The Charm of Magical Vienna The change from the warm Mediterranean temperature and scenery to the cold and mountainous region of Austria was just phenomenal. I fell asleep on the bus as we were leaving Venice and when I woke, we were in Austria and I was surrounded by huge mountains, it was grey and raining. A dramatic change that signalled the weather for the remainder of the journey. We arrived in Vienna late afternoon and were taken to a very old theme park that night. While some braved the rides in the very cold temperatures (I think I had on every layer of clothing I had with me) a group of us went straight to the nearest restaurant and got some dinner. One serving of cordon bleu later, and it was time to head back to the hotel, having not ridden any ride, but having enjoyed my dinner very much. And the heating had been even better! We headed into Vienna the next morning and were driven around the Burg Ring (no, not Burger Ring!) which is the main street surrounding the city area, and pointed out numerous sites of interest. Ali took us to the Sacher Hotel, famous for it's Sacher Torte, a very rich chocolate cake once served to the Queen (can't remember who at this moment) and made famous ever since. We all went in for a bit of cake and hot drink before leaving to explore Vienna. I decided to just walk and see where I ended up and found myself eventually at the main cathedral where I ran into some of the other girls. We went to the top of the cathedral for the view over Vienna and then down into the catacombs, exploring the cathedral in between. I left the girls and just continued walking around, looking at the buildings and taking in the beauty of the city. Met up with the rest of the tour group mid afternoon when we went to a schnapps museum and tried some lovely varieties of schnapps. Even bought myself a bottle of one. We then headed off to our Viennese dinner of schnitzel, strudel (had the schnapps earlier so the S's were taken care of!) and fun entertainment by Herman and his friends. A great night with lots of laughter, singing and dancing. It was almost a shame to leave.