![\"Eric](\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2016\/10\/29913472224_0861b0daed_k.jpg\")
<\/a>Eric had a bit of a different job than most tour guides.\u00a0 Instead of leading us around a city or giving us lots of history on a certain place, he basically was our chauffeur for two days, taking us to the mountain Grossglockner and the city of Hallstatt.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t have a lot of information for us and he didn\u2019t lead us around Hallstatt, but just sat with us on the bus and told us little tidbits of information that he deemed important.<\/p>\n
Eric had a quite unique character, and we still think about him even though it has been over a month since we have seen him.\u00a0 For instance, he has a unique way of dealing with children.\u00a0 When he was trying to speak and the two-year-old, Felicity, started whining and screaming, Eric screamed back at her! \u201cLittlest one! I am here too! AAAAGHHH! It is my turn to talk.\u201d\u00a0 We still quote him to this day.\u00a0 Another \u201cEric\u201d moment was when we went past his house on the way to the mountain and he gave us a good glimpse into his life.\u00a0 Apparently it has a lot to do with his cats.\u00a0 He has two, and though they get on the balcony railing, they do not fall, according to him.\u00a0 His taste in music was also interesting.\u00a0 He gave us an interesting glimpse into traditional Austrian folk music with Klostertaler’s song “Ha-le-lu-ja.”\u00a0 Look it up sometime if you are curious.\u00a0 The result was hilarious and it definitely is a song that has stuck in our heads.\u00a0 Though he is a bit quirky we all really enjoyed having him around and we were sad to see him go.<\/p>\n
Our most recent guide was Lazlo in Budapest.\u00a0 He had a more traditional job and led us around the city showing us different spots of interest along the way.\u00a0 He had one of those sticks that are easy to spot so that we really felt like tourists.\u00a0 Up until then we never had a tour group like that.\u00a0 We always found stuff on our own or with Justin.\u00a0 Lazlo also taught us about the culture in Budapest and the history.\u00a0 Specifically he taught us that \u201cEverything is Hungarian.\u201d\u00a0 We learned to dance in a traditional Hungarian style, and we got a private boat tour that Lazlo narrated.<\/p>\n
Lazlo was just as funny as Eric, but in a very different manner.\u00a0 He had some obviously prepared jokes that I\u2019m sure he tells everyone, but that\u2019s not why he made us laugh.\u00a0 While we did laugh at his jokes, (and they were funny!) we really liked the general way he presented the tours.\u00a0 He had surprises for us if we knew answers to questions or participated in some way. For example, after embarrassingly making us learn the dance on the street in front of random strangers, he said he had a surprise.\u00a0 The surprise was that we got to do it again, this time with his mother-in-law singing along!\u00a0 She is apparently a famous opera singer, so we got to dance to her music that he played out of a tiny little speaker.\u00a0 We all got a good laugh afterwards.\u00a0 Another of his surprises was actually very tasty.\u00a0 He booked a last minute boat tour down the river, and narrated the experience for us.\u00a0 He was very knowledgeable, but the part that stands out is he brought apples from his garden for us to share.\u00a0 With the apples we had another dance session, but this time we used whatever music we wanted.<\/p>\n
Finally, there is the great professor himself, Justin.\u00a0 I am counting Justin as a tour guide because Justin tells us about everything whenever we do not have an official guide.\u00a0 He tells us about all the performances we are going to see, he tells us about different districts in Vienna, and he tells us where Mozart\u2019s house is.\u00a0 Justin -Corey Hostetler<\/p>\n<\/a>doesn\u2019t come across as a tour guide, because he\u2019s not.\u00a0 One could say he is just our guide.\u00a0 He has been to Vienna before with his wife and they know the city.\u00a0 Their experience mixed with Justin\u2019s passions and energy means we are also engaged in what we are seeing, even if we weren\u2019t all that interested in the beginning.\u00a0 If you had to compare our guides so far, I would say that Eric is quirky, Lazlo is fun, and Justin is a power walker.\u00a0 No, but really he is a very fast walker, and often leaves some of us behind.\u00a0 We have to bring him to heel by shouting, \u201cHOLD!!” His energy is contagious and some of us manage to keep up, but others are left in the dust.\u00a0 (That\u2019s what \u201chold\u201d is for!)<\/p>\n