So after I signed off the other day, I actually took myself off to the fitness room for a workout. Had a rower, bike, x-trainer and treadmill. Had to justify the lugging of my sneakers all this way. It did feel good I must admit. We then got ready for our early dinner as we had to be on the buses at 7.15pm to head off to our classical concert. We were taken to Stift Klosterneuburg, a beautiful monastery where we had our concert just for Uniworld. They played Mozart & Strauss with a couple of opera singers joining in for 2 performances and ballroom dancers performing 3 different types of waltzes. It was a really enjoyable evening. On the bus ride home, they took us through the city and our local guide started pointing out all these beautiful buildings to us. Mum and I just looked at each other and thought where are we going to start.

Back at the boat and they had put a late night supper on for us. I couldn't believe people could still eat. Mum has started not feeling 100% so she just stuck with a cup of tea while I had a hot chocolate. They give you a cup of hot milk and then a piece of chocolate stuck on a stick that you melt in the cup. Mmmm. They also advised us that all guests were getting a US$500 voucher for another European / Russian river cruise to be used over the next 3 years due to the problems at the beginning of our trip. Who knows if we will use it or not. I look at what we paid for the cruise and I don't know whether it really is worth the money. Maybe it is better when the weather is warmer and you get more benefit from the cruising. Who knows!!

Yesterday morning, we headed out on the city tour which was mainly an orientation tour on the bus pointing out the sights once again. Once we did get off the bus, we went to the National Library which was stunning inside All these old books, you could just see the history and there they are on display, who knows how old they are. They also had some old illuminated manuscripts on display all to do with angels.

We walked through the Hofburg which was the winter palace for the Habsburgs over 600 years. It is now home to many different museums and the Austrian President. We walked over to the Town Hall which is the home of the biggest Christmas markets in town. We split from the group here and wandered around the markets. There was a choice of getting the bus back to the boat for lunch and then they were having buses doing shuttle runs but we decided to stay in town instead of wasting time heading back and forth. After completing the markets, we started to wander around the ring road and found ourselves at Maria Theresien Platz which is a statue honouring one of the Emperor's wives who had 16 children and also ruled from what I understand (but I could be wrong). There were also markets here. We had a snack and some hot chocolate served in a boot shaped cup before continuing our walk. Walked back through the palace but in a different direction and you just have to stop and take in the beautiful buildings. Out through the other side and what do you know, more markets. Walked through their main shopping strip (all 5 star shops) but all closed on a Sunday before you guessed it, coming across some more markets. We finally ended up back at town hall and jumped on the next bus back to the boat.

We wanted to pack in the afternoon and not leave it to after dinner which we managed. Had our farewell dinner, which was nothing different to the other dinners really, except people got dressed up. I must admit, I have been disappointed with some of the menus. Not as many local dishes as I thought and sometimes it seemed quite American. One night, Spaghetti Bolognase was one of the main dishes.

This morning we had to be out of our rooms by 8.30am. A taxi had been booked for us for 9am but it was after 9.30am by the time it arrived. Said our goodbyes to those still on board and headed to our accommodation in town. We had also heard about the hostage situation in Sydney so were concerned about how that was going to turn out. Arrived at our Pension and luckily we were able to put our stuff in our room straight away even though it was early. Nothing fancy but will do the job and bigger than our room on the ship.

Headed off to test the underground system. When we arrived at one of the main station, we bought our train tickets for tomorrow for Melk and I also printed off the other tickets I had previously bought online at special prices.

We then jumped on the underground again to Schloss Schonbrunn, another palace of the Hapsburgs. We did the audio tour and mum and I both agreed that other palaces we have previously visited were more beautiful than these ones but the gardens are beautiful even without flowers. Out the back, there are all these statues which lead to the Neptune Fountain and then you walk up a hill to the Gloriette which was built to honour Maria-Theresa. The view looking down to the palace and with Vienna in the background was lovely, even on a grey, dull day. Unfortunately mum wasn't feeling 100% so she stayed down below and waited for me.

After I got back down, we walked around the markets and then headed home. Stopped at a pharmacy to get some cold/flu tablets for mum and then at a local restaurant for dinner. Never seen such a big piece of schnitzel served before. Mum and I could have shared one plate. We do have to get used to people being allowed to smoke inside once again. Yuk.

So an early night for us. Unfortunately no english speaking channel here but we have seen the footage of the end of the hostage situation in Sydney. One time could do with BBC world news but we have been checking the ABC news on our tablets to see what is going on.