Go&See Trip: Day 1 - Finding an Appartement

We meet the relocation agent at our hotel at 10:00 in the morning. He shows us the places we will be visiting with him over the next two days on a large map. We then set off and drive to the first of three gated communities.

Gated communities are large, closed-off properties with a gate and restricted access. Sometimes there are more than 400 villas and appartements in a community. There is usually also a park, a gym, a pool and other amenities to sweeten life there.

The main purpose of this Go and See trip is to get a feel for where we could live. When we move to Bangalore in January, we will see which apartments/villas are actually available and decide on one.

Palm Meadows is one of the oldest gated communities in Bangalore. As we enter the community, we drive along a really beautiful road lined with palm trees. We pass small villas and gardens full of flowers. It looks like a place where senior citizens enjoy their retirement in Florida. The villa we are shown is impressive. It consists of four bedrooms (each with its own bathroom), two terraces, a balcony, living room and dining room - in short: it's huge.

With this impression, we walk through the well-kept streets to the clubhouse. This is ultimately like a community center where people meet. It has two restaurants, a very good fitness room, indoor pools, outdoor pools, a tennis court and a children's playground.

Overall, the whole complex seems perfect to us. Not to say too perfect. Do we really want to live in a community where we only meet other expats and every front garden looks exactly the same? Our gut feeling says no.

Next, we stop at an inconspicuous high-rise building near Palm Meadows. The apartments we are shown are currently being renovated, one is on the seventh floor. But it's not just the apartments, but also the communal areas where we sense that construction work is underway - at least we hope that the unfinished building sites will be completed.

Entering the apartment triggers mixed feelings. It's quite angled, but spacious; it's supposed to be very modern, but there are still some old cupboards in the shell. After seeing Palm Meadows, this development is the complete opposite. Although structurally the newest community, everything seems rather worn out to us. We are not completely convinced either.

The third community is Windmills of your Mind. It is right next to Stephanie's office. The apartments and villas there are very beautiful. The focus of the entire complex is on natural materials and organic shapes. Not only are the floors made of wood, but this raw material has also been used extensively in other areas. The paths and building facades are also very lush with greenery.

The apartment we see has a terrace with lawn and plants - but is on the third floor. Every apartment in this high-rise building has a small garden on its floor, which impresses us very much.

The apartment we are shown is a maisonette, very spacious and beautiful. It is also still furnished when we view it (we even meet the current tenant). The furnishings are not quite to our taste, but it's nice to see something more than a shell with bare walls.

The communal areas of the community are also extensive (pool, small movie theater, squash rooms, cafe), but not as perfectly maintained. We think that's a shame for such a great and elaborate complex. The fitness room is rather unspectacular, but the outdoor pool looks good.  

All in all, we like Windmills the most in comparison, but we didn't fall head over heels in love with any of the three places we visited.

We have lunch in the Phoenix Mall. By now we're hungry, it's already 3:00 pm. There are lots of small restaurants in a food court in this shopping center. We opt for Indian food, vegetarian. There is paneer, rice, roti and various sauces. The main thing is it's not too spicy for Martin. We like it😁.
 
After the meal, we quickly go to wash our hands. And that's where it happens. A mother is talking to her child, everything sounds familiar. She speaks German. "Are you a tourist or an expat," I ask her. "Expat," she says. In no time at all, we have a topic of conversation and numbers are quickly exchanged. The last time we made friends this quickly was in kindergarten. Many thousands of kilometers away from Germany, we spontaneously stick together again.

The agency should also show us what life could be like, so we visit a hospital as well. If we need medical help or medication, we have to go there. General practitioners, as we know them in Germany, are not common here.

The hospital itself seems to be good. Nevertheless, we will certainly try to get all medication from our doctor in Germany in advance if possible to reduce the effort.

An exciting day comes to an end. We are exhausted from the impressions, the traffic and the air conditioning blowing cold into our faces.

We relax and unwind by the hotel pool. A colleague who is also in India spontaneously joins us and we enjoy the sunset with a few non-alcoholic cocktails. Afterwards, we join our German colleagues at our hotel for an extensive buffet before falling into bed exhausted.

We now have a good idea of possible living conditions for us. To also get our bearings in the city itself we will do a Bangalore city stroll the next day.