After running about to and fro, dodging caimans and sleeping in hammocks, we’re delighted to settle for a bit in this fantastic flat in Kralendijk, Bonaire. [We will soon tell you where in the world that is – but here’s a teaser!] We think this one is the splendidest places we’ve had so far, and not only for the view.
We are in a multi-building condo, right near the airport (very little traffic), overlooking a canal (the Dutch are soooo good at canals!). And there’s a pool about thirty steps from our front door. We chose a water view over being closer to the centre of town. (Here’s hoping that was the right choice!)
Kitchen and Bath
The bathroom has no door. Which is ok with us: we don’t plan to have a lot of guests (tho’ we will have some: stay tuned for how that works out). The shower is big with good pressure and temperature and we really dig the stone walls (which also provide the flooring material throughout the flat).
Everything in the galley kitchen looks brand new, with a huge fridge (huge outside of North America, that is), an induction range, and a microwave oven that is also a convection oven. We are keen to try that out, as we’ve never even heard of such a thing before. There is a lot of glassware – lots of plates and about thirty drinking glasses of slightly different sizes. Plus a teapot (hooray!) and – blessed be! – even a pitcher, so that we can have our tea iced as well as hot.
Living Room
The sitting room is huge, with an amazing view of the water and an outside porch with a big table. The light is fantastic and it is very airy throughout. Plus the furniture is really cool: not quite beachy, but beachy plus fancy. (Take another look at the bathroom mirror above, or the bedroom chandelier below, and you’ll see what we mean.) We expect we’ll be doing our eating outside, as the kitchen table is quite small, and tucked under the stairs.
Speaking of stairs: we did see this in the pictures and it’s what sold us on the place: there is also a a-frame loft, with a bed and a little work area. Should we ever want a bit of separation from each other, we can be on two different floors. Access to this loft is the tiniest bit precarious, via wooden stairs with a railing. So far so good, although when our hands are full (glass of iced tea + computer) we hug the wall. And all of that height, we suspect, means we will be using the ceiling fan up there a lot.
And get a closer look at that rug: we have much more to say about flamingoes and Bonaire, but here’s a preview!
Sleeping
The bedroom is spacious, with great light too, and it looks out onto the front porch (which we share with neighbours). There are huge closets we can’t even begin to fill. There’s a washer and a pretty good drying rack. Plus, a sleigh bed!
So far we are delighted by our new home. Our first impression, at least, is that maybe we should stay in Bonaire forever…
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Ricordo che Laurel aveva sempre un ottimo aspetto quando si collegava. Sfido io: clima perfetto e casa da rivista! Un po’ vi invidio … 🙂 Buon proseguimento!