The accommodation hunt!

So, I arrived on Wednesday at about 7pm local time. I phoned some of the numbers I had written down of potential rooms to rent. At 8.30pm I went to view one! From the outside it didn't look like much, but then it was dark. On the inside however, it was much bigger than I expected. Nice and clean too. The woman who lived there seemed really lovely and chatty, and I surprised myself with just how much Italian I can actually speak! So, had a wee look around and told her I'd give her a call the next day. On the Thursday afternoon I had an appointment to see another flat, which in the photo's looked unbelievable. The area looked really nice too - I was ready to slap the deposit down before even seeing inside the flat! That soon changed however, when the first thing I noticed was the smell of cigarettes and cat as soon as the door opened. Cigs and cats, my two least favourite things! That combined with the little dish of tuna sitting in the middle of the livingroom put me right off. The flat was indeed lovely, and the woman seemed nice too, but I just couldn't have coped for 8-9 months with the smell! Anyways, I went back to the first flat that evening to further reinforce my interest, and it worked! Later that evening I got a call saying the room was mine! Very pleased indeed :-) I had been in Bologna just 24 hours and was no longer homeless. I hear some people who are looking for accommodation saying they're 'not sure' about a place, that it has to be somewhere they love instantly. For me it's not about that. I just think 'can I live here for 8 months?' So, in the hunt for accommodation, take my advice: always view a place before making any commitment, always make sure the landlord/other flatmates are aware just how interested and enthusiastic you are about renting their place, and don't be too picky, especially in a city environment!

Five Days and Counting...

So, only five days to go before I fly off to distant lands, i.e. Bologna. Feeling good, looking forward to it. Had accommodation worries but now I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll find a place soon after I arrive. I have a few places lined up to see in the first couple of days so hopefully one of them will bear fruit! Have started packing already. I had it on good advice that I should bring my moving date forward in my mind to prevent last minute panic/rush. So I'm now telling myself I leave on Sunday instead of Wednesday. It's difficult trying to decide what to take and what to leave. How am I meant to know what I'm going to be needing for the next year?! So, I've decided to keep it simple. Light packing. Only the essentials. Except for socks, you can never have too many socks.