Today we say goodbye to Prague and head for Vienna.
Its a glorious day for a drive. Clear skies, sunshine, and cold - about
4 degrees in Prague. As we headed out we spotted a few cars with the
remnants of snow on their roofs. Strange, because it didn't snow
overnight. As we got out of Prague however, all became clear. Snow
covered fields. The temp has dropped down to 0 degrees as we climbed
higher (650m). Driving got to be a bit riskier as we encountered slushy
ice on the road. Felt like singing "Slip Sliding Away". The freeway soon
disappears and we found ourselves on a regional road. More snow and
ice, a bit more slippery (maybe we should have opted for the snow chains
option for the car?).

Once we crossed into Austria, the roads improved and we made good time into Vienna. Difficult to get a sense of what Vienna is about as we drove through the outer areas.
Looks just like any other large city so far. Even the hotel doesn't look
particularly Viennese. We'll do our customary exploring once we have
checked in.

Caught the tram into the city center. Aaaaahhhh, "This is better". Immediately the "real" Vienna becomes apparent. Large grand buildings, wide boulevards, Gothic spires on
churches. This is the Vienna we were expecting. A quick walk around
(well, a couple of hours anyway), and we soon had our bearings of how
the city was laid out, and a few possibilities for seeing in the New
Year. Looks like the whole of the city center is being given over to New
Year celebrations, with about 6 different areas being set up with
market stalls and entertainment stages. By now it's getting dark so time
to head back to the hotel before venturing out later.

A tip for using public transport in strange cities - make sure you get
off at the right stop. My fault really, I was so sure about where we
were supposed to get off. One hour of wandering in the dark was to prove
me wrong. By then Julie was giving me her best "Not happy Jan" look. It
was freezing cold, starting to rain, and the printing on map we had was
so small as to be useless. Finally found someone to ask directions and
point us in the right direction. Turns out we weren't THAT far away from
where we were supposed to be.

So, on to New Years Eve. By time we went back into the city there were already thousands of
people there. The whole place was alive with flashing lights, thumping
music, and intermittent popping sounds as people were letting off their
own fireworks. The place was really alive. We threaded our way through
the crowds up to the main stage area where a band was playing. They were
quite good. Did covers of everything from Rolling Stones to Queen to
Abba and the Bee Gees (Complete with wardrobe and costume changes).

By the time they had finished we were looking forward to midnight
arriving. It was SOOOOO cold - just below zero was the forecast. As
midnight neared, we strategically placed ourselves near the tram stop so
we could catch the first one to come along (along with about a thousand
other people who had the same idea). Midnight ticked over and the
fireworks went off - all over the city. Everywhere you looked there were
explosions of color in the sky. Not just the official ones, but people
all over were letting off their own as well. The whole sky was alight
with color. Really spectacular.

So the end of the year ticked over, and a new one is starting. Happy New year to all.

New Years Day 2012. Hope you all enjoyed last night and kept yourselves safe. Happy New Year to all.

Late start to the day for us. Woke about 930am. Breakfast at 11am. Cold and
miserable day today. Not much good for sightseeing. But we caught the
tram into the city anyway for some more exploring before we leave
tomorrow. City looks almost deserted. Just the cleanup crews on the
streets cleaning up after the previous nights celebrations. Surprisingly
there isn't a lot of rubbish about considering how many people were out
partying.

After an hour or two in the cold and rain, we decide, "Nope, this ain't for us", and head back to the hotel. Stopped at a bar on the way back to sample a couple of pints of beer. A
real traditional looking Austrian/German bar. Might even come back
tonight for an evening meal (we came to regret this decision later).

Dinner time. What a let down. Got to the bar/restaurant about 7.30. Ordered
our meals by 7.45. 8.25 and we're still waiting. 8.40 and the waitress
brings out our meals. Or rather, meal, singular. Seems our order got
lost in the translation somewhere. She thought we only ordered one meal.
Luckily the meal was of a huge portion. so instead of waiting another
45 minutes, we waved the waitress off saying it was OK, and divvied up
the meal between us. Worst cordon bleu schnitzel ever. Dry and
overcooked. Ham and cheese was tasteless. Would have been better if we
had gone to McDonalds!!

Vienna is an interesting city. Steeped in culture and history, which is reflected by its
architecture and institutions. However, we didn't get the same feeling
as we did in Prague. It's almost like Vienna has lost a little of its soul. It's still a great city, well worth the visit. But I don't think we'll put it on our "must see again" list.

We're in the home stretch of our trip now. Tomorrow we head for Salzburg as we start making our way back to Geneva.