Our seven plus hour train journey was disappointing initially because much of the line had barriers so we couldn't see a great deal. As we neared Bregenz though, the mountains emerged. There's still a lot of snow and some of the ski fields seemed to be active. It was just beautiful. Our hotel in Bregenz presented us with our biggest 'staircase challenge' so far. Our room was on the third floor!!! Thank goodness we're relatively fit and healthy!!! Bregenz is a...

Wow!! What can I say!!! This Palace is one of extreme opulence. A testament to the immense wealth of the Hapsburg dynasty over 600 years. They governed over large swathes of this part of the world almost as dictators. On the other hand there is evidence of development that enabled 'the peasants' to better themselves - textile factories come to mind. We took a 1.5 hour audio guided tour that gave us a small insight in to life in the Palace. We only visited a tin...

Our evening at the concert was superb. The baroque orchestra was very talented and the male and female opera singers added to the amazing experience. The double staircase took us to the concert hall itself. It only had 100 chairs but the walls, doors, ceiling and chandeliers were opulent. The room was spoilt somewhat by some ugly looking abstract paintings - apparently there as a revenue raising project. We loved every minute of it. We arrived in the area of the...

Part of the domed ceiling fresco in Karls Kirke. Pretty spectacular.

I can't believe I'm not 'over' churches and cathedrals. St Charles Church of Vienna was simply spectacular. Also known as Karls Kirke it was built to honour the saint of plague sufferers, St Charles Borromeo, after the 1713 plague that took 8000 lives in Vienna. You can see it's baroque dome for miles and it has two 47 metre high huge inscribed columns. Inside there is a lift to take you most of the way up to see the dome fresco, 74 metre high - you have to climb...