The Third Woman: V-46: A new life needs a new flat....

So obviously the most important thing for us to sort out was a new flat. Last week we headed out to Vienna to flat hunt, with a fair amount of trepidation. I'm not the sort of person who can chance things this big, so for me finding somewhere while we were there was quite important.

Having spent literally months pouring over Viennese real estate websites, obsessively checking prices and options, The Beard and I finally narrowed it down to 15 and set about trying to arrange appointments. Which I have to say was harder than I expected. Or than The Beard expected, as it was him that did the majority of the organising. Given that real estate agents work on commission, I'd kinda expected them to be a bit more willing to book appointments, but a good few didn't even bother to reply to emails or messages. Somewhat disappointing really.

The week didn't start that well, owing to our first viewing being cancelled that morning. Thankfully fortune favours the brave, or something like that, and a quick check of the listings page revealed that there was another, larger flat available in the same building we were going to for our next viewing. The real estate agent was only too happy to show us that one as well, and as it turned out, they were next door to each other!

So we went to see the smaller one first, which was ok, but not fantastic. Then we went next door and WOW. It was perfect. Light, airy, plenty of space, built in wardrobes, lovely kitchen. View of the Riesenrad at Prater. Parquet floors. A yellow bathroom. A cellar! Best of all, the price is good.

We both loved it - it felt right. But the sensible parts of us figured we should probably go and look at some other places in other districts, just to be sure. So we did, and to be honest, they weren't a patch on the flat we saw on Wednesday. We decided that we should just take it, because we kept coming back to "it's not as good as the place on Wednesday".

So we took it. We will be living in the 2nd district, near the Canal, Prater and the 1st district. We have 2 U bahn stations within 5 minutes walk of the flat, a tram outside the door. We're on the top floor, with a good view. Prater is 5 minutes walk out the back. The flat itself is 74m2, and most importantly has a gas cooker and a full size dishwasher! The furry monster aka Suki-puss will be welcome too.