And We Chose............

Apartment #2 on Via Giuditta Sidoli!!!

(Congratulations Sara, you're the only one that guessed correctly!)

So, there's a couple of reasons why we decided on this apartment, but first I'll go through the other two and explain why they were cut.

For House #3, the cool one next to the castello, the location was absolutely the best-right in the middle of the city and close to the more international neighborhoods. While the apartment itself was nice, the bathroom was the huge issue. The way it's set up, the shower is part of the bathroom meaning we would literally have to mop up our bathroom after every shower. I don't know how many of you know this about my loving husband, but he takes a lot of showers and I have never seen him with a mop, so that one was out!

For House #1, the big one with the big kitchen, there were actually several reasons we passed. I do think the main reason was in fact the neighborhood itself. While located in a good location, there is a LOT of construction going on, particularly right out in front with a new metro line being built. Actually, there is no street currently right out front, just dirt. Then there was the apartment itself. While big, it was at this moment in our lives too big for us- our agent was shocked by this and said we were the first Americans he's shown property to that didn't prefer bigger. (Already knew we weren't the typical Americans!) This property would be great in a couple of years once shops and restaurants open, but for now we needed an already built in neighborhood.

So House #2 is our winner! It's on the top floor (penthouse baby!) in a nicely kept up building, and the great view I was talking about is actually of downtown, including the Duomo (and on the few clear days Milano sees the alps also)!!! It has hardwood floors throughout, big living area, tons of natural light, a WALK-IN Closet (!!!) and a tub/shower. No more doing acrobats in the shower just to shave my legs! (Sorry if that was TMI, but it's true. Those of you that have vacationed over here know the tiny showers.) We also met the land lady and she seemed really nice and doesn't mind if we put our own mark on the place, such as paint. Yes, the kitchen is tiny, but it's got everything we need in there. The only real downside to this apartment was the 10-15min walk to the metro, but we decided the apartment itself and the neighborhood it's in outweighed that. We're also about 10-25min from anywhere else in the city, which is nice! We get the keys a week from today, the I'll start posting more pictures!

If you go to Google Maps and type in Via Giuditta Sidoli 22, Milano, Italia and continue to click to zoom in until you get to street view, then you can actually see our building and the neighborhood! Our units the top right side of the building!