(From Rob) Lest You Think...

...that life in Europe is like being in some kind of themepark/resort, let me explain a few things that Mary Ann knows all too intimately about family life in the old country. There is no clothes dryer, so I have to plan ahead and hang everything on a rack by a window and give it 10-12 hours to dry. The kids wear the same Kinder-Uni t-shirt every day, and (due to my children's slovenliness) that means a daily wash/dry routine.


Here is our washer and our shower. The washer is wee, and takes 2 hours to do a load. But it works well!



I only have to worry about breakfast and lunch, but that basically means shopping every day. I have to remember to have my own bags ready, to have a 1-Euro piece for the deposit on the shopping cart, and I can only buy what I can carry on my person for 3-4 blocks.

That having been said, we love the food here. So far the apartment has been mostly clean-ish, every meal has included fresh fruits and veggies, and no one recoils from my children in horror because of their hair and clothes. As a working temporarily-single Dad, I can't expect much more.

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