December 16, 2009 - Vienna Austria

Next Stop Vienna and it was exactly how I pictured it. A captivating and elegant city. The City of music! It was great, our morning tour consisted of  the lavish Hofburg Palace, Vienna Opera House, the majestic Ringstrasse, awe-inspiring St. Stephen’s Cathedral, and a visit  to the festive Christmas Markets at the Town Hall.


The wonderful thing about our time in Vienna was that it was the first day it snowed. What a beautiful site. It really got you in the Christmas spirit. Our tour was a walking tour which was enjoyable being out in the snow and having an up close and personal look at the city. We had a lot of time here so after the tour we were able to spend several hours exploring the city, the Christmas markets and having lunch. The markets were great fun and Vienna really went all out with their festive Christmas lights, very elegant and probably gorgeous in the evening. We chose The Café Landtmann for lunch, an elegant coffee house that has been in business since 1873 and since that time it is one of the most favoured Cafés in Vienna, with some outstanding regulars as  Sigmund Freud, Marlene Dietrich, Burt Lancaster, Hillary Rodham Clinton and  Paul Mc Cartney. It had lovely atmosphere and very good food.


After our lunch we headed back to catch the bus to the ship and by then we were quite chilly and ready for a hot shower.After dinner that evening we opt for the optional Mozart and Strauss concert held at an intimate venue. And we were glad we did, even thought the price of 75 Euros per person seemed high. It was an exciting evening out, we got dressed up, had champagne at intermission and experienced a very enjoyable and entertaining concert. They played some popular classical music, but also had ballet, comedy and opera. A great selection of entertainment. I would recommend this optional tour.