I am currently living in temporary housing at a place called Tubantia, which can best be described as an abandoned hotel. I'm not sure why anyone would build a hotel in this location to begin with - the place is literally surrounded by sheep fields on all sides.
Another view of Tubantia. My room shares the top balcony on the left. I'm hoping that I will be able to move somewhat closer to the lab by the fall since the winds are incredibly strong here and I'm pretty sure that biking between this place and the lab would be miserable in the winter. Yesterday it was quite windy out and it took me about 3 times as long to bike home from the lab as it took to get there in the morning...
My apartment is tiny but has two floors. This is the downstairs. There is a small deck outside of that door.
Another view of the main floor. You might think the brown thing on the left is a closet...
but in fact it is the kitchen...
Cooking in this kitchen is an experience. I definitely won't be making anything complicated here. The sink is so small it can really only fit one medium-sized pot. And there's no dishwasher so I'll actually have to wash my dishes. Yuck.
There is an incredibly steep staircase to the upstairs of the apartment. Actually, I've seen a lot steeper staircases than this one in The Netherlands but it's definitely a lot steeper than any typical staircase in the US. Let's just say it's not the type of thing you could quickly run down... At least this one doesn't require using your hands and climbing it like a ladder - however, you do need to hold on to the railing or the wall. These pictures don't do a real good job of showing how steep it is.
This is the upstairs of the apartment.This is the view of the manure field from my window. Last night the manure field was plowed so I'm hoping that will improve the smell..
I discovered that Texel has more than just sheep - there are also cows! And those tulips I took a picture of yesterday have now been all chopped off.