Room with a View

Eight apartments over two mornings, I've whittled my choices down to two: one is quintessential old Europe, overseeing a small public square and surrounded by old cobblestone streets that do murder on the feet; the other is a chic, minimalist loft style space in a trendy part of town.

I'm leaning towards the former, both for its location and apartment interiors. It's a spacious duplex in an old, old townhouse with beautifcully restored original wood floors and ceiling beams. There are downsides to an old structure, for the stairs leading to the apartment are the teeniest, windiest I've ever seen. But I figure that the stairs are a minor inconvenience - I spend, what, 15 secs on it each time? A minute at the most in a day? But the view, the neighbourhood, the ambience, the location! I think I can put up with teeny, windy stairs.

Now to keep my fingers crossed that no one has snapped it up already.