In which Layla and Roz hunt for a new home in Georgetown

by Layla

With Roz off to work, I got my first taste of being a lady of leisure. I pottered around the hotel, then wandered down Connecticut Avenue to Dupont Circle, where I was to meet a director of global health policy at a think tank. She was lovely, though alas no jobs are available at the moment. But we had a really useful discussion about my options in DC, and some interesting mental health chat. Afterwards, somewhat confused about what to do, I gravitated to a little lunch place and read my book over salad.

I then decided to walk to Georgetown. I had scheduled three house viewings that afternoon, and I wanted to get there early to try to get a bit more of a feel for the area. Walking along M street, I turned left, and after a block, found myself crossing a bridge over the canal. The canal is quite picturesque and has a walking path that apparently extends for almost 200 miles, into Maryland. Nice. I kept walking down the hill for another couple of blocks and found myself under a flyover, and next to a road. My first instinct was 'urgh' but then I looked... to my left was a multiplex cinema! And straight across the road, there was the Potomac River, with lovely views, a boathouse, and a riverside park, here.

After pausing to read my book, I walked a bit more around Georgetown, past pretty shops and cupcake vendors, wondering if I was posh enough to live here, til it was time to view my first property of the day. Which may turn out to be the one we take! It's just off the main street, in a little courtyard, and is a new type building, rather than a traditional row house as we'd hoped. It's all white walls and shiny wooden floors, with the second bedroom being on a mezzanine, and two long, thin balconies overlooking rooftops and the pretty buildings of M street. Very modern, very nice condition. And bicycle parking. But do we want a modern flat? Do we want to live in Georgetown? I progressed to meet the wife of Roz's predecessor, who showed me their house, a nice little rowhouse, though quite dark and in less good condition (and further up the hill). Finally, having met up with Roz, we saw the third house, a bigger rowhouse, in moderately good condition, with likely fussy landlords. And then, flummoxed, we progressed to an Italian restaurant where we wrote down the pros and cons of living in Georgetown, over pizza.

Then we returned to the original flat so that Roz could see it. It still looked good, but we remained unsure. Do we want to live in Georgetown? In a modern flat? We walked back to Dupont (25 minutes), and continued to muse over G&Ts in Kramer Books, then wine and cheese in Veritas before bed...

Georgetown photos here