The highlight of our visit to Vienna was a tour of Schonbrunn Palace. It was the summer palace of the Habsburg's who ruled most of Europe for 600 years. We saw about 22 rooms reflecting the style and taste of various sovereigns. Most were excessively decorated with gold leaf and enormous paintings of the royals. Many of the paintings were of Franz Joseph I who ruled for 68 years was Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary and his wife Empress Elizabeth (Sisi). We ...

Everyone heads off in a different direction this evening and our choice was a local Viennese restaurant for typical food "Wiener Schnitzel". Once again we felt like we were being intrusive rather than bringing custom to a business. The schnitzel and potato salad was quite tasty but the boiled rice was rather dry. The restaurant certainly lacked the type of atmosphere we had hoped for with some clapping music. On the way back yo the ship we were taken for a view...

Our first view of Vienna or Wein (in German) is on a bus tour of the grand buildings along the Ringstrasse We stop at ABC (Another Bloody Church) St Stephen's Cathedral. It is covered on one side with scaffolding and plastic sheeting for cleaning. Up at the highest point are men in harnesses who are probably doing the cleaning. Our tour groups are very large today and the streets are very crowded so it is not the most pleasant experience. We are treated to coff...

From Melk to Durnstein we sailed through the Wachu Valley more picturesque Austrian scenery with villages, churches, castle ruins and vineyards on the side of the hill. At Melk we visited the Abbey but the tour including the exhibition on St Benedict was way too slow stopping at each exhibit and explaining it in detail. We managed to find an escape route and still see the amazing library and the totally gilded church before walking down to explore the town and en...

Leaving the ship at 9am the buses head to Salzburg arriving around 11am we headed into the city centre with our guide. Our first impression with the wide flowing river and the fort on the top of the hill is a good one. We have a tour of the streets noting the decorative signs above the shops. Even McDonald's has an impressive eagle and lion. Then we come into the main square and oh boy! It is St Rupert's Feast Day, he is the patron saint and everyone is out to ce...