The early morning start to catch my flight from Heathrow really brought weeks of anticipation to reality. The flight was swift and we landed on Austrian soil early; a good start! Nerves disappeared the moment I landed and adrenaline slowly began to kick in. Now thoughts of 'have I got everything?' and 'do you remember where you are going?' started, as well as trying to remember German phrases from 8years ago at school!
I got a taxi to the housing office to register, where I had my first experience of the Austrian’s love for filling out forms! Once the paperwork was done and I found out where I was heading, I began dragging my suitcases to the ‘Schottentor-Universitat’ U-Bahn station. I made my way to ‘Messer-Prater’ which was to be my local station for the rest of my stay in
The Gastehaus on Molkereistrasse is a halls of residence constructed as a passive house; it was built in 2005 and offers 278 rooms in different sizes flats. I had seen photographs but as usual it is never the same as visiting a place at first hand. I had a little trouble finding my room at first but with a bit of help from another resident I found myself making my way up to the Dachgeschloss (the roof rooms). The flat has two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom and is in perfect condition. I was especially surprised at the bedroom which included all the essentials such as bedding and duvet, but also came with a radio and television! After settling in and unpacking I made my way to the local shop and stocked up on the most important things – such as Austrian beers…oh yes, and food! Later that evening Ellen Palmer and Leanne Todd also from the Portsmouth School of Architecture came over to celebrate our arrival and have a look around the halls. The day had flown past and by the end, I was absolutely shattered and drifted off to sleep in my new ‘home’.
OeAD Gastehaus - Molkereistrasse
