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' Romeo ' |
To the left is is ' Romeo '. Let me explain the context of our building being named after one of Verona's favourite sons.
As you will undoubtedly have realised, if you are reading this blog, I now live in Krakow, Poland and not in Verona, Northern Italy. Adjacent to ' Romeo ' is......have you guessed......yes, indeed, it is ' Juliet '. Out of site, to the left of this picture ' Juliet ' is the twin building of the development known as Terasy Verona, Kolowa 7, 34-134, Krakow, Poland. Terasy in Polish means ' terraces ' and the wags who built these apartment blocks decided to call one of them ' Romeo ' and the other one ' Juliet ' . Hence, the address is Verona Terraces. There, the Shakespearean analogies end, although we do have a balcony, two actually, but both are substantially bigger than the famous ' Juliet ' balcony in Verona.
Entrance from the road is through a secure locked gate with video screen visitor access linked to our apartment so we can see who wants to be let in. There is a 24 hour manned reception and two lifts service the 12 storey high apartment. The communal areas include a children's play area, a gym with table tennis table, a jacuzzi, a sauna and a 12m swimming pool. These facilities are open from 6am to midnight, Monday to Friday and 8am to midnight Saturday and Sunday. They are closed daily from 11am to 2pm weekdays for cleaning and maintenance. Yes it is a lovely place to live, the only slight downside being the noise from the main road in front of the development. However all things considered, for the rental price, it is exceptional.
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November dawn |
Dawns and sunsets have been pretty spectacular so far due to the unusually warm weather for this time of year and clear skies early in the morning and at dusk. We are a 40 minute walk to the Rynek Glowny ( the main square ) and most days we can see the twin Gothic towers of St. Mary's Basilica and the chapel dome and cathedral tower of Wawel Castle. To the right of our lounge balcony we can see the Tatras mountains and Kosciuszko's Mound ( remember him? ) We are 50 m from a very frequent and efficient bus service to town centre (15 mins plus 10-15 walk) and going in the opposite direction we are 15 mins from the Bronowice Shopping Mall, Ikea, garden centre etc and 35 mins direct to the airport.
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New foliage screening |
One of the main university campuses is 500m up the road towards town, so we are blessed with several smaller supermarkets and shops selling everything one could need. There is a doctors surgery opposite and should one run out of 6.5% beer at midnight there is a garage directly below ' Romeo ' which is open 24 hours a day.
I do have a slight fear of heights so I have put some screening up on the lounge balcony which makes a huge difference. In the Summer I am sure there will be many an evening spent out there when we have some furniture and a bit more greenery around.
Just a few minutes walk from here we stumbled across a small square which had about ten small huts selling various produce. There was a fishmonger, deli, several fruit and veg stalls, cheese and dairy shop, butcher and a Thai street food stall! I visited the fish monger on my own the next day, armed with a sheet of paper listing various types of fish in Polish and a couple of useful phrases. The man who I assumed to be the owner served me and we had a sort of conversation which led to me buying some halibut and herring, both of which were extremely delicious. On my return the following week, he offered me a homemade fishcake which he had just cooked and a herring with a dill cream sauce as a freebie. This was rather lovely but he then insisted on trying to chat with me whilst a queue of about eight people had formed. They didn't seem too impressed about their wait and I sheepishly left aware that I was certainly the topic of the conversation. I have returned on many occasions and the owner always offers me something to try and although I could buy fish much cheaper in a nearby supermarket I will continue to support this very amiable chap. Tonight for the first time I had Perch. It was firm, not unlike Monkfish and I had it simply baked with chilli, ginger and soy ( I am still addicted to chillies )
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November 18th dawn |
This is my first experience of apartment living and I must admit I am enjoying it. It has its own nuances and vagaries which perhaps are more highlighted than living in a house, because of the proximity of the other occupants. On the one hand it is like living in ' splendid isolation ', with several neighbours who you never see except occasionally in the lift ( I still think that one day when the lift door opens I am going to be confronted by Hans Gruber of Nakatomi Plaza fame ) and on the other hand it is like a smorgasbord of intrigue.
I'm sure that guy lives on the 3rd floor but I keep seeing him kiss the woman goodbye when he gets out on the 9th?...... the woman with the big dog seems to be moving furniture in the middle of the night......I can hear the high heels on the landing, the door opens, the alarm is switched off, there is whispered chat, a phone call received, raucous laughter. Ten minutes later the door opens and a 'visitor' is welcomed......intrigue or my over active imagination? Either way it is all rather endearing and I am warming to it. Oh and yes, you can definitely hear the occupants of the apartment above having sex on a Sunday night!!
Good night, good night!
Parting is such sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.
Act 11, scene 11 ( lines 188-89 )
Romeo and Juliet.
William Shakespeare
Keep an eye out for Apartment Life, Part 2, coming soon.
