Sokolská Flat

For those of you who have waited patiently, here are the pictures of my flat. It is on Sokolská street in Brno's Veveří (Vuh-ver-Zhee) district, about a 10-minute walk to the city center. It is around the corner from the botanical gardens and a police station. My building is the one in the middle. It was renovated a few years ago and my flat was built on top. My flat is a 3+KK which means it has a living room, two bedrooms and a kitchen. It is 80 m² which is just over 861 sq. feet and that is huge over here.

When you walk in to the building you find the mailboxes on the left. Very tiny. I'm told that you have to go to a post office to pick up packages. Subtle, huh?




Straight ahead is the elevator. Just open the door and get in. When the door closes behind you then push a button. The elevator goes up to the 4th floor (a U.S. 5th floor) and then you just walk up one flight of stairs.

Here's the front door and now let the tour begin...

When you walk in there are wardrobes on the left and right. Straight ahead is the kitchen. On the right is a hallway leading to the toilet and the bathroom.


So going down the right hallway we come to the WC (water closet). Of the flats I saw with a separate toilet, ½ had a sink and ½ didn't.

After that we have the bathroom. It has an electric skylight, sink, groovy heated towel bar, and my shower! Love the shower!!

It also has a combo washing machine/dryer. Dryers are very rare over here. Everyone just hangs clothes up to dry. The loads are small and take a really long, long time. But I don't have to schlep clothes, on a tram, to a laudromat any more.

Straight ahead from the entry way is my dining table. The kitchen is to the right and the living room is to the left. The kitchen is big for Europe. It has both an electric and a manual skylight. Here's the microwave I bought at Tesco this week.

The electric kettle is neat. Hot water in less than a minute. I've got a cooker (stovetop), an oven, and a dishwasher. Dishwashers are not too common over here.

I have a fridge and a freezer. The freezer has one big drawer on top and a small drawer below.

Now on to the living room. That isn't a phone on the wall. That's the buzzer for the main building door.

I've got a sectional couch and a TV. I only have basic service but pick up stations in Czech, Slovak, German, French and two English-language news channels.

The white sofa folds down to a double bed.

The flat is a duplex. There are just two rooms upstairs.

Here's my study/guest room. There is a skylight in here too. The single bed is a box with a padded top to sleep on. It lifts up to store your bedding.

My room has a double bed. But Czechs put in two single mattresses. Go figure. There are two skylights and a walk-in closet. This was the only flat I saw that had a walk-in closet.

From the balcony, looking down, is a common garden shared by the building.

My cheap, little camera can not do justice to the view from the balcony. I've got clear views of Petrov (the Cathedral of St. Paul and St. Peter) and the Špilberk Castle. It is amazing at night when they are lit up.

So there you have it.

Who is going to be the first guest from the U.S. to visit?