We docked in Vienna just before 8.00am and the sun was shining. The forecast was for it to be fine in the morning, but a chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon. Our guides name was Michael and as the sun was shining in Vienna he shared his nice tourist saying "When the Angels are travelling the sun is shining". If that is true Michael....There can't be enough angels on this cruise! But anyway we enjoyed the sunshine today.

Vienna has a population of 2 million people. We found it just as has been written: it is truly an elegant city and in many parts of the city, almost every building looks like it is straight out of a Museum. 

We drove along half of the famous 'Ringstrasse' and once again marvelled at the architecture. The 'Ringstrasse' encircles the city centre on three sides. The Danube Canal borders the fourth side. The buildings on the 'Ringstrasse' were constructed after the old city walls were torn down. We had to cross the Danube Canal, coming in from where the ship was docked, to get to the city centre. We got off the bus at 'Albertina Square'. This was our meeting point for the bus back, if that was what you wished to do. This square is also known as 'Commemorative Square'. During WW2, when much of Vienna was bombed, there was a hotel on this square. During one of the bombing raids about 150 people took refuge in the cellar of the hotel. The hotel was bombed and the people were entombed in the rubble. Today the square is dedicated to the loss of those lives.

The city centre is the 1st district of Vienna. It is in the shape of a circle and in the middle of the circle is the focal point of Vienna, St Stephen's Cathedral. In our free time we walked down Vienna's main pedestrian street called the 'Karntnerstrasse'. This leads from St Stephen's Cathedral down to the 'Opera House.

We were to hear lots about the Emperor Franz Joseph 1 and his family whilst in Vienna. The family ruled for 150 years. Franz Joseph 1 was the most important Emperor of Austria and he ruled for the longest. The city has special celebrations planned for later in the year to celebrate the reign of this Emperor. On the 21st November 2016 it will be 100 years since he died. He ruled for 68 years and was King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia. During the morning we learnt about the Hofburg Palace. Whenever there was a new Emperor a new wing was added to the palace for the family. We walked through the impressive square, which each of the wings overlooked.  

The tour included a visit to the 'Spanish Riding School'. It is named after the Spanish horses that formed one of the bases of the famous 'Lipizzaner' breed. This breed is used exclusively at the school. We watched a morning training session of the 'Spanish Riding School'. We queued with hundreds of other people to get in at 9.45am. Thank goodness we had a guide that pulled a few strings and we jumped the queue. We sat and watched for about 25 minutes as the horses were ridden or led around and I guess put through a few of their moves. It was far from riveting! I have googled and watched a couple of you-tube videos and their performances do look very nice. No doubt what we saw, were young horses in the early years of their training. These horses can remain at the 'Spanish Riding School' until well into their 20's. The Spanish Riding School in Vienna is the only institution in the world which has practiced for nearly 450 years and continues to cultivate classical equitation in the Renaissance tradition. So they are very famous!

We stayed in the city after the tour, rather than return to the ship on the bus. Had fish and chips for lunch and walked the streets for a bit. We took some photos of the famous Hotel Sacher where 12 pastry chefs make 500 - 600 Sacher Torte cakes per day. The Torte consists of two layers of dense, not overly sweet chocolate dough with a thin layer of apricot jam in the middle and dark chocolate icing on the sides and top. It is traditionally eaten with whipped cream as most Viennese consider the torte too dry to be eaten without it. The trademark for the original Sacher Torte was registered by the Hotel Sacher which was built in 1876.

Later we caught the underground rail back to the ship. Cherie had given us clear instructions on what line to use and how many stops. We actually got off at the third stop and went to the 'Praterpark-Riesenrad', which is an amusement park. It has a giant Ferris wheel which is one of Vienna's most famous symbols. It is 64.75 metres high and was constructed in 1897. It was the world's tallest surviving ferris wheel from 1920 until 1985. It is said "That only when you have taken a ride on Riesenrad are you really in Vienna". So we have done that!

High up on the Ferris wheel we could see the storms brewing around Vienna and rain falling. We became anxious to get back to the underground railway and back to the ship. We hadn't been back on the ship long, when it started to rain and the day changed completely. It was a bit different to our summer thunderstorms, because it became cold as well. That meant we needed an umbrella for our visit to Liechtenstein City Palace at 7.00pm.

'Stadpalais Liechtenstein' (City Palace) is a residential building in the 1st district of Vienna and is one of two palaces in Vienna belonging to the Princely family of Liechtenstein. The palace was built during the period 1692 to 1705 and the house luckily escaped destruction during WW2. It is still used as a private residence by the Princely family. Restoration work was completed in 2013. 

This was another APT Signature Experience. Our own private concert by the Viennese Imperial Orchestra in the Palace, complete with a performance by the Viennese Children's Choir and three songs by male and female opera singers. It was a very special night. The ornate decor of the rooms we were in was quite something. Firstly we walked up eighty carpeted stairs to the first floor, where we enjoyed a welcome champagne, in one of the ceremonial rooms. At 8.00pm we were welcomed to the small, even more ornate concert hall, for a 1 hour performance. Then up with the umbrellas to get back to the bus for a trip through the city centre to view Vienna at night. Nothing very spectacular really, but when we got back to the ship, because we had had an early dinner, Chef had a late night snack waiting for us in the lounge. It was far from a snack!

On our second day in Vienna we chose to visit the 'Schonbrunn Palace' for our freedom of choice tour. Schonbrunn Palace is the most famous and beautiful palace in Vienna and is one of the best known in Europe. It was the summer palace of the Habsburg's who ruled much of Europe for over 600 years. We heard lots about the famous Maria Theresa who had 16 children and ruled for 40 years or more. I purchased a book, so I can add more of the story and some images from the book to my blog at a later date. We were not allowed to take photos in the palace.

We were allowed to walk in the gardens and once again rain marred our day. It rained all morning and there were puddles everywhere when we walked in the gardens. There are 1.7 square kilometres of gardens that are beautifully maintained. That's 170 hectares of gardens! We were told there are 26 kilometres of tree lined avenues, 24 kilometres of trimmed hedges and the garden area is the same size as the city of Vienna. Amazing! There is also a carriage museum and we were disappointed there was not enough time to visit it. That was one of our recommendations on the assessment form APT request that you fill in at the end of the trip.

As it was still raining, we could see no sense in walking the streets of Vienna with a red APT umbrella, so we went back to the ship and had a relaxing afternoon that included an afternoon nap! In the evening it was the Captain's Farewell Cocktail and Gala Dinner. So on with the glad rags once again.