Searching for house and home, with a sprinkling of hiking on the side

Hello everyone!

Well, it's not yet been a week but we already have much to share. As some of you may know, we are currently residing with friends from the Guelph area living in Freiburg. They have been very gracious and accommodating hosts, still we don't think they'd be overly pleased if we ate all their food for the entire year of our stay.

Searching for an apartment is a difficult task, but in Germany it seems the rules are... different from those in Canada. In many situations apartments will not come with a stove, fridge, or in some cases even a kitchen sink! A deposit worth two months rent is generally required and top that off with several owners asking for a commission simply for choosing you to be their tenant. The commission usually ranges from $1500 to $2500! Those are the landlords who we've decided to have nothing to do with. So, browsing the web has led to several potential apartments which have the basic utilities, don't ask for a commission (Provision) and don't charge ridiculous rates. We were very close to having a lovely 2 bedroom apartment...until we discovered the home was actually 40km from the city, out in the middle of the Black forest. We had a laugh and are continuing our search with many possibilities presenting themselves. 

For those of you who would like to visit us, we'll have plenty of hiking ready for when you arrive. Pictures will be posted soon, but we both agree that the mountain forests are absolutely stunning. We spent a good 6 hours of yesterday hiking through the mountains, getting lost in the fog, but inevitably enjoying the serene beauty. The trees stretched a good 25-30m (80-100 feet) into the sky and there was something breathtakingly haunting about walking the misty alpine trails where Hansel and Gretel, Red Riding Hood and many other fairytale stories took place.

That's all for now, but we'll keep you posted in the coming days, weeks and months.

Manrin