The WC

Written June 18, 2011.

I’ve mentioned before the various items that are vastly different than the States. The major one in my opinion would have to be the bathrooms as if you haven’t been to Europe, you will be in for a shock. I now know why my aunt didn’t like them as the family gets used to the buggers.

First, it is not a given that a toilet will be in the bathroom. If it is then the room is considered an American bathroom. You can have a shower-tub-sink combo for the bathroom and the toilet in a completely separate place. This is odd to say the least.

When looking for homes here, I was amazed at the various different types found. There were ones that were almost American but had bidets. There were ones that had just a shower and a sink, a tub and a sink and the toilets in different areas of the house. There were some houses that had toilet and a since, commonly called a water closet or WC, upstairs and the main bathroom in the basement. Some were nice and some were horrible. The one penthouse we looked at had American bathrooms with no bidet in sight.

The flat we ended up in actually has two bathrooms and one WC. This does not guarantee that there are two toilets and I found this out when we were shopping for a place. Unfortunately, we are a two toilet home and had to mark a lot of places off our list. Had it been only my husband and myself, that might be different but with friends or family visiting, it would be a nightmare.

I was pleasantly surprised that we found a home where there was one bathroom with a shower tall enough for my husband to stand in, a toilet, a sink and a bidet. It also had the washer and eventually dryer in it as well. This is standard in Europe and it is rare to have a separate laundry room. The WC stands alone with a small sink and two small rooms so your guests can use it without taking up a whole bathroom. The last bath has a soaking tub and sink as well as the huge hanging water heater and tank.

It is my opinion that the baths here function as multiuse rooms as other than the WC, our two have dual purposes. This will take time to get used to this configuration and we’ve been in our flat since June 8^th.

Here are some pictures to show you what it’s really like. The first looks into our shower room and shows the washer located there. The second shows the WC and the associated door. The last shows the small sink attached to the WC and I must say, I personally laughed my ass off the first time I saw it. After all, I wasn’t even sure it would fit a soap dish. Lucky for me that every bath has a least one shelf but no other storage.

Life in Vienna is never dull!

More later...

Lynn