Mūsu Dzīvoklis – Our apartment
After spending our first month in an AirBnB in the Centrs commercial district of the city, we moved to an apartment in the suburban Juglas neighborhood of Rīga. Old town “Vecrīga” along the Daugava River is about 40 minutes away by city bus.
The apartment is situated on the fourth floor of a Soviet-era building not-so-affectionately known as a Khruschyovka.
This particular structure is five stories and seems to be constructed of pre-cast concrete panels with concrete or plaster interior walls. Each group of apartments are arranged around a common stairwell which opens directly to the exterior of the building. Residents of the group have access to only their particular stairwell via electronic key. There are four apartments per floor for a total of 20 apartments per entrance. This arrangement seems consistent with the modular type construction of so-called “temporary” Soviet housing. Each apartment is outfitted with a small balcony and windows that look onto a small wooded green space. Let’s go in!
Here we are in the stairwell. You can see that some efforts have been made to cheer them up a little. They are equipped with motion sensing lighting and receive regular attention from maintenance and cleaning staff.
Latvians (at least the ones I’ve met so far) try to stay connected to nature, and houseplants “telpaugi” are a common sight in any areas that receive natural light. Not sure who cares for this fella’, but he seems happy.
Here we are at the front door; I left it open for you. Please, go in!
It’s a very small approximately 40 square meters (450 sq ft), but recently renovated, and charming flat. A huge change from our spacious house in North Portland, but accurately summed up as “everything you need and nothing you don’t.”
Here is Christina busy with one of her crafty creations in the living room.
Virtute is not usually this friendly to strangers.
And here’s where the magic happens…
I’m talking about this blog and my guitar playing. Get your mind out of the gutter!
The place could use something on the walls. Any suggestions?
The apartments are apparently temperature controlled by a central boiler that supplies hot water to radiators located strategically around the space. As such, the temperature cannot be controlled separately by each apartment, but the heat supplied thus far has been more than adequate. Since there is no HVAC system or air ducting, we often leave a couple windows cracked to bring in a fresh supply of air and drop the indoor temperature a few degrees.
Hot water also supplies the only luxury item in the place: a towel warmer in the bathroom. It doubles as a heat source and jeans dryer 🙂
Like most apartments in Latvia there is a washing machine in the kitchen (or bathroom) but no dryer or dishwasher. Christina uses her dishwashing time to catch up on podcasts and I do most of the cooking and grocery buying. Rounding out the modern appliances are a convection oven, a glass cooktop and range hood, microwave, and a small refrigerator.
Presumably, the same hot water that supplies the radiators is also used at the sinks and shower since there isn’t a water heater in the apartment like we found in our AirBnB accommodation. Interestingly, we get a bill each month for “heat”, “hot water”, AND “water”. I assume the meter-reader sneaks in each month and looks under the sink (kidding).
Well, I guess that’s the tour.
Čau, for now!
Nice flair Randy in telling the story.
My thoughts for walls would be local art…quilt/ tapestry or Christina could do some pictures.
Really great to see where you guys are spending your days.
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