Vienna!! - We are finally here!

So now we are in Vienna and it is basically the coolest city I have ever seen. The last two days we had spent in Morbisch doing orientation and starting classes. The class I am in called Modern Austrian History and my professor (named Herbert) is really cool. He knows so much about not only Vienna but the world as a whole and how things all interact with one another. I actually think I might like a history class for once. But anyway - the more interesting things.
Last night (Friday) we went on a boat dinner/barbeque that was on a lake on the border of Morbisch and Hungary. The boat itself (and some of the crew) reminded me and mols of the episode of The Office when they go on the booze cruise (for all you office fans). Seriously though there was even a man running around playing the accordion knowing only a few phrases and english but it was very funny. (see picture)


Also I have had my first DELICIOUS gelato :) It was soo good - molly and I were wandering around and found this italian pizza place that served gelato and it was great! We also have gone running the past two mornings into Hungary - which is only about an 8 minute run - so that was pretty nifty. Jet lag hasn't been super awful - I have adjusted better than I expect but i did manage to catch a little bit of a cold on the way over here (lucky me.. not) so thats slowly been getting better. Today, we came back into Vienna to meet our host family and be introduced to the institute where we are having our classes... but i feel that though i REALLY want to just tell everything mols will get mad at me... so i guess its her turn now... :)
Like Amanda said, we got into Vienna today. On the drive in, the views of the countryside were absolutely gorgeous. Vienna is surrounded by hills/mountains, and there were some fantastic scenes as we drove into the city. Once we arrived, we got about an hour to explore before our host family came to pick us up. We walked down the main shopping drag for a bit (the name escapes me at the moment) and, let me tell you, Vienna is a beautiful city. Around every corner there were gorgeous buildings. We stumbled upon the national library, which is a large, beautiful white building that has a large kind-of square in front of it. There are also two large gold balls on the top of the building, which were my favorite part. Also amusing to me is the number of foreign cars that are everywhere. There are Volkswagons and Audi's like we have Chevy and Ford! In fact, many taxi's in the city that I've seen are Audi's. I'm pretty sure these are nicer than many of the taxi's back in the States.
After going back to the Institute, we received our weekly food money from Doc (Yes!) and got picked up by our host dad - Michl. He drove us back to the house, which is located in the 14th district, and made sure to point out important things (like the subways station, grocery store, Schonbrunn Palace, etc.) along the way. Once we got to the house we met our host mom Gerda, and host sister Fanni. They were very amused with my name, because they had never heard the name Molly before. I guess it's not a common dog name here like it is back home. They all know English fairly well, which makes our lives a little easier. We are also living with another student from a college in Minnesota, who has been here since March studying at the Institute. Shortly after we arrived, Gerda and Michl left for a trip to visit his family, so only Fanni will be here this weekend. Talking with her helped us figure out that both sides were given wrong information about eachother. For example, they thought we were Mormons. (Hmmm...nope.) We also learned that Michl studied law, and worked with a muliple sclerosis society until he retired, and Gerda had been a Sports and Russian teacher. Therefore they were not a musician in the Philharmonic and an art teacher like we were told. I've decided that they remind me of the Austrian version of my parents (especially after looking at their wine collection).Also, they have 4 children (not 3 like we were told) and the 3 oldest boys have since moved out of the house. It was very amusing. Fanni was extremely helpful, gave us a tour of the house, and helped us find a place to eat, complete with giving us directions and german phrases and words to use. The italian restaurant Amanda and I went to for dinner was fabulous, and not very expensive. It took us some time, but we figured out the menu, and ended up splitting a delicious pizza and had a glass of beer with dinner. The total was about 16 euros with tip, and we definitely plan on going back there. We walked back home, and saw some more beautiful buildings. I've decided that Vienna is filled with picturesque buildings at random.
I am very excited for our day tomorrow. We plan on going to the flea market early in the morning, then we have a walking tour with the group, followed by a tour of the Schonbrunn Palace, and an Operetta that night. I can't wait to see what other things Vienna has in store for us! Also, check out facebook for some pictures from the last few days - Amanda just posted some. I hope you all enjoyed this 2nd blog post of the trip. Until the next one...

Molly and Amanda