After a reasonable sleep we awoke quite early and caught up with all that had happened over the last day and a half via the free hotel WiFi.
Met Den and Suze for a very leisurely and extensive buffet brekky at 9am and then walked a short way to the nearest underground station and caught the train into central Vienna. Being the 1st of May it was a public holiday to celebrate May Day and there were many protests groups etc in the main streets, but at least the rest of the city was very quiet and there were NO RETAIL SHOPS OPEN so therefore no browsing! What a great result for Den and I!!!!
We wandered down the main shopping precinct the Mariahilfer Straffe and stopped for a look at St Stephens Cathedral - remembering it all from our previous trip. We sat and enjoyed a lovely coffee and then took in many of the sights before pausing at the Crossfield Hotel (Aussie Pub) where Den and I bought a beer so the girls could use the toilet! Quite coincidentally we were able to watch a bit of Friday Night Footy from back home with Carlton getting a flogging once again - just the same as 3 years ago! I'm sure Rohan Marriott would remember!
From there we caught the train across the Dunube to New City and walked across to the 165 metre Danube Tower and went up to the look out which gave us superb views of this beautiful and very green city. We walked back through a large park where lots of people were playing softball and generally enjoying the public holiday, and then caught the train back to the hotel.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent lazing on the patio of the hotel, looking at the boat traffic on the Danube and enjoying a few drinks!
At 5.30pm we joined the other 26 people on our tour for a quick briefing from our Tour Director -Gaspar - and then were taken on our luxurious coach to a brewery/restaurant for a welcome dinner!
So our tour has officially started - the usual mix of very different people on tour, Americans, Canadians, Japanese and Aussies - and we looking forward to our first adventures tomorrow.