. In fact, when she found out I was also looking for a job, she gave me a lead, and actually called me back to tell me all the details. I followed up on it the other day. We shall wait and see if anything comes of it.
The third place I looked at was a walk-in walk-out kind of thing. Though the room was huge (with a bay window and window seat) and the price was considerably less, there was a funk to the place that was not desirable, namely stale carpet. This was in the Sherwood area, north of city centre. The street had the same kind of charm, perhaps mixed with a bit of North End of Winnipeg feel, which I’m fine with. But the house was a disappointment after seeing the previous one.
I’m quickly learning my way around central Nottingham. I must say it is growing on me. There is no shortage of places that I want to check out. There are myriad pubs, bars, take out places, and ethnic restaurants, like Indian, Japanese, Thai, and Chinese. Okay so you have to pay £14 if you want a sushi meal, but I’m happy enough that there is at least a place to get one. There are markets here and there, two big universities, and of course a millennium or more of history. And hey, when a place has a Hard Rock Café, it’s gotta be top drawer (said with much sarcasm of course).
So I moved into Notts today. This evening I’ll be settling in. Now I can spend all day trekking around without the two-hour roundtrip commute.
Cheers.
I returned to Nottingham for a second day of exploration and spoke to a few people about potential accommodations. I ended up looking at three different places, in three different areas of the city. It was nice to branch out into the boroughs of the ville.
The first place was in Radford, to the southwest of city centre. This neighbourhood was not the greatest, but it seemed to have most of what I would need. The flat was, I guess, typical. More like a university dorm than an apartment. There are common kitchen, living room and bathrooms and then locked bedrooms. There was an in-house washer/dryer, and there was also a laundry room in a common building, along with a recreation area (pool table, projection television, etc.) Well there were places for them at least. It all seemed to be under renovation. The total price of the place was £50 per week, all inclusive. (Paying by the week is a common thing here) Not bad. I was hoping the next one would override this though. The idea of living in a gated building complex somehow makes me feel less rather than more safe.
The second place turned out to be the one. It’s a Victorian rowhouse in a much nicer part of town with lots of character. There is a fish take out shop next door and all sorts of little shops along the street. It is a quick bus ride, and a fifteen minute walk northwestward to city centre. The room is quite big and furnished and goes for the same price as the previous flat. The three guys that are living there seemed really nice. They were busy playing FIFA on their X-Box. France vs. England, penalty shootout. Jacky, the manager, was most helpful. My foreign accent didn’t seem to deter her from allowing me to move in. In fact, when she found out I was also looking for a job, she gave me a lead, and actually called me back to tell me all the details. I followed up on it the other day. We shall wait and see if anything comes of it.
The third place I looked at was a walk-in walk-out kind of thing. Though the room was huge (with a bay window and window seat) and the price was considerably less, there was a funk to the place that was not desirable, namely stale carpet. This was in the Sherwood area, north of city centre. The street had the same kind of charm, perhaps mixed with a bit of North End of Winnipeg feel, which I’m fine with. But the house was a disappointment after seeing the previous one.
I’m quickly learning my way around central Nottingham. I must say it is growing on me. There is no shortage of places that I want to check out. There are myriad pubs, bars, take out places, and ethnic restaurants, like Indian, Japanese, Thai, and Chinese. Okay so you have to pay £14 if you want a sushi meal, but I’m happy enough that there is at least a place to get one. There are markets here and there, two big universities, and of course a millennium or more of history. And hey, when a place has a Hard Rock Café, it’s gotta be top drawer (said with much sarcasm of course).
So I moved into Notts today. This evening I’ll be settling in. Now I can spend all day trekking around without the two-hour roundtrip commute.
Cheers.
posted by Mark Bauche at 6:34 PM
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