Ya boy is now in Vienna!

Today I had to say goodbye to the Ehrlich’s. It was sad to say goodbye to Carina because it had been about two years since we had seen each other and we only had a couple of days to hang out.  It was great to have finally met her family too because I missed them when they visited Utah. They were so nice to have let me stay with them and show me around their hometown.  They all had great personalities and were fun to joke around with  Hopefully it won’t be long before I see them again.

Carina, her dad Josef, her sister Nadja, and me.

Unfortunately I don’t have a picture with her mom.

Yesterday we got a tour of die Residenz in Würzburg, where the Prince Bishop would invite his guests such as Maria Theresa from Vienna.  It has some of the largest ceiling murals in the world and is about 8 meters longer than Versailles in length (suck it).  All of the art speaks to the power and civilization of Europe over Asia, Africa, and the new world, but more specifically to the power and reputation of the prince bishop. Die Residenz also has one of the largest wine cellars and we were lucky enough to visit that too.  Everyone here had a liter of wine a day and about 100,000 liters were stored at any time. Personally I don’t think that’s enough. Another interesting part is that the right side of the building is a chapel but because baroque architecture is very symmetrical, they hid the chapel inside. The chapel though is the most gaudy one I’ve seen. It’s technically not allowed to take pictures inside but I’m sure you could find some online.  Here are pictures of the outside though.

This morning I hopped on a Flixbus at 7:30 AM and didn’t get to Vienna until about 4:45. I hopped on a taxi and my driver was telling me about how he came to Vienna when he was 16 and that his daughter speaks five languages.  He also reassured me that I have enough time to learn German here, which I need because I am certainly not the most confident when it comes to speaking.

Finally, I arrived at my host familiy’s house.  I payed the driver, grabbed my bag, and then rang the doorbell. The door unlocked and I found myself at a staircase and I couldn’t tell which door was theirs.  I began to walk up the stairs and I heard someone coming down.  I was greeted by my host mom, Sabine, and she then showed me to my room.  I unpacked my stuff and then we had dinner.

Before I get into details about my host family I just want to say that I LOVE their house. They have two stories. The bottom floor (still like three floors up) is where my room is as well as their kids. There’s a little kitchen that they said is pretty much mine since no one else uses it. Upstairs is my host parents’ room, a kitchen, a living room, and then they have a terrace on the roof. I feel like royalty here! 

My host family is very nice. Sabine is my host mom and she gave me a tour of the place and helped get me situated.  Golli is my host dad and he is great. He works making documentaries and focuses on politics. Clara is their daughter and she is just a year younger than me and then they have a son Sebastian who is a couple years younger. They both are currently students. Sabine and Golli have two more kids that are older and have moved out.

Tomorrow morning I start my internship and classes so here’s to a great week!