Of all the questions we've gotten from friends#1 is, of course: "How's your Italian coming along?", but a close #2 is "What's your apartment like?"
Well in short...we love it! We started our search just like they do on an episode of House Hunters International (HHI)...you know, they always start with a pretty reasonable wish list:
> 2 or 3 bedrooms (at least one extra bedroom for all of you reading this!)
> 2 bathrooms
> Location convenient to the school
Then of course we added in all sorts of unrealistic expectations/contradictions:
> "Located in the center of town, in a vibrant neighborhood, but quiet at night"
> "Within walking distance of shops and cafés, but with a secure parking space"
> "In a building with lots of Italian charm, but with all the modern amenities"
> "In the safe, high-end part of town, but for a reasonable (read: low) rent"
Normally I scoff at the HHI nimrods who ask for all of this stuff, but as luck would have it, we were able to get almost all of the above! Turns out another teacher here is building a house nearby in Chieri and was preparing to move out of this wonderful apartment; so he turned it over to us almost as soon as we arrived.
My colleague Rodrigo has a great relationship with the landlord Dario, whom we have befriended and who has been so great to work with (we had been warned that renting an apartment in Italy could be tricky - needing to pay significant deposits, potential hidden fees, paperwork hassles) - so we really lucked out!
Haven't figured out exactly how old the building is...Dario just said "quindici," so it's either from the 1500's or the 15th century; either way, molto vecchio! It's all plaster, vaulted ceilings, tiled floors, semi-creaky doors, and a terrazza overlooking a courtyard/parking area. Lots of charm; even a busker musician by our front door during aperitivo time tonight (video).
So here we are - check out the photos!
Views: looking south by day and by night; looking west
Kitchen (kinda modern), terrace, master bedroom, dining room table (Rodrigo left behind)
Living room, bathroom (including bidet!), bathroom, sneak peek across the courtyard