First Days in a New World

We made it!

Arrival into Brno, our apartment, and exploring our new home

We made it into our apartment at 9:30pm on October 19th. Our real estate agent met us in front of our apartment and we walked up the three flights of stairs to our new home. Using an agent for apartment leasing was new to us, but we're glad we had her help guiding us, I wonder if the U.S. will ever consider incorporating this as an option?

We walked into our apartment and instantly felt relief, happiness, and exhaustion. (Michael was extra exhausted as he hauled most of the boxes and luggage up the stairs). We met our landlord, Pavel, who walked us through the last of the paperwork to sign, helped us get some quick info on our apartment so we could sleep easy for the night and find the basic necessities. Our apartment came furnished, but he had also left a few extras like kitchen utensils, towels, and bedding since we were traveling such a long distance. If you haven't caught the theme - Pavel is incredible! Meeting us at 9:30pm in order for us to instantly move in and not have to stay in a hotel for the night, leaving us some extra supplies, and doing it all with a smile on his face and some kind words. We are so lucky! I'm not sure I've ever heard a friend, or ourselves, say we were so happy with any landlords we had in the U.S.

After the quick walk-through and some pleasantries, we said goodbye to Pavel and Lucie, our agent, and finally were left with a moment of quiet with our pets. We let the kitties out of their carriers and took a moment to just breathe. The photo at the top of this post is the first photo we captured in our new place. We have huge bags under our eyes, but the smiles on our faces are genuine.

We ran around the apartment getting some basics unpacked for ourselves and the pets then went to bed.

Our First Morning

The view from our indoor winter garden is truly insane. After waking up, showering and dressing, we made ourselves some coffee and just sat enjoying the sunshine. Not only could we not believe we finally got here, but we also couldn't believe the apartment we were able to secure. The square footage is a huge upgrade from the home we had left in Montana and the neighborhood is more than we could have hoped for - quiet and tranquil, next to a park, and within walking distance of historic downtown and all of our shopping needs.

We did not leave the apartment much on the first day. We took Po to the park and for some walks, but primarily focused on unpacking.

Also the pets slept...a lot.

In the evening our real estate agent, Lucie, picked us up and we went grocery shopping with her and her boyfriend. Again, how generous are all of these people?! Brno has that small town Missoula feel, but the population density that I have been seeking for a long time (about 400,000).

The Remainder of the Week

While we would have loved to spend our first week running around to all the best museums, shops, restaurants, and getting our groceries - COVID had other plans for us. We visited outdoor statues, went to IKEA for some additional kitchen supplies, and did a lot of walking to begin acclimating ourselves to our surroundings. It still felt like paradise accomplishing these errands, but it doesn't make for as many dramatic photos as a museum or other cultural center would have. Instead, we have the photos below: