We thoroughly enjoyed our weekend in Vienna. Our visit to this former Imperial Capital and Melk Abbey was, of course, packed with history - both religous at the Abbey and the art of the years of Empire.
There's far more to Vienna than we managed this weekend including the Hofburg Palace, Schoenbrunn and the world famous Spanish Riding School. To cover all the Vienesse Imperial offerings would take far longer than the weekend we had.
Although somewhat of a "Leicester Square" experience, we did enjoy our visit to the Heuriger in Grinzing but next time we'll try another district for something a bit more "real."
Melk was hugely impressive. Not just in the scale of the building but also the work which had gone into the interior decoration. Both the Natural History and Art History Museums were impressive both in their collections and the buildings which house them. While the Catacombs of St Stephans Cathedral added more than a little macarbeness to the trip.
Overall, a great success of a trip.
European tourism and rail organisations - a quick reference (T) - A reference guide to European tourism and rail organisations (T)
Lucerne - 7 things not to miss - What not to miss in Lucerne
Zürich - Aboard a Street Parade Love Mobile 2010 - Love Mobile at the Street Parade 2010 in Zürich
Travel pictures - Pictures from my travels in Switzerland, Italy and New Zealand
Rapperswil - Manfred Mann plays keyboards at the 2010 Rapperswil Blues n Jazz Festival - Manfred Mann playing keyboards with the Manfred Mann Earth Band in Fischmarktplatz at the 2010 Rapperswil Blues n Jazz Festival
Europe - Travel information from around Europe
Switzerland - places not to miss - Sixteen places not to miss around Switzerland
Switzerland - sacred destinations - Nine of the finest churchs, cathedrals and monastries in Switzerland
Why chase solar eclipses? - Why I chase total solar eclipse all over the world
Europe FAQ - Europe Frequently Asked Questions
Mark Sukhija is a travel and wine blogger, photographer, tourism researcher, hat-touting, white-shirt-wearing, New Zealand fantatic and eclipse chaser. Aside from at least annual visits to New Zealand, Mark has seen eclipses in South Australia (2002), Libya (2006), China (2009) and Queensland (2012). After twelve years in Switzerland, Mark moved back to London in 2012. You can follow Mark on Twitter or Facebook