#118 Capel Street

When I arrived to Ireland, the housing situation was difficult. Trying to find an affordable apartment was an insurmountable problem. I managed to take over an apartment a colleague was leaving. This apartment was in what, we didn’t know, was one of the worst areas in Dublin. Janne and I got mugged badly so we decided to move immediately.

We started searching and joining long queues outside apartment viewings. I found by chance a place that had a viewing in Capel Street. I had no idea where it was, but we booked a time to see it.

When we came up, the landlord was waiting. He was an easy-going, no-nonsense Dubliner. He showed it to us. The apartment was actually pretty small, but it had something, a je ne sais quoi, that we found appealing.

This was probably one of the first instances when Janne and I started thinking like one. When we entered the place, we looked at each other and whispered, “this is it”. Something else happened. I know people like me, and I knew people liked Janne. However, this was one of the earliest times in which we both decided to turn the charm on at the same time. We were invincible.

We told the landlord we wanted it. He hesitated, and then said, “you know, I told the couple before you that the apartment was theirs, but I like you better. Just take it and I’ll figure out what to tell the others.” We asked about the deposit, ran to an ATM to get the money out and brought it back. He took it, rolled it up and put it in his back pocket. We looked at him funny and asked, “aren’t you going to count it?” He asked, “why? Are you not giving me the full amount?” We had the right landlord.

We lived in this place for two and a half years. Without this place, there would be no story of Janne and Karim. We cemented our relationship here. We became the couple everyone knew. I proposed and got married while in this place. I found some of my favorite music here. We had our biggest fights and our closest moments. We had many friends over, from far and near.

That building was still there, unchanged, in April. I hope that others fell the love and destiny and fate that we felt, because that’s what this little place gave Janne and me.