Our flat is part of a U-shaped block of flats. In Poland, this word, block, is not a measurement. It describes the type of building. The one we live in has 7 levels. The ground level is usually occupied by small offices like a doctor's office, a Beauty Salon, or even a Zaka(7-11 type store. So, what you call the first floor in the United States, here it is the 0 floor. Our flat is in the U portion of the building.
Therefore, when I sit on our balcony, to the left and to the right I see the extended wings of the building.
However, looking straight ahead on the balcony, I have a nice view of three large trees, grass on the ground, and in the third half on the right, there is another building blocking the rest of the view. This is kind of my refuge place during a normal day when I need a 5-minute break, and Joan is sitting in her chair or lying in bed asleep. For us, it is a very good location because it is only a 10-minute drive to visit Radek or other friends we have. It takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes to get to the town of Golina. We have underground parking, so that makes it easy for me to get Joan in and out of our car to the elevator.
It's a two-bedroom flat, although one bedroom is used as my computer room, but it does have a couch in it that I utilize to sleep when Joan is making too much noise at night. It's not very often that it happens, but the second bedroom does come in handy.
Like the previous apartment we lived in for 14 years, this flat has windows on the north and south sides, so we do have the advantage of a crosswind when the temperatures go above 80 Fahrenheit. On those days, I close the windows facing south and close the drapes to keep out the sun. The north windows are always open.
Another advantage is that we have a major food store only two blocks away from our flat.
