A Tale of Two Homes

Not only am I living in two different cities, I have two very different homes.  Here’s a brief compare and contrast…

Physical Space:
Vilnius – a small apartment on a busy street in the center of town.
Kaunas – a large room and shared bath/kitchen in a house in a quiet neighborhood.

Laundry Luxury:
Vilnius – I have a washer and a DRYER, something that is unusual in Lithuanian apartments (as you can read about here).
Kaunas – the washing machine I saw when I first looked at the room for rent doesn’t work; my landlady uses a laundry service and now so do I.

Communicating with the Outside World:
Vilnius – high-speed internet but a cell phone dead zone (unless I stand right at the kitchen window).
Kaunas – excruciatingly slow internet (so no watching movies online) but at least I have cell coverage.

Communicating with My Landlady:
Vilnius – my landlady is British so I have to speak British English (for example, “flat” instead of “apartment.”
Kaunas – my landlady is Lithuanian and only speaks a bit of English so I have to speak Lithuanian.

Similarity – fortunately, each one is about 15 minutes by trolley and short walk from the train station.

And thanks to the economic crisis and dropping rents, I am paying less for two homes than I did last year for one apartment in Vilnius.