Herzlich Willkommen- Our German Apartment!

Charm. Character. Classic.

Before we first stepped foot off the plane at Ramstein AFB in July, I spent hours looking on the AHRN website (where we go to find "government approved" off-post/base housing) getting an idea of what our future home/town home/condo/apartment/palace/castle may look like. I think it's a "girl thing" to be able to plan and picture what could be or at least what is realistic when moving anywhere new, especially a different country. I knew that even if I fell in love with a home virtually while sitting on my couch back in Virginia, the odds of it being available when we would be here were slim to none, but still it gave me a sense of accomplishment and preparation.

Looking back, we were extremely fortunate to have our ETP (exception to policy) form signed, sealed and delivered within 12 hours of submission. Translation to my fellow civilian friends: we had to submit a form in order to be approved to live off-post and have it signed by higher-powers-that-be. Once we had the form back we were able to start officially house hunting!

I don't know if it was the hours upon hours I spend on AHRN or perhaps my overly-romanticized idea of what a European apartment should look like, but I definitely had three qualities on my "must have" list: charm, character and classic. My rationale was..."Who cares if it has heat? It was built in 1880 and has gorgeous hardwood floors! Oh, 6th floor with no elevator, no problem! It's across the street from a historic cathedral!" You get the idea. Three more words: my poor husband.

In all reality though, our number one goal was to be in walking distance to Richard's office and to downtown. Meet the first time I laid eyes on our future home...

Surprisingly enough it was the second place we looked at out of four. I was in love from the moment we stepped inside, but it took a little more convincing for the hubs. Apparently his list was a tad bit different than mine. Weird. :)

Fast forward six months and we are pretty much settled into our cute & charming abode. Oh and bonus-it really was built in the 1880s and is across the street from a historic church (not so much cathedral), but we do have heat (most of the time at least... another story for another day)!

 Let the tour begin! Allow me to give you a warm welcome or 'herzlich willkommen' beginning with this strange little mat that was left here and we decided to keep...

It looks Veggie Tales-ish to me...

Living Room

We call this "The Nook." It's one of my favorite spots in the apartment.

From this angle, if you go directly right, you'll enter the dining area/office:

The Kitchen... In the US this would hardly be considered a kitchen. Perhaps cubby plus miniature oven/sink/fridge would be more accurate.

Thank you, Ikea, for providing storage and counter space!

You wish you had blue cabinets, I just know it.

Germans are very particular about how you sort your trash. I use black trash bags just in case anyone tries to peek inside.

Close-up of our Ikea table which has seriously been a life savor!

4 usable cabinets, 1 drawer, mini fridge/freezer/oven/microwave & a dish washer (PTL!)

This sink is the death of me. Seriously. Most plates do not fit in here and cutting boards- yea right! It makes me crazy...er

You thought I was being dramatic about the fridge size. Nope!

Master Bedroom

This room is huge and deserves a King bed, until then here's my college bed.

You may be wondering what's that closet/curtain thing back there...

The 'awkward space award' goes to...the strange, random shower! We use it as storage.

Zero closets means govt. issued wardrobes. Minus the Narnia inside :(

Guest Room

You never know how many clothes you have until you don't have closets.

Bathroom 

(Yes, sadly there's only one if you don't count the weirdo shower in our room which we def do not.)

Hall

Every German home shouldn't be without a cuckoo clock!

I hope you enjoyed touring our little charming, character-filled & classic European apartment!

Tschüss!