Monday, June 16, 2008

Vienna

I met a guy on the Internet who we'll be staying with. How sketchy does that sound??? I actually did though. My world-traveling cousin Josh recommended checking out a network called "couch-surfing" where people open up their homes to travelers for free so they can have a bit of a "cultural exchange" and meet people from around the globe. Trent and I were hesitant about this system but when I went to search for hostels in Vienna, they were all super expensive. All the cheap hostels were booked because the exact days we'll be in Vienna are the days of the Europe-cup Finals which are being held in Vienna. Exciting for soccer fans but not so exciting for Trent and I who couldn't find a place to sleep. I reluctantly created a couch surfing profile and searched all the profiles in Vienna to see if there were any hosts we'd feel comfortable with. I looked at hundreds of profiles and decided there were 2 people in the entire city who seemed like perfect candidates as hosts for us. I'm not trying to be picky or judgmental but many "surfers" tend to be hard-core partiers and would be very disappointed to have us as guests. Markus was the only person I found who mentioned basketball on his profile and he seemed like a quality, trust-worthy guy. (I didn't choose him just because he likes basketball- I realize that would be silly of me but it was an added bonus) After e-mailing with him, I feel totally comfortable and am super excited about seeing Vienna from a local's perspective. I expect to see a beautiful town, meet fun locals, and hear incredible music. I've heard amazing things about Vienna and look forward to seeing Austria, the roots of our governator.

2 comments:

Lesley Miller said...

Katie, being that you're now in the town of the Von Trapps Family I do hope that Trent will dress in those funny suspender type pants and that you'll sing sibling songs together for all the locals. That's my dream...now make it happen and post a picture for me!

The Butlers said...

If I saw a picture of Trent in a nice pair of Lederhosen I could check that off my "Top 100 Things To See Before I Die" List. Make it happen indeed.

That is pretty much the classic promise of online social butterflies: "He seems like a pretty stand up guy". Crossing my fingers...