A bit of background. As my last post indicated, I have lived most of my life in the north of England where houses and not apartments are the rule and especially not high-rise apartments. I think I had some false preconceptions about living in a flat. That they would be noisy, that the walls would be really thin, that they would be difficult to heat, that the shared areas would be run down and messy. Having lived in many apartments on my journey so far, whilst I have experienced all of these issues at some time – most of my encounters with apartments have been positive and some have been the best living experiences I have had.
The high-rise affair started quite early on in the journey. After coming back from the UK and following the first Irish leg – I set off for Brussels and knew I wanted to be in Ixelles – the area where the most famous Belgian of them all, Audrey Hepburn was brought up. I was also taken in by the views on the Airbnb website (something I’m often hooked by) and so found myself in a 5th floor flat. It didn’t start off too well. I arrived hot and sweaty at the start of what was to be one of the hottest Junes on record, (in 2019), to find the small lift out of order. I decided to leave my large case downstairs and walk up to the flat. Then after about 30 minutes I thought it was too risky to leave my things there any longer, so went down. Opened the case … took about half the things out. Walked up with them and then went down for the case and the other half of the contents. It was there that I met the lift repair man. Within 20 minutes the lift was good to go and had I just waited an hour I could have saved myself a climb up the equivalent of 15 storeys! I didn’t let this put me off, (although I did learn that living opposite a take-away food place, that does deliveries on noisy scooters at up to 12.30 am, is not a good choice – especially in hot weather, when you really need the windows open.)
My second “hi-rise” happened a few weeks later when I moved onto Liege and was on the 5th floor in a flat over-looking the River Meuse. This was when I knew I needn’t fear apartments again. The flat overlooked both a dual carriageway (four lane highway) as well as the river but was so well insulated that I heard no traffic noise, and I had the pleasure of watching the boats, barges and pleasure craft whenever I felt the need. It didn’t have a balcony at the front but one at the rear which made me realise that just being higher up gives you a different perspective on life. I was able to watch the comings and goings in a college café area. People watching from 50 feet up!
For me, there are no real disadvantages from being higher up. Heat rises – so in the winter it makes places cosier but of course the drawback in the summer is that the place can get too hot. Noise doesn’t travel so well – so it’s generally quieter – but it doesn’t exclude it; of course if you can get onto the top floor – it does mean that there is no-one above you to make noise (a big problem when you are below someone else’s living quarters in a shared house without insulation.)
And then there is the view. To be honest, I don’t think my view at Liege has ever been beaten, but I have had some lovely views in Zaragoza and here in Zagreb. I have also enjoyed the quiet outside feel of Chataney – Malabry near Paris. In fact I am quite disappointed when I have a high up view without a balcony, as was the case in Totley, Edinburgh and Zaragoza (to name a few.) It feels like the chance of outside space has been lost and an indoor balcony (such as the one I had in Ljubljana) doesn’t quite cut it.
I also have my lift stories to tell. Perhaps the best one was the one in Bilbao, Spain – see here. But there have been others. In Zaragoza, the lift is also used by the manager of the apartment block who went around every evening with a wheelie bin taking up everyone’s rubbish. Sadly this often co-coincided with me going out for the evening and getting in the lift after the wheelie bin had circulated all 17 floors is not something my nose is going to forget in a hurry. In Ljubljana – I got out of the lift just as a couple of people were getting in and they said something to me in Slovenian which I didn’t understand … as I said this to them they uttered words, in English, “this is not the ground floor,” just as the doors closed and I realised I was still five floors up.
So far, I have just focused on the humorous aspects of being high … but there is a more serious side as well. Being in an apartment during lockdown, made me realise how important outside space is, especially for people who might not be able to walk far or for children who need to run around. Having a small child and a balcony is not a good mix and must be a worry for many parents. Certainly in most countries in Europe I have noticed how each apartment block area has its own playground which always seem to be well used (particularly here in Croatia where I am writing this.) Sadly, I have not noticed this so much in the UK. Finally there is the concern about what happens when the elevator breaks down, or indeed in places where there are no elevators. What happens if you are infirm or incapacitated by a broken leg or ankle for instance? What happens if there is a fire or a disaster like an earthquake? Not everyone gets to live where they would choose and in our society the rule of money decides things. Those who have means can choose wherever they want to live do so, the rest of us make do.
I’m not sure how long my love of high-rise living will continue. Of course it’s not always available and at my age it has to be combined with an elevator if I want to go up more than 2 or 3 floors. But it has been a great learning experience for me … something I didn’t expect to gain from my travels and something that still gives me a bit of excitement each time I come to a new place and don’t know what to expect. All in all, if the combination of factors are right, I’m pretty sure I’m going to get high again.
