
Offer HN: Room in Vienna, Austria - consti2k
I can offer some place to stay in Vienna, Austria.<p>My girlfriend and I live pretty close to the city center,
have a really nice and big apartment and can offer you
a place to stay if you plan to explore Europe and want
a good basecamp to get into east-europe:<p>* 40 minutes to Bratislavs
* 3 hours to Prague, Budapest..
* 5 hours to Krakau
* 7 hours to Warschau<p>* 20 minutes to the Metalab Hackerspace with Lasercutter and RepRaps!<p>Oh.. and of course Vienna is awesome, too.<p>Go see the world, you Americans! ;p
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consti2k
Everyone is welcomed, the "Go see the world, you Americans!" was supposed to
be funny and should not implicate that I 'prefer' to have an American as a
guest.

You are welcomed if you are open-minded and non-racist (no matter what sex,
skin-color).

If you are in a wheelchair or have trouble walking stairs, my apartment won't
work for you (it's on the second floor) - but I can offer you to be your guide
for the city and I can try to find a friends apartment where we can help you
with an elevator.

Sorry for any misunderstanding/anger the last sentence provoked - seems like I
didn't think that through.

~~~
SkyMarshal
It's cool. I'm American and it made me lol. Austria and Vienna are at the top
of my 'places to see' list, so next chance I get to travel I'll certainly look
you up.

One question - how do English-only speakers get along there?

~~~
consti2k
German is my first language, so I get along really well - but I've a couple of
English-only speaking friends, and they seem to stay happy :)

Judging from what I know, there are quite a lot of English-only speakers in
Vienna. Most of the young people in Austria speak English - so you won't have
any trouble ordering food, going out partying or getting to know people (at
least in an age group < 45).

If you plan to move to Vienna and are interested in any technical stuff, you
should definably check out the Metalab to meet some people - I believe 90% of
the people there are able to speak English (some are English-only speakers)
and they might also help you meet other English-speaking people..

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follower
I can confirm that the Metalab Hackerspace is awesome and well worth heading
along to. They were very welcoming, have great resources and friendly people.

I ended up staying in Vienna for two weeks (originally had planned only one)
after being invited there after meeting a number of people from Metalab at
25C3 in Berlin. Really great for nocturnal people like me too--I think there
was only once during the two weeks that I was hanging out at Metalab that
someone said "Oh, hey, you're going to have to go now 'cos the last person
with a key is leaving". And that was at 8:30am in the morning after being
there all night. :)

They have a really well equipped electronics/maker lab/workshop--I did my
first PCB etching there. And they let me make use of the facilities on a pay
for what you use basis for the time I was visiting.

Can't tell you much about the city though. :)

~~~
andreasklinger
metalab rocks :) the whole nerdscene in vienna rocks :)

if anybody follows this post and comes to vienna - hit me up as well!

~~~
follower
Oh, you're based in Vienna, cool. I passed on a link to Garmz to a friend the
other day. :) She has a site that's a marketplace for handmade goods. And I
have an interest in customisable manufacturing, designer to customer
connections and the like.

~~~
andreasklinger
Sounds interesting.

Hit me up ak (youknow) garmz (theother) com

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robchez
Vienna was a total 'woah' city for me. The history, the culture the beauty of
that city is amazing. I remember feeling like my head was swimming the few
days I was there. For me it was easily the most beautifully amazing city in
Europe. I am so jealous that you live there!

~~~
mayutana
Currently living in Europe and having visited many of the European cities, I
find Vienna to the best among them too. This is a really generous offer and
one could save a lot of money.

~~~
robchez
exactly! I really hope someone gives this a go. if i could take the time off
work I would love to go there.

as soon as i left vienna, i immediately started looking for work there! alas
not to many mechanical engineers required :(

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jacabado
Wow! I will travel to Vienna in the start of December! I really would like to
meet you, whether you can give me a place to sleep or just show/point me some
places around.

My contact is jracabado on the gmail com!

~~~
consti2k
I'll send out an email with some further info, later tonight.. looking forward
to seeing you! :)

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nraynaud
<http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/nraynaud/> Same kind of offer here.

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grillmaster
How long does this offer stand? I've heard of a good music festival held in
august at budapest. Can i make reservations for then?

~~~
consti2k
As long as I've an apartment in Vienna & my girlfriend doesn't mind having
guests: So yeah, August next year should work!

For the festival: I believe you mean the Sziget Festival:
<http://www.sziget.hu/festival_english>

~~~
grillmaster
Yup thats the festival alright.

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derrida
Awww. What a nice offer! I love to see this sort of thing! Good on you, I hope
you have some amazing people come to stay!

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Sirupsen
hackercouch.com anyone?

~~~
tunaslut
yes - go build this!

~~~
Sirupsen
There we go, a potential weekend project! :)

Please upvote/comment if you would like to see this happening.

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geuis
I'm interested in traveling again in the next few months. Can you contact me
at geuis.teses@gmail.com?

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jaywalker
Is the offer only for Americans?

~~~
consti2k
No, for everyone! I was just kidding: but yeah, everyone should travel and see
the world. And if you don't have the money, you now at least have some place
to stay for free (at least for a couple of days :) )

~~~
wyclif
It's a very nice offer, and kind of you to do it. I only wish I could take you
up on it, Vienna is a beautiful city from what I understand.

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mantas
Might hit the road in december.. Hope this is not only for americans :)

~~~
consti2k
The offer is for everyone, email me when you plan to come over - I should be
in Vienna pretty much all year (although I might be in Warsaw on New Years)

~~~
detst
Your email isn't visible. You have to put it in the "about" section for others
to see it.

~~~
consti2k
Thanks, just fixed it!

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franziskus
oh vienna, you mean nothing to me...
<http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3uxr_ultravox-vienna_music>

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turkia
Are Turks and/or Moroccans welcomed in Austria these days, or will I be chased
into a corner by a mob and get bitten to death? Considering Austria's
atrocious credentials as a collaborator with the Nazi's during WWII, seems
like it, as well as many European countries these days, descend quickly into
familiar bestial self. No wonder this offer is aiming Americans. Only lots are
not white. Sorry.

~~~
consti2k
You are of course welcome, whatever background you have (for details, see my
other comment about that :)).

Don't play the WWII card on me.

~~~
turkia
Well, your people played it on mine. So, just a reminder. "Austria" the
beautiful is skin deep. Great architecture, wonderful "culture", only as long
as you ignore the reality of Europe these days. Racism is raising it's ugly
head again in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and of course France (one of
the worst) and the UK. It's not all beautiful architecture and culture. Part
of your culture is the very recent past, and unfortunately, the present.

~~~
Yaggo
Generalization is not very constructive, you know.

~~~
turkia
That's exactly my point. It's generalization to suggest that "Vienna is
awesome". It's is not so for many people now a days, who live there, or just
visit.

Imagine walking into a bread shop and not being greeted by the "beautiful"
Austrian girl (you know, blue eyes, blonde hair shtick) just because you look
a Turk/Moroccan. Rather the the typical greeting, you're treated with a "YES!"
- Imagine what it makes you feel, knowing that no matter how much more
educated you are then this simple peasant, she knows she can humiliate you. In
the past she could refuse to server you, hang a note on the door: "No Jews or
Dogs." - Just saying.

I've heard so many stories from friends and colleagues living in Vienna,
Amsterdam, Paris and London, I really take it seriously. It really is strange
for me to hear "awesome" in connection with Vienna.

Europe was once full of labor and concentration camps. It might never happen
again, but lets not forget that then it was the Jews. Now it's Muslims. Nobody
really thought the Jews are going to "take over", but this is what modern
Europeans believe Muslims are about to do today.

There were 191,000 Jews living in Austria before WWII, only 12,000 after.

So, when claiming a place like Vienna (with it's horrible record, past and
present) is "awesome" just pause and remember what happend there in the
1930's, and what is going on there, and elsewhere in Europe, these days.

~~~
prs
I ask myself whether you have actually lived here or base your assumptions on
hearsay from friends.

I find it intolerable to strike comparisons between the Holocaust and modern-
day Vienna.

~~~
GFischer
I'm not going to defend the original poster, but Vienna does have some racism
today, and especially against Turks.

Some of my family lives there (I have an Austrian half-sister), and when I
stayed there, as a Uruguayan of German descent I never had any trouble, people
were friendly and made some friends... but the son of the Uruguayan Consul at
the time (a diplomat), who has some African or native ancestors and is thus a
bit darker-skinned, had some trouble with buses not stopping when he was the
only one at the bus stop, people being rude to him and other petty meanness.

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jwcacces
This is not news

~~~
paulnelligan
I agree, couchsurfing.com is where to post offers like this ...

awaiting downvotes

~~~
rdl
I wish there were a hacker specific couch surfing type site. I don't think
posting here can scale, but this is about the best right now. Maybe a way to
support arbitrary affinity groups?

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frobozz
This means nothing to me.

~~~
guynamedloren
Well that was rude. I think it's quite a generous offer!

~~~
frobozz
Well I think you're probably to young to comment about this. Ask your parents.
If you were alive 30 years ago, then I suppose you might be from somewhere
other than Europe, Australia or New Zealand.

~~~
frobozz
Could the drive-by downvoters give me a clue about what's wrong with these
comments?

~~~
RiderOfGiraffes
I didn't downvote you, but I would guess that you've made a side-reference
that you think is witty, and most people don't get. Therefore it's a non-
technical, information-free in-joke, and these are heavily discouraged on HN.

~~~
frobozz
I see, thanks. I shall steer clear of this sort of thing from now on.

------
trizk
Advertisement: Room to let in Vienna, Austria

Big 3 bdr. apartment to share with exotic Vienna couple

* 40 minutes to where the Brat lives. * 3 hours to Prague, Budapest. * A couple of more hours to other places you may have never heard of but should definitely see.

$200 Brokers fee only.

Edit: Re down voting. Sense of humor... anyone?

~~~
trizk
Aarrgghhh. I am getting beaten by down votes. For what its worth Vienna is
beautiful.

The offer to pay me a $200 brokers fee to connect you with this amazing
opportunity is still open.

